Road Cycling

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broona said:
Hopefully picking up a 2015 Giant Defy Advanced 1 tomorrow, going to get them to swap the standard 25mm tyres for some 28mm ones, anyone recommend something fast rolling, good in most conditions and relatively puncture resistant without being stupidly heavy?

Also looking for SPD or SPD-SL shoes and pedals, used MTB shoes and pedals before but the shoes were too flexible so I ended up with pins and needles after 20 or so miles, any reasonably priced recommendation please? Cheers.
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As above GP4000's are great. Rather than getting new pedals and shoes you could just get some new shoes. XC race shoes just don't flex.
 
broona said:
Sonic or Scorpius? Still not sure if I want SPD or SPD-SL this time around, I'll have a crack with the lads in the bike shop tomorrow.
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I have the Scorpius.

Don't forget, with spd's, you can walk around too in them making them more convenient if you want to stop for a pint or something.
 
broona said:
Sonic or Scorpius? Still not sure if I want SPD or SPD-SL this time around, I'll have a crack with the lads in the bike shop tomorrow.
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I have the sonics myself. The upper looks identical to the scorpius. The sole is different, though. As far as I can see the scorpius have a less rigid sole, don't have vents in the sole, and have all the built up tread and whatnot to make them easier to walk in. And obvs they have a two bolt fitting rather than three.
 
What a lovely weekend!

Went over to Cumbria - well, near Carlisle with gf to stay with her parents and went out with dad and sister on Sunday and dad on Monday morning

https://www.strava.com/activities/380844599
https://www.strava.com/activities/381650276

Nothing special distance/time/speed/elevation-wise but the scenery around there is absolutely stunning. It's just such a joy to be riding around in, even if I got eaten by midges yesterday.

Weather was glorious too - didn't rain and was sunny all weekend until some of the way home :)

Good times.

Is anyone who doesn't usually ride to work riding to work on Thursday? I may try it. Not sure which way to go, though.
 
wow my legs are paying after a good squat sesh on sunday :o mental doms, no power etc.. !

that's what happens when you skip a leg day due to sprained ankle pfth!
 
touch said:
I bought some alpecin shampoo during the tdf as a joke. It's actually quite good and has replaced my normal shampoo now :)
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Margin gainz? ;)

I don't have enough hair left to warrant using shampoo. I blame the stress of coming here :p

Shamrock said:
We narrowly beat a team of serious/pro 14 year olds in a 6 lap team pursuit.:eek:
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Good work, gotta dash their hopes while they're young! Hope they spotted you having a beer & burger afterwards...

wez130 said:
Hills do not agree with me haha. Still, 10 miles is 10 miles and better than nothing.

https://www.strava.com/activities/381590410
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Keep it up! You're climbing ~60 feet per mile so will soon become quite a hill machine! Compared to me only doing ~35 feet per mile and I'm only recently pushing that up! ;)

broona said:
Hopefully picking up a 2015 Giant Defy Advanced 1 tomorrow, going to get them to swap the standard 25mm tyres for some 28mm ones, anyone recommend something fast rolling, good in most conditions and relatively puncture resistant without being stupidly heavy?
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Just go SPD-SL straight away unless you have a good reason for going SPD. I've been SPD for just over a year and in the new year I'll be going SPD-SL. I originally went SPD (with MTB shoes) as I'd not ridden clipless before and reading around they were the 'best to start with'. They've served me well commuting but for leisure/hard/fast group riding SPD-SL would've been a better choice.

Tyres. You may struggle with anything over 25mm on most Giant Defy's, due to frame clearance. Although with the AP1 being disc you'll have less issue with clearance on the brake bridges than others using calipers (like me). Mudguard clearance will be a pain too, although Giant have some new guards on the horizon for the Defy ranges.

Jono said:
Is anyone who doesn't usually ride to work riding to work on Thursday? I may try it. Not sure which way to go, though.
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What's special about Thursday? :confused:

grudas said:
wow my legs are paying after a good squat sesh on sunday :o mental doms, no power etc.. !
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Less excuses! MORE POWER!
 
I disagree with going SPD-SL. There are advantages to sticking with SPD and it's perfectly possible to get lightweight shoes and a setup with little float.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that it's the thing to do just because a lot of people do it. Many of them haven't ever tried using an SPD setup that is more suitable for road use and/or not aimed at amateurs (as in, real amateurs - I don't just mean non-pro cyclists).
 
Most Shimano shoes I've seen (though I've not looked at the high end to be fair) seem to be quite flexible. On the opposite side I've only really seen higher end Sidi shoes and they are definitely stiff. My friend rides with the below and seems to like them. I've got the SRS Dragons and they're very nice, but even more overpriced.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-genius-5-fit-carbon-road-shoes/

There are lots of options for garish/hideous colours on most of their shoes, which I see as a bonus :p
 
FrenchTart said:
Most Shimano shoes I've seen (though I've not looked at the high end to be fair) seem to be quite flexible. On the opposite side I've only really seen higher end Sidi shoes and they are definitely stiff. My friend rides with the below and seems to like them. I've got the SRS Dragons and they're very nice, but even more overpriced.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-genius-5-fit-carbon-road-shoes/

There are lots of options for garish/hideous colours on most of their shoes, which I see as a bonus :p
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those are SPD-SL's... :o but I'm looking to spend around £80, which may not be a lot for a pair of shoes but heck it! my £44 shimanos did a good job for like 1.5 years worth of riding!

liking these -;

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-rt8...|pcrid|67090787702|pkw||pmt||prd|5360461366uk
 
grudas said:
those are SPD-SL's... :o but I'm looking to spend around £80, which may not be a lot for a pair of shoes but heck it! my £44 shimanos did a good job for like 1.5 years worth of riding!

liking these -;

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-rt8...|pcrid|67090787702|pkw||pmt||prd|5360461366uk
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Oops. You're right. His are SPD. I meant to link to these (I think):

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-spider-srs-carbon-composite-mtb-shoes/

edit: Another friend rides with those exact shoes. They're fairly stiff but certainly not as stiff as my or my friend's Sidi shoes with carbon soles. They also started to die after about 3000 miles, similar to my old Shimano shoes (2000 miles). That said, once they started to die they kind of stopped in a half-dead state and have just about held together since.

edit 2: If you're looking to spend £80 I'm not sure what to suggest to be honest. I'm sure there's something out there - I just haven't looked into stuff around that price range myself.
 
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FrenchTart said:
Oops. You're right. His are SPD. I meant to link to these (I think):

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-spider-srs-carbon-composite-mtb-shoes/

edit: Another friend rides with those exact shoes. They're fairly stiff but certainly not as stiff as my or my friend's Sidi shoes with carbon soles. They also started to die after about 3000 miles, similar to my old Shimano shoes (2000 miles). That said, once they started to die they kind of stopped in a half-dead state and have just about held together since.

edit 2: If you're looking to spend £80 I'm not sure what to suggest to be honest. I'm sure there's something out there - I just haven't looked into stuff around that price range myself.
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I do like those sidi's... 3000 miles doesn't sound like much tbh :o especially when my shimanos lasted for 8000+ and are still going bar a hole near toe lol... !

think I'll pick another pair of shimanos and be done with it, hard to justify 150+ for a pair of shoes for commuting in all weathers :o
 
I had read previously online about SPD-SL's surface area between cleat and shoe being larger making it better for a firmer connection (better for power transfer) and pedaling technique. During my fit on saturday with the guy saying I'd made my arch problem worse by having MTB style shoes and SPD's - too much flex and lack of foot support.

Although my cheap shoes probably didn't help much - so much lateral flex in them. Obviously better shoes would've helped me and others won't have the same arch problem...

Congrats on 300 pages anyway guys :D

Commute in this morning felt slow after my weekend away (went to the Gower for 3 days, not cycling). Probably more due to the amount of dog walking my legs have done and not conditioned for...! It was damn cold here too! 5-6 degrees and wouldn't be surprised if it was lower overnight.
 
grudas said:
I do like those sidi's... 3000 miles doesn't sound like much tbh :o especially when my shimanos lasted for 8000+ and are still going bar a hole near toe lol... !

think I'll pick another pair of shimanos and be done with it, hard to justify 150+ for a pair of shoes for commuting in all weathers :o
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Yeah. My experiences of Shimano shoes is that they tend to fall apart quite quickly. Quite different to their bike components.

Personally I would try and find a shoe that is more CX or racing-oriented rather than a touring shoe.
 
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Roady said:
I had read previously online about SPD-SL's surface area between cleat and shoe being larger making it better for a firmer connection (better for power transfer) and pedaling technique. During my fit on saturday with the guy saying I'd made my arch problem worse by having MTB style shoes and SPD's - too much flex and lack of foot support.

Although my cheap shoes probably didn't help much - so much lateral flex in them. Obviously better shoes would've helped me and others won't have the same arch problem...

Congrats on 300 pages anyway guys :D

Commute in this morning felt slow after my weekend away (went to the Gower for 3 days, not cycling). Probably more due to the amount of dog walking my legs have done and not conditioned for...! It was damn cold here too! 5-6 degrees and wouldn't be surprised if it was lower overnight.
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Lack of foot support would've occurred on SLs. And the reduced float would've made knee problems more likely if you had bad technique and/or cleat setup. It's all swings and roundabouts. The flex was down to the shoes rather than the pedal.

The power transfer thing is debated quite a lot. I wouldn't take it as gospel as a lot of people that quote anything as "fact" generally have arrived at their opinion through confirmation bias.

One thing that SL does have going for it is that it's cheaper to get a stiffer and lighter setup. You pay for that in terms of cleat upkeep and walking like a duck though.
 
I've borrowed a friend's turbo trainer to set my bike up again. I did some basic measurements and my fit is way off, I guess through years of tweaking this and that and not paying attention to how far out I'd gone. I'm pretty certain this is why I've been so uncomfortable on my bike recently and it's probably a major contributor to my recent knee problems.

Question on fit: does anyone else use a layback seat post to get their saddle far enough back? It's not an excessively vertical seat tube on the bike, but I've got long legs for my height and my knees are otherwise quite a long way ahead of the pedal spindle which is a bad thing. I may try my other saddle in case it's just that the Rolls doesn't go very far back on the rails.
 
FrenchTart said:
Oops. You're right. His are SPD. I meant to link to these (I think):

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sidi-spider-srs-carbon-composite-mtb-shoes/

edit: Another friend rides with those exact shoes. They're fairly stiff but certainly not as stiff as my or my friend's Sidi shoes with carbon soles. They also started to die after about 3000 miles, similar to my old Shimano shoes (2000 miles). That said, once they started to die they kind of stopped in a half-dead state and have just about held together since.

edit 2: If you're looking to spend £80 I'm not sure what to suggest to be honest. I'm sure there's something out there - I just haven't looked into stuff around that price range myself.
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Been riding wearing Bont A-Threes and have over 20k km in them, crashed in them twice and ridden in the rain several times.

Replaced the heals after crashing and using them as a brake. Other time the ratchet mech got scuffed up but no damage just cosmetic.

I think the carbon sole helps prevent wear and is easy to dry. Spares available too online easy enough, can't say enough good things about them.
 
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