Road Cycling Essentials
- Thread starter Matutu
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Thanks, it's topeak defender rc11..
I like it because it keeps the water of my back, it's silent, easy to attach and very light.
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Looks good but that mudguard *vomit smiley*
We were just discussing about how weirdly indestructible the Vittorias are. Shame you say they suck in the wet
Edit: 1500ish (maybe slightly over) miles on the rear P4E - apparently pretty normal wear for them. I'd prefer to get more miles out of them but to be honest for something that is as good a combination of light, okay puncture protection, great grip and minimal rolling resistance, I'm happy to just buy a new rear tyre every 6 weeks. I think my front will need replacing every 9-12.
that's what happens when you ignore my advicejust took a massive piece of glass out of my rear tyre, left a nice cut.. no puncture tho
We were just discussing about how weirdly indestructible the Vittorias are. Shame you say they suck in the wet
Edit: 1500ish (maybe slightly over) miles on the rear P4E - apparently pretty normal wear for them. I'd prefer to get more miles out of them but to be honest for something that is as good a combination of light, okay puncture protection, great grip and minimal rolling resistance, I'm happy to just buy a new rear tyre every 6 weeks. I think my front will need replacing every 9-12.
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Yeah that's right move the goalposts for me!
I got out there this morning and took another 10s off my time, so you've now got 24 to make up
There was quite a headwind heading West, so I was tired before I'd even got there! I'll have to try it again some time. No PRs on the return leg either!
Hills.
Do you guys try and remain seated on hills or do you stand up pretty early?
I find it much easier to stay seated and only really stand as a last resort when I've completely ran out of push and the change relieves some muscles, however, after about three seconds I get a load of lactic burn in my thighs and have to sit down again.
The reason for asking it that I'm wondering if my hill climbing would benefit from some enforced out-of-seat climbing, as I guess the burn is some under used secondary muscles which if I trained would give me a second wind on the hills? Or is the burn just lactic acid being 'released' (if that's a thing) from the rest of my leg which has built up while I've been in the relatively cramped sitting position?
On a secondary note, I've been pointed at a local bike race, it's cat 4 and they reckon over the 25m course that they average 25mph. Now, over similar terrain I can manage around 21mph but I guess being part of the pelaton makes keeping the speed up much easier?
Any racers care to tell me the difference in speed between their lonesome training and a big group race?
/Pre coffee minor wall of text
Do you guys try and remain seated on hills or do you stand up pretty early?
I find it much easier to stay seated and only really stand as a last resort when I've completely ran out of push and the change relieves some muscles, however, after about three seconds I get a load of lactic burn in my thighs and have to sit down again.
The reason for asking it that I'm wondering if my hill climbing would benefit from some enforced out-of-seat climbing, as I guess the burn is some under used secondary muscles which if I trained would give me a second wind on the hills? Or is the burn just lactic acid being 'released' (if that's a thing) from the rest of my leg which has built up while I've been in the relatively cramped sitting position?
On a secondary note, I've been pointed at a local bike race, it's cat 4 and they reckon over the 25m course that they average 25mph. Now, over similar terrain I can manage around 21mph but I guess being part of the pelaton makes keeping the speed up much easier?
Any racers care to tell me the difference in speed between their lonesome training and a big group race?
/Pre coffee minor wall of text
That sounds very fast unless it's perfectly flat.
Most cat4 races i've done have been somewhere around 19-22mph average. It's not really the average speed that is the problem though, it's the bursts of speed which are difficult.
The bunch can be rolling along at 17mph, then somebody will attack and the pace will kick up to 30mph for a few mins and when they get caught it'll drop back to 17 for a few mins before the next attack.
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Don't really have any idea what I'm looking at when it comes to road bikes. Is there anything at Halfords worth looking at? I like the look of the Boardman Road Sport Limited Edition 2014 at £499 and also the Carrera TDF Limited Edition Men's Road Bike 2014 at £269. There's currently an extra 20% off but when it comes to road bikes I don't really know what components are better than other. Anyone any advice before I go buy something terrible?
Anyone?
They are nice and grippy, and roll well. They are also a little deeper than Vittoria and i think than Mitchelin too, meaning if clearance is an issue between wheel and frame then they might rub. I had this with my BMC and a set of Soul 4.0 wheels, while Vittorias were fine.
I used them on my Canyon all the time until the side wall blew out of my front tyre at about 40kph. Managed to stop and not damage myself or the bike but it made me look at other options, ie Vittoria Open Corsa CX III's or Mitchelin Pro 4s.
All in all they are well regarded though despite the documented side wall problems.
The vibrations and bumps of the road with a half to 2/3rd full bottle meant that the bottle would wiggle its way up in the cage. Using High5 bottle or similar 750ml.
Then a bump or lots of road vibration would cause it to bounce out the cage.
Happened 2-3 times which was more than enough. Just wasn't enough tension on the upper half of the bottle to stop it moving.
In the UK think they would be ok, but our roads use coarser chip seal and aren't as smooth generally. There are patches on patches in some places, obviously avoid if you can but not always possible (dark, racing or missed call in a bunch). Maybe my bike is stiffer and transfers more road vibration, and/or has a different angled down tube which makes it easier for the bottle to "walk".
Started to reglue my tubulars with Mastik One tonight, it's so much better than the Continental glue and easy to work with, slower to dry than Conti and easier to get a thin layer.
Well todays planned adventure (the Col du Glandon followed by the Col de la Madeleine) came to a rather abrupt halt when my right cleat cracked and split 
. Luckily it was on the flat of one of the switchbacks so I recovered without falling over.
Dunno what could have caused it, I suppose the cleats are quite old and due to be replaced but that's such an unlikely defect, it must have been damaged in transport.
. Luckily it was on the flat of one of the switchbacks so I recovered without falling over.Dunno what could have caused it, I suppose the cleats are quite old and due to be replaced but that's such an unlikely defect, it must have been damaged in transport.
You can do a lot better. Even with 20% off that Boardman you're spending £400, which would get you the felt f95 at wiggle which is a much better bike.
I think it's a reasonably flat course but with two hairpin bends which make for lots of sprint acceleration. I don't know whether or not to go for it, I think I could probably keep with the pack if they do average more like 19-22mph, hmm. What's the crack if you're too slow, just get dropped by the main group and keep going or do you just pack it in?
Depends how you feel. It's not a big deal to get dropped, 20%-40% of the field gets dropped every race. Some will complete the distance anyway, usually forming little groups coming in behind the main peloton and some will stop when they get dropped.
I'd suggest getting some fast group rides under your belt first if you haven't already. Even just from a safety perspective (yours and everyone else). You want to be comfortable being v close to other riders while moving at high speed, cornering, knowing how to move around in the bunch and staying in control when working right on your limit. Or beyond it!
Local fast club rides or midweek chain gangs are a great way to pick all this stuff up. Obviously if you've been doing all this already just crack on and get stuck in.
Local fast club rides or midweek chain gangs are a great way to pick all this stuff up. Obviously if you've been doing all this already just crack on and get stuck in.
I stick a rubber band round my planet x cages just to pull them slightly together around the bottles to stop bounce out.
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I ordered some 700 series bib shorts from Decathlon, which I think is the second highest tier they of clothing they do. £45 down to £30, bargain. I go in store to collect them and the guy makes a big fuss about how the staff who picked the order have printed the wrong sheet out on the system or something, so he prints something else to sort it out. I've just got home and found out he's actually given me some 900 series top tier shorts - apparently good enough to be worn by the FDJ team - which should cost £50. And I still only paid £30. Double bargain.
I read something recently that said there is no real benefit to climbing out of the saddle in terms of power, energy used, speed, whatever, but there is a psychological benefit in that it can feel better mentally to switch positions and push in a different way. The conclusion was that it's worth doing, because you'll feel better, even if there's no real reason for it.
I stay sat down when climbing, mostly, but if I feel like pushing a bit I do like to get up and stamp a bit. I'll often do it if it's just a short climb, but for a longer one I usually stay seated, particularly long but not terribly steep climbs. Once the gradient ramps up, like 10% and above, I find that maintaining traction at both wheels becomes a concern. If you shift your weight about too much you may find yourself slipping at the back or wheelieing at the front, neither of which is ideal! Standing up on climbs like that is a bit trickier as you have to make sure you're not impeding your ability to keep traction front and back, but if you get it right it can actually help on that front as well.
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