Anyone spot any deals on bare frames let me know - generally after something steel/alloy probably rim brake to use on the turbo. Mine has a crack at the seat/headtube junction and although looks like Giant will replace under warranty (Giant Defy 2015) they want to supply a Contend (at a guess the alloy one). I'm seeing if LBS will let me change size of the replacement so can use it for the other half, or even if they will let me 'upgrade' to another model. Will be amazing if they say I can maybe pay the difference and pick up a bare frame for a TCR Advanced, but we'll see...
Also anyone spotting a BF deal on an AppleTV let me know. Need to grab one to set a friend up on Zwift and quite fancy trying it myself first to figure out if that's what I do or start to put a PC together when I can find a GPU.
Also need some kind of external Wifi extender for my mate to use, his turbo will be in a shed/garage and his Wifi doesn't reach.
Can see TP-Link do one so that's the current thought, just drill a hole through and mount to exterior wall...
https://www.crudproducts.com/roadracer-mk3/
I've used these in the past and I prefer them to the SKS Raceblades I have on the winter bike now.
Good shout, have seen a few people use these recently and they seem to fit well. Much better than the earlier v1's I tried for one winter probably 6-7 years ago which would barely stretch over a 25mm tyre and just broke/wore out after a couple of months. Can be a bit noisy at times but then again the Raceblade wasn't exactly silent. I still like the Raceblade Longs/XL and have them fitted to the other halfs commuter. They've taken a beating but into their 4 or 5th winter. I've got another set sat on the shelf and 2 old pairs of my own for parts.
Somebody needs to make some proper quick pop release mudguards that go into the proper mounts like oms Im swapping between gravel and road wheels and being able to pop something on off that you know is solid and fitted to your wheels/tyres would be brilliant, plus they'd actually cover the back wheel so you're not told to sit at the back on a club run.
The Raceblade XL's my other half has have a long flap at the back, pretty close to the complete coverage you get from a full guard. Although hers are fitted to the QR adaptors, I've fitted them before (on mine) to proper mounting points not an issue.
Are any of you in cycling clubs? How do you go about finding them (I don't use facebook) and how friendly do they tend to be especially to someone who is less than a beginner? Bit annoyed as during the summer my friends who convinced me to upgrade from my fixie to a road bike reassured me that they'd be cycling through the winter so I took a bit of my purchase based on that. We're barely into Autumn and they're already finding excuses! I've enjoyed the few solo cycles I've done but think I'd enjoy it much more cycling with others. Though my worry is I'd be dreadful compared to them and I don't want to hold anyone back from a good ride!
As mentioned look through BC clubs, but also a trawl around Facebook. Another good shout can be a local bike shop - ask them what clubs around are best for a beginner looking for social rides. Another shout can be to look at local Strava segments on roads you enjoy riding that you see other riders on. The popular cycling routes. Filter by this year/last and look for riders names popping up in various places. If you're seeing the same riders they're very likely local to you and if looking for riders only marginally quicker than you on said segments they will be similar ability. Look at their profiles (if public) and see if they log group rides on the weekends or what Strava groups they're in for some local club names. Then google/facebook the club to see if you can get an idea of the rides they do, distances and abilities.
Does anyone have recommendations for gloves? Ideally something suitable for a 5-12c ish temp range. Have some cheap Bontrager windproof ones at the moment but the temp range I find them usable is really small.
Anything windproof really, but interesting on how poor you find the bontrager, as I would expect them to be pretty good. They too warm, or too cold in that temp range? I can be quite specific to you as a rider what your hands need. I'm quite lucky as don't suffer with sweaty hands, so can wrap them up. I also don't suffer too bad with cold hands, but hot hands is pretty uncomfortable, but then I'll happily strip them off and ride gloveless the very few times that happens per year.
If you suffer with cold hands then some really good
neoprene ones will work wonders, but you can get clammy hands in them easily. I tend to go for a thicker thermal glove and find a bit of breathability works best for me. My deep winter glove is a Sportful 'S
otto Zero' and I will wear them in the -15 to 3-4 degree temp range. I find them too warm over that, they're also not great in the wet as tend to get sodden. The
Fiandre/NoRain version is meant to be better in the wet - but I'm not the sort of person to own multiple pairs of gloves costing £50+! My go-to this time of year is more similar to
Sportful 'Essential windstopper' - although the current ones seem thicker than mine and are probably double the price I would pay.
I wear Sportful gloves as they fit me better than Castelli and are a little bit cheaper. My other half actually wears snowboarding gloves this time of year, mobility must be terrible in them but she bought some expensive leather ones and says they're great. She suffers with cold hands.
Jesus it was cold this morning, 2 pairs of socks and winter boots (pre warmed on the shoe dryer) plus 2 baselayers! still took me a while to get comfy and hands were still not warm enough!
Couldn't find my head band so had to use a cap this morning. Now a question as if I use my headband when it's chilly - say 5c to keep my ears warm i get a sweaty head, but a cap doesn't cover your ears obviously. Does anyone have a lightweight headband they could recommend just to keep my ears a little warmer!
@Roady you have clothes for every occasion so this question might be for you
Yeah bitter cold wind here Tuesday and again today. Ambient is 2-3 but the windchill is -2 or -3. No ice around, but car windscreens and such frozen from it.
I did do headbands a few years back, DHB do one which is windproof but I found that just meant I sweated a bunch under it, as it had no absorption. It also had horrible cut vent holes over the ears, which although worked meant you got a bunch of wind noise from them. I'm a hat wearer now. Almost any time of year. My go-to is again
DHB 'windslam' and they seem to revamp them every year or two. I have one which doesn't cover ears (great), one which does and is too tight, then 2 which do and are good - including the current one in their range. You might find the top of head bit quite sweaty coming from just bands. I do sweat in them, but with very little hair on top have no 'natural insulation' so for me it's a small price to pay to be warm. Normal cotton caps don't keep the wind off, but when the wind is this cold, I will sometimes wear a scullcap under a normal cotton cap to get more insulation on top, then strip off the scull cap later when I'm warmed up. It's warmer than the DHB caps. I do also have thicker 'winter' hats I will wear but not until things are below zero.
Neck buffs are superb, I wear one almost all year round when setting out in the morning. Autumn/Winter/Spring will wear all the way around. I actually pull them up over the rear of my head, over my cap, under helmet rear stap to hold it, then down over ears and cheeks under my nose. Can pull the front to adjust over mouth/chin/ears up and down as I ride without it popping down at the back. Do sweat in them, but I'm a rider that feels the cold on my face/neck/head so prefer to overheat there. Stopping the wind is key for me. I probably have 20+ buffs and will match/colour code them to kits I'm wearing. Have a couple with reflective bits in them, some of them thermal and multiple layers for the really cold (use them snowboarding) and even a (you guessed it)
DHB windslam one. But wouldn't recommend, it's not a great fit, or very functional outside of the -10 commutes.
Ultimately I want to get to a point where I can do 50-60 miles cycling without worrying too much by next summer. It's quite fun how quickly I feel like I am progressing though so I feel by the time summer comes and I would've been riding (properly) for a year these longer rides I have my eyes on will be easier faster.
If you find a club that does weekend social rides and is generally quite 'older rider' based then you'll be fine. Local one to me 'Hereford Wheelers' do a club ride on saturdays I actually skip as it's too slow and too long for me... 12-13mph avg and 50-60 miles. It can sometimes take all day as you really don't know where you're going until you get there with the old 70+ y/o ride leader lol
Good luck with the 40 miler
Looks blinkin freezin at the weekend so will set the trainer up I think.
Missing those lovely summer rides for sure. I spent a week touring around Anglesey, Newborough Beach end of August, ahhhh ....
Great picture, is that a Diverge? Or a Crux?
