Soldato
No to be fair I don't a great deal, every now and then. But I find central London commuting to be a bit crap in general.
Road Cycling Essentials
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No to be fair I don't a great deal, every now and then. But I find central London commuting to be a bit crap in general.
I think that is the point though. Wouldn't it be great if the consumer was able to easily identify road bikes that have the clearance for 28's and mudguards, with proper mud guard mounts and disc brakes to help with the road grime they will see (and the service schedule of your average commuter) with a frame that is biased towards comfort rather than speed... now they are starting too and they've labelled them as adventure bikes. The bikes themselves are nothing new but the lable is as they didn't quite fit under the blanket banner of "road bikes".
If anything it adds clarity to cyclocross bikes as this can remain a category of bikes that ae suitable for the sport. As someone has already mentioned, a cyclocross bike in race trim can't run guards so the mounts are a bit pointless.
Anyway, that is just my view as a consumer looking to get my first road bike, the lable and what it means makes sense to me.
Man of Honour
If I had a separate bike for racing I'd presumably not have mudguards on that as, as you say, you would have to remove them. As I don't even race
or have space to store tons of spare bikes I pretty much try to have a do-it-all machine which has to do well for my century rides and my daily commute - which means mudguards for me. I agree that it would be nicer to be able to more easily tell if a bike has mudguard mounts especially. The amount of time I've spent trying to work out if some psuedo-CX bikes have mudguard eyelets is ridiculous.
Do all "Adventure" bikes have mudguard mounts? It's (good) news to me if so. I was under the impression that they're just relaxed-ish geometry (which most CX bikes are too, compared to proper road/race machines) and reasonable clearance. In fact, I wasn't aware of anything that really properly differentiated them from a CX bike.
Just reading a little more into it and it does look like they've got slightly more road-like geometry but aside from that you're basically in the same position as when looking at CX - having to work out if the specific model you're looking at has mudguard mounts or not. Perhaps the percentage of "Adventure" bikes that have mudguard mounts is higher than that of CX though.
Anyhow, I'm not sure what my point was here. It's more a case of me thinking out loud I guess. I've spent a lot of time shopping for disc-equipped drop-handlebar bikes in the past few years so I guess I've always found the label of CX semi-useless and to me Adventure doesn't seem that much better.
I've yet to see a bike labelled up as an adventure bike that doesn't have mud guard mounts. As I say, as a consumer it is a useful tool to instantly identify a specific (and growing) sub set of road bikes rather than anything new as such.
Man of Honour
Fair enough. The reading I did on it whilst I was rambling in my last post suggested that mudguard eyelets aren't ubiquitous on Adventure bikes so I guess if I (also a consumer) were to look at them I'd still end up feeling like I had to double-check that the bike I wanted did definitely have mudguard mounts.
If I lived in the UK my training bike would have guards.
It's not rained since January so I don't have that problem!
Got out and did a social 107km today, not the fastest pace but nice recovery since racing yday then going out at night!
It's not rained since January so I don't have that problem!
Got out and did a social 107km today, not the fastest pace but nice recovery since racing yday then going out at night!
I see where you are coming from in that there is no definitive list of must haves for being labelled as an adventure bike. As a growing segment I'm sure they'll find their place and things will become a little clearer. Either that or they'll become then next 'hybrid' and cover a massive range of bikes with no clear distinction between them
Also when I say I haven't seen any without mud guards my looking in to them is mainly based around Evans classification on their website.
Soldato
Popped out this morning for 26 miles. More murderous winds to slow me down. Horse owners being complete ***** didn't help either. Oh and I had my first crash! Embarrassing stuff, turned in to the Golf Club, last mile to go. Started to clean my sunglasses of a bit of rain and drifted off the edge of the tarmac and over i go ffs 
Think I've screwed my rear gear mechanism, only seem to get two gears now! Right leg took the brunt of things and is cramping like hell just now!
https://www.strava.com/activities/258305466
Think I've screwed my rear gear mechanism, only seem to get two gears now! Right leg took the brunt of things and is cramping like hell just now!https://www.strava.com/activities/258305466
What horse related issues did you have?
Soldato
Two horses being led by their handlers with folk on them. Taking up the whole road just as i was coming into edzell. The handlers were oblivious as they were more interested in their conversation that anything else on the road as the one in the centre of the road veers more towards my side of the road. Idiots!
Wasn't cramp on my leg at all, i twisted my knee instead!
So much for a Southport run - would have been my first 40m plus ride 
Still managed 30ish with snow for the trip home
For some reason my 810 went gaga so the ride is split into 2 activities
and couldn't get the HR monitor to work
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334043
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334036
Glad you're ok
Still managed 30ish with snow for the trip home
For some reason my 810 went gaga so the ride is split into 2 activities
and couldn't get the HR monitor to work
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334043
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334036
Popped out this morning for 26 miles. More murderous winds to slow me down. Horse owners being complete ***** didn't help either. Oh and I had my first crash! Embarrassing stuff, turned in to the Golf Club, last mile to go. Started to clean my sunglasses of a bit of rain and drifted off the edge of the tarmac and over i go ffs
https://www.strava.com/activities/258305466
Glad you're ok
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Soldato
Cheers, I creek at the best of times but this wasn't what i was needing! Need to get a new pair of leggings as well. First time out and burst them
Man of Honour
Glad I got out yesterday. Cycled down to East Didsbury for a coffee at lunch and got soaked. Wouldn't have been up for a long ride in it 
Soldato
So I have these wheels on my Kinesis http://www.dtswiss.com/Wheels/Road-Wheels/R-23-Spline/R-23-Spline they have done 750 miles in the winter months.
Just being cleaning it and I noticed a very small movement on the rear wheel maybe 1mm each way, any thoughts on what wrong and are these things serviceable ?
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
Just being cleaning it and I noticed a very small movement on the rear wheel maybe 1mm each way, any thoughts on what wrong and are these things serviceable ?
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
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Soldato
Probably the bearing preload is set too light. Maybe time to service the hubs and set it again, there should be a little play when the wheel is out of the bike but it should go away when you tighten the quick release skewers.
Soldato
Play is still there once the wheel is secured looks like a trip to the bike shop
Looking at the wheel there are no "cones" visable
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You both raise valid points, certainly with this more recent marketing trend of 'gravel bikes'
I've always thought the majority of CX should have mudguards, or at the very least enough clearance for them (RR's etc). For more 'adventure' style bikes (another marketing word which does nothing except add confusion) I've always assumed they were your tourer style bikes, so very relaxed, various setups, lots of clearance and mudguard mounts but obviously I was wrong. Enough 'outsiders' struggle to see the differences between CX and road (or hybrid and road, CX and mountain, downhill, fixed tail and full suspension) already without having more stupid marketing ubiquitous classifications of bikes Oh and I had my first crash! Embarrassing stuff, turned in to the Golf Club, last mile to go. Started to clean my sunglasses of a bit of rain and drifted off the edge of the tarmac and over i go ffs
Ouch! Take it easy for a few days man, you'll heal! Get the bike looked at if you can't sort it yourself, by the mechanism I assume you mean the shifter and not the rear derailleur/pulley?
Two horses being led by their handlers with folk on them. Taking up the whole road just as i was coming into edzell. The handlers were oblivious as they were more interested in their conversation that anything else on the road as the one in the centre of the road veers more towards my side of the road. Idiots!
I'd have sat up, slowed and shouted "excuse me" in a very loud voice! I know how twitchy horses can be (same as any animal really) so being overly cautious around them is best. At the very least I'd want some acknowledgement from them that you'd slowed for them, much better to slow and give them a smile than give them an excuse to hate bikers any more! Without any acknowledgement I'd just shout louder to prove a point! Then again that's me, most horse riders are ignorant grumpy bast's so I'll make a point of forcing them to wave/say thanks/greet me on the roads!
For some reason my 810 went gaga so the ride is split into 2 activities
and couldn't get the HR monitor to work
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334043
https://www.strava.com/activities/258334036
You can join rides together using the .gpx files (download from Strava/Garmin Connect) using a took like this: http://joewein.net/bike/gpxmerge/
I've previously used other tools to join if you struggle with that one, just let me know if you want a link.#
Occasionally my 810 won't pickup my HR strap too (Wahoo TICKR) and I've even had it 'lose' my speed or cadence from my GSC10 (combined unit) even when I know the signal from any of them is fine. I tend to record my non commutes on IpBike on my mobile too for this reason. I'm far from impressed with the 810 so far, as a basic tool for a job it's ok but as for packed with features and usability it's far from perfect. Garmin will have a wakeup call soon from another device manufacturer, maybe Cateye will be the one...
Miserable wet and windy day here today, glad I rode yesterday and had nothing planned. Realised after yesterdays killer ride that my 2015 climbing total isn't far off 50% of my climbing total for the whole of 2014 (90% just commutes!)
My legs don't feel as bad as I was expecting, hopefully that means some of the turbo training is paying off, although I havn't done much of that recently either!
Then again my legs tend to catch up with me day 2 or 3 after a big ride... Defo full orange or the orange/black half and half
They seem ok but for the money I'd buy more of the DHB Active's, a more cycling orientated fit (dropped at the back etc) as well as the wicking properties needed. No mention of the Karrimor being windproof either...
Compact double (34-50) with a 12-30 cassette which is already quite broad (which I wouldn't want to lose too much top end from) do they do something as low as a 10-28 for the 11-speed 105? Or would I be better looking at a tripe? It's only an idea I'm toying with... In theory I should only change the cassette as I'll need one in the autumn when I seriously think about using my Defy on my turbo rather than having the separate turbo bike. Go down to 1 bike then I can seriously think about a CX/fixed tail for 2016 depending on what route my riding is taking!
What are the Continental GP4S like? I'm looking for a tyre with a bit more grip than the Mitchelin Pro4E's that's 25mm that I can also use for commuting (thinking get some maybe for a month, then save them for autumn/winter) so don't want them to wear easily on fast road riding :/
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Man of Honour
Going to triple would be a nightmare and somewhat pointless so I'd rule that out right away
You've already got a good range of gears there so there's little point switching anything out. 12-30 on the back is kind of unusual, with the bog-standard set up being 11-28. With your 50/34 on the front, your 30 tooth cog on the back should get you up pretty much any hill in the UK, albeit with a bit of effort.
The 4Seasons are very good tyres though they definitely do not last as long as the Pro4Endurances. Probably not a big deal unless you start doing tons of miles though. You could try swapping out to something else in the Pro4 range if you want to save cash? The SC are meant to have substantially better grip. On that note, what aspect of grip are you finding annoying with the P4Es? Wet grip? Cornering? Something else or a combination of factors?
You've already got a good range of gears there so there's little point switching anything out. 12-30 on the back is kind of unusual, with the bog-standard set up being 11-28. With your 50/34 on the front, your 30 tooth cog on the back should get you up pretty much any hill in the UK, albeit with a bit of effort.
The 4Seasons are very good tyres though they definitely do not last as long as the Pro4Endurances. Probably not a big deal unless you start doing tons of miles though. You could try swapping out to something else in the Pro4 range if you want to save cash? The SC are meant to have substantially better grip. On that note, what aspect of grip are you finding annoying with the P4Es? Wet grip? Cornering? Something else or a combination of factors?
I'm going by what the Giant website says about the cassette as I've never doublechecked what it actually is (oops!)
Tredz also list it as 12-30
I'm guessing my general lack of hill experience/fitness didn't help me with the couple of CAT4 ~15% sections, really felt like I could've had 1 gear lower (which I would've got with an 11-28?). Some training will overcome that and I'm not really planning on doing that route again. I had earmarked a CAT3 with some up to 20% sections but that would be something I'd attempt when fully confident and proficient on the ones I rode this weekend (ie not for a while yet!) My local one I'm planning on doing repeats on is 'only' 5-6% but is around 1 mile long...
I was mainly looking at the 4Seasons as I really think I should be riding 25mm in the winter, for some extra grip on the mud/leaves (had a few moments on my 23mm P4E's) along with the lower pressure also helping for some surface area on the icey/snow patches. Thankfully haven't seen much of that this winter (and even less last year) but it is only a matter of time.
My P4E's won't last me through next winter as well (done close to 800 miles currently, so imagine they'll be over 2000 if I ride them all year, unsure yet).
Tredz also list it as 12-30
I'm guessing my general lack of hill experience/fitness didn't help me with the couple of CAT4 ~15% sections, really felt like I could've had 1 gear lower (which I would've got with an 11-28?). Some training will overcome that and I'm not really planning on doing that route again. I had earmarked a CAT3 with some up to 20% sections but that would be something I'd attempt when fully confident and proficient on the ones I rode this weekend (ie not for a while yet!)
My local one I'm planning on doing repeats on is 'only' 5-6% but is around 1 mile long... I was mainly looking at the 4Seasons as I really think I should be riding 25mm in the winter, for some extra grip on the mud/leaves (had a few moments on my 23mm P4E's) along with the lower pressure also helping for some surface area on the icey/snow patches. Thankfully haven't seen much of that this winter (and even less last year) but it is only a matter of time.
My P4E's won't last me through next winter as well (done close to 800 miles currently, so imagine they'll be over 2000 if I ride them all year, unsure yet).
Man of Honour
You can get 25mm versions of all the P4 range of tyres, aside from the SC Grip. Moving to 25mm is definitely worthwhile but it won't improve your grip on mud or leaves (or ice, or snow) - if you want grip on those you'll need to move to much thicker tyres with deep treads (or metal spikes for ice). Obviously not an ideal thing to do with a road bike
I'm not saying to not get the 4 Seasons. They're good tyres. Just make sure you're getting them for the right (4)reasons.
edit: An 11-28 cassette would've made the climb harder. More teeth on your back cog = 'easier' gearing. Opposite to your front cogs.
I'm not saying to not get the 4 Seasons. They're good tyres. Just make sure you're getting them for the right (4)reasons.
edit: An 11-28 cassette would've made the climb harder. More teeth on your back cog = 'easier' gearing. Opposite to your front cogs.
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