Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jonny69 said:
You LOOK really chuffed :D
Click to expand...

I am. :D

My road bike is half the weight of my MTB so I can agree on the weight thing. But it's not like you're planning on doing lots of miles off road?

As for brakes, I'd take the disk brakes on my MTB over the brakes on my road bike any day of the week if I need to stop in a hurry!
 
It's mainly because I'm running it single speed, and that means the rear wheel never goes back in exactly the same place, because you 'walk' it into the dropouts to build the chain tension. But up front it's got these plates that stop the wheel falling out if the nuts come undone. Which are a great idea, but when you tighten the nuts it has a habit of wandering about and, again, the wheel never goes back in exactly where it was.
 
Gave my bike a cheeky wee,well thorough, wash today whilst the shop was quiet.

Amazing how much better a bike can feel being clean and cleaning all that gunk off the chain,cassette and jockey wheels. Nearly through a set of pads in 6 weeks at the front....

Black,silver or white Rs30s on my red caad8?

Think I'll get a sora or tiagra double with some tiagra calipers. Everything on entry level bikes just seems to flex and it's like riding a bouncy castle.

WP_000134.jpg
 
Last edited:
My bottom bracket was making hideous noises on my Z100, so I decided to whip all the bits off and fit the SRAM Force groupo that I've had sitting in a box waiting for a carbon frame. I went all weight weenie and weighed everything that came off and bolted back on, and the swap has shaved off nigh on 900 grams- I never realised low end Shimano/FSA bits were so heavy!

GXP bearings look so damn meaty too.
 
Quick 23 mile blast around Woking and Guildford, and I have to say, I love the SRAM groupo. Doubletap just..... works, I didn't even have to think about changing my shift technique. And I'm a 175mm crank convert, maybe it's psychological, but being a fairly grindy rather than spinny rider, I'm convinced I could feel a torque advantage. Pedals do feel closer to the ground while cornering though. I got the indexing spot on first time, and the front mech only rubs slightly in top gear without trimming- I daresay that could be tuned out by accurately aligning it. Which is just as well, because I can't find the trim position!

And the major joy is the silence- the Microshift shifters (which I still rate by the way) clacked all the time, the Srams are silent. And silence makes me feel happy. And happiness makes me feel fast.

Also the shifter bodies are so comfortable, having all the cables routed along the bars makes it feel so uncluttered and open.

Overall, I like.
 
WP_000479.jpg


Got my XML T6 powered light from best offer buy the other day. First time using it on unlit roads, on my commute tonight, and it's epic.

Lights up the whole road for what I'd say 100 yards...plenty enough to cycle at 20-30mph certainly.

I use it on low and dip it in traffic though! Came off a big hill onto an unlit roundabout(all streetlights were out) at about 40 last night and ended up behind an A8 that decided to brake test me.....lesson learned:o
 
The 18 mile ride part of Wightlink Challenge was genuinely off-road. No way I'd have gotten away with it on a cross bike or any of my road bikes with chunky tyres. The terrain was simply punishing. It was extremely hilly, through long grass, mud, rocky paths and a few miles on road. There was next to no flat stuff and the hills were an incredible challenge for everyone. Views up at the tops of the hills were amazing. I've never ridden off road before and coming down the hills at full tilt with the bike skipping all over the place, banging over rocks and getting some pretty serious air was amazing. And I did it on a single speed with no suspension, what an idiot! It's amazing how much more efficient a single speed is though; on all the bits that didn't need extreme gearing I just left everyone for dust :eek:
 
You're a lunatic, Jon. Don't suppose there are any pictures of you on this single speed, rigid bike flying down the hills? I'm too scared to look in the "big bike thread" for myself :P
 
We didn't take any but there will be some event photos. Will post them up when I find them :)

It was mad. At speed you had a choice of hold on tight or bin it :D
 
I've been riding a mountain bike over the channel islands all week. I quite enjoyed it. I particularly like the fact it has a basket on the front which was a handy place to keep my beer.

I've also discovered the best lighting solution for nocturnal single tracking is a 2million candle power spotlight wedged into a basket between a Thai takeaway.
 
I'm guessing we're keeping our chunky tyre antics to ourselves and not telling them in the other thread about it :p
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom