Road Cycling Essentials

willems · 31 Oct 2012 at 16:05

[Damien];23073137 said:
I'm busy next weekend. No worries though. We can do it another time. Maybe see if minty wants to come.

im looking to have a go at some hills im in the liverpool area. we should do a group ride one day

[Damien] · 31 Oct 2012 at 16:15

willems said:
im looking to have a go at some hills im in the liverpool area. we should do a group ride one day

I'll pass thanks. I'd turn my back for a sec and find my wheels gone and my bike mounted on bricks.

beh · 31 Oct 2012 at 16:53

Vonhelmet said:
Nearly had an accident on a quick jaunt this evening. A dog failed to look both ways before crossing the road and stepped out in front of me I swerved and the dog scrabbled back onto the pavement. That would have been a fun little crash. Stop, look, listen, think Mr Dog!

I hit a dog last week. It was distracted playing with a kid and ran out on to the road and under my wheel. Kid got a bit of a telling off from his dad, and both were suitably apologetic. Was just coasting along so thankfully only very minor damage all round.

Shimmyhill said:
I have to say im pretty impressed with the Bryton 40 i bought - £110 with HR strap then i added a Garmin cadence sensor (its better than the bryton one) for £26.

Also picked up a Rider 40 on the cheap recently, with all the bits. Not much to compare it with beyond my old wireless Cateye but similarly impressed. Had been after a Garmin 500 but even the base unit alone was quite a bit more which seems hard to justify.

Shadowness · 31 Oct 2012 at 17:41

Much better with the wide angle lens. Crappy phone pic, but you get the idea. No obvious hotspot like there was before, and much better illumination for cycling.

MikeHunt79 · 31 Oct 2012 at 17:44

VeNT said:
need new cycle computer
what cheap one would you guys recommend ?

I use a Cateye Velo 5, works great.

Lakeland · 31 Oct 2012 at 17:50

VeNT said:
need new cycle computer
what cheap one would you guys recommend ?

What features are you after? I have one you could have on the cheap. I bought it while waiting for my Ribble to be built and decided to get a GPS version in the mean time so it's just sat there at the moment

daveski · 31 Oct 2012 at 17:59

Commute home tonight, I'm getting quicker

http://app.strava.com/activities/26578684

topgun06 · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:42

Hummmmm. Now can I be bothered to have a spin on the trainer tonight?! Humm.

RetiredGreyFox · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:48

Hamster said:
I think you need a Hornit!!

http://www.thehornit.com/

Nice

mr tommo said:
Sneyd Green through Blurton then finishing up in Barlaston. It's mainly the country lanes in Barlaston that will be the problem.

Off to Swinnerton cycles today to get winter proof with clothes etc.

My Dad lives in Cromwell Street, Sneyd Green and I live less than 100 yards from Bargain Booze on Blurton Road.
That lane down to Barlaston will be horrendous and I used to use it for my regular 10 mile and 13.1 mile runs (on foot).

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from Swinnertons but their winter clothes are seriously expensive.
(I also used to live virtually opposite Swinno's when I got married in 1980).

[Damien] · 31 Oct 2012 at 18:56

Ugh, worst commute ever. Rain, idiot drivers, heavy traffic and wet leaves.

I'm missing my disc brakes...

EndlessSky · 31 Oct 2012 at 19:13

mr tommo said:
finishing up in Barlaston. It's mainly the country lanes in Barlaston that will be the problem.

Do you work at Wedgwood by chance? Some cracking riding around Barlaston, "Wedgwood drive decent" is a nice Strava segment if you can fit it in on your commute.

topgun06 · 31 Oct 2012 at 20:41

Well, forced myself onto the trainer and did just 10mi. Enjoyed it less so than usual tonight, plus my legs were aching more than normal for some reason.

minty · 31 Oct 2012 at 21:26

[Damien];23073137 said:
I'm busy next weekend. No worries though. We can do it another time. Maybe see if minty wants to come.

Ive got nothing on this weekend, work dont need me in so i will be able to get some miles in

Im free most sundays as well

touch · 31 Oct 2012 at 21:47

grudas said:
cold? its not that cold yet

It is for some of us!
2 degrees on my ride this evening

ShiWarrior · 31 Oct 2012 at 22:35

touch is right, unfortuantly im one of the unlucky ones that when its bit cold i freeze
not too bad this morning though was about 12 degrees at most (around 11am) and i had quite a bit on and i did start to sweat a bit in the end

grudas · 31 Oct 2012 at 23:05

hmm i only feel cold when cycling below 0

mr tommo · 1 Nov 2012 at 00:19

Dimple said:
Nice

My Dad lives in Cromwell Street, Sneyd Green and I live less than 100 yards from Bargain Booze on Blurton Road.
That lane down to Barlaston will be horrendous and I used to use it for my regular 10 mile and 13.1 mile runs (on foot).

I've bought quite a bit of stuff from Swinnertons but their winter clothes are seriously expensive.
(I also used to live virtually opposite Swinno's when I got married in 1980).

Ahh cool. Yeah I only went as the arm and leg warmers were similarly priced to wiggle.co.uk so I decided I'd rather go in there and have a feel of the different ones before I buy. Ordered everything else online. Picked up a camelbak 750ml bottle in the sale box for £6 which I thought was pretty good!

EndlessSky said:
Do you work at Wedgwood by chance? Some cracking riding around Barlaston, "Wedgwood drive decent" is a nice Strava segment if you can fit it in on your commute.

I don't, I work at Trentham Lakes. I have a work car that I need at all times when I'm working so I've started (as from tomorrow) leaving my work car at my parents house in Barlaston. Cycling 8-9 miles to get it in the morning, then I can drive just around the corner to get to work and the same again at night. Pretty handy actually as it allows me to commute! They live right next to Wedgewood so I'm always cycling around there.

Is Strava the main/best GPS app now? What do you mean by segment? I have Endomondo on my android at the moment but willing to change if there is better?

godinman · 1 Nov 2012 at 06:48

Did a gently 15 last night, wasn't too bad, bloody cold tho! Next year I am going to wear a costume.

#Chri5# · 1 Nov 2012 at 08:22

Dimple said:
I've bought quite a bit of stuff from Swinnertons but their winter clothes are seriously expensive.
(I also used to live virtually opposite Swinno's when I got married in 1980).

They used to have some seriously miserable staff in Swinnertons. The guys at Bike Pedlar in Biddulph were much better but they shut

Shadowness · 1 Nov 2012 at 08:31

mr tommo said:
Is Strava the main/best GPS app now? What do you mean by segment? I have Endomondo on my android at the moment but willing to change if there is better?

I would say it's one of the better ones. Although I track everything in my Garmin 500, I upload everything to Strava too, as it's nice to keep track of all my rides.

A segment is a specific 'segment' of a route, like a stretch of road, a climb or a common short loop....or similar.
If you ride through any of these on your ride, Strava detects this and shows how you did, compared to everyone else who went through that segment.
It's a bit of harmless competition, and for me personally....does make rides quite fun, as you can look up segments before a ride, and then try to beat the best time when your on that ride.