Road Cycling Essentials

[SoliD]

Thanks very much, just realised I forgot to post the link to the CRC ones.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=106300

Anybody got any recommendations for additives to my drink, I was using tri carb by myprotein, but it has more than doubled in price, so going to look elsewhere.

Muhaha, ordered 4 of the above in the link, they turned up one of the gels had leaked so sent a cheeky email wondering what I would get and they refunded me on one of the boxes, so £22.00 for 36 gels, 16 Sachets, 12 Zero sachets, 4 energy bars, 4 protein recovery and 4 water bottles, wish I had ordered a few more now!

Also can anyone recommend drinks additives or just worth making my own using the home made recipes recently posted?

 

[Mr Jones]

Picked my bike up earlier today, a nice 5 mile ride to get use to riding a road bike... nearly got beaten by the hill on the way home! I am so unfit.

Oh and rolling downhill really fast and running through a series of pot holes was one of the scariest moments of my life.

 

[Bigsy]

From an LBS, if you know any of yours that stock Fizik give them a buzz to see if they have any demo saddles.



My SLR is 124g and it's fine for say 40-50 miles but I'm doing 80+ at least once a week and it's just not that comfy over that sort of distance. What sort of distance/time in the saddle have you tested the Toupe for?

So far only used it on a couple of leisurely Sunday rides with the missus but I was in the saddle for a good 4 hours with a backpack. I did start to notice it towards the end (literally the last 20mins) but its still new so my bum hasn't completely got bedded in on it and people say they need a couple of hundred miles for the carbon to free up a bit for a bit more flex.

But as you know saddles are such a personal thing its hard to take anything from that I know, just saying if you get a chance to give one ago, do, I'm pretty impressed.

 

[InQ]

I have a Fizik Arione, done a max 50 mile ride on it and no problems at all (or any lower mileages).

My question, bib shorts!

I have some cheap Altura bib shorts which are "ok" but not great.
As i'm a bit of a Castelli fan and some of their other clothing (Velocissimo jacket, leg warmers, toe covers, Garmin Sharp casual Tshirt) i'm thinking of getting some Free Aero Bib shorts:-
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...astelli-free-aero-race-bib-shorts/castzbbs136
(also 10% extra off at Ribble at the mo).

Now do i go for these or some equivalent priced Assos?
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/bib-shorts-assos-t-fi-uno-bib-shorts/assozbbs260

Think i'm also going to get a short sleeved shirt, again thinking Castelli unless anyone can suggest anything better at a similarish price?
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...free-short-sleeve-jersey-full-zip/castzjss151

Suggestions welcome!

 

[oli collett]

Well, taken the new wheels for a spin!

I had planned to head down to Richmond Park before 2.30pm - I worked late last night and had already done all my hours this week before mid-day, but something came up and ended up working till gone 4. I was a bit jet lagged and felt a bit sick, but finally got out, having not ridden in busy traffic before (keep in mine 99% of my cycling in the past was on rural roads in suffolk) and had to deal with the fun of London traffic on a busy Friday.

I can't say I enjoyed much of the trip to Richmond park. I got called a **** (the bad one) by a van driver as he felt I was in the way at a junction. Which was odd because he did that whilst going past me without me having to move. I had someone else call me something while they were waiting to pull out of a junction (don't think they understood give way signs). How do you london folk commute?!!

Anyway, finally got to Richmond Park and that was much more fun. Only had time for 3 laps and I had some cramping issues but the bike felt way faster and more responsive than my Specialized tricross. Shifting was good but the front derailleur needs a bit of sorting - I think I accidentally reset the derailleurs when fiddling around so I'll have to look into that.

The way back was nowhere near as stressful, but one point was strange as a chap pulled out alongside me. I hadn't done anything wrong and wasn't feeling great with the cramp so wasn't going to put up with anything. He looked over and wound down his window...
"Is that an 872?"
"Yeah!"
"I'm looking at ordering one at the moment, is it good?"
"First time I've tried it, but it feels great and the Di2 is awesome!"
"Great, see ya!"

 

[One More Solo]

Not showing in the challenges yet but some may be interested in this Strava challenge, but like the Mile Blast:

http://app.strava.com/challenges/cycling-may-massive-2013

Anyone else in the current Specialized challenge?

I'm at 1065/1319km (80%)

Need 160 miles in 4 days, doable but I have a pretty big workload on so don't think I'll complete it

New challenge looks good - only four weekends in May but two bank holidays I believe. An ambitious target for myself would be 1000km given my commute only covers 100km a week. I need a metric century per weekend and maybe top that up on the bank holidays to crack it. It's on!

 

[uniQ]

I have a Fizik Arione, done a max 50 mile ride on it and no problems at all (or any lower mileages).

My question, bib shorts!

These are excellent value for money:

http://www.shuttvr.com/shop/productdetail/Club-Bib-Shorts-Bundle/

I have the P-X Arione clone on my Ti and it's pretty good. Trying the Arione VS atm which has the channel in the middle.

 

[grudas]

How do you london folk commute?!!

good question.. with my ear phones in.. i keed i keed.. for what ever reason i have only had 20-30 arguments with drivers over ~2.7k miles

 

[ShiWarrior]

Picked my bike up earlier today, a nice 5 mile ride to get use to riding a road bike... nearly got beaten by the hill on the way home! I am so unfit.

Oh and rolling downhill really fast and running through a series of pot holes was one of the scariest moments of my life.

try is with a gale force wind!!

I went down a really steep hill and I almost got taken out by the gale force wind !
now THAT did scare the crap out of me!

 

[oli collett]

good question.. with my ear phones in.. i keed i keed.. for what ever reason i have only had 20-30 arguments with drivers over ~2.7k miles

It put me on a bit of a downer really. I do need to get more confident and work on my road positioning though.

Next time I'm going to start tracking my ride when I get to the park!

Oh and how annoying are drivers in Richmond park? Everyone seemed to either drive ludicrously slow (I know it's 20 but..) or be obsessed with overtaking me despite the fact I'm going at around the speed limit??!

 

[Phil99]

Thanks for the replies

I put the bike on a turbo trainer today and have noticed that the chain ring moves laterally in relation to the front derailleur on each pedal revolution...I'd estimate 1-1.5mm to the point where it rubs on the derailleur for part of the revolution, though this isn't causing the offending noise. I guess it could be a coincidence and the chain ring has been bent out of shape but it hasn't had any significant knocks over its lifetime so I doubt it. I can only assume this sort of flex isn't normal?

The tools required to replace the bb don't seem too expensive and if it is the bracket it looks like a replacement would only be about £15 so not the end of the world to get the bracket out and have a look.

Got the tools today to take the bb out. Seemed to come out pretty easy, inspected everything and all looked fine, re-installed it with plenty of grease and the creaking has completely disappeared. Nice and easy fix!

 

[InQ]

These are excellent value for money:

http://www.shuttvr.com/shop/productdetail/Club-Bib-Shorts-Bundle/

I have the P-X Arione clone on my Ti and it's pretty good. Trying the Arione VS atm which has the channel in the middle.

Thanks but remembered a thread on Bikeradar for cheap Assos....ordered a pair with the older S2 pad which is supposed to be as good as or better than the newer S5 pad but these are £90 rather than well over £100.

 

[oli collett]

Argh. Need to sort out where to go for some cycling training last week of May. I thought my mate would be up for it but he's saying he's skint so now it looks like I'll be on my own - but all the training camps I can find seem to finish mid-may.

Anyone got any ideas? I quite like the idea of going down to France but I don't really like the idea of tackling some big cols on my own!

ETA - this looks awesome but 4 weeks away not sure how I'd do it, I'll get in touch with them and see what they think:
http://www.marmot-tours.co.uk/Road-Cycling-Holidays/pyrenean-classic-cols.html

 

[Mr Jones]

My mini pump is being a beach...

Got the Bontrager air support plus and it's just not pumping. Unscrewed the tyre valve, brought the screen to the tip and pushed as hard as I can in before locking, pumping for ages and it's still stuck at 70PSI...

What am I doing wrong?

 

[touch]

Anyone got any ideas? I quite like the idea of going down to France but I don't really like the idea of tackling some big cols on my own!

Just go for it!
Even if you did go with a group, you'd still end up riding up the hills on your own anyway.

 

[oli collett]

Just go for it!
Even if you did go with a group, you'd still end up riding up the hills on your own anyway.

That's true..

Woken up again with pain behind my knee - I thought it was my hamstring but a basic hamstring stretch is fine, I don't think it's that simple.

A quick google suggests various problems from seat too high to incorrect cleat position. Thing is, I was fine riding on my turbo for several months but this occurred as soon as I started riding outside again. Any ideas what could have triggered it? It tends to set in only an hour into a ride and the pain feels more like cramp but I certainly feel it the next day.

 

[syke]

good question.. with my ear phones in.. i keed i keed.. for what ever reason i have only had 20-30 arguments with drivers over ~2.7k miles

You mention Oxford St a lot and I quite often walk passed a Triban around the Market Place area (I think?) - not you is it?!

 

[tedmaul]

That's true..

Woken up again with pain behind my knee - I thought it was my hamstring but a basic hamstring stretch is fine, I don't think it's that simple.

A quick google suggests various problems from seat too high to incorrect cleat position. Thing is, I was fine riding on my turbo for several months but this occurred as soon as I started riding outside again. Any ideas what could have triggered it? It tends to set in only an hour into a ride and the pain feels more like cramp but I certainly feel it the next day.

Do you have a cadence sensor on the bike and what is your cadence like when you're on the road? Is it noticeably different (lower?) compared to when you train on the turbo?

I had some knee pain issues last year when i pushed myself too hard training in the build up to a Sportive in september. I backed right off on my training in Nov/Dec to allow it to fully recover before i started again at the turn of the year. I made a point of then building the training workload v gradually over the first couple of months and it seems to have helped. Notably i make a point of keeping cadence high and not grinding big gears during this period.

However, the last couple of weeks i've had a little bit of tension in the same knee again. I think it is partly down to training in the strong winds we've been having up here in South Lanarkshire the last few weeks - i can see my cadence has dropped from my normal average of around 90-95 down to 80-85 on a lot of my rides, where i'm trying to push too big a gear into a headwind to try and make up some of the speed i'm losing. Ultimately i think this has caused the issue to rear it's head again.

I have to make a conscious effort to accept the headwind, not try to over-compensate. Stick in a gear i can comfortably turn at 90+ rpm even if that means going slower for a while until i lose the headwind.

It's worth thinking about if you have noticed anything similar on your rides anyway.

 

[oli collett]

Do you have a cadence sensor on the bike and what is your cadence like when you're on the road? Is it noticeably different (lower?) compared to when you train on the turbo?

I had some knee pain issues last year when i pushed myself too hard training in the build up to a Sportive in september. I backed right off on my training in Nov/Dec to allow it to fully recover before i started again at the turn of the year. I made a point of then building the training workload v gradually over the first couple of months and it seems to have helped. Notably i make a point of keeping cadence high and not grinding big gears during this period.

However, the last couple of weeks i've had a little bit of tension in the same knee again. I think it is partly down to training in the strong winds we've been having up here in South Lanarkshire the last few weeks - i can see my cadence has dropped from my normal average of around 90-95 down to 80-85 on a lot of my rides, where i'm trying to push too big a gear into a headwind to try and make up some of the speed i'm losing. Ultimately i think this has caused the issue to rear it's head again.

I have to make a conscious effort to accept the headwind, not try to over-compensate. Stick in a gear i can comfortably turn at 90+ rpm even if that means going slower for a while until i lose the headwind.

It's worth thinking about if you have noticed anything similar on your rides anyway.

The ride that triggered the initial problem I was doing roughly 85-90 RPM which is about what I do on the turbo so I don't think it's that

 

[grudas]

It put me on a bit of a downer really. I do need to get more confident and work on my road positioning though.

Next time I'm going to start tracking my ride when I get to the park!

Oh and how annoying are drivers in Richmond park? Everyone seemed to either drive ludicrously slow (I know it's 20 but..) or be obsessed with overtaking me despite the fact I'm going at around the speed limit??!

its the case with all the drivers in london and the world tbh! i guess it depends on your face a lot lol, i see people get shouted at for no reason a lot yet i seem to get away with some stuff but then i try to keep a proper road position without messing around a lot and i guess i just got used to it over the time ive been commuting/cycling in london

You mention Oxford St a lot and I quite often walk passed a Triban around the Market Place area (I think?) - not you is it?!

neh, mine is parked in a locked garage during the day near paddington so no way to see it from the street i've seen a few tribans around central london tho! a bigger push to get mine stripped and a little custom looking..