Road Cycling Essentials

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Saytan said:
the truth of it is that the frame, the fork, the wheels and the contact points make faaaaar more difference to the overall experience than the difference between 1 groupset and the one above or below it.
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While it's true that they're often overlooked, the groupset is very important. The difference between thumb shifters (think Tourney is the only one still manufactured) and STI is quite big for the ability to shift in the drops. Microshift/suntour will get the job done, Claris and Sora will do the same but maybe feel a bit smoother to shift. From what i gather there's not really much between the two, or even Tiagra in terms of shift speed or feel, it's just the number of gears. 105 and up is supposed to feel a lot better, but when you get to that price you also have to consider SRAM which a lot of people prefer for doubletap, it's just a shame that so few bikes actually come with it.
 
Saytan said:
the truth of it is that the frame, the fork, the wheels and the contact points make faaaaar more difference to the overall experience than the difference between 1 groupset and the one above or below it.
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This was the conclusion I was starting to come to. I really need to try a few bikes out but having never even ridden a road bike before it would take a few before I even had a baseline to judge them on and I think there is a limit to how many test rides the local Evans will let me do with my circa £500 budget :p

That said there are plenty of reviews by people who know what they are talking about that I can use to do the initial cut. I'll be looking at Claris as a minimum so I should be OK with whatever I get in terms of a groupset.
 
I've always wondered if sora thumb levers were a marketing exercise to embed "thumb levers = cheap/nasty" into the minds of newer riders and keep them away from Campag when they upgrade....

I don't like the SRAM system, and although I started out on the flappy-lever shimano system, i'll take campag every time now
 
I've not tried Soras, but Campag units certainly have no issues shifting in the drops (provided you don't have bought-the-wrong-size shifters pointing at the sky syndrome)
 
Bike Cleaning Kit & Routine

I finally got round to giving the bike the once over since Sunday's crash and my fiddle with the rear shifter the other day seems to have got my gears back up and running but I guess they will need replacing eventually.

However, while looking over the bike i did notice signs of rust on both the chain and the rear gears. Admittedly I haven't cleaned the bike properly since getting it last April but I think its about time i did so what I'm looking for is recommendations on a decent bike cleaning kit / tools I'll need for the job and a general routine for cleaning, greasing etc of the various parts that need it :)
 
Derek W said:
I finally got round to giving the bike the once over since Sunday's crash and my fiddle with the rear shifter the other day seems to have got my gears back up and running but I guess they will need replacing eventually.

However, while looking over the bike i did notice signs of rust on both the chain and the rear gears. Admittedly I haven't cleaned the bike properly since getting it last April but I think its about time i did so what I'm looking for is recommendations on a decent bike cleaning kit / tools I'll need for the job and a general routine for cleaning, greasing etc of the various parts that need it :)
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Although if you haven't been cleaning/lubing regularly it's probably about time to replace the chain and rear casette anyway. Chains only really last about 1000km, give or take, even when they are well looked after. You could get a chain wear indicator to make sure.
 
Dunks said:
Any idea if those rims can take 25mm tyres? The 38mm they come with says maybe not! Although 28mm would be just as good.

Not sure if a cyclocross is what I'm after, although I'm assuming with lighter wheels and 25mm tyres, it'd be more akin to a normal road bike?
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28s will I'm planning on using it as my general all rounder commuter winter training and cx. I'll probably take it out to Cyprus for me with 2 sets of tyres to allow the option of a bit of off road and road riding! But heavier than my road bike but reckon you could take 1kg off with tubeless and carbon Chinese wheels.
 
Saytan said:
I've always wondered if sora thumb levers were a marketing exercise to embed "thumb levers = cheap/nasty" into the minds of newer riders and keep them away from Campag when they upgrade....

I don't like the SRAM system, and although I started out on the flappy-lever shimano system, i'll take campag every time now
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My plan for next year is to buy a carbon bike, and I'm keen on a Dolan. They're about 20 miles away from me, so I'm thinking I'll cycle there and ask if I can go for a quick ride on each of a SRAM Rival and Campagnolo Veloce equipped bike... That way I can make an informed choice between the three systems. I can also get a fitting while I'm there.

My mate has a SRAM bike and says I can try that sometime. I don't know anyone who uses Campagnolo.
 
Wore my new Morvelo bibs for my ride this evening. Really comfortable with a nice pad. Went with a Large as the sizing seemed similar to Castelli and seems about right. Slightly tight at the moment, but I have no doubt they will loosen up a touch. Would recommend.

Good ride too, finally the legs are feeling good again after a kind of recovery week last week, which it seems was much needed.
 
Vonhelmet said:
I got out for 20 miles in zone 2 this evening. Average speed of 14.2mph!

Barely a drop of sweat on me when I got home, compared to normally being wringing wet when I'm done with a ride.
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I tried to take it easy on the way home today, quite hard keeping the ol' heart rate down, although I'm sure it's better than it was a year ago...

https://www.strava.com/activities/259880931/heartrate

Probably could've taken it easier on some sections as it was 17.5 mph average.
 
Did a casual training ride with my mate this morning before work, 60k.

Coming down a hill we get on a flatter section near the bottom, dead kangaroo in the middle of the road. Logging truck coming the other way. Roads not wide enough for the truck to miss it and we are both set to reach it at the same time...

Brakes on and slowed enough to miss most of it as the truck cleans it up with every axle on the truck and trailers... Yum.
 
In many ways it seems a shame to waste the meat (though perhaps not in Berger's example as it presumably wasn't in too great a state after the logging truck finished with it).

edit: There's nothing wrong with kangaroo meat. If you've had bad experiences with it I'd put it down to bad preparation (though arguably scraping it up off the side of the road could be considered "bad preparation").
 
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You can buy it in the supermarket or shoot your own.

Pretenderized meat from being smashed by a car or truck no thanks! Would have only been there a few hours in this case but I'd rather not!
 
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