Road Cycling Essentials

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[DOD]Asprilla;24670163 said:
The testimony was that at 60mph she would have needed to be looking at the Sat Nav for 18 seconds without looking up in order to not see him. There were no skid marks on the road.

She claimed she was doing 45mph. If that's the case she didn't look up for 24s.
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I think the key thing here, especially with regards to whether it could happen to anyone of us, is ensuring that people are punished and the message gets across that you can't fiddle with your phone or sat nav while driving. We live in a world now where people are all likely to end up with these distractions in their cars.

It always annoys me when I see anyone on their phone, whether I'm on my bike, in the car or walking. Its not enforced or caught enough, which is why people will continue to do it. Maybe introducing a ridiculous level of fine will make people think otherwise.


Shamrock said:
I've got an urge to buy the Wiggle Honda kit for some reason!
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I quite like the Wiggle Honda kit as well, I think its something about the black and orange which is a good combo. I'm not really sure how I feel about wearing team kits though, as while I have lots of clothing, I don't tend to wear team stuff.
 
rogan said:
Its strange, this seems to be the only country in the world where you get dissed for wearing a local/national teams kit

do you get mocked for wearing football kits in your local town? no one ont continent for sure would ever consider someone wearing a team kit 'a fake'
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Well wearing a football top in town when not attending a game would probably mark you out as a bit of a chav and wearing a full replica kit, even whilst playing, gets you marked down as a "full kit ******".

I personally don't "get" replica current team kit as I don't want to look like a mobile advert. There's plenty of either plain jerseys or if you're a member then your club jersey. Retro jerseys (or obscure branded ones) are a different matter though and I'd quite like a La Vie Claire one.
 
Nexus said:
Its not enforced or caught enough, which is why people will continue to do it. Maybe introducing a ridiculous level of fine will make people think otherwise.
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Interesting point this - I've definitely found that since putting a dashcam in my car, I've had more vindictive/vigilante thoughts in terms of handing footage over to drop people in it (I've never done it though). I do wonder though, primarily driven by the rising cost of car insurance more than anything, supported by car technology, if we will reach a point in the near future where people self-policing the roads might become more common in order to work as a collective to better the whole road-using community.

The alternative of course, is that I'm living in a dream world :P.
 
Makhaira said:
Just got to get slicker at removing the valve head now - whilst I like the fact that it only opens the valve as you press the lever to lock it, I'm still not managing to cleaning detach the head with a half second/second of leakage. Just overfilling by 5psi at the moment until I get better at it.
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Dont worry about that, it's not pressure being lost from the tyre, just the pump hose.
When you pump up your tyre, everything after the pressure guage is pressurised the same (that includes the inside of the pump hose, internal space in the pump head and the insides of the tube. When you take the pump off, the valve is closed and doesnt lose any air but you will hear the sound of everything else depressurising.
 
Ah, ok. So is it only the pressure in the pump hose that forces open the presta valve? i.e. as soon as I release the pressure in the hose by breaking the seal around the outside of the valve body, the valve core shuts?

Sorry for the noobish questions, but it's great to be able to get them answered directly.
 
Makhaira said:
On another note, are most bike chains created equal? Nipped to the supermarket on my bike the other day and discovered just how awkward the rigid D-clamps are to securely lock up a bike with QR wheels. Thinking that a chain is probably my best bet, just not sure what to go for (without just basing my buying knowledge on this forum and Bikeradar combined, which is my usual approach!).
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Bin the QRs (all of them) and replace them with security skewers. They are a bike thief's wet dream and offer you so little added convenience on anything that's not a race that there is little need to have them. Security skewers are just peace of mind and you can just D-lock the back wheel and frame and throw a small braid through the front wheel to stop chancers who might be carrying hex keys. Get the 5-sided ones and there's even less chance of someone having the right tool to quickly whip a wheel or saddle off.
 
Cheers Jonny. With all the security worries of a bike, I have to say that I'm leaning more towards keeping the bike purely for trips where I don't have to lock it up in a public place!
 
Makhaira said:
Interesting point this - I've definitely found that since putting a dashcam in my car, I've had more vindictive/vigilante thoughts in terms of handing footage over to drop people in it (I've never done it though). I do wonder though, primarily driven by the rising cost of car insurance more than anything, supported by car technology, if we will reach a point in the near future where people self-policing the roads might become more common in order to work as a collective to better the whole road-using community.

The alternative of course, is that I'm living in a dream world :P.
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With the way the world is going, I'd imagine its more likely that it would police itself.

There already exist proper dash cams that will record video, then there are I believe currently three insurance companies in the UK who have systems which monitor how you drive and if you are a good driver can actually give you cheaper premiums.

Even the cheapest of cars are starting to have more technology in them now, so its not to much of a step to think that given how they can look at phone records and usage to determine what somebody was doing in court, that they will eventually be able to gather data from the car itself. There will then be little excuse when it goes to court, such as the woman in the case above who claims she was going significantly slower than the speed of the road.
 
Makhaira said:
Ah, ok. So is it only the pressure in the pump hose that forces open the presta valve? i.e. as soon as I release the pressure in the hose by breaking the seal around the outside of the valve body, the valve core shuts?

Sorry for the noobish questions, but it's great to be able to get them answered directly.
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Yup, as touch says, that is how it works. The sound you hear is just the pressurised air escaping from inside the track pump.

I actually thought the same myself when I first started using presta and track pumps, I thought maybe I needed a more expensive track pump with a special head to ensure it didn't lose any pressure.
 
Makhaira said:
Cheers Jonny. With all the security worries of a bike, I have to say that I'm leaning more towards keeping the bike purely for trips where I don't have to lock it up in a public place!
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It doesn't have to be like that. Just be sensible where you leave it, make sure nothing can be taken off it easily without tools and use a decent D-lock.

Or do what I do and lock everything up like Fort Knox :p

It's a horrible thing to say, but if you make your bike harder to steal than the ones near it, the thieves will concentrate on stealing the other ones and leave yours alone.
 
Changed a tube on my spare CX wheel set this morning as the rear was flat and swapped the wheel set over. Just been out to the garage and its flat again.

I've never ridden the tyres so it looks like a rim tape / spoke problem. Bum.
 
Going to need a new chain and cassette soon but keep talking myself into getting that, 5600 105 chainset we have lying around to replace my crap FSA ones and finish off with Forza Cirrus clincher wheels.

Price wise though I could be as well getting myself a Felt F75 when the new ones trickle through and upgrade the wheels down the line on that. That comes with a compact though which when changing to the 105 was going to be for 53/39.

Decisions decisions :(
 
How many miles should a cassette be good for? I'm wondering whether I need to replace mine. I've put nearly 3,000 miles into it, and it's second hand so who knows how much before that.

It's only a Sora one, so not expensive, maybe £20-25.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24672213 said:
I'm getting a 5600 105 for the Cervelo off a mate. It's used and comes with compact crankset but I think this frame needs a double.
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Even though 50/11 is a bigger gear? :P


I'm hitting sections and spinning a 50/12 doing 32mph which going by a calculator is 100rpm. I hit 42 down a hill from work and spin my balls off to get to it!

I climb anything I do in 34-21/23 not really using the 25. Going to a 39 will mean I will push the same speed but in one or two cogs up making it more usable. Getting to the 20mph mark where I'd usually go 50/19 I could us 39/15.

Rambling here for no reason as I just checked what I'd pay for an F75 right now and I'd be daft not to at least order it in and tuck it aside until I buy it.

N+1 and all that :o

May just settle for chain,cassette and chainset to see how it feels on the Cannondale first.
 
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