Road Cycling Essentials

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R0B75 said:
Another puncture on the way home, this was after I stopped at Halfords to borrow their track pump to put more air in my tyres. 110 front and maybe 112 in the back, it was the back tyre that punctured.

I give up :D :p
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Got down to the car park to leave and found I had a flat front tyre. I'm blaming you from raising the subject of punctures.
 
Looking for one of those posh garmin edge gps computer doodas. Is it possible to buy them 2nd hand from anywhere but eBay. Of course, if anyone has one they no longer use . . .
 
Now I know before I ask this that, to be sure, I should go try them out but in a general sense, what size of bike am I looking at if I am 6'6'' tall with a 36'' inside leg...

I am playing with the idea of getting a road bike as the Spesh Hardrock gets tiring on rides past the 12-15 mile mark :o (perhaps a s/h Allez/Secteur) so would like a general idea so I can check places like Ebay etc.

Ta :)
 
Long body and short legs. I would suggest you get the biggest you can, which I think is a 61 as far as Spesh is concerned. You will absolutely have to try them as you might find one geometry more cramped than another. I have the opposite problem; 5'9.5" (the .5 is important, ok) with a 34" inside leg and I have tremendous issues getting frames that fit.
 
Thought that might be the case. I had to go for a 23" MTB as well which is biggest Spesh do for MTB's. PITA TBH as buying second hand is hard due to all the short-arse people around these days :(

I am pretty much consigned to having to buy new all the time :(
 
Picked up a Kuota Korsa Lite today:


I feel a lot more stretched out on this bike, and as I have tight muscles and such, I feel a bit of pull on the back of my legs. Hopefully some stretching will sort that out.

Will take some getting used to the more stretched out feeling and the Double Tap shifting (previously used Shimano Sora Shifters). Look forward to taking it out for a longer spin :)

Going to get this bike, along with my Trek 1.2, insured with Cyclecover. Does anyone insure their bikes using specialist bike insurance?
 
Off this morning.

Approaching Hampton Wick roundabout, turning right from the left lane and there is a dumper truck in the right lane. I hang back in case the dumper truck cuts across lanes on the exit. Once the dumper truck has cleared the left exit a lady in a van pulls out in front of me.

Hard on the anchors and step off the bike coming to a stop before I actually made contact and with the bike flipping and skidding down the road next to me.

Sore knee where I caught the handlebars, smashed bottle cage, scuffed saddle and scratched shifters identified so far. Frame needs a clean before I can I have a good look at that for damage.

She stopped and gave her details, as did the lady behind her who wanted to be a witness.

Rode the rest of the way in pootling.

Shaking a little bit and I've had a cigarette.

In other news, anyone got a 2011 Secteur, Allez or Tricross? Specialized have issued a recall over front brake bosses. Worth looking into.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;19916288 said:
Off this morning.
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Rubbish. Hope you mend soon and there isn't too much serious damage to the bike!

I had a near miss not so long back on a wet road. Narrow street with cars parked both sides - enough space for one car to go through between. I'm following a car going through the gap - 10m of so off the back of it going at about the same speed, so fairly quickly. That car goes through the gap and immediately someone who had been waiting pulls out only to realise I'm right in front of him. I braked and lost my back wheel on the slick surface, so had to stop braking to regain balance. He accelerated (quickly!) towards me in order to get out of the way in time. I missed being on his bonnet by about a foot. If he had clipped me, I would have gone flying. It felt like my heart was trying to jump out of my brain after that.
 
I actually had a near miss yesterday.

I was distracted by a young lady in short shorts and I rode too close to some parked cars on the left only for the driver of the last one to open his door. It was bloody close, but I dodged right in time and he was very apologetic.
 
I think it's the weather. I had a few nears yesterday as well. People always seem to have taken too many stupid pills when it's been raining.

I've been shopping again. The chain tensioner didn't work because the jockey wheel was so deep it hit the spokes. So I've got a 16T cog to replace the 15T in the hope that it'll pull the slack out of my chain. The idea is that the extra tooth will pull the wheel forward by 3mm in the drop-outs. If this is too much then I'll file a little flat on the axle so I can pull it into the drop-out.

I also got one of these for the other side of the hub:



Holy unexpectedly huge image, Batman :eek:
 
SDK^ said:
The Allez is pretty much was it say on the tin - cheap, fast and reliable. The Secteur is more comfortable with a longer wheel base & longer headtube so it's a more relaxed position.

To be honest you can't go wrong with any of the major brands. Go for the bike you like most :)
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Thanks for the info. I've been looking at the Secteur but its just a bit out of my price range as I'm buying clip-in pedals and shoes at the same time and I can only stretch to £600-£650 for the whole lot.

Out of interest, do any of you have experience with Evans? In Nottingham we have Evans and Freewheel (independent) and having spoken to both, Evans didn't seem to have much of clue but do offer 0% finance and are a bit cheaper. Just not sure I want them setting up my first road bike...
 
If you don't mind a triple then a number of dealers are doing Secteurs for between £499 and £539.

With regards to pedals, if you've not used them before or are going to be using the bike to commute then then I'd just start with Shimano M520s which are double sided SPDs. Tough metal cleats that will last a long time adn being double sided they are very easy to get into. You can usually get them for about £20.

Shoes, Shimano R077 have both a three point and a two point system built in. That means that you can use proper road cleats (Look Keo, Shimano SPD-SL and such like) as well as MTD SPD cleats. It gives you an upgrade path without needing new shoes. Usually around £60.
 
Russinating said:
Looking for a spare pair of black and yellow bibs for the winter.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bib-front...thing&var=&hash=item68c77b563d#ht_3164wt_1140

Thinking about getting the above. I know they're not going to be great but I don't really want to spend a lot (obviously) and I'm sure they'll do the job for at least 1 season. Has anyone else bought these or similar perchance?
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I have a pair of Tenn-Outdoor bibs, they seem fine. I have worn them for 3-4 hours at a time without any chaffing, no irritating seams or that sort of thing. Like you I doubt the padding is going to last for long, but it's sufficiently comfortable for me. With that in mind, I think they're excellent value for money.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;19917308 said:
With regards to pedals, if you've not used them before or are going to be using the bike to commute then then I'd just start with Shimano M520s which are double sided SPDs. Tough metal cleats that will last a long time adn being double sided they are very easy to get into. You can usually get them for about £20.

Shoes, Shimano R077 have both a three point and a two point system built in. That means that you can use proper road cleats (Look Keo, Shimano SPD-SL and such like) as well as MTD SPD cleats. It gives you an upgrade path without needing new shoes. Usually around £60.
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Second that- M520's are great. If you want something a little lighter (my 520s weigh a little more than the advertised 380g) and don't mind single sided entry, I've had about 2000 miles on a pair of Wellgo RC713 pedals, although they were FPD branded when I got them. Good value.

I've had good wear out of my DHB road shoes, although I also used Shimanos. You can often get good deals on last years model.
 
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