Road Cycling Essentials

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So far - I've agreed to ride to Skegness and back in may (approx. 200miles) one weekend, then London-Paris (280miles in less than 24hrs hopefully!) in July, then cycling around South Of France in August (cycling up Mont Ventoux on all 3 routes and descending in a day apparently?)!
 
tedmaul said:
Cool - cheers for that. I'm sticking with a compact 50t so should be nice and straight forward. This looks like mine:

http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/637/OMEGA-COMPACT-4636,-5034,-5236-CRANKSET

So BCD is 110mm. I'll have a hunt around - needs to be black or itll just look weird! :)
Click to expand...

http://windwave.co.uk/products/chainrings/road/110bcd/shimano/370-0250v

That's the closest I can find for FSA. The BBB ones will fit too but they are more of a gunmetal hard anodized look about them.
 
So, a mixed evening.

The good:

I fitted the remaining brake cable to my old bike, indexed the gears and out the bar tape on. The tape isn't perfect, but it'll do! So, a few mistakes along the way, but considering is taken it down to the frame and fork I'm quite pleased with the results.

The bad:

I took it out for a bimble to check it was ok. It's set up for my wife so it's got the stem super high, and it's got flat pedals. I was planning a nice gentle ride. A bit over a mile in I was coming down a bit of a hill at 20something mph. There's a road that joins from the left and I saw two teenagers on the far pavement of that road. No lights, dark clothes, no helmets, business as usual. I figure they'll stick on the pavement when they join my road. I'm quite a way back, so I've got plenty of room, which is a good job because when they get to my road they skip off the kerb and head straight across to the far pavement of the road I'm on. By this time I've closed the gap and I'm passing them as they're on the opposite pavement. All of a sudden, out of my blind spot on my right, one of these kids rides right in front of me, swerving across my path like he's making for the pavement or something. I don't even have time to brake and I go into him full tilt. I go down on my right side and just about keep the bike off the ground. He hits the deck hard in front of me. I'm panicking thinking there could be a car behind me so I'm scrambling to haul myself and my bike out of the road and onto the pavement. He's got himself up and out of the road and by this point I am screaming blue murder at him, absolute filth. He's clutching his foot, so I guess maybe I ran over it? He doesn't say a word and I'm just shouting abuse at him. Some guy in a car has stopped and shouts that he's sure the kid "didn't do it deliberately" and asks whether he needs an ambulance and the kid says no. I calm down and check he's ok, and he goes off to the other side of the road for a sit down. I check my bike and his bike. My chain has come off but otherwise it looks ok. His rear brake isn't working, but who knows if it was before the crash. Eventually he gets himself together and cycles off.

If he'd banged his head on the way down, he could have been dead. If I'd been driving a car, he could have been dead. If I'd been on my other bike with my cleats on doing 30 down that road, it could have been much messier.

Urgh.
 
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