Road Cycling Essentials

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mr tommo said:
One noticeable differance is how crashy road bikes are over bad tarmac or grids/manholes. This crashiness transfers directly to my backside which isn't particularly nice the next morning. Are these bikes meant to have such hard saddles or is it my lack of padded shorts?
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Only just noticed this. Padded shorts make a massive difference. I had terrible coccyx pains within a week when I got my road bike, and padded shorts instantly fixed it. And if you're that conscious then you can always wear normal shorts over the top, although you'll soon realise nobody cares that you're wearing lycra and most other cyclists are anyway.
 
mr tommo said:
How much are we talking for the seat post or the front forks? Have you got a link to any recommended ebay sellers?
Sorry not trying to be spoon fed its just this is my only port of call to do with bikes.
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A quick search on ebay shows that there are plent of FSA ones from UK sellers for around £30 and some Bontrager ones going for about the same. Just make sure it's a full carbon one and not alloy with a carbon wrap. Also, a lot of posts have set backs, whilst your post might not, so make sure you get one that will leave your saddle in a position that's comfortable for you.

Carbon forks with an alu steerer you can get second hand for around £40 upwards. Not sure what size steerer you want, I assume it's 1-1/8" but I can't find confirmation anywhere.
 
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HaX said:
That's a heck of a lot of bike for the price, and it looks nice too. Was it 2nd hand or brand new?

I don't bother with a Cradle for my phone - I have a Cat Eye Velo 8 cycle computer, which can be bought for about £15. I just have my phone in my pocket recording my route, gradients, average speed etc.

You should buy yourself some padded Bibshorts, they make a big difference in cushioning your bottom from the traumas of the road!

You should also head to the excellent http://sheldonbrown.com/ website. This has lots of useful information relating to the maintenance and adjustments of bicycles.
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Thanks I've just bookmarked that for later reading :)

It was brand new at that price. I have a cycle computer on my last bike so I will see what that is like, can't rememebr if it was just a cheap one as I bought it years ago.


Russinating said:
Only just noticed this. Padded shorts make a massive difference. I had terrible coccyx pains within a week when I got my road bike, and padded shorts instantly fixed it. And if you're that conscious then you can always wear normal shorts over the top, although you'll soon realise nobody cares that you're wearing lycra and most other cyclists are anyway.
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Yeah got to admit I am abit concious about the lycra but like you say everyone else is wearing it so its not a big deal. Will be picking up some shorts over the weekend

[DOD]Asprilla;19335393 said:
A quick search on ebay shows that there are plent of FSA ones from UK sellers for around £30 and some Bontrager ones going for about the same. Just make sure it's a full carbon one and not alloy with a carbon wrap. Also, a lot of posts have set backs, whilst your post might not, so make sure you get one that will leave your saddle in a position that's comfortable for you.

Carbon forks with an alu steerer you can get second hand for around £40 upwards. Not sure what size steerer you want, I assume it's 1-1/8" but I can't find confirmation anywhere.
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Thanks for that mate. Just had a look on ebay and like you say they are readily available, which would you say would make the most difference if you could only have one, carbn seatpost or carbon forks?

Reason I ask is because I don't want to be spending lots of money on this bike. I've bought it as a stepping stone for the moment so don't mind investing in clothing etc but want to keep spending on the actual bike to a minimum.





:o One final note.... Its actually news to me that I'm not supposed to make the chain go at too much of an angle. I'm used to the old 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (top speed wooooooh) kind of gear changes from when I was a child, so this is a bit new to me getting used to when to switch the front chainring. :o:o
 
apeZ said:
I've always wanted to try riding in a velodrome, might have to do a google search and see if there are any in the South East. Good exercise and looks quite fun too!
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Don't know how far out in Kent you are but there's Herne Hill Velodrome in SE London.

mr tommo said:
One noticeable differance is how crashy road bikes are over bad tarmac or grids/manholes. This crashiness transfers directly to my backside which isn't particularly nice the next morning. Are these bikes meant to have such hard saddles or is it my lack of padded shorts?
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The crashiness might be because it's aluminium. The frames are very stiff with no give in them and that translates into a harsh ride unfortunately.
 
Quick question regarding brake pads. I'm currently running the stock pads that came with my Tektro R350 brakes (these are the current pads). Being stock pads, they kinda suck so when they're a bit more worn down I'll be looking to replace them with something a lot better.

Slightly confused with the compatibility though, can anyone suggest some suitable replacements please?
 
Jonny69 said:
Don't know how far out in Kent you are but there's Herne Hill Velodrome in SE London.
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I'm in SE Kent, but looking at googlemaps, there don't seem to be any in Kent at all...

Maybe I'll try and take a daytrip up to Herne Hill or something with some friends :)
 
mr tommo said:
:o One final note.... Its actually news to me that I'm not supposed to make the chain go at too much of an angle. I'm used to the old 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (top speed wooooooh) kind of gear changes from when I was a child, so this is a bit new to me getting used to when to switch the front chainring. :o:o
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Really? News to me too, I do that all the time!
 
Well, on a double chainring at the front and 10 sprockets at the back you shouldn't really use the inner ring and sprocket 10. You should try and avoid using sprocket 1 on the big ring too. I never shift down off the big ring (if I can help it) though so I do the latter way too often.
 
It's inefficient if anything else. Pulling the chain over at extreme angles loses some of your efficiency and wears the chain out quicker because it's being bent. You can usually hear it complaining when you're at the opposite extremes of the gears. It's just better to use the bigger chain ring when going fast because it's further over for the smaller gears and you get a better chain line. Same for going slowly with the smaller chain ring and the bigger gears out back.
 
On a double I rode on the flats in 39/13 most of the time, 3 from the bottom, really good as 53 on the flats is just no good unless doing over 20mph constantly with no bumps. It helps to set up the trim on the front mech though, without it it'd catch.
 
That Carrera is a mega bargain- was that a special offer? Might consider one of those as a fast commuter.... at that price it's almost silly not to!

Thought I'd put a pic of the Felt up, I think it looks nice with the RS30 wheelset.

SnipImage.JPG


On the subject of saddles, I realise this is a very personal thing, but I've found padding is largely unnecessary if I can find a saddle that fits my bum. In fact for me, whilst padding (seat and shorts) gives short-term comfort, it just seems to increase chafing in the long term as there's more material moving around in contact with my bits.

And ally bikes are fairly "crashy", I've found that carbon forks improve things to a degree, but the only real answer is to go light over bad road surfaces by lifting your bum off the seat and keeping knees and elbows slightly bent- the majority of your weight's then suspended which gives the bike an easier time too. I find I do it automatically now.

Having said that, carbon bikes can also be crashy, it all depends on what you're used to, what the frame was designed for and where the rigidity is designed in. My next frame will definitely be carbon though.
 
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Robbie G said:
White saddle
White bar tape
White wheels

Brave man!
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Hehe, I've got just over 1000 miles on it, so it's not faring too badly! (Although I admit I tend to use my road hybrid when it's wet.)

I am a **** when it comes to bikes though, they have to look nice in order to distract from the Neanderthal rider....
 
CGrieves said:
On the subject of saddles, I realise this is a very personal thing, but I've found padding is largely unnecessary if I can find a saddle that fits my bum. In fact for me, whilst padding (seat and shorts) gives short-term comfort, it just seems to increase chafing in the long term as there's more material moving around in contact with my bits.
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I'll go with that. I was thinking about my saddles: the Brooks is hard leather with no padding but just 'fits' me well; the Flite also has very little padding - again, it just fits me. I don't wear padded shorts or anything.

There's a lot to be said for having a saddle that fits properly :)
 
CGrieves said:
That Carrera is a mega bargain- was that a special offer? Might consider one of those as a fast commuter.... at that price it's almost silly not to!

Thought I'd put a pic of the Felt up, I think it looks nice with the RS30 wheelset.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/corin.grieves/SnipImage.JPG[/img*]

On the subject of saddles, I realise this is a very personal thing, but I've found padding is largely unnecessary if I can find a saddle that fits my bum. In fact for me, whilst padding (seat and shorts) gives short-term comfort, it just seems to increase chafing in the long term as there's more material moving around in contact with my bits.

And ally bikes are fairly "crashy", I've found that carbon forks improve things to a degree, but the only real answer is to go light over bad road surfaces by lifting your bum off the seat and keeping knees and elbows slightly bent- the majority of your weight's then suspended which gives the bike an easier time too. I find I do it automatically now.

Having said that, carbon bikes can also be crashy, it all depends on what you're used to, what the frame was designed for and where the rigidity is designed in. My next frame will definitely be carbon though.[/QUOTE]

Where did you pick up the felt from? The blue looks so much better than the white one to be honest! It looks quite nice with those wheels on it too, bet it rides a lot better for it aswell.
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Hey all, so I'm a complete novice with road bikes. I'm currently in the process of selling my GT Aggressor XCR MTB and want to use the funds from that to buy a roadie.

I reckon I might be able to get about £400 for it, but I'm not sure, so will give you a budget of £300-400 (I might be able to move up to £500 - I don't mind paying a little more for something if it really is worth it, I would prefer not to however).

The problem is, I'm 6"5, the Carrera TDF Large felt quite a bit too small, even with the saddle up to maximum my knees were quite a way from straight.

As well as the Carrera I've spent ages trawling on ebay and had a browse around local bike shops, but I'm hard pressed to find anything that suits me.

I saw someone mentioned Decathlon, http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/bikes-3962299/, but I've never heard of these bikes and again have no idea what frame size to buy?
 
One shop is pretty much only Trek, but starts at £550 (ouch, much more than I was hoping for), the other sells GTs and Giants (I believe), but again they start at the £500 range. There's an Evans in town too so Specialized and all that Jazz on the cards.

I've asked the guy from the first shop to give me a call when he gets the 60cm Trek in (1.1 I believe) so will try that out.

Will the larger bike manufactures be similar size wise? I know MTBs vary quite a bit, I'm guessing the variance is there in road bikes too.

Cheers
 
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