Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
Bad day at work so I was feeling confrontational on the way home and decided to verbally abuse a red light jumper. Ultimately a pointless exercise as he was unphased by my insults and continued to RLJ so eventually I lost him. Hurling abuse at a complete stranger who you feel deserves it is an excellent form of stress relief I must say!:D

I do this everyday! Sometimes with another guy who's quite fast but stops at all reds :D
 
Think I'm going to keep my budget as £1000, and upgrade the brakes if required to the hydraulic-mechanical.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z75-disc-2015/

Looks like it might be the winner, Shimano crank vs. FSA as on the Suffolk Whyte and Canondale Synapse and TRP Spyre brakes which seem to get pretty rave reviews!

12% discount and interest free credit seems pretty tempting on Wiggle, rather than go down the cycle to work scheme route again, less hassle!

But then part of says go for http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/road-race/peloton/cube-peloton-sl-blacknwhite-2015/ which is a mix of Ultegra and 105, but with rim brakes.

Bit torn really, the but brake discs are swaying me as it'll be ridden in all weather.
 
Last edited:
TRP Spyre brakes are substantially better than those on the other bike you linked to. Looks like a good choice :)

Yeah, seems a step above the ones on the Canondale, and probably the 105's on the Cube.

I can always upgrade the groupset at a later date to match the Cube and still have discs :)
 
I wouldn't worry so much about cranks, FSA is fine. It's much more important to actually try out the bikes, see what geometry fits you best and feels most comfortable for the sort of riding you'll be doing and get a feel for how the frames are for absorbing vibrations.
 
Yeahhhh! 10 minute power pb this morning, by 1w :D back to my best it seems after the 3 week break at Xmas.

Depressingly getting beaten by more people though as they have been doing big summer training blocks :(
 
I actually quite enjoyed walking in to work yesterday but given that it made my feet bleed and gave me a double-layer of blisters each the size of a fist I had to get the bus in today. Public transport....I don't know how people put up with it.

I've read around and as long as I'm careful I think I can get away with riding my bike to work (slowly). Going to give it a clean up tonight and then ride in either tomorrow or at the latest Thursday. I'll go insane if I don't.
 
Yeahhhh! 10 minute power pb this morning, by 1w :D back to my best it seems after the 3 week break at Xmas.

Depressingly getting beaten by more people though as they have been doing big summer training blocks :(

Good work! Seems like I've not had any power PB's for a while besides sprints. Really need to do a well rested FTP test this week. I'm pretty fatigued though after a pretty big block of training/racing.
 
Back on the Defy for the commute this morning....it felt so slow and heavy! Its weird not having the acceleration I have with my new bike.

Take that back! :p ;)

Yeahhhh! 10 minute power pb this morning, by 1w :D back to my best it seems after the 3 week break at Xmas.

Depressingly getting beaten by more people though as they have been doing big summer training blocks :(

Took me a second to remember Xmas = summer ;)

A break and not losing much performance/condition is good, just think how rested you feel compared to them! :D

Think I'm going to keep my budget as £1000, and upgrade the brakes if required to the hydraulic-mechanical.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-z75-disc-2015/

Looks like it might be the winner, Shimano crank vs. FSA as on the Suffolk Whyte and Canondale Synapse and TRP Spyre brakes which seem to get pretty rave reviews!

12% discount and interest free credit seems pretty tempting on Wiggle, rather than go down the cycle to work scheme route again, less hassle!

But then part of says go for http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/road-race/peloton/cube-peloton-sl-blacknwhite-2015/ which is a mix of Ultegra and 105, but with rim brakes.

Bit torn really, the but brake discs are swaying me as it'll be ridden in all weather.

We love the Felts around here, although that Z75 seems to have tubeless rims and not clincher? 'tubeless ready'? Anyone confirm?

Love the colour scheme and the switch between the wheels, looks ace :D

GT seem to do a good range of disc & road geometry:
Spyre brakes also: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-grade-al-tiagra-2015/ £745
Hy/Rd & 105: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-grade-al-105-2015/ £880
Hydraulic & 105: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-grade-al-x-2015/ £1320

Kona stands out too:
Cable & 105: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kona-esatto-disc-2015/
Hy/RD & 105: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kona-esatto-disc-deluxe-2015/


Cold commute this morning, -4 when I woke up and -2 with -3 wind chill when I rode in... Complete change to yesterdays 5 degrees and warm/wet! :rolleyes: But I felt good & strong, enjoying the brighter weather! :)

Insane ride :o (100 miles, 9k climbing @ 19.6mph average, 35-40mph 20min descents!)

I actually quite enjoyed walking in to work yesterday but given that it made my feet bleed and gave me a double-layer of blisters each the size of a fist I had to get the bus in today. Public transport....I don't know how people put up with it.

I've read around and as long as I'm careful I think I can get away with riding my bike to work (slowly). Going to give it a clean up tonight and then ride in either tomorrow or at the latest Thursday. I'll go insane if I don't.

Just take it easy, ease yourself into the walking/running rather than jumping straight into it mate! Same with the cycling, recovery rides only! Last thing you want to do is injure yourself or extend your break from the bike! :)
 
Last edited:
We love the Felts around here, although that Z75 seems to have tubeless rims and not clincher? 'tubeless ready'? Anyone confirm?

You're getting "Tubeless" and "Tubular" mixed up.

Tubular tyres need to be glued to the rim.
Tubeless tyres attach the same was as clinchers but you can use special rim tape and valves to make an airtight seal and run them without inner tubes. The rims still work with a normal tyres and tubes though.
 
Take that back! :p ;)

Took me a second to remember Xmas = summer ;)

A break and not losing much performance/condition is good, just think how rested you feel compared to them! :D

Taken me 5 weeks to get back to it at 250-300km a week, but it's good to know that I'm there and feel like I'm still making improvements if I can keep it up.
 
I have some of those R500 wheels on my bike, not the lightest but perfect for this time of year. Plus they're so cheap when they're knackered I can buy another set.
 
2+ Years on a bike, commuting to work, never late!

2nd day commuting with tube to training and I'm already 15mins late! Gotta love public transport!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom