Road Cycling

[FrenchTart]

Bike maint complete. I forgot that my old tyre on the front was 23mm and as such I needed to adjust the mudguard stays before it was ridable. Doh. Maybe I can get out for a very short ride.... I'll see if my guest is going to be as late as they usually are...

You only get better at hills by riding hills! I still struggle and regularly drop into my lowest gear to get up them, I can go up in higher gears but I know I'll tire myself more pushing up at 65/75rpm rather than spinning up slower at 90rpm. It takes some confidence to not 'push hard to get up it' but it is the only way I know I'll not cramp up or really struggle later in the ride.

It's all experience you'll only fully understand by doing. For example if my legs are tired I'll combine a measured standing effort (I'm getting good at pacing myself standing) to get 1/2 of the way then sit, recover a little to spin up the rest to maintain my speed over the crest. My legs feel better for the standing effort and the little bit of extra recovery it takes I find it easier to maintain my speed over the crest and afterwards. Everyone has their own way, that's mine currently! Longer steady climbs I'll combine multiple sits/stands to engage different muscle groups, shorter sharper I'll stand all the way!

Just to add that if you can spin up at 90 rpm then you should do. If you want to push up the hill, try to stay at 90 but in a slightly tougher gear than if you were taking it easy up the hill.

 

[grudas]

good call on torm! I remember browsing their shop a while ago!

http://torm.cc/t8.html#ad-image-0 should do well for the winter! anyone has one?

 

[Jono]

All in all a great ride even with my 'detour'. My legs felt fine on sunday (& today, back to commuting) no more tired than say a faster 30 which I've done regularly. The route was fantastic, I'll learn one day to test routes on my garmin before leaving the house! We were really lucky with the weather, enjoyed some fantastic cakes and raised a bundle of money for a local charity. Result!

Looks like a fun ride How'd you test rides on/with Garmin?

 

[Roady]

Looks like a fun ride How'd you test rides on/with Garmin?

Just start the garmin and load the route. A couple of times now my 810 'dies' when loading the route or pressing 'ride' after selecting it. Never got to the bottom of why, I'm half blaming Windows 8 as never had it when copying the file from my Windows 7...

good call on torm! I remember browsing their shop a while ago!

http://torm.cc/t8.html#ad-image-0 should do well for the winter! anyone has one?

Since when is a £60 jersey 'value for money' (review at bottom).?! Maybe it's just me (being outside the M25?) that £60 would be an expensive jersey, value for money would be £20-£30.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Since when is a £60 jersey 'value for money' (review at bottom).?! Maybe it's just me (being outside the M25?) that £60 would be an expensive jersey, value for money would be £20-£30.

They're really good jerseys. And when the nearest comparable jerseys are from Rapha and cost twice as much, it actually is good value. And I'm well beyond the reaches of the M25

 

[Jono]

Just start the garmin and load the route. A couple of times now my 810 'dies' when loading the route or pressing 'ride' after selecting it. Never got to the bottom of why, I'm half blaming Windows 8 as never had it when copying the file from my Windows 7...

Oh i see... duh
[/quote]
Since when is a £60 jersey 'value for money' (review at bottom).?! Maybe it's just me (being outside the M25?) that £60 would be an expensive jersey, value for money would be £20-£30. [/QUOTE]

I agree. But Von, what makes them so good? I know absolutely nothing about cycling clothing... other than I'm pleased with my Hoy bib shorts
I do need to buy some good quality cycling gear for autumn/winter, though.

My problem is: I'm fat, but also I'm naturally warmer than most people, always have been. So maybe if it's cold on a morning, by about 2 mins into a ride I'm nicely warm and unless I start off freezing then I'll be way too hot. But then if I do do that, then stop for any amount of time, I freeze again.

There MUST be some combination of clothes that will fix this

 

[Jonny69]

I understand i can use the 32 hole rim on the 16 hole rim and just skip a hole each time. I got these 2 for £7 combined.

How easy is it to move rims? I can swing a spanner and happy with technical and complex tasks.

Despite what the others have said, I've thought about this for a bit and I'm pretty sure you can't do it.

It's because the spoke holes are drilled in the rim at an angle (and are often staggered) so that the spoke hole points to the side of the hub that the spoke is going into. If you use every other hole then all the holes you use in the rim will be drilled in the same direction. You'd have to use two neighbouring holes in the rim, skip two, use two neighbouring holes, skip two, etc etc.

It'll work that way but your spokes will need to be a couple of mm longer to accommodate, because they won't be equally spaced around the rim.

 

[#Chri5#]

On a day like today you decided to stay in the garage for three hours?! Was a lovely day this morning! That takes some will power.

I was grovelling a lot through Angels. Was tempted to climb off but once I'd got through 30 minutes of it I decided I could finish the challenge. Makes me seriously respect the people who've done the Knighthood.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Use two adjacent holes and it'll look like some weird zonda variant

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Wheelbuilding is quite an art, I've never done it 'fully' (ie had to relace from scratch) only replaced a few spokes, all the nipples etc. It's a great way for understanding how a wheels structure works, the hardest part I found was knowing how much tension to put into the spokes. Just take your time and read lots of guides online.

I have been reading about this, and I don't buy the whole "black art" thingy. I always believe that if you read enough, and follow the process, you will be able to do it. I am sure that I will be back posting quite the opposite once I actually get stuck in though!!

Also be aware that building a bike isn't always the 'cheapest' option. You could find a complete second hand bike for the costs involved with tools & rims. Certainly if you're looking at a £30 rim with a £50 frame you're not far away from £100 with a few tools. Facebook local Buy/Sell groups are a great place to find deals, you can check things out before buying most of the time along with local pickup.

Oh, I know about that, but with careful buying, and selected use of second hand components, you can get a nice bike that is totally customised to your own liking, and I think with that in mind, you do end up with a better suited bike cheaper than buying an off the shelf, and changing a load of bits

I built this recently having never built before (praying I am not shot down for posting this in a road bike thread):

Because I wanted to build it on an old frame, and with semi-retro look, I had no other option but to self-build.

With the road bike idea, I just found I really enjoyed the process with the MTB and learned so much that it would be silly not to continue it and build another rather than buy off the peg and adapt it to me

 

[One More Solo]

My problem is: I'm fat, but also I'm naturally warmer than most people, always have been. So maybe if it's cold on a morning, by about 2 mins into a ride I'm nicely warm and unless I start off freezing then I'll be way too hot. But then if I do do that, then stop for any amount of time, I freeze again.

There MUST be some combination of clothes that will fix this

I've come to terms with the fact that you'll always be cold at the start of ride if you dress appropriately for the conditions, since like you say, if you start out warm then once you warm-up you'll be overheating.

Always factor in an additional layer in case you need to stop in winter though, could end up in a grim situation if you have a mechanical without enough warm clothing.

 

[Roady]

They're really good jerseys. And when the nearest comparable jerseys are from Rapha and cost twice as much, it actually is good value. And I'm well beyond the reaches of the M25

Fair enough, I just assumed they were 'another brand' as hadn't really heard the name before (so considered not as good quality as Castelli/Rapha/Ale etc)!

Oh i see... duh
My problem is: I'm fat, but also I'm naturally warmer than most people, always have been. So maybe if it's cold on a morning, by about 2 mins into a ride I'm nicely warm and unless I start off freezing then I'll be way too hot. But then if I do do that, then stop for any amount of time, I freeze again.

There MUST be some combination of clothes that will fix this

Multiple layers so you can almost micro manage yourself, it worked well for me and I still do it.

I previously didn't feel the cold when I was active (still don't to a degree) as I used to work outside in all weathers farming. Now I'm more office based I do, especially at the start of rides... Now I've trimmed some of my blubber I'm expecting things to be even worse this winter!

For commuting I 'dress to be warm' as I know I'm not going far and will probably take it easy if I start to overheat. I do the opposite for fast leisure riding!

Guys! Waterproof oversocks, suggestions? I have overshoes but I'm after something easier to carry in a jersey pocket.

 

[Vonhelmet]

I've come to terms with the fact that you'll always be cold at the start of ride if you dress appropriately for the conditions, since like you say, if you start out warm then once you warm-up you'll be overheating.

Always factor in an additional layer in case you need to stop in winter though, could end up in a grim situation if you have a mechanical without enough warm clothing.

I think it was Saytan who said that you should dress so that when you're stood still outside the house before you set off you're a bit on the cold side. Seems like fairly sound advice.

And yeah, definitely worth having something else you can put on in winter. Even just a packable raincoat will keep a lot of warmth in - usually too much

 

[Dunks]

Since when is a £60 jersey 'value for money' (review at bottom).?! Maybe it's just me (being outside the M25?) that £60 would be an expensive jersey, value for money would be £20-£30.

Didn't you buy some Castelli bibs? What makes them better than some costing £30-40?

 

[Vonhelmet]

Fair enough, I just assumed they were 'another brand' as hadn't really heard the name before (so considered not as good quality as Castelli/Rapha/Ale etc)!

They're a fairly small brand, and they only sell through their own site so far as I know, and they only do jerseys - no bib shorts or anything like that - so I guess they just aren't as well known. Mr Rapha, whatever his name is, threw his toys out of the pram on Twitter and they had some legal wranglings when Torm started selling jerseys because apparently the jerseys were really similar. The pocket layout in particular was very similar, so I hear. In Rapha's defence, the fabric they use does typically have a higher wool content, but for me at least the Torm stuff is fine. There's definitely a place for a wool jersey at that price, before you get into what is arguably silly money for Rapha gear (duck, incoming!), and to the best of my knowledge you can't patent or trademark pocket layout, and Rapha presumably hadn't in any case, so I think Torm are here to stay.

 

[touch]

Despite what the others have said, I've thought about this for a bit and I'm pretty sure you can't do it.

It's because the spoke holes are drilled in the rim at an angle (and are often staggered) so that the spoke hole points to the side of the hub that the spoke is going into. If you use every other hole then all the holes you use in the rim will be drilled in the same direction. You'd have to use two neighbouring holes in the rim, skip two, use two neighbouring holes, skip two, etc etc.

It'll work that way but your spokes will need to be a couple of mm longer to accommodate, because they won't be equally spaced around the rim.

You're right, the spoke holes will likely be offset and using every 2nd hold will mean using all the spokes offset in the same direction.
I dont think it'll cause any big problems though. Lots of rims are designed offset to accommodate disc rotors or cassettes at the hub.
Here is an example

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Despite what the others have said, I've thought about this for a bit and I'm pretty sure you can't do it.

It's because the spoke holes are drilled in the rim at an angle (and are often staggered) so that the spoke hole points to the side of the hub that the spoke is going into. If you use every other hole then all the holes you use in the rim will be drilled in the same direction. You'd have to use two neighbouring holes in the rim, skip two, use two neighbouring holes, skip two, etc etc.

It'll work that way but your spokes will need to be a couple of mm longer to accommodate, because they won't be equally spaced around the rim.

I missed this, very good point. Thanks
I guess I will just buy the cope rim, and use that instead, and just have the spare rear ready to go

 

[Jono]

Didn't you buy some Castelli bibs? What makes them better than some costing £30-40?

He paid £45 for them, though.

 

[Dunks]

He paid £45 for them, though.

Fair enough

On night shifts this week, boo! I'm a 9-5 (well, near enough with flexi time!) so it's gonna be a shock to the system.

Might take a long detour on the way to work for 10pm, nice and quiet!

 

[Jono]

Do you have mighty lights? I love riding at night (except for the midges)