Road Cycling

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ayahuasca said:
Any recommendations for a heart rate monitor?
Click to expand...

Garmin standard one works for me, does occasionally slip off though.

Would recommend that you stay away from the wristband type monitors though. I brought a Mio Fuse wristband, which was pretty terrible. It gave inaccurate results when it was cold, and generally wouldn't react quickly enough to changes in my heart rate.

Good to be back on the bike at the weekend, the two+ weeks off certainly did me some good. Quite a lots been going on outside of my biking world lately, lots of changes going on with the family (all good for once!).
I also recently inherited a sizable chunk of cash, certainly enough for a new bike :eek:
Whilst I've resisted the temptation to buy Di2, I do think it's time for a pair of proper decent cycling shorts, as I'm still using MuddyFox ones :)

So, what are the best bibs money can buy? I'm guessing Castelli or Rapha, but figured I would come here for some suggestions.
 
Jonny ///M said:
What shifters is it you have? If it's the 5800/6800 stick with the 5800 calipers. 6700 will feel different as it's the older brake for the older levers.
Click to expand...

105 2015 Shifters, so 5800. I've ordered the 105 5800 calipers anyway as reading they're an upgrade over the Tektro R540 it came with (they're unbranded on the bike so just assumed 105 as everything else is!) - http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.1/19187/77294/#specifications

Ayahuasca said:
Any recommendations for a heart rate monitor?
Click to expand...

Wahoo TICKR here and can't rate it enough! BT & ANT+. Used it with iphone4. Samsung S5 and now my Garmin 810. Replaceable battery and doesn't have the strap problems that the Garmin HRM suffers from for less money! ;)

grudas said:
anyone have any northwave clothing ?

I'd like to get this -; http://www.wiggle.co.uk/northwave-sonic-sleeveless-jersey/

but sizing suggests that I need XL?! where I hardly if ever wear L... :|

so what's the sizing like? race/tight fit I guess? I need more space for arms/chest :?
Click to expand...

Race fit. I'm wearing their bib shorts currently as my best and ordered some more. Perfect fit for me as I'm quite stocky (short body, big thighs) I'm an XXL just for fit around my thighs, body is loose. Could squeeze in the XL I'm sure and the body would be a better fit. Maybe when they're in a deal (& in stock) on Wiggle... ;)
 
Back from a very wet metric century. Attempted to take it slowly as much as possible and combined that with not eating that much. It wasn't as bad as I expected though I think if the route hadn't been pancake flat I'd not have been able to take it so easy.
 
I'm still recovering from going out with some new guys from a bike shop and Lucy Garner on Saturday!

THAT was intense - it broke me!

Unsurprisingly it was a really quick ride and she didn't even break into a sweat - and she was leading most of it into a headwind!! Really nice lady though. :)
 
Vonhelmet said:
Urgh. I've just cycled 8 1/2 miles to the train station and hit a hail storm in the last mile. I'm wet through now! Stupid weather!
Click to expand...
I went for a ride as there was no more rain predicted and the skies were clear. Just 10 minutes in and in rolls the apocalypse followed by an absolute drenching! Thankfully I was on my hybrid as the roads were wet when I left so at least I had protection from road spray!

Met a real miserable **** before the rain hit. I was doing about 17 mph and he pulls out of his drive on his bike just up ahead of me. No worries as there was plenty of gap. I catch up a bit as he picks up speed, now on my road bike I'd overtake but I was on the lead hybrid and I wasn't exactly setting any land speed records so I match his speed (about 15 mph) and hold station about 3 bike lengths behind. After a bit he stabs his brakes quite hard but I think nothing of it. A bit further up he slows right down and pulls over. "I'm sorry but I just HATE people riding behind me."

We were on a narrow lane and he waits until there was a cyclist coming the other way to do this so with the other guy (quite rightly) riding away from the verge to avoid standing water it was a bit tight to get round. Anyway, if he hates people being behind him so much why not wait another 15 seconds before pulling out and I'd have been in front. :rolleyes: It wasn't until about 5 minutes later that I twigged that the brake stabbing was probably a "brake test" which was pointless as I was a fair distance behind.

Next time I see him I'll blast past and say "Sorry, I just HATE people dawdling in front of me" :p
 
Question for anyone that has done the (C2W) cycle to work thing.
My firm is running it again this year and I am wondering if its a decent way to get a cross bike. I fancy one to maybe try some cyclocross racing on and to use as a winter bike. I am a higher rate tax payer.
Also any recommendations for a bike would be welcome.
 
Calpol said:
Question for anyone that has done the (C2W) cycle to work thing.
My firm is running it again this year and I am wondering if its a decent way to get a cross bike. I fancy one to maybe try some cyclocross racing on and to use as a winter bike. I am a higher rate tax payer.
Also any recommendations for a bike would be welcome.
Click to expand...

I've done it a few times and I'd recommend it. The savings are modest but the easy spreading of payments is the main advantage. There's a lot of people that get stressed out about not officially "owning" the bike immediately (or, in fact, for ages after you finish paying for it) but I've never had any issues arise from this, despite having had one bike stolen and having sold two others after I've out-grown them.

There are a couple of things to look out for with regards to where you purchase from:

1) Not all shops will support your particular scheme. You'll need to double-check this.

2) Some shops (and sadly more often the ones that are mostly online-based) will charge you a small admin fee when buying a bike on the scheme. This can vary from something like 7-12%, with 10% being the most common.

3) Some (these days most) shops will let you top-up the voucher in order to get something better. As you're a more experienced rider I think you're going to want to do this to get the kind of components you want. Then again, you might not be limited to a £1000 voucher as I am.

If I remember correctly, Evans and a few other places stock the Norco CX range which have some very nice models for not much more than the £1000 C2W scheme.

Unfortunately, my favourite pre-built CX bike, the Canyon Inflite AL 9.0 isn't available on the C2W scheme :/

If you fancy doing things a bit differently, I recently built up a very nice CX bike with full Ultegra, Shimano hydraulic discs and a Chinese carbon frame for £1500 (plus pedals). I spread the cost across two months so it wasn't too painful.
 
Thanks for that both. The scheme is administered through Halfords but you can source a bike through the network of Independent Bike shops. I fancy something Belgian like a Ridley or maybe a Kinesis but the Crosslight 6 is £1200 I think.
 
For certain shops it lets you spend up to £1000 for the cycle scheme thing but you can pay extra towards it at your cost. This is purely a rumour and I cannot vouch for the source of the information. ;)

So £1200 bike you'd pay £200 of your own money.
 
Calpol said:
Question for anyone that has done the (C2W) cycle to work thing.
My firm is running it again this year and I am wondering if its a decent way to get a cross bike. I fancy one to maybe try some cyclocross racing on and to use as a winter bike. I am a higher rate tax payer.
Also any recommendations for a bike would be welcome.
Click to expand...

I got my Pinnacle Arkose 4 from Evans after so much umming, arghing, toing and froing between what I wanted. Topped it up by £1250, could not find a bike with anywhere near the spec I wanted (105 5800 everything except crank, hydraulic shimano brakes, carbon fork) as with planet x etc you would have to pay an admin fee and then the prices etc don't work out so well.
 
My ANT+ USB arrived today, got it all working so my HRM and Speed & Cadence sensor are feeding in to TrainerRoad. I'm a bit confused which Turbo I need to chose from the list though...

I have a CycleOps Mag which has no difficulty adjustment other than using the bikes gears. (There is another black dial which I think might affect difficulty? I had a play when I first set the trainer up but haven't touched it since).

I was fortunate enough to have a quick spin on a proper watt bike at the weekend so have a rough idea what 200,300,400 watts feels like. A quick test this evening and the readings seem a little on the low side by comparison (RPE) and think the trainer/difficulty I've selected might be the cause?

Any advice would be great :)
 
I'm staying the night at my parents so that gives me a chance to weigh myself - I'm down to 71kg now. I'd like to get under 70kg, just because it's as good a target as any. Nearly there now. Quite surprising considering the amount of rubbish I eat.
 
Vonhelmet said:
The lad who sits opposite me at work is trying to get hench, and is constantly piling chicken after chicken into his mouth. It's not working.
Click to expand...

Same here! I eat LOADS of food.. Weighted my evening meal today which included 450grams of chicken + rice + greens the whole plate weighted 1.8kg! I eat 4000+ kcals a day, massive burgers etc and I'm still gaining nothing.. ! Balls.
 
Robzere31 said:
I got down to 75kg a couple of years ago but I've slowly crept back up to 82kg now :(
Click to expand...

I'm hovering around 81kg at the moment. Annoying as I got down to 78kg earlier in the year. Although I look leaner now than I have done in a while, which is odd too.

Really struggle with being disciplined enough to eat just the right amount in order to have enough energy to train effectively and drop weight.

Considering I lost 30kg a few years back I shouldn't have a problem, but just doesn't work atm.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom