Road Cycling

Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
10,646
Maybe it's the roads here, my rear mudguard is also worn away at the bridge after 1k miles due to the vibration.

Loads of roads round here are that proper rough winter proof/hard wearing surface.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,437
Location
Hereford
Thanks, never really intended it to be mega stealth, but seems to work well like that! I did actually have the battleship grey one bought, then had a sudden change of mind to swap for black. Not sure grey and fluo yellow would work well with blue and orange team kit! I think it was the right choice.

Weight wise its come out at about 7.8kg which is a bit heavier than I was expecting. Combination of mostly ultegra kit and not the lightest wheelset/tyres etc vs Rovals and turbo cottons.

Just ordered a DA front mech which is a slight weight saving, might cut the seatpost too which may save a bit more weight, not that its of much importance weight as much as I do.

These may have also just slipped into my basket :o

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Grey & fluo works well (there's a couple of the newer spesh frames in that colour), but you almost have to match kit to them too. Especially as they're a pastel type matt finish.

I have inadvertently ended up doing that... The gloss/fluo 'hyper green' (more like a greeny off fluo, not-quite-yellow) Diverge. Them I'm commuting with a fluo backpack cover, fluo Castelli Perfetto gilet , fluo sealskinz I just bought (didn't really think that through...). Then there's the fluo gloves my other half got me for Christmas. I look like an advert for the colour fluo yellow. :rolleyes: :)

Then of course the summer shoes, Sidi Kaos in yellow! Whoops!

Stealth works when you have shoes like that and your fairly colourful team kit. Well, if the Navy blue comes out navy and not trying-to-be-black!

Weight pretty much where I was expecting, it is a Venge after all and not a Tarmac. Still amazing for the setup! Also the Rotor crankset must be giving up a hundred grams or so over the DA?

That would get a Super nice and a ring of a cowbell, stunning :)
Naaaah, valves ain't straight! ;)

Here's my rear Corsa...


Emergency stopped somewhere, or been powersliding around car parks with your Corsa?! :p ;) :D
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Apr 2013
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3,067
Luckily we were only cruising due to weak winter legs! Any faster and I'd have failed to stop in time.

@Lethal` and @oli collett will testify that I'm famous for Lycra lout road rage.:D However, if someone apologises and accepts responsibility it generally calms me down.

Fair play pal and good on you. Just glad it ended that way as opposed to you whacking his car at speed or whacking him in the face.

I think you might agree but the properly bad ones like this one leave you more shook up rather than immediately angry/confrontational.... It's the deliberate close passes and people blatantly being a-holes that get us completely riled up and ragey on the spot.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jul 2003
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5,664
Location
floating down the Liffey
Fair play pal and good on you. Just glad it ended that way as opposed to you whacking his car at speed or whacking him in the face.

I think you might agree but the properly bad ones like this one leave you more shook up rather than immediately angry/confrontational.... It's the deliberate close passes and people blatantly being a-holes that get us completely riled up and ragey on the spot.

Yeah, I was definitely shaken up and very relieved it wasn't a higher speed collision.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,437
Location
Hereford
My week of witnessing accidents continues,

just leaving work last night and spot someone jumping a red light at what looked like 30odd mph and almost completely smashed into a van of the company I work for. I made my way over as wasn't sure if anyone else had stopped/was hit, saw the driver of the car that jumped the red light, asked if he was ok, to which I got a reply that he had hit a cyclist. Went over a bit further and it was a guy I work with. I was instantly on to the police, and started taking details, somehow my mate was alright, his bike had a buckled and cracked rear wheel, frame was fine as was the tyre which didn't even puncture but he had no scratches on him or his clothes whatsoever.

The driver was very apologetic but was then in no fit state to drive home, which was a good 120 miles away, I had to move his car out of the carriageway as he was too shake. He admitted at the scene he was looking at his sat nav, but for my mate to get to where he was hit he must have jumped the lights by a good 3 or 4 seconds after they went red.

Police didn't come out as an ambulance wasn't called, friends a bit bruised and stiff today but no worse somehow. Scarily we were talking on the way out of the building about him getting a new helmet as his current one is uncomfortable and thus he isn't wearing it currently! seeing what I saw he was bloody lucky to walk away, it could have been horrendous if the car had properly clipped his bike! but looking at the damage of the car (barely a scratch on the front bumper) and the bike he must have barely touched the backwheel but due to the speed caused the damage.
He's very very lucky! It's crazy how little attention some people are paying to the road at times!

Guy from my work who came off just before Christmas is finally out of a coma. They're not sure how much of a recovery he'll make, certainly life changing injuries.

He was descending quickly and either hit or swerved to avoid some debris, lost control and hit the side of a lorry travelling the other direction before barrelling down the road. Driver following didn't hit him but was amazed he survived. He probably wouldn't have without a helmet on.

Please ride safe guys! :o

Thanks, better view of the wheels/decals. Black the whole way round, not how they appear to fade as in the photo.

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Have seen those Knight decals photograph like that before, they must be really really shiny?!

Fun ride today with low winter sun...


Alt angle...

Scary how little attention they're paying to the road! Ignorant ar*eholes! Old people all of them?! Prince Phillip is only an isolated incident of a far larger problem. :rolleyes:

You almost need a front flashing light to draw attention when conditions are like that. You're wearing quite dark clothing (compared to your friend following!) but that shouldn't be an excuse (but would probably stand up in court).

You obviously need the Rapha Brevet Gilet in pink to go with your gloves! Currently on a great sale. #excuses :D

Luckily we were only cruising due to weak winter legs! Any faster and I'd have failed to stop in time.
Still carrying some good pace! Still action cam footage can look quick at times... Good job shedding that speed in a well controlled way!

Discs ftw! Gotta love the back wheel 'bump' (as you hit him from the following footage)! :D
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jul 2003
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Location
floating down the Liffey
If you notice in the video, I have a pink gilet in my pocket and I'm wearing pink gloves!:p

I also have a light built into my camera but it wasn't flashing at that point because I considered visibility to be pretty good at that time - unless you have to look towards the sun.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2003
Posts
7,173
Location
Shropshire
They were a little too close Shamrock!

I had somebody try to close pass me on a narrow lane close to home the other week:

Sgp3Mhol.png.jpg

That's strictly one car wide, so I've no idea how the driver thought they were going to pass me. They got some very choice language and arm waving, which thankfully made them back off.

I saw the ***** about 2 miles down the road - they'd parked up on the edge of our village and were busy putting walking boots on. Sorry for that 5 second delay :rolleyes: :mad:
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2006
Posts
5,386
You almost need a front flashing light to draw attention when conditions are like that

Second incident (filmed with two riders in front - I'm on the front)... the driver literally looked at me and my flashing 760 lumen light, looked left to see that traffic had stopped, looked at me again and then went. I'm pretty sure he saw us but just thought "sod it".
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,437
Location
Hereford
If you notice in the video, I have a pink gilet in my pocket and I'm wearing pink gloves!:p

I also have a light built into my camera but it wasn't flashing at that point because I considered visibility to be pretty good at that time - unless you have to look towards the sun.
Haha, hadn't noticed in the video sorry! The gloves are very noticeable!

I think that's the thing, we know visibility is good. We can see perfectly. We have good vision. But the driver may have bad eyesight, a dirty window, glare/reflection on the glass and their glasses. Then of course there's the 'don't care, it's only a cyclist' culture.

I still think/feel the majority of drivers on the roads doing stupid things are older and have awful eyesight. Bring in compulsory testing for the over 60's! Like anything sensible like that would happen. :rolleyes:

They were a little too close Shamrock!

I had somebody try to close pass me on a narrow lane close to home the other week:

Sgp3Mhol.png.jpg

That's strictly one car wide, so I've no idea how the driver thought they were going to pass me. They got some very choice language and arm waving, which thankfully made them back off.

I saw the ***** about 2 miles down the road - they'd parked up on the edge of our village and were busy putting walking boots on. Sorry for that 5 second delay :rolleyes: :mad:
Breathe in! I hope you passed them closely to return the favour screaming abuse. Idiots. Especially as slightly further up from that spot (if exact location?) there's a drive/pull in perfectly wide enough for you to allow them through.

Drives me mad when it happens to me - the majority of these drivers are local enough to know the roads well enough, so they know where the pull-ins are. I had a car pass me here, even though I'd tried not to let him through, I had to stop&unclip to avoid being pushed into the hedge!

Second incident (filmed with two riders in front - I'm on the front)... the driver literally looked at me and my flashing 760 lumen light, looked left to see that traffic had stopped, looked at me again and then went. I'm pretty sure he saw us but just thought "sod it".
Really seems that way doesn't it, you can spot the tell tale signs can't you - their brain thinking 'cyclist not car, can't possibly be moving faster than walking pace so I've got time to go'. Unfortunately they've all got the reactions of a slug, so the 2s look, 5s pause, then 3s of pulling away doesn't compute as 10s of 'time before impact'.

I'm getting mildly annoyed just thinking about it and I've not had a close pass/close call for several weeks! :mad::o:eek:
 
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Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2003
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5,615
Location
Scotland
The thing that annoys me most about incidents with car drivers in this country, is that in my experience it's unique to the UK. I've ridden in Spain, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, France, Germany and even the USA with barely any issues. The few issues I have had, it's always been someone driving a hire car.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Apr 2013
Posts
3,067
The thing that annoys me most about incidents with car drivers in this country, is that in my experience it's unique to the UK. I've ridden in Spain, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, France, Germany and even the USA with barely any issues. The few issues I have had, it's always been someone driving a hire car.

It's exactly why I have grown to despise life in the UK. It's not just towards cyclists although I experience that multiple times per day which gets me really down!.... Everyone is self centred, selfish and only gives a toss about their own little bubble. Screw everyone else.

In recent times it has become MUCH worse in every way on day to day basis. I think it is due to how Pee'd off everyone is in general and how low everyone is kept with constant media/social negativity. NHS, Brexit, local councils, food banks, poverty, obesity, alcohol abuse.... blah blah blah. Our entire country and way of life is centred around negativity and resentment towards everyone we have to share it with.

It is only in the UK where you will have someone openly know they are completely in the wrong but when confronted on the fact, the wrongun natural reaction will be to go on the offensive. As opposed to just saying "sorry, my fault" and moving on. It truly is an insane country we live in.
 
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