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Soldato
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There was an article in Cyclist a few months back explaining how Brad Wiggins would have been quicker up mountain stages on a recumbent.
Road Cycling Essentials
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There was an article in Cyclist a few months back explaining how Brad Wiggins would have been quicker up mountain stages on a recumbent.
Yeah they have some really interesting articles
Which sort of brings me to my current first world problem. Got my timer and accommodation booked for the Fred Whitton four seasons challenge and can't decide between taking C24's or C50's?
At first the C24's look like the obvious choice but the C50's are only around 350g heavier and complete bike is still under 7kg w/ the aero wheels on.
Looks a really interesting way of attempting the completely masochistic route that the FW uses. I might aim for that some time too. If it was me I would be taking the c24s. 350g less, is significant amount of rotational mass to lose and those climbs will really sap your legs. Its such a punishing route that I am not sure you will reap any aero benefit of your 50mm rims. Can't say I am anything like an expert but thats what I would be doing. I know when I did le Terrier earlier this year I was glad I had my 1500g wheelset vs my 2000g Fulcrum 5s.
Soldato
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A mate at work (very keen cyclist) suggested getting mountainbike shoes. I tend to walk at a little ten-to-two so he said that those shoes would be more suited to my foot alignment (I can't cycle with my feet perfectly straight). He also recommended then adjusting the cleats to give me an extra 9 degrees if I needed to. That sound like good advice?
Plus they'd be easier to walk in etc.
Soldato
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Yeah they have some really interesting articles
Which sort of brings me to my current first world problem. Got my timer and accommodation booked for the Fred Whitton four seasons challenge and can't decide between taking C24's or C50's?
At first the C24's look like the obvious choice but the C50's are only around 350g heavier and complete bike is still under 7kg w/ the aero wheels on.
C24s all the way, with that much climbing you want to be saving weight where it most matters.
Yeah they have some really interesting articles
Which sort of brings me to my current first world problem. Got my timer and accommodation booked for the Fred Whitton four seasons challenge and can't decide between taking C24's or C50's?
At first the C24's look like the obvious choice but the C50's are only around 350g heavier and complete bike is still under 7kg w/ the aero wheels on.
It depends what your goal is for the ride:
If your comfortable with the distance and your goal is to set the best time that you can round the course, go for the C50s.
If you think it will be a challenging ride and your goal is just to complete the distance, go for the C24s.
Yep, recumbents are significantly more aero than standard road bikes (even time trial bikes are nowhere near as good). Not UCI legal though[DOD]Asprilla;24726364 said:
If you actually need to walk in the shoes any distance then get MTB otherwise get road pedals, you have a bigger platform so are generally more comfortable.
You can get just as much float in road cleats, for example the pedels I suggested come with cleats that will give you 9.5 degrees of float, and you can obviously bolt the cleats at a certain angle to give yourself even more movement in a certain direction.
Soldato
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Yeah, I can appreciate too that having a lot of movement in pedals isn't exactly great to prevent injuries, but my foot walking angle probably necessitates it. What about these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-m520-pedals/
Plus, can any brand of cycling shoe fit those? If not, how can I tell?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-pd-m520-pedals/
Plus, can any brand of cycling shoe fit those? If not, how can I tell?
Now my timers here I'm really starting to look forward to it!
I hear you, but the C50's are still lighter than plenty of low profile rims and my gearing 34-28 should get me up anything.
I knew I could rely on you to plant a seed lol. There's always the downhills and maybe a couple of sections I could hold some speed
Soldato
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If you don't use lightweight wheels on that then when do you?!
Yeah they have some really interesting articles
Which sort of brings me to my current first world problem. Got my d accommodation booked for the Fred Whitton four seasons challenge and can't decide between taking C24's or C50's?
At first the C24's look like the obvious choice but the C50's are only around 350g heavier and complete bike is still under 7kg w/ the aero wheels on.
Do either have carbon brake surface? There's no way I'd want to descend at speed down hard knott / wyrnose / honister on anything other than aluminium braking surface!
Good luck by the way, I usually hang around the bottom of cold fell wishing I was fit enough to take part!
You dont need to get MTB style pedals that give more movement just because your feet are not straight. Nobody has perfectly straight feet, pedals + cleats are designed with this in mind.
You need to work out the natural angles of your feet. In bare feet (or socks) jump up and down or jog on the spot for a little while. Then stop and let your feet come to a rest naturally. Measure the angles of your feet at this point (or get somebody to do it for you whilst you are standing there).
When you know the angles of each foot (which are likely to be different). You can bolt the cleats to the shoe at that angle. There is loads of range for positioning the cleat on a road shoe.
That's a good point actually (although i think both wheelsets have alloy braking surfaces?).
I remember when i did it there were loads of people walking up hardknott (me included), which isnt a surprise but what i didnt expect was people walking back down the other side again because it was so steep.
Soldato
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Booked my bike hire for Mallorca . Excited!
. Excited!
Soldato
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this is it.. i need a tougher front wheel! this shimano needs spokes tightening every week.. driving me nuts!not sure if buying a set is the way to go but any good deals around for a front wheel? - black 28 spokes at least?
Mavic Open Pro on Shimano hubs (Tiagra or 105, 32 spoke) seems to be the default bulletproof combo.
Soldato
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Long shot but I don't suppose anyone has hired a road bike in Porto in Portugal?
Underboss
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well, let me say this, as people are suggesting cleats etc
if you have a road bike and is going to use it just on road, I don't know if your commuting or not but do not get mountain bike pedals, they are mountain bike pedals for a reason, if you get SPD-SL shoes and cleats and pedals, they are a lot "wider" so you can get more leverage and power transfer down otherwise your wasting a bit of energy as less is in contact
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