Road Cycling Essentials

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SkodaMart said:
Careful what you spend.

It will be hard to recoup the cost of new parts on a second hand bike.
Would it make more sense to break it, clean the good parts - frame fork etc and sell it like that?

Parts can fetch more than full bikes.
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Thanks for the advice, that's pretty much the route I think I'm going to go down.

I have a new shifter coming for ~£25 (Claris instead of Sora, it's only for the front derailleur and I don't hold out much hope for fixing the shifter). Rear wheel I still need to assess - I won't replace it, will just use an old spare.

All being well I should have had the new bike by now, but that particular model was affected by a brake recall :(
 
That TDU video is great, my favourite moment of the year so far was Cadel smashing everyone up the corkscrew hill.

Very tidy wardrobe there too, mines all piled on one shelf!


Away all week with work, brought the bike but my riding options are limited to one asphalt road so out and back rides! Then we have a 100km club race this weekend!

Got 70km in today in a last minute attempt to get my legs used to doing more than 90 mins riding! After 75 mins i can start to feel it, so I think I want to be thinking about eating something after an hour to give me some energy before I get to that point. No computer to download my Garmin to but was aiming to keep over 200w average. One of those rides where you never get a tailwind but always have a slight headwind.

Going to struggle for water at the weekend I think, not sure how it's going to be run, but I'll drink a bottle an hour and 100km will be 3 hrs roughly.... Only two cages on a bike...
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Sounds like you need a domestique :D
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That's the kind of rider I would be, or the one who goes for a break every day, I make a great wheel to sit on being tall, I'll never be the fastest uphill or in a sprint but can chug along fairly happily!

I just want to ride quick all the time!
 
Finally got the Peregrine set up correctly yesterday (at least at the back, might need a 110mm stem rather than 100mm) and it's brilliant.

Many geared bikes were dispatched this morning.
 
I'm pretty tempted by the 4 Seasons to be honest. There are several awesome things about my current tyres that I'd miss though:

1) Zero grip in the wet.
2) Zero grip on anything metal - e.g. grids, manhole covers, etc.
3) Ability to get a puncture every 200 miles.

It will be a hard act to follow.
 
I have a lot of confidence in the 4 Seasons in the wet. I've only had 3 punctures on them and 2 of those were slow punctures following a 100mi ride through the night in heavy rain so I couldn't really see what I was riding over most of the time.
 
The tyres on my Allez seem OK, grip well on greasy roads, not had a puncture yet.
They are 23mm in a 25 mm case lol!!
I guess that means 25mm.

Specialized all condition flak jacket.

I've lost 2.5KG on my high carb low fat diet! Since I started cycling at Christmas.

I'm 97.5 KG now, 215 lbs aiming for 200lbs - Don't want to be much lighter than that.

Loving the Allez, it's lively, comfortable and handles very well, I've never had a bike that corners so well, I suspect this is mainly because my previous bikes have always been a fraction too big for me.

A long ride will be the true test however.
 
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FrenchTart said:
I'm pretty tempted by the 4 Seasons to be honest. There are several awesome things about my current tyres that I'd miss though:

1) Zero grip in the wet.
2) Zero grip on anything metal - e.g. grids, manhole covers, etc.
3) Ability to get a puncture every 200 miles.

It will be a hard act to follow.
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5k + miles on my zaffiros and only had 3 punctures! :) manhole covers will be slippery no matter what tyre you have.. unless you've got something with metal spikes haha.

wet grip is not bad either!
 
I don't expect amazing grip on manhole covers but it was certainly a step down from my old tyres (which themselves don't seem to be highly thought of on here). Quite disappointing :/

Same with the wet grip actually.

And the puncture protection.

On the bright side, moving from 25mm to 28mm was a big increase in comfort.
 
I've really enjoyed my 4 seasons. No problems at all. Grippy and give confidence when descending in the wet.

Two mates I go cycling with got the Gatorskins just before I got my 4 seasons. There have had 3 punctures between them to my 0.
 
FrenchTart said:
I don't expect amazing grip on manhole covers but it was certainly a step down from my old tyres (which themselves don't seem to be highly thought of on here). Quite disappointing :/

Same with the wet grip actually.

And the puncture protection.

On the bright side, moving from 25mm to 28mm was a big increase in comfort.
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I have 28mm 4Seasons on the Peregrine at the moment. I expected more comfort, not sure why since I've got them at 110psi.
 
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