Road Cycling Essentials

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PaulStat said:
Thanks for that, yeah the railway path is good, I use it but in the opposite direction. Going past Kelston actually goes via one of my favourite pubs so that could be a good shout :p

Emersons green is quite close to me yes, maybe 4 miles
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Always good if you have a cafe/cake/pint stop! :D

FrenchTart said:
When I rode London > Paris last year I was stuck walking around in Paris in SPDs for half a day. My feet cried a lot then too :p
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Tell your feet to MTFU! ;)

Or a more serious note, maybe some basic walking/running might help and some is even ment to help cycling!

FrenchTart said:
I commute and then walk to/from my office every day, and usually around the house at lunch when I also cycle home. Some evenings when I go to the pub or visit a friend I'll take the bike and my SPDs too.
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Similar to me, although my walk from house to garage (bike) is 30m, work bike rack to desk is around 15m and I don't go home for lunch! :D My cleats should last me ages! Have a spare set of them ready - got 1 set with each set of pedals...! :cool:

Are SPD-SL's easier to clip in? I sometimes feel I have to force my SPD's in harder than normal, I've kept the cleat tension fairly low because of this (also retaining a little float to assist when commuting) but should I be increasing it instead? Hardly ever unintentionally unclip.

grudas said:
Is this, say commuting or riding around for fun? I unclipped like 100x+ day when commuting..
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I unclip probably 10/20 times per commute too, much less in the mornings (less traffic).

physichull said:
You can just mock me instead by criticising my lack of muscle strength to accelerate quickly on my Defy! ;)
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I know better than to do that! :p

FishFluff said:
Very similar setup to me then Roady. I have the same (but older!) shoes and M540 pedals. Fresh cleats though!

Do you find the balls of your feet hurting on long rides? I'm getting a bike fit this week anyway so hopefully that'll help. If not I think I'll just get stiffer/better fitting mtb shoes as I really like being able to walk in my bike shoes.
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I don't have any problems with my feet, but it depends what you mean by 'long'! I've had foot aches before but I'm sure that was down to conditioning and fitness... Most of my 'long' rides are much less than 2 hours/20 miles.

Built myself a route I'm gonna try one of these weekends... Probably need some hill practice first! https://www.strava.com/routes/1456652

SDK^ said:
Just had an awesome ride.
Achieved my first KOM, a 3rd overall and smashed 3 of my goals.

https://www.strava.com/activities/256176453
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Good work! Shaved 2s off 2nd place! What was your previous?
 
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I wouldn't say that they're easier. They're probably no harder once you're used to them though. They just use a slightly different muscle group/movement so it felt a bit weird to me.

/re the MTFU thing, I agree. That's partly why I'm trying to do more walking and I did a 5k run not long before my enforced break. I'm probably pushing myself too quickly though, hence the horrible pain/bleeding/blisters.
 
If you're wearing cycling shoes and worrying about walking in them, you're doing it wrong.

And if you have to unclip 100+ times when out cycling, then you're not really cycling at all. You're dragging a bike between traffic lights.

:p

Basically, get SPD SLs and do it right. ;)
 
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FrenchTart said:
/re the MTFU thing, I agree. That's partly why I'm trying to do more walking and I did a 5k run not long before my enforced break. I'm probably pushing myself too quickly though, hence the horrible pain/bleeding/blisters.
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I thought you did that instead of a Sufferfest?! ;)

I am going to get into some running also, mostly for a 20/30min blast in the evenings when I don't fancy going on the bike - due to winds/rain etc.

OcUK Tri team? ;) :D

tedmaul said:
And if you have to unclip 100+ times when out cycling, then you're not really cycling at all. You're dragging a bike between traffic lights.
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That in essence is what commuting is! Some nights it's not even as fun/progressive as dragging the bike might be. :(:rolleyes:
 
Wow I'm finished at work and about to get changed... And it's still bright outside!? What is this madness?! :D

It'll probably still be dark once I've faffed around and got changed
At least I can dump this wiggle return (3 sets of shorts & 2 jerseys) at the drop-off on the way past, talk about filling my bag to the top lol! :D
 
Argh, thinking now of going for a CX bike, Pinnacle Arkose 4, hydraulic discs, shimano 5800 11 speed, and no fee for using my voucher! then can look at posh bikes next year, and maybe ponder a disc based road bike!
 
FrenchTart said:
I think this is likely the main thing that's making the difference, yeah.
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That's my reason. Keep putting my foot down at however many lights, roundabouts and where I can't get through the traffic just chewed up the cleat. Very few opportunities to track stand on my route.

tedmaul said:
And if you have to unclip 100+ times when out cycling, then you're not really cycling at all. You're dragging a bike between traffic lights.
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Yeah I know this one only too well :(
 
Back on the bike this morning, though I probably shouldn't be. Legs are super fresh so they wanted to go fast but I had to keep myself steady and make sure I didn't get into any situations where I wanted to pull/push with my arms on the handlebars. Frustrating :p

Feels really good to be back on it though. If you told me 5 years ago that taking a week off from riding would drive me crazy I would have laughed at you and then gone back to sitting in front my my computer 24/7 whilst eating a giant pizza.
 
FrenchTart said:
Back on the bike this morning, though I probably shouldn't be. Legs are super fresh so they wanted to go fast but I had to keep myself steady and make sure I didn't get into any situations where I wanted to pull/push with my arms on the handlebars. Frustrating :p

Feels really good to be back on it though. If you told me 5 years ago that taking a week off from riding would drive me crazy I would have laughed at you and then gone back to sitting in front my my computer 24/7 whilst eating a giant pizza.
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Haha - amen to that. :D I was active-ish as a kid but equally happy playing Counter-Strike all day with a takeaway for company. I think that would drive me nuts these days.
 
SoliD said:
Argh, thinking now of going for a CX bike, Pinnacle Arkose 4, hydraulic discs, shimano 5800 11 speed, and no fee for using my voucher! then can look at posh bikes next year, and maybe ponder a disc based road bike!
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Looks like a great spec bike for the money! Shame about the colour... :rolleyes:

lordrobs said:
Just bought two sets of M530's while the 15% discount is on at Halfords. Not much but every little helps! Now to get some SPD shoes...
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Hunting down deals (or waiting for them on Wiggle) is my current pastime lol, The 530's are 41% off Halfords online and also 41% off on Wiggle. Wiggle have free delivery but I guess so does Halfords with reserve & collect, you might even be able to get them to fit them for you if required (for free - just send the missus into store!) ;)

Robzere31 said:
I'm 10 seconds off your KOM, may have to see what I can do about catching you up! :D
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SDK^ said:
Funny you say that, I'm also after one of yours. Thought I had it on Sunday but I was some way off.

https://www.strava.com/activities/255142886/segments/5974131049
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The gloves are off! There's only one way to decide this...! :p



Commute in this morning was ok, legs a little tired from my majorly failed 'easy ride home' - I chased a car, raced a red-light and then chased a scooter (check the HR spikes lol). Still quite impressed with my recovery and speeds ;):rolleyes:

FrenchTart said:
Back on the bike this morning, though I probably shouldn't be. Legs are super fresh so they wanted to go fast but I had to keep myself steady and make sure I didn't get into any situations where I wanted to pull/push with my arms on the handlebars. Frustrating :p

Feels really good to be back on it though. If you told me 5 years ago that taking a week off from riding would drive me crazy I would have laughed at you and then gone back to sitting in front my my computer 24/7 whilst eating a giant pizza.
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Just make sure you take it easy!

One More Solo said:
Haha - amen to that. :D I was active-ish as a kid but equally happy playing Counter-Strike all day with a takeaway for company. I think that would drive me nuts these days.
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See, I could still game (Battlefield) all night with a chinese/pizza (if the mrs would let me), cycling is my way of 'getting away with it'! Takeaways are a treat so only have one a month (on average) ;)

Robzere31 said:
lol, to be fair my KOM achieving days are over. To old for it these days !! :D
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ORLY?
 
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One More Solo said:
Haha - amen to that. :D I was active-ish as a kid but equally happy playing Counter-Strike all day with a takeaway for company. I think that would drive me nuts these days.
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I was really active up until college age...then over a decade of accumulating blubber :p

Still a bit chomping at the bit a little as I can't do any gym work and have to take it easy. Far better than just sitting around though.
 
This is an excellent idea: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...anging-freehub-design-ever-make-market-157363

The fathing around it would save would be great! The main one for me would be not having to worry about mixing and matching partially worn cassettes and chains.

At the moment, using any of my bikes with the turbo wheel causes it to skip gears badly as the chains and cassette have not worn together. Yeah, I can buy a new cassette, but it may still skip, and then 6 months down the line when I want to use the turbo again they will be unevenly worn again.

But this would solve all that. Sounds promising.
 
The chain and cassette wear at different rates so they will never be "worn together"? :confused:

Over the lifetime of a cassette you will probably have replaced the chain 4ish times.
 
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