Road Cycling Essentials

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Thought this was quite a pretty bike today. Pretty light for 'only' having RS81 C24s. Not really custom just changed from 52/36 to 53/39, 13cm 3T arx pro stem and a stages power meter.


 
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Quick mock-up of next year's TT bike. Boy is this baby going to fly!
 
Should probably get some mudguards so I don't go spraying everyone with water, but raceblade longs don't seem to be available anymore and were probably the only decent mudguards that would have fitted my bike. Anyone know what's up?
 
One week through my two week enforced break and really missing the bike! Roll on next week, although being in the warmth of the car on the commute is much nicer! :D

Got email from Jaguar asking about sizing for Rapha Pro Jersey, Bibs and their new GT shoes! £610 of gear for free can't complain about that!
 
Great ride this morning. I was in charge of the route for once. I'd ridden most of it before in one direction or the other, so I knew where we were headed, but I'd not done it all in one go. I knew there were a couple of nasty climbs in there, so I was quite glad that we only had 4 of us and I knew we were all pretty capable. I was quite keen to get up the first serious hill before the rain really set in, because I knew it wouldn't be fun trying to climb 14%+ in the pouring rain, and fortunately it was only drizzling by the time we got up there. It started raining pretty heavily after that, so we got fairly wet. I had a shorts and leg warmers and then up top I had a long sleeved baselayer and my Aldi softshell which cost me like £25 or something. The softshell was really good in those conditions. When I've worn it in the past it's always been warmer and usually dry and I've not been so impressed because I've just sweated like mad, but it was perfect for these conditions. It kept me reasonably dry and very warm and it really kept the wind out. My legs got soaked and my feet got soaked and my new waterproof gloves really aren't very waterproof, but they kept my hands warm. We had a couple more climbs and some decent descents which unfortunately we couldn't make the most of in the wet conditions, and then we found our cafe after about 25 miles. It's apparently a favourite of Wiggo's, but he wasn't there today ;) Loads of other cyclists were there - loads from Southport and Lancaster and Liverpool. The food and drink were alright, but the service wasn't great given they forgot half our cakes and we had to go and remind them! One of our lads if fairly new to cycling and he's a bit all the gear, no idea, so he'd got no overshoes and one of the Southport lot was taking the pee out of him for being in him fancy summer shoes in the pouring rain :D We left the cafe with our wooden legs and my hands were frozen for a while in my wet gloves, but they did warm up after a bit. We took in Parbold Hill, which had an absolute river coming down it, and then headed back through Wigan, by which time the rain was easing off. We were all a bit fed up by that point, though, so we missed off one last cat 4 that we could have done and just headed home.

So, rubbish weather, but a great route. Definitely one to remember for the summer months.
 
Roady said:
Lots of things on the Tenn site look like good buys... But without knowing the quality or seeing and reviews that's a big no from me!
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I got some Tenn stuff from tredz, i think a compression base layer, a cheap waterproof jacket and a winter weight long sleeved jersey. I have absolutely no complaints about the quality, it's spot on, but as with anything bought online the sizing is a bit hard to get right. I got everything in medium, and the compression base layer fits fine but is probably a bit too long, the waterproof jacket is okay, but in hindsight the winter jersey is probably a bit too big. Sleeves are quite long and there's a lot of slack around the belly, so i could probably have gone with a small but i can live with it. It's perfect for cold, not too windy or rainy days though.
 
Been feeling rough today, full of cold, thanks to the selfish acts of my colleagues still insisting on coming to work when ill and now ruining my weekend. As such, it looks unlikely I will be out this weekend. :(
 
my new tyres arrived today, 1 week ahead of schedule
didn't order inner tubes at the time, so I had to make do with the 2 spares I had from my summer bike

anyway, I didn't see a "rotation" marked anywhere, so I hope they can go on any way

It was a flippin struggle getting them on my wide rims! took me ages!

managed to change the back one, but the front wheel I ended up getting a snake bite trying to put the tyre on, I thought folded tyres are supposed to be easy on! I guess its because of my wide rims ?

the one that is on. I pumped that too 100 psi and it's rock solid !!
 
Jonny i recently got a set of rs81s and i notice when i put the power down they rub on the brakes due to flex. Possibly the salmon pads dont help. Have you had this issue?
 
SoliD said:
I do like the way felt do their weave effects, olvs bike looks really good in the flesh!
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Yeah it's nice to see the Textreme trickle down the range a little bit. A Di2 bike @ 7kg is pretty good in my eyes.

Amps said:
Jonny i recently got a set of rs81s and i notice when i put the power down they rub on the brakes due to flex. Possibly the salmon pads dont help. Have you had this issue?
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Can't say I've ridden them for any length of time as I have R500s on my bike.

This is a customer bike who has silly light American classic argents he uses.

Have you checked that the wheel isn't buckled or the the hub doesn't have play side to side??

A lot of the guys that race do have the brakes with the wee lever slightly open or the brakes set slacker than usual to prevent the amount of rub.
 
My neighbour's Ridley has Tiagra brakes and some fancy mavic wheels... Maybe ksyriums? I could hear them rubbing any time he put the power down this morning, but his brakes are very close in to the rims.
 
physichull said:
Been feeling rough today, full of cold, thanks to the selfish acts of my colleagues still insisting on coming to work when ill and now ruining my weekend. As such, it looks unlikely I will be out this weekend. :(
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Could be worse. I spent the week working in Mexico City and now, instead of spending the weekend playing with my kids, snuggling with my wife and maybe riding my bike I'm sitting on the toilet.

Constantly.


Incidentally, MC has a bike hire scheme, segregated cycle lanes and a FGSS community. It also has an altitude of 8,500 feet (78% of oxygen levels as at sea level) and pollution that has destroyed my sinuses. 24 million people (three times London) and half of them appear to drive to work.
 
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I remember reading maybe 15-20 years ago that Mexico City was the most polluted city in the world. I'm not sure whether they still hold that dubious record, but if not then it sounds like they're still gunning for it.
 
I just felt nauseous for a week. Breathing the fresh clean air of Heathrow was wonderful.

The fact MC is in a bowl surrounded by mountains doesn't help. There isn't much of a breeze.

To think that it used to be the location of choice for hour record attempts.
 
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