As for Superstar - nice. I've got a red lockring hanging around from them. Not sure in the value of coloured chainring bolts considering pretty invisible but can't hurt.
And also my Scirocco's have shed the freehub bearings again, rear rim isn't looking ideal so perhaps it's time to change them. Lasted a touch over 2 years (though the freehub bearings changed multiple times... main bearings are good). I hate bikes!
Yeah superstar popped up and knowing they tend to fabricate their own kit made me think they'd have them in stock and postage wouldn't be horrific/long wait for international rather than an unknown.
Ingress bad on the Scirocco's? You seem to to get through wheels like nothing, ever considered going Disk brake just to save on the costs of all the wheels you seem to wear out?
I'd say aim at something more solid for your day to day/bad weather riding, maybe custom built from someone British who knows what they're doing to get something reliable and weatherproof?!
Had been considering picking up a Pinnacle Arkose D3. However it looks like today Evans are showing their 2021 models. With D1 to D4 bikes available, plus an X version again too.
Couple of months until they're available. Does anyone have any info on these? Or advice in general. I like the idea of the Shimano 105 group set with hydraulic brakes. The D3 seemed about best value for that. I'd like to see what the 2021 models bring, if not much different I'd be happy with a 2020 D3 at a healthy discount...
https://www.evanscycles.com/bikes/gravel-bikes/pinnacle
Seem to think
@SoliD had an Arkrose? Or at least a similar Pinnacle. They're a good brand around that price point, seen as a reliable commuter but that's probably as quite of few of them come with guards. I'm sure there are others here with experience of them...
I know this is a bit of 'How to life' question, but does anyone have any tips on refueling on longer rides (8 hours plus)? I will stuff my jersey, saddle bag and bottle holders with as much as will fit, but I'm going to need to stop to take on more water on route. Problem is I'll be alone and don't want to leave my bike somewhere (I'm not lugging a bike lock with me).
I think the only option is to try and find a little village shop where I can shout my order through the front door!
As mentioned a little 'cafe' lock is the best bet. They won't stand up to anything - but will stop any opportunistic thief. Get one with a combination on it and you don't need to worry about keys and can just sling it in a pocket/bag whenever you fancy. I carry one in my commuting bag,
an Abus like this and it easily fits in half a jersey pocket (or less).
If you want something more substantial my other half has quite a neat cable lock, an Abus again, the cable is thick enough (15mm) she uses it on high-street bike racks and it has a little carrier which fits into the rear of the seatpost clamp mounting bolt (
3rd picture in here) so is always with her. It's not that heavy either, maybe 250-350g. I always liked the look of 'hiploc' and the litelock type things but they are crazy money and lots of bad press about some of them and the easy methods they can be defeated. My daily is a Kryptonite and if I ever take my bike into town (maybe 2-3 times a year max) I'll carry it with me. If I did it more regularly I'd get something lighter, or something to frame mount rather than carrying it in my bag as it is heavy...
Fuelling is hard and quite a personal thing for what really works for you, hate to say it but you'll have to try the various things out. I try to be as self sufficient as possible, carrying everything with me, but I will always have some cash for a shop stop/emergency if I need to. I have 2 bottle cages and use 800ml bottles in them on longer rides. I'll also carry 2 bottles in my pockets in the really hot weather, even had an ingenus way of 'strapping' empty bottles to my old saddle bag to make pockets more comfortable later in the ride... If I did it more than a few times a year I'd get a seatpost holder/carrier.
Topeak do one which would fit to seattube and they did have them in Halfords and Evans' for around 10 quid. I'd seen others to mount a bottle on the downtube
and Elite seem to do this kit now too. £5.
Tacx do a saddle rail mount for not crazy money (£14), but I think if doing that I'd have to go for a double to make it worthwhile...
Food. Lots of people swear by Soreen but I always found it too mushy/gooey when it's been in a warm jersey. It did work well for me though, I would say jam sandwiches and I've been tempted to do a jam & peanut butter before now, but never have. Would probably have the same mushy/melting issue as soreen. I've done lots of 'energy' type bars before and not many agree with me enough to consider again (ok when riding but after effects). Cliff bars I really enjoyed, although expensive, but I then figured that more natural oats and flapjacks seem to work best for me. Even made some (+ricecakes) with protein powder in them but wasn't a great experiment. It's hard to make them soft enough they're easy to eat while riding without them being too soft so they 'melt' in a pocket.
More recently I went through the various cheaper natural ingredient kinda bars, Trek flapjack where good, but since them (last couple of years) I've settled on NAKD bars. Any of the flavours agree with me - they're regularly in sales online but even more recently some great sales in supermarkets. Can get 15+ bars for £10 if you snag sales. The ones I watch out for are like 'buy 3 for £10' on their boxes. Whenever there's a good deal on them I'll go buy 5-10 boxes at once, various flavours and then just mix them up when taking some to ride with to keep things varied. When riding anything over 2 hours I'll try and eat 1 per hour, social/club kinda rides. Riding harder I might also have something with more sugar, jellybabies are good for that. Organised sportives I'll use a combination of whatever food is on offer and my own, so at least it's not a total shock to my system. Bananas are good and seem to be a popular supply. As are homemade cakes/sandwiches.
Drinks are a hard thing, long organised sportives I'll only generally ride with hydro tabs, taking spare tabs with me for future drinks (small toptube bag for food works well, keeping pockets free for other stuff). I dislike plain water. I have started mixing more energy drinks into my riding (when available) and harder riding from home my current fave is Sis 'Go' powder. It's great on the Turbo too, where I can get a little sick of hydro tabs. In hot weather I will regularly break a tab in half and use it across 2 bottles, more for flavour and some salts than anything else. I find some of them too For tabs I generally use whatever is cheapest - High5, Wiggle (own brand) or Powerbar. Sis hydro tabs don't agree with me, nor do any gels of any brand. I used to carry 1 or 2 gels as a 'get me home' on long rides and only consider them in the latter part of a ride if really struggling. I don't even do that anymore, I'd rather bonk/struggle back than have one and spend the next 2-3 days frequenting the toilet... Although if they're on a table in a sportive I'd probably pick one up 'just in case' as they do work...
Top tip. When you stop at a shop. A can of Coke and a Snickers is like some sort of cycling miracle after heaps of hours in the saddle. Don't ask me why, it is just scientific wizardry.
WTF. Irn bru man. Get it right. And BOOST bars. It's all in the name.
@#Chri5# good shout about peanuts. Although not sure I'd eat them when riding... Maybe if I had a bag of mixed dried fruit too?! I live off the stuff and peanuts most of the week for any hunger pangs and for night-time snacking. We tend to eat our evening meals a little too early for me (5-6pm), but it does work well for any evening Zwifting... But after that come 10pm I'm pretty ravenous. Salted Peanuts are supreme then.
