Road Cycling Essentials

touch · 22 Dec 2014 at 09:51

BennyC said:
I'm being offered a 12-27 or 11-28, the latter I am told will make climbing a little easier and the top gear a little faster.

There is a £20 difference between the two. I need to let them know this morning which I would like so they can crack on.

I would just go with whichever is the cheaper option, there's not that much difference between them. An extra £20 is almost enough to buy a new cassette anyway

SoliD · 22 Dec 2014 at 09:56

Thomas. PLease. said:
My goals for next year:

Become a Cat 3 within the first half of the year

Go sub 22min on a 10

Get my FTP above 350w

Not sure on mileage target, will have done nearly 5000km this year, so probably more like 8000km

Buy a new road bike to replace my ageing Giant

What is your current FTP, I've managed a 23:15 only pushing about 260W.

BennyC · 22 Dec 2014 at 09:57

touch said:
I would just go with whichever is the cheaper option, there's not that much difference between them. An extra £20 is almost enough to buy a new cassette anyway

Thanks, another 2 teeth on the climb might be noticeable enough anyway...

Being a local shop and with the wiggle sale on gears & drive-trains the price difference is hard enough to swallow already

grudas · 22 Dec 2014 at 10:04

strong winds today! and a fail-ish..

EH

topgun06 · 22 Dec 2014 at 10:21

touch said:
I would just go with whichever is the cheaper option, there's not that much difference between them. An extra £20 is almost enough to buy a new cassette anyway

Same, I'd go with the cheaper.

This is a superb site for getting an idea of what your gear rations would be: http://www.gear-calculator.com/

oli collett · 22 Dec 2014 at 11:04

Thomas. PLease. said:
My goals for next year:

Become a Cat 3 within the first half of the year

Go sub 22min on a 10

Get my FTP above 350w

Not sure on mileage target, will have done nearly 5000km this year, so probably more like 8000km

Buy a new road bike to replace my ageing Giant

Dunno how much you weigh but 350W would be :eek:

Thomas. PLease. · 22 Dec 2014 at 11:33

SoliD said:
What is your current FTP, I've managed a 23:15 only pushing about 260W.

Peak this year was 300w for FTP, managed a 23.30 in pretty stiff wind doing 321w. I'm not light at about 83kg atm and only 5'10", I've not got a cyclists build. I'm way more aero now than when I did that last one, so hoping with more watts I can get where I want to be.

Also giving up the running and swimming this year, so will be solely concentrating on cycling which should mean slightly better progress through the year.

thepeteh · 22 Dec 2014 at 12:26

FTP 360 is a good target and I think you'll achieve that, there's no reason not to when your focusing on the one sport.
My current FTP is 325w, I'm 76KG, which got me 22:20 (364w) earlier this year. I don't actually want to get it much higher, its enough to put in solid bike times at olympic, half and full iron tris. I just want to keep it more or less the same but with less hours spent per week to achieve it.
Got full VO2 Max test with blood profiling tomorrow evening so will see where I'm at.

BennyC · 22 Dec 2014 at 12:32

topgun06 said:
Same, I'd go with the cheaper.

This is a superb site for getting an idea of what your gear rations would be: http://www.gear-calculator.com/

Thanks, will take a look :cool:

topgun06 · 22 Dec 2014 at 13:01

BennyC said:
Thanks, will take a look

Assuming you have Shimano 10 speed on a compact: http://www.gear-calculator.com/#KB=...21,24,27&GT2=DERS&UF2=2099&TF=80&UF=2099&SL=2

But something like that.

Vonhelmet · 22 Dec 2014 at 13:52

I doubt my FTP is above 150W

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2014 at 14:07

Vonhelmet said:
I doubt my FTP is above 150W

I'm sure it's somewhat higher than that

One of my targets for the new year was going to be getting 4w/kg on TrainerRoad but I'm track to hit that before NYE so I need to rethink things I guess.

After hitting 10,000 miles this year I won't have a target miles - target elevation though, probably yes.

whyscotty · 22 Dec 2014 at 14:34

Roady said:
Gutted the Planetx has gone back but glad to hear you had no problems with the refund! Do you mind sharing the issues you had as I've got a friend looking at Planetx's (after my recommendation )... New bike looks good, I love the matt black look (one of the reasons I like the planetx's!)

Don't mind sharing

The problems were-

Couldn't change from the small to the large ring on the front mech (Sram Rival) quite a common fault according to google

Front brake had next to no stopping power BB7 :eek:

Lastly, the finish on the frame was poor

Will say though the customer care was 2nd to none.

grudas · 22 Dec 2014 at 14:49

whyscotty said:
Don't mind sharing

The problems were-

Couldn't change from the small to the large ring on the front mech (Sram Rival) quite a common fault according to google

Front brake had next to no stopping power BB7

Lastly, the finish on the frame was poor

Will say though the customer care was 2nd to none.

ordered my bike from PX and all was fine, mind you I didn't ride it much before ripping it apart and re-doing my self but as far as things went it was setup properly

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2014 at 14:53

grudas said:
ordered my bike from PX and all was fine, mind you I didn't ride it much before ripping it apart and re-doing my self but as far as things went it was setup properly

My PX bike wasn't set up ideally. Specs were decent for the money but yeah, the finish left a lot to be desired.

touch · 22 Dec 2014 at 14:57

I have the same frame with the same brakes (but I built mine myself) and I love them. They need adjusted frequently but they are very powerful.
Didnt notice anything wrong with the finish on the frame either. I do have a big scrape over the top tube but I kicked it with the metal studs in my mtb shoes, so that's to be expected

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2014 at 15:01

By finish I don't mean frame finish sorry - I meant more things like rim tape, cables, etc.

janp · 22 Dec 2014 at 15:07

Anyone got a CX bike? Any recommendations?
Going to replace my hybrid bike that I use for commuting, I'm fend up with it. Want something with disc brakes, that I can still take up the woods. I was looking at that green Planet X commuter bike (I think it was called "London"), but it didn't really want to spend quite that much (£1k).

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2014 at 15:11

janp said:
Anyone got a CX bike? Any recommendations?
Going to replace my hybrid bike that I use for commuting, I'm fend up with it. Want something with disc brakes, that I can still take up the woods. I was looking at that green Planet X commuter bike (I think it was called "London"), but it didn't really want to spend quite that much (£1k).

Charge Plug 4? It's quite a bit less good than the London though :/

I presume you want mudguard mounts? How about a rack?

The CP4 has both of those and some fairly blah disc brakes (similar to BB5s). Personally I prefer the Whyte Suffolk/Dorset and/or the PX London but those are all more expensive options.

janp · 22 Dec 2014 at 15:23

FrenchTart said:
Charge Plug 4? It's quite a bit less good than the London though :/

I presume you want mudguard mounts? How about a rack?

The CP4 has both of those and some fairly blah disc brakes (similar to BB5s). Personally I prefer the Whyte Suffolk/Dorset and/or the PX London but those are all more expensive options.

Rack isn't required, mudguard mounts are though.

I can afford to buy a nice bike, but I will need to store it in the bike shed at work. My commuter bike gets vandalised a lot, last week somebody stole my pedals :/ I really wanted a KMT Canic CXA, but it's £1,200.