Road Cycling Essentials

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Womble said:
You only ever do sufferfest vids? Only done Angels myself and tend to do the interval ones on the site instead
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Pretty much, I don't get a great deal of time to train so when I do I want to make the most of it. I'm aiming to do 3 a week at the moment along with my rides at the weekend, or more if the weather is bad :)
 
Berger said:
You can legally ride on the motorway in Aus, personally I probably wouldn't, but it is probably safer than an A road.

You have the whole shoulder to ride on, few junctions to pass, and all the traffic going one direction. The cyclist in the video does look a bit of a numpty saying that...
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No way. It's far too fast and there is a reason why you are told to leave your vehicle on the hard shoulder as many incidents occur.
 
Th0nt said:
No way. It's far too fast and there is a reason why you are told to leave your vehicle on the hard shoulder as many incidents occur.
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I have never seen someone crash into a car on the hard shoulder, but have seen plenty of accidents at junctions, on single carriageway roads.

Riding on the hard shoulder where you can have 1.5-2m between yourself and the start of the inside lane is much safer than people blowing by you with 10cm to spare due ro traffic coming the other direction like they do otherwise.

The motorway is no faster than a regular dual carriageway which has no hard shoulder.

Its only 10mph faster than a major A road or derestricted B road which has no hard shoulder, only one lane width and traffic coming the opposite direction as well as regular junctions.

Ill admit that the likely outcome for a vehicle hitting a cyclist on the motorway is likely to result in serious injury or death, but argue that the likelihood is much lower than elsewhere on the roads. If you did a likelihood/consequence matrix I would expect busy A road to be worse than motorway.
 
Well after all the tyre talk yesterday I guess I jinxed myself! Went to leave this morning and noticed my rear GP 4Season on the single-speed was flat.:(

Had to ride the Cinelli to work and I have to say I really prefer having one gear for commuting. It feels so much more efficient and faster on the single-speed. None of this faffing about with gears and dérailleurs!
 
Not sure single speed would work very well around here.

I've only done 177 miles since I started using Strava, but climbed 11,000 ft!!

:eek:
 
Yeah, my commute is mainly short sprints between traffic lights through pancake-flat central London. I think gears are a hindrance in this environment!
 
Shamrock said:
Yeah, my commute is mainly short sprints between traffic lights through pancake-flat central London. I think gears are a hindrance in this environment!
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Single speed is ideal for certain areas.

I was shocked at the amount of climbing I had done already.

There really is no flat rides around here, you are either going up or down!

Going to try a 30 mile run out to Lyme Park when I get the chance, heading out towards the Cheshire plain is my only hope of non-hilly miles.
 
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Always been tempted by a single speed for commuting. Its flat around here so need to worry about getting up hills.

At least my main bike has Sora components so replacement parts are cheap.
 
Shamrock said:
Do it!

Short, punchy climbs are more fun on a single-speed too as you just get out of the saddle and blast up them.
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What gearing are you running? :) I've got a SS with 18/48 and I find it quite good for London roads.. My brother runs 16/49 and that is too much on some steeper hills.. Alexandra palace for e.g.
 
I run 48-17 which is 76.2GI.

I find it the right gearing for me. Not too spinny and not knee damagingly hard. Only on days with very strong tailwinds do I sometimes wish for a harder gear as I spin out when going over 30mph. ;)
 
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49-18 on one. 48-18 or 46-20 on the other, depending on whether it's road or CX.

I really should change the Pug to 48-17 but I lack the upper body strength (or a cheat bar) to get the freewheel off.
 
Shamrock said:
Had to ride the Cinelli to work and I have to say I really prefer having one gear for commuting. It feels so much more efficient and faster on the single-speed. None of this faffing about with gears and dérailleurs!
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You've seen the light. Soon you'll realise that freewheel clicking away behind you is nothing but an irritating noise :D

daveski said:
Always been tempted by a single speed for commuting. Its flat around here so need to worry about getting up hills.
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DO IT!

grudas said:
What gearing are you running? :) I've got a SS with 18/48 and I find it quite good for London roads.. My brother runs 16/49 and that is too much on some steeper hills.. Alexandra palace for e.g.
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48-18 here. I have used 48-16 before but only on shorter commutes. It's too much on the knees for 10 miles each way especially if there is a lot of stop-starting.
 
I love s/s but still don't see any worthwhile benefits to riding fixed on the street.

Maybe once I've visited Herne Hill my opinion will change.
 
I am REALLY pleased with my ride today
I did the longest of this year, 35 miles

All my rides except 1 were all PB's !!

http://app.strava.com/activities/116246360

and on this hill

I am currently 89 of 450 !
http://app.strava.com/segments/4729003?filter=overall
:)



and I got rewarded
mts-ride-feb-v1-20_zps0fa3fd7e.png
 
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