Road Cycling Essentials

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FrenchTart said:
I struggled with the outers using my park tools cable cutter on a jagwire kit. I should get a proper outer cutting tool really :p
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Ah well, my other cutters are pretty heavy duty, cut through a handbrake cable with them in a scrapyard before.....

Are SRAM phasing out 10 speed, wiggle had no force cassettes and Merlin had none or very limited range, had to order one from ribble.
 
PermaBanned said:
Good steel isn't cheap, you're looking at minimum £500-600 if there happens to be a good deal in your size. It sounds like you really want a cross bike, something like a Charge Plug 3, but that too would drive the price up compared to a normal road bike too.

At the absolute bottom end, around £300, there will be compromises. Microshift levers being one of them. They'll get the job done, and if you've never tried anything else you probably wouldn't complain, but compared to low end Shimano shifters most people find they feel a lot mushier and less durable. Around £400 will probably get you a decent quality aluminium frame, carbon fork and Claris/Sora groupset. £50 more and you're looking at high end frames like the CAAD8 or Allez with Claris, and beyond that it's really just better groupsets, maybe slightly better wheels.

This post rounds up what's available around £400 right now, will probably change by the time you buy. Feel free to ask again closer to the time, but keep an eye on HUKD and definitely, definitely go to a local bike shop to try some of these out to see how they actually feel to you.
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Thanks for that. I had wondered if my budget was too tight for a decent steel bike. Funny you should mention the Plug 3 as if I could just go out and buy whatever I wanted tomorrow, that would be what I'd get. Wiggle had a good deal on the 2014 which put it within £60 of what I'd like to spend and I said at the time it was a shame I wasn't in the market to buy it.

I'll keep an eye out for deals nearer the time on specific bikes but it looks like a well kitted aluminium framed bike may be the better option. As a guess I think I'll be looking in the £400 - £500 range.
 
Ooh, our work cycling event is apparently now being sponsored by chain reaction cycles. We're all getting a free Jersey for the event. Sponsors, yo, raking it in.
 
lordrobs said:
Thanks for that. I had wondered if my budget was too tight for a decent steel bike. Funny you should mention the Plug 3 as if I could just go out and buy whatever I wanted tomorrow, that would be what I'd get. Wiggle had a good deal on the 2014 which put it within £60 of what I'd like to spend and I said at the time it was a shame I wasn't in the market to buy it.

I'll keep an eye out for deals nearer the time on specific bikes but it looks like a well kitted aluminium framed bike may be the better option. As a guess I think I'll be looking in the £400 - £500 range.
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Just buy my creeky old PlanetX XLS in a month or so for that price. That'll work out well :p

It kind of has mudguard mounts if you count "attaching them with zip ties" as being a mount.
 
Was great to get out yesterday. Only managed 11 miles before the dark set in, but being stuck inside for two weeks was making me twitchy.

Very cold, but fresh. Quiet roads, and didn't feel bad at all!
 
lordrobs said:
Thanks for that. I had wondered if my budget was too tight for a decent steel bike. Funny you should mention the Plug 3 as if I could just go out and buy whatever I wanted tomorrow, that would be what I'd get. Wiggle had a good deal on the 2014 which put it within £60 of what I'd like to spend and I said at the time it was a shame I wasn't in the market to buy it.

I'll keep an eye out for deals nearer the time on specific bikes but it looks like a well kitted aluminium framed bike may be the better option. As a guess I think I'll be looking in the £400 - £500 range.
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Don't forget to look into cycle to work schemes if they apply to you!
 
My new Specialized Expert Carbon road bike shoes.
They are lighter than a pair of slippers, 230g for the pair, and the carbon sole is super rigid for outstanding power transfer.

I've been using MTB shoes (specialized Pro) and pedals (Crank Brothers Eggbeaters) since 2011 so they should improve the pedaling feel. They are being linked up to Shimano 105 5800 pedals.

16315568342_9758b2071e_o.jpg
 
Just ordered a Jagwire brake and cable kit, along with the Park Tools cable and outer cutter, hopefully it does the job! Front derailleur cable seems to have chewed through the outer, leaving me stuck in the small ring until the kit arrives :o

Also splashed out on a Garmn 500 with cadence and HR monitor while I was at it...

New helmet I got last week seems great, replaced a rather too-large Giro with a medium Specialized Propero II, the increase in airflow is crazy, my head was freezing this morning whereas it's usually pretty warm. Seems a well fitted helmet makes all the difference..
 
squerble said:
Just checked this with my employer and I can use a maximum of £500, and only from Halfords. I'll "save" about £150 through salary sacrifice.
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Why is save in inverted commas?

You'll save money and essentially be getting free credit by spreading the cost over a year...

The cycle to work scheme is a ludicrous bargain. If you can get a bike you want from the shop your employer uses then it's a no-brainer.

The £500 limit is slightly bewildering, but hey ho.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Quando hubs - cheese?
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The general purpose SS or screw-on freewheel ones they do are fine and you can abuse and not really bother looking after them. Her bike has got a pair laced into a set of 27's with a 5-speed block and I've never touched them apart from re-dishing the wheel for the 5-speed.

Vonhelmet said:
Ok, I thought as much. How about novatec? They're alright, aren't they? I'm looking at a set of single speed wheels and I can get a set on eBay with no name rims on novatec hubs with a 16t freewheel on one side and a 16t fixed on the other for £85, which seems awfully cheap. It's that or I pay more like £130 for some Miche track xpress wheels and buy a freewheel on top, or I pay more for weinmann dp18 rims on miche hubs for like £170 from Planet X.
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I've built a set of track wheels with Novatec hubs. They are identical to all the other entry-level track hubs that look like them i.e. Zenith, No Name, System Ex, Espresso etc. I have three different 'makes' and apart from the hollow axle in the Novatec ones they are all identical. If it helps I've put 11k miles on my Zenith ones now and the bearings finally feel a bit rough and are due for replacement.

Miche look different and have the obvious solid flanges, so might be different internals, but with track hubs to be fair it's down to what bearings you put in them and whether you're snobby about the name on them. Primato's are good looking hubs though :p
 
Urgh.... Made a really stupid error on my FTP test and thought I could sustain a somewhat higher power than I actually can :p Blew up 5 minutes in... held on for another 5 minutes at the power level I should've been at (ish) but then just didn't have it in me. Will have not be so dumb sometime when I redo it.
 
Jonny69 said:
The general purpose SS or screw-on freewheel ones they do are fine and you can abuse and not really bother looking after them. Her bike has got a pair laced into a set of 27's with a 5-speed block and I've never touched them apart from re-dishing the wheel for the 5-speed.


I've built a set of track wheels with Novatec hubs. They are identical to all the other entry-level track hubs that look like them i.e. Zenith, No Name, System Ex, Espresso etc. I have three different 'makes' and apart from the hollow axle in the Novatec ones they are all identical. If it helps I've put 11k miles on my Zenith ones now and the bearings finally feel a bit rough and are due for replacement.

Miche look different and have the obvious solid flanges, so might be different internals, but with track hubs to be fair it's down to what bearings you put in them and whether you're snobby about the name on them. Primato's are good looking hubs though :p
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Cheers for that! I'm weighing up my options but will probably be making a purchase in the next couple of weeks... Should be able to get this single speed bike built around the Easter holidays, all being well, assuming the frames come back in stock and I can get the last bits of cash together to buy one!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Ooh, our work cycling event is apparently now being sponsored by chain reaction cycles. We're all getting a free Jersey for the event. Sponsors, yo, raking it in.
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Nice! Just hope they're nice ones...

SDK^ said:
My new Specialized Expert Carbon road bike shoes.
They are lighter than a pair of slippers, 230g for the pair, and the carbon sole is super rigid for outstanding power transfer.

I've been using MTB shoes (specialized Pro) and pedals (Crank Brothers Eggbeaters) since 2011 so they should improve the pedaling feel. They are being linked up to Shimano 105 5800 pedals.

16315568342_9758b2071e_o.jpg
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They look incredible, a nice 'upgrade'! Are these the ones you can mould to your feet?

squerble said:
Just checked this with my employer and I can use a maximum of £500, and only from Halfords. I'll "save" about £150 through salary sacrifice.
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Brabbinho said:
Road sport limited as I posted before fits the budget perfectly. With your saving upgrade the groupset if required
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Just remember that some of the CTW can be spent on clothing/helmet/pedals/garmin etc so always account for those rather than blowing it 'all' on a bike and then having to fork out another couple of hundred quid for everything else...

booyaka said:
just joined trainerroad.com as fed up with the wind/snow/rain up here. 30 days money back so might as well give it a go!
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I'm back from my snowboarding holiday (Arinsal, Andorra) and it actually feels colder in the UK than over there with the weeks weather turning worse as time goes on... With the icey roads here I'm looking at actually not cycling my work commute (until things are safer) and going to do some structured Turbo training.

Need to get around to putting some better winter tyres on too... The (700x23)Pro4 Grip Service Course I wanted are only available in 23cm, do they do a 25cm or am I best going for (700x25)Pro4 Service Course? I have a set of part worn 700x23 normal Pro4 Endurance, should I just put them on instead? They are to replace my Giant P-R3's.

Just started my Trainerroad free month (came with my KK RMII) and only just realised that Trainerroad only seems compatible with a PC/Mac using a USB ANT+ adaptor and not with Android (Phone/Tablet I normally use) :rolleyes:

Is this correct? I've got a old laptop I can use but no ANT+ USB stick and no way to mount it on my bike or have it easily near me when on the trainer (as I turbo in the back garden) :(
 
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Not such a lovely day out here today, started off at about 10:30, wasn't too bad, about 12c, with the aim to get up to Sa Calobre for a 75 mile loop, about 45 minutes or so in it started raining lightly, this started to increase in volume steadily until I was on my way up Sa Calobre, unfortunately with this the temp had dropped to 3 or 4c, I was now drenched and had another 50 miles to cover, but had climbed 3000ft. I had definitely not dressed for this, being in a compression layer, jersey and gilet, and the usual arm and leg warmers.

Had a decision to make, so went under some trees in the hope of it easing off, it did (a bit), so after being under the trees for about 15 minutes decided to go on, and about 200 yards up the road was a bloody little restaurant, went in got some lunch and rain started hammering it down. So I enjoyed 2 hot chocolates and some typically spanish, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches (it seems to be all they eat), after about an hour decided to head home on my planned route. Got about 15 miles from my hotel and decided to jump off my bike on some stupid little roundabout.

So have a nice graze, and to top it off, I dropped my bottle, one of only 2 I brought out, so will have to go on the hunt for one tomorrow.

Was feeling relatively good considering it's my 3rd day in a row, and done 100 miles yesterday, so will give the route another go on Wednesday I think, weather permitting. Hopefully rain should pass by tomorrow, as it wasn't supposed to rain today!

Least there was some lovely scenery yet again!

https://www.strava.com/activities/243203500
 
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