Road Cycling
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that rain annoyed me yesterday! total british weather, wednesday - sunny/hot.. thursday - feels like I've just moved countries cold, windy, rain.. today - nice and warm again?!
commute was wet as hell! let's just hope sunday is at least as nice as today
I was very lucky yesterday, cycled to work @ 7:30, start work at 8. Rain starts at 8.30. Rain hammers down most of the day. Rain stops at 4:45. Leave work at 5:20. Get home dry, rain shower at 7ish.
Today is nice but the slight wind is cool, sun was out earlier but now it's clouded over, fingers crossed for the weekend!
in my opinion yes, I've had good experience with them
To be honest for the money (~£100) and the hassle I've had with my wheels (6+ hours and counting) a reliable wheelset will actually be a good investment!
I need wheels that are better than what I have
I think as mentioned before, anything we get will be an 'upgrade'! Our wheels tend to be on the heavier side without the reliability/bombproof-ness we should get from running heavier wheels...!
I think that's it and I can understand Halfords recommending them, it's just the LBS which should know better!? Unless previously the compound was better/best and now it's worse?
oh no doubt they will be better
stock giant wheels are very heavy from what I know! these are around 1900g! spin well, strong, low profile etc. You really can't go wrong with them! I paid like £140 18ish months ago!Need some winter gloves!
Down to -2c this morning and it's not even winter yet.
Was wearing Assos early winter gloves which are 6-12 with some basic long finger gloves under. I did have some Assos liners but can't find them....
Both Assos and Rapha rely on you buying their glove system, at $300+ for a full set its a bit rich even for me and I don't mind spending $ if it's good kit!
Down to -2c this morning and it's not even winter yet.
Was wearing Assos early winter gloves which are 6-12 with some basic long finger gloves under. I did have some Assos liners but can't find them....
Both Assos and Rapha rely on you buying their glove system, at $300+ for a full set its a bit rich even for me and I don't mind spending $ if it's good kit!
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Almost there now...just stopped for a snack. My legs really aren't feeling it today so it's going to be an incredibly slow ascent
oh no doubt they will be better
My Giant P-R2's are weighed as 1900g for the pair - src 1, src 2.
James' S-R2's are weighed as ~2000g for the pair - src 1
They're not light wheels, but not too heavy either as I think Giant solved many of their previous heavy wheel 'problems'.
I'm more interested in the reliability than any weight saving
My Giant P-R2's are weighed as 1900g for the pair - src 1, src 2.
James' S-R2's are weighed as ~2000g for the pair - src 1
They're not light wheels, but not too heavy either as I think Giant solved many of their previous heavy wheel 'problems'.
I'm more interested in the reliability than any weight saving
agree! I couldn't tell much difference between 1900wheelset and 1600!
maybe a little easier to "get of the line" but once rolling there's nothing between them.
Soldato
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I'd recommend the Rapha winter gloves (not the deep winter ones) with cheaper liners if you need a bit more warmth, rather than buying the whole system. They are good down to freezing though, and more with liners. I've got the lobster outers too but they're probably overkill for Oz! Amazing to have dry hands on the bike though, if only someone made similarly good overshoes...
The Rapha winter gloves actually have decent palm padding too (same as their mitts if you have them) which is a first for winter gloves.
I got very sweaty with the neoprene Rapha ones and I actually found bending my fingers in them required reasonable effort which was a pain after an hour or so.
I sold mine and got the Assos glove system from their outlet store. TBH I've never found it cold enough to need anything beyond the standard glove and so they should be plenty warm enough with liners.
I sold mine and got the Assos glove system from their outlet store. TBH I've never found it cold enough to need anything beyond the standard glove and so they should be plenty warm enough with liners.
agree! I couldn't tell much difference between 1900wheelset and 1600!
Fairly sure I wouldn't either, I'd probably not notice a 2kg difference when commuting! ~500g saving is only 5-10% of the weight I'm carrying on my back! It's probably even less than I carry in my saddle bag lol
To be honest with these last few weeks I've seriously considered swapping my Giant's wheels for the old wheels from my Carrera Virtuoso 2012. They've done 800 miles and although I've not checked them recently I'm fairly sure they're near true. They've never needed to be trued but probably weigh far in excess of 2.5kg! (12kg bike!). If changing them didn't mean having to remove the stubborn turbo trainer tyre (that was an arse to get on there) I probably would have!
EDIT: Got paid, Khamsim's ordered! You better not have failed me grudas! To be honest I can't spell Khamsim so I'm just going to call them my gurderwheels.
Seeing the prices of the Assos' and Rapha glove 'systems'... I can't see how they could be really worth it?! I can't see how a £65 'rain glove' is a sound 'investment' just to wear their brand. Maybe I'm missing something (not the first time!)
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A work colleague's 3-week old £2k+ Colgnago is currently sat in the lab. He let it fall over and the top tube whacked against a bike stand - suspected crack in the top tube 
I've given it some Geoff Capes and I don't think it's cracked. It has badly marked the tube but there doesn't seem to be any sign that it has actually cracked it. It looks like a short crack along the tube but although it's painted the top layer of carbon looks like it is UD and the crack is in the paint along the grain of the carbon. My personal opinion (as a fairly experienced mechanical tester of carbon fibre) is that if it got hit hard enough to crack the tube then it would have actually broken it. You rarely see carbon just crack - it either fails catastrophically or it survives, there is no middle ground.
I've given it some Geoff Capes and I don't think it's cracked. It has badly marked the tube but there doesn't seem to be any sign that it has actually cracked it. It looks like a short crack along the tube but although it's painted the top layer of carbon looks like it is UD and the crack is in the paint along the grain of the carbon. My personal opinion (as a fairly experienced mechanical tester of carbon fibre) is that if it got hit hard enough to crack the tube then it would have actually broken it. You rarely see carbon just crack - it either fails catastrophically or it survives, there is no middle ground.
A work colleague's 3-week old £2k+ Colgnago is currently sat in the lab. He let it fall over and the top tube whacked against a bike stand - suspected crack in the top tube
Poor poor bike!!
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Mow Cop wasn't that bad I thought, though I did take it extremely slowly due to my legs complaining all ride. The route to get out to it was awesome too - really nice Cheshire lanes with reasonable road surface all the way.
Awesome, thanks!
James how was your £10 cashback thingy working? BC?
Realised I've ordered new wheels and really don't want 1 set of tyres for 2 sets of rims!
Especially as I've marked these Giant tyres with my mudguards... Specific chainring bolts I'm finding hard to track down, there seems to be tons of options when riding MTB. Colours, widths and materials. I uderstand I need BCD30 and I'm guessing 8mm ones (seems to be standard on Shimano compact doubles?)
For road they all seem to be the type I don't want with the annoying rear wide fixing and made of steel or alu, ideally I want an allen/torx key fixing both sides as the rear wide part is easy to damage. I read somewhere that SRAM ones are like this but can't source them. My Giant Defy 1 2015 came with them but as they're Alu they corrode and will not stay tight.
I bought some Steel ones but have damaged them fitting them the first time due to the 'wide' type head, with an allen key type fitting they'll be easier to tighten and stronger. I'm even semi thinking about buying titanium ones as they would be stronger than steel and not corrode like alu...
Single speed tend to be the nuts I want (torx both sides) but then of course they're not wide enough for a compact/double.
Even expensive listed ones, Evans only list one set. SJS are a little better and I may get these. Still haven't seen any Ti ones listed anywhere?
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Yeah, I felt extremely sluggish for the first 30 miles so I'm happy my average speed picked up a little. I'm sure the elevation being how it was helped that though
Link to your ride mate? might nab the route and pay it a visit some time soon
The route from Alderely and back is here: https://www.strava.com/routes/2323559
I'm not sure you'll be able to view the ride due to privacy settings (though perhaps you can circumvent that by looking at recent rides in the OcUK group?) but here's the link anyhow:
https://www.strava.com/activities/304979234
My ride deviated from the route a bit at the very end as I wanted to do a few more miles.
The only kind of sucky bit on the route itself was just after Mow Cop when coming back down the other side. The road surface is extremely dodgy in parts and you need to go quite slowly or risk hitting semi-hidden pot holes.
You're right. From what i remember, the other side of Mow Cop is pretty rough.
I'm just impressed by anyone who can do over 45 miles on their own. I'm so glad I have a group of folks who I cycle with for motivation over the longer distances.
105 miles planned for Sunday
I'm just impressed by anyone who can do over 45 miles on their own. I'm so glad I have a group of folks who I cycle with for motivation over the longer distances.
105 miles planned for Sunday
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