Road Cycling Essentials

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Dup said:
Am I the only one still wearing shorts and a thin summer jersey? I got some funny looks this morning from people who seemed to be prepared for an arctic apocalypse.
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:eek: /faints. Leg warmers, full length bib shorts, base layer, cycling jersey, wind/water proof cycling coat, buff, cycling hat, base gloves, cycling gloves, toe covers...
 
I had a base layer and jacket on the other day and was roasting hot after a few miles.

For me it's at that awkward stage where it's not cold enough for full gear, but just a bit too chilly for anything in-between.
 
The bad thing about my commute is it's so short I can't generate enough heat on-ride. So no other choice but biblongs, thermal base layer, jersey, windproof jacket, gloves, neck gaiter.

It takes me longer to get dressed/undressed than it does to actually commute.
 
I am a northern country lad to be fair, bit special in the head mostly haha. Commute is 5 miles.

Last winter all I wore was a fleece lined jersey with base layer, buff, inner and outer winter gloves (poor hand circulation) and full length bib tights. Overshoes and florescent shell if it was wet. I rode every day, snow the lot and didn't really feel too cold apart from my poor hands which never fare well no matter what I do.

It's still really mild for me at the moment, weather says about 6/7C but it feels warm to me. In fact I was quite hot when rolled in this morning.
 
Public transport yesterday as I felt like I was coming down with something and the car thermometer said 2c when I was dropped at the station at 07:50. If I'd been cycling I would have left 40 minutes earlier and I reckon it would have been 1c without the wind chill.

Windchill is going to be the toughie this evening; 30mph headwinds with gusts up to 45mph.

Hills in gaseous form. Bring it.
 
I'm wearing a vest,a light jersey and a windproof.

I'm also sticking with the bigtights as they keep me nice and cosy. It is wild up here at the minute though, my road was blocked with a 50ft long section of foot deep water :( my poor bearings.
 
I'm in bib shorts and an OnOne long sleeve merino jersey, slightly feel the chill at first but once you get going it's spot on. Wore my windproof jersey the other day and it was boil in the bag despite being quite breathable in actually cold conditions!

In less good news, had a big spill on the way home from work. Riding along a quietish dual carriageway, a girl with headphones in stepped out between two parked cars without looking straight into me doing 35km/h. I just had time to yell and swerve enough to avoid wiping her out, but that ended with me still clipped in while skidding along the tarmac. Thankfully got away with just deepish scrapes on my right hip and bruises to my ankle, knee and hip and the bike is OK, having straightened out the brifters. :)

I'd be the first to admit if I could have done better but from where she stepped out I had probably less than a second to react. Still, she was OK thankfully and apologetic but obviously I wasn't too happy and let her know that next time it would be a good idea not to cross the road in the dark wearing headphones and not looking!
 
Driver pulled out in front of me on the way home too. Managed to come to a side-skidding stop and ended quite conveniently parallel to his car next to the driver's window.

"I didn't see you until the last minute". Yeah great excuse. Maybe that's why you should stop and look at a junction rather than whizzing out at 30mph?
 
Russinating said:
Yeah great excuse. Maybe that's why you should stop and look at a junction rather than whizzing out at 30mph?
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This really bugs me, as a driver I have ALWAYS taken time to come to a complete stop at junctions to make sure there was no chance something was passing. So many drivers slow down a little, give a quick glance and then go. Something small and not where you'd expect to see (like, i dunno, a cyclist in the cycle lane) is so easy to miss when you drive like that.

New PB on my return journey, only beat my best time by three seconds however i had a 2kg laptop in my backpack this time which makes me consider it an achievement.

I've given up on my employer ever signing up to cyclescheme, think i'm going to register my debit card on quidco and pop down to Halfords tomorrow to buy myself a Team CX, I've spent too long drooling over it to wait any longer, unless someone can recommend a better CX bike for £1k? Disk brakes and drop handles are a must and I'd also like a carbon fork, also needs to be able to take 25mm tyres for my commute as well as traditional 35mm CX tyres for offroad. I've got a Specialized concept store around the corner from me so if there's any good CX bikes in their range i don't know of...
 
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InsomniaCalls said:
Spesh do the Crux which has a disc option I believe. Probably less for your money though.
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Aye the Spesh CX with drop bars i've just seen on their website of a similar price only has a 140mm rear disk (Boardman has 2x 160, which means easier to upgrade to BB7 if i see a special offer) and no carbon fork. The roads i go over are naff so i'd like the vibration dampening properties of the carbon.

Does have Shimano shifters though which apparently are more popular than S-Ram...
 
Just rang Halfords to see if i could wangle a deal, failed but in the process found that they have three Team CX's boxed and in stock... oh the temptation!
 
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