Road Cycling Essentials

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This is my 4th week of doing my bike commute now and this week around this time I've been feeling drained and sleepy at work. Any ideas what I can eat or drink to give me a boost without filling myself with nasty red bull type energy drinks?
 
Whenever I feel a bit low on energy during a ride I have a bit of Kendal mint cake, but if you're feeling drowsy at work there may be more to it than that. I'm no nutritionist so I'm not sure what to suggest really.
 
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Dup said:
This is my 4th week of doing my bike commute now and this week around this time I've been feeling drained and sleepy at work. Any ideas what I can eat or drink to give me a boost without filling myself with nasty red bull type energy drinks?
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I have a bowl of porridge/cereals before my cycle, and then a similar second breakfast once I get to work :). Hydrate lots, probably more than you think you should.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;17530426 said:
Bryant update: bike has arrived in the warehouse in the US. Unfortunately the mudguards aren't due in stock until the 1st of November. Hmm, do I wait for the complete package of just get them to send the bike with no guards?

Decisions, decisions.....
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Get them to send the bike without the guards; you don't mind the lack of guards on your existing bike, after all. You can always add them later, right? If you're really that upset about the mudguards, I'll happily swap my mudguard equipt Pompetamine for the Bryant :P
 
My 14" long pedal wrench arrived today and I was finally able to swap the pedals on my bike for another set. It was almost effortless with a tool with this much leverage. Now it'll sit in a cupboard for gosh knows how long as these new pedals don't need the wrench, just an allen key :(
 
Well, I managed to get to work in 17 minutes this morning, the least amount of time since the kids went back to school. I was very pleased with how considerate the car drivers were today, letting me out of junctions; I guess that Friday feeling is a legitimate state of being.

No word on the delivery of my bike yet, getting quite anxious now...

Edit: On-One didn't bother to send me any details of the delivery, so I missed it. Fortunately I've been able to arrange for a redelivery tomorrow morning :)
 
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I've got a Brompton on loan. I own it for 3 weeks :D

I have three things to say about it:

1. It weighs a ton and is awkward to carry around.

2. It rides horribly. It's unstable at any speed and the steering wiggles around.

3. I won't be riding it again. End of. It scared me. Chapeau to anyone who does any miles on these things, you have much bigger kahunas than me :eek:
 
105 is Shimano's middle groupset and is probably best thought of as their entry race groupset. It's robust, parts are reasonably cheap to replace (especially from eBay), and it functions in the same was as Ultegra and Dura Ace. It's what I started with and I'd happily have it again.

Your gear options are probably a double (53/39) or compact (50/34). On the rear you can have various cassette options but the choice is yours depending on whether you want low spread or high.

I ride a double, but I don't think I could manage The Dragon on it (190km through the Brecon Beacons). It rocks on the flat though.

Cranks can be of various lengths nut I don't find that it makes that much difference. You get a little bit of leverage difference with longer ones but can lean lower with shorter ones. I've got 165mm ones on my fixed and 172.5mm ones on my road bike.

As for the frame, Cotic ones are supposed to be good, but why pick a cyclocross frame? Just don't want to stray too far from MTBs?
 
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If it's muddy I'd go for the compact chainsets, it will probably help in the mud. You might also want to wait a little while to choose a frame; UCI have approved disc brakes for CX bikes so the 2011 bikes are more likely to have options for them.

From Cotic, the Roadrat is a very well thought of frame for commuters if you wanted to save a bit of cash.
 
Strangely enough I also considered a Cotic Roadrat, and found that the reviews were mostly positive for it. The frame is very versitile, leading to lots of variations based upon it (including dropped handlebars with an internal hub gear, which is how I came across it).

I finally got my mudguards home yesterday, and got up early this morning to set about fitting the Raleigh mudguards which appear to be SKS chromoplastics in all but name. Unfortunately the seller did not include any instructions, and I cannot find any on the web anywhere. Quite annoying.

Fortunately DPD have updated the status of the delivery of my Pompetamine, ETA is between 10:30 and 11:30 this morning. Expect pictures soon :)
 
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