Road Cycling Essentials

FrenchTart · 15 Nov 2014 at 13:41

Fun ride for me this morning. None of my usual riding buddies were free so I went for a solo run on a new route. I probably should have paid more attention to the fog warnings. I had to go extremely slowly on a lot of the descents as I literally (figuratively) couldn't see a thing :eek:

I also kind of regretted agreeing to go to the pub last night...

http://www.strava.com/activities/219398309

SoliD · 15 Nov 2014 at 18:50

Wiggle offering interest free credit on bikes over £280! Dangerous Times!!!

grudas · 15 Nov 2014 at 19:03

SoliD said:
Wiggle offering interest free credit on bikes over £280! Dangerous Times!!!

WIGGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saytan · 15 Nov 2014 at 19:24

One More Solo said:
Nice. There don't seem to be any good cheap tubs really for outside use - I don't mind Vittoria Pistas but they're only good for the track. I don't mind my Conti Sprinters on the track but they're probably not great for outside either as they have no puncture protection.

I've got a set of Sprinter Gatorskins glued up ready to go on a ride tomorrow so I'll report back on how those go. They're not "cheap" but are cheaper than some tubs at least...

Alex Dowsett set the national 10 mile TT record on Sprinters. Continental said a proper TT tub would have been worth 10-15 seconds....

wiggle have continental giros for 16.99 atm as well

ShiWarrior · 15 Nov 2014 at 20:55

what would you guys say my tyre pressures should be ?
CX bike with CX wheels, using the smallest I can get on the rims, they are 25mm ?
I got them at 80psi, 100 seems far too much to me

grudas · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:22

Why does it seem too much?

ShiWarrior · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:25

grudas said:
Why does it seem too much?

its rock solid !!

I was just wondering if because the 25mm tyres are on a wider rim the pressure will have to come down?
if it was my other bike, im running 110psi

VeNT · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:50

OK it's now dark when I leave for work and when I ride back
Time for some new lights.
Anyone got any views on which of the eBay cree lights are best?

FrenchTart · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:57

SolarStorm X2 (not X3) is very good for the money.

ShiWarrior · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:57

I was curious about some gloves (I don't need any)
and noticed my Specialized Sub Zero Gloves are on offer at the moment, if anyone wants brilliant winter gloves

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Subzero-Glove-AW13/1TEI?wmp=216

XS / S / M sizes left

FrenchTart · 15 Nov 2014 at 21:59

Shame they don't have any in man size

ShiWarrior · 15 Nov 2014 at 22:04

FrenchTart said:
Shame they don't have any in man size

I know, I was tempted to buy a second pair !
the inner gloves itself is around £20 !

Vonhelmet · 15 Nov 2014 at 22:40

Anyone use silk or merino glove liners? I'm wondering about picking some up for when it gets uber cold, on the off change I'm still going out then. I figure £25 gloves plus £10 liners might just add up to something more than £35 warm gloves.

DIABLO · 15 Nov 2014 at 23:17

physichull · 16 Nov 2014 at 11:32

Anyone got a Canyon Endurace and can give an independent crit of it? Looking for a new bike and that one cropped up.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I am looking for:

1. ~£2500
2. Carbon frame
3. Compact chainrings
4. Minimum Ultegra, would go to di2 but not if the rest of the bike suffers because of it (i.e. cheaper wheels)
5. Not sure about discs yet, so am comfortable with normal rims.
6. Sportive more than race, so am looking at things like the Scott Solace, or the Canyon Endurace. However, the Endurace does tick many boxes for me in this respect as it seems to fall somewhere between a race and sportive frame which would suit me as I like to go as fast as possible on the flat but still be fairly comfortable over longer rides.

Jonny ///M · 16 Nov 2014 at 12:03

Checked out the Felt Z3? Bit under budget and would leave money for better wheels.

AndrewP · 16 Nov 2014 at 12:34

Vonhelmet said:
Anyone use silk or merino glove liners? I'm wondering about picking some up for when it gets uber cold, on the off change I'm still going out then. I figure £25 gloves plus £10 liners might just add up to something more than £35 warm gloves.

I use silk liners (~£8-10 from eBay IIRC) inside my cheapy Aldi/Crane 'winter' gloves and they're fine down to about 5C - I don't tend to go out if it's much colder than that or for much over an hour though. Worth trying for the extra flexibility they give you I think.

After my bike fit in the summer I finally got round to getting some short reach/compact drop bars, straight away they're more comfortable with less stretching and having to shift hand position

.

Vonhelmet · 16 Nov 2014 at 12:51

physichull said:
Anyone got a Canyon Endurace and can give an independent crit of it? Looking for a new bike and that one cropped up.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I am looking for:

1. ~£2500
2. Carbon frame
3. Compact chainrings
4. Minimum Ultegra, would go to di2 but not if the rest of the bike suffers because of it (i.e. cheaper wheels)
5. Not sure about discs yet, so am comfortable with normal rims.
6. Sportive more than race, so am looking at things like the Scott Solace, or the Canyon Endurace. However, the Endurace does tick many boxes for me in this respect as it seems to fall somewhere between a race and sportive frame which would suit me as I like to go as fast as possible on the flat but still be fairly comfortable over longer rides.

The trek domane is a good one for the sort of fast all day comfort riding you're talking about. I can't immediately find one with full ultegra, but I reckon that'd come in somewhere around your budget, depending on wheels, etc.

Edit: the domane 5.2 appears to have full ultegra and costs £2,500, though that's with bontrager wheels which may be guff. The 4.5 has a mix of ultegra and 105, and costs £2k, so you could buy that and upgrade the few parts to ultegra and upgrade the wheels and that'd probably get you to about £2,500 with better wheels than the 5.2.

Jimbeam3678 · 16 Nov 2014 at 13:30

physichull said:
Anyone got a Canyon Endurace and can give an independent crit of it? Looking for a new bike and that one cropped up.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I am looking for:

1. ~£2500
2. Carbon frame
3. Compact chainrings
4. Minimum Ultegra, would go to di2 but not if the rest of the bike suffers because of it (i.e. cheaper wheels)
5. Not sure about discs yet, so am comfortable with normal rims.
6. Sportive more than race, so am looking at things like the Scott Solace, or the Canyon Endurace. However, the Endurace does tick many boxes for me in this respect as it seems to fall somewhere between a race and sportive frame which would suit me as I like to go as fast as possible on the flat but still be fairly comfortable over longer rides.

I've got one only had limited riding before winter kicked in and that was recovering from my accident so the limiting factor was me.

Its certainly light and seemed responsive and comfortable. If you want to know anything else let me know

Thomas. PLease. · 16 Nov 2014 at 13:41

First proper ride since I've moved to London, enjoyed it, but very different to riding back in Swindon. Ended up as 58 miles, as I did 10 to get to the start point then reset. Longest ride I've done for a fair while.

http://app.strava.com/activities/219811562