Road Cycling Essentials

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Finished my 90k this morning in 3h 41m. Happy with that. The wind was horrific at points, like riding against a brick wall.

http://app.strava.com/rides/13446968

Nice view before the **** bricks descent. Got a medal too :D


Clicky for bigger

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Congrats Russinating.

I think I am going to have some more bills on my bike. I have recently noticed that there is a clicking sound when I putting a bit of strain on the pedals. I took a look and it seems like the crankset, cranks etc all move across side to side probably 5mm. It's kind of worrying as I don't know if these things work loose or work loose that much. Reading up I could try to tighten them up but I suspect the tool is in my Dads car and he is away!

I also have a rust issue with various knocks to the paint. Everything feels solid but is there a way to treat it or remove it. This bike has already been repainted once but that's was about 20 years ago.
 
44.5 miles in 2hrs 37 mins on Todays "Ride for Ryder Challenge"
I'll have me some of that happy!
Especially being as I haven't been in the saddle at all since Mays 80 mile ride. :eek:
 
Vonhelmet said:
Did my usual 10 miles loop this evening. Miserable drizzle and the odd nasty headwind, but quite surprised to see I got two personal bests and cut a minute and a half off the last time I did that route.

My goal is now to get to under 40 minutes on that route...
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Damnit, I need a new goal.

I've just been out and smashed 3 minutes off that route to get my time down to under 40. Quite impressed with that! I think my neighbour's hill climbing lesson the other day helped, as all the way round just now I was checking myself in terms of what gear I needed to be in, and pushing myself on rather than changing down. Not that this route has anything like any impressive hills, but even so.

Kinda gutted, as I'll never again manage to knock off 18s a mile in the space of 5 days!
 
ok guys need yer help

as i mentioned previously me and my brother ride together, however we also compete against each other, up to about 3 months ago i was the faster on a bike. now im not and by not i mean a long way behind.

now I am not quick relatively ( in only compete against my brother ) but after 8 months of training I have a lot of niggles that I will never use as an excuse, but I need help in changing my training to compensate for the changes in my brother.

now I have always been faster on the flat, a time trialler of sorts, able to run him down and overtake on the flat, therefore I probably have neglected to an extent the climbs. now though he is 98% of what I am on the flats, yet at least 120% on the climbs, meaning I am getting my rear handed to me. now in cycling you need motivation to be better, strava friendships etc however brotherhood is imho a whole new arena of motivation lol

now I know this is not a medical forum however links to good sites would be appreciated, I am suffering from outside knee pain, initially in my right knee (im left footed) but recently both knees. it doesnt hamper me continuing but does hamper my overall effort. I am thinking IBt however again dont want possible diagnosis just good links if possible

also I cant sit down and climb, I have to be on my feet, now this maybe isnt a despearate thing however I mean on most inclines even minor I need to be stood up to climb, whereas my brother sits, outpaces me then stands up and blows me away ?

The major problem i have with my brother is he can explode on mountains and open up up big gaps which I no longer can run down.

I have started working outside of cycling to reddress the balance, swimming (last session 2km) Stretching and working my core strength which as per previous post on here was awful. I've also started working my hips and doing stretches and exercises such as squats one legged and two using my body weight only.

does anyone have any exercises or little things I can change in order to climb better ? any tricks or challenges you have set yourselves to improve ?
 
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Rusty_Noob said:
What's your weight and his? Heavier people will always struggle on the hills vs lighter people.
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im about 89kgs at present
him im not to sure but we started cycling roughly same time same weight which was around 100kgs, so i know what yer saying it is possible he weighs in a few kgs less than me now, but would say 3-5 kgs make that much difference ?
 
Hamster said:
I don't really need one as I have access to a Park Tool stand but I always wanted to make that Musson wooden stand for occasional home use. I take it the +1 was for the unicycle? :)
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Haha, yes it was for the unicycle :D

I ought to make or buy a stand at some point since I know there will be future wheel builds. It also makes truing a doddle if you just need to take out a bit of run-out.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Damnit, I need a new goal.

I've just been out and smashed 3 minutes off that route to get my time down to under 40. Quite impressed with that! I think my neighbour's hill climbing lesson the other day helped, as all the way round just now I was checking myself in terms of what gear I needed to be in, and pushing myself on rather than changing down. Not that this route has anything like any impressive hills, but even so.

Kinda gutted, as I'll never again manage to knock off 18s a mile in the space of 5 days!
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Riding on some roads not far from where I used to live.

I used to ride up from Haigh, through the hall, then up to Rivington, back and round. On my MTB though, so it wasn't fast!

If you have a spare bike ill pace you in a few weeks when im home! :p Unless I buy one before then!

Had a good ride tonight, had a mega rush to get it in before it went dark, but then went round in my second fastest time this week.
 
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One More Solo said:
3-5kgs could make a big difference (assuming your bikes weigh the same of course) but you are also burning a lot of unnecessary energy by climbing stood up.
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This!

Standing to climb is really for when you want that extra burst - to do it for the entire climb will burn you out fast unless you're super fit or the climb is v short.

Ultimately, the reason you can't climb seated is because you don't. The only solution is to go work at that until it's comfortable for you. Then you'll be able to match your brother and still have energy left to jump out of the saddle when you really need to.
 
memphisto said:
ok guys need yer help

as i mentioned previously me and my brother ride together, however we also compete against each other, up to about 3 months ago i was the faster on a bike. now im not and by not i mean a long way behind.

now I am not quick relatively ( in only compete against my brother ) but after 8 months of training I have a lot of niggles that I will never use as an excuse, but I need help in changing my training to compensate for the changes in my brother.

now I have always been faster on the flat, a time trialler of sorts, able to run him down and overtake on the flat, therefore I probably have neglected to an extent the climbs. now though he is 98% of what I am on the flats, yet at least 120% on the climbs, meaning I am getting my rear handed to me. now in cycling you need motivation to be better, strava friendships etc however brotherhood is imho a whole new arena of motivation lol

now I know this is not a medical forum however links to good sites would be appreciated, I am suffering from outside knee pain, initially in my right knee (im left footed) but recently both knees. it doesnt hamper me continuing but does hamper my overall effort. I am thinking IBt however again dont want possible diagnosis just good links if possible

also I cant sit down and climb, I have to be on my feet, now this maybe isnt a despearate thing however I mean on most inclines even minor I need to be stood up to climb, whereas my brother sits, outpaces me then stands up and blows me away ?

The major problem i have with my brother is he can explode on mountains and open up up big gaps which I no longer can run down.

I have started working outside of cycling to reddress the balance, swimming (last session 2km) Stretching and working my core strength which as per previous post on here was awful. I've also started working my hips and doing stretches and exercises such as squats one legged and two using my body weight only.

does anyone have any exercises or little things I can change in order to climb better ? any tricks or challenges you have set yourselves to improve ?
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like he spins and you mash.

Do you have a cadence meter?

I'm currently concentrating on increasing my cadence in order to help with my hill climbing.
 
Finished building both the wheels over the weekend, certainly better at truing than I was last week. Couple of pics:

Bow after using the nipple driver and before bending the outer elbows inwards:

DSC02964.jpg


In the stand:

DSC02966.jpg


Laced but not finished rear:

DSC02971.jpg


Finished front:

DSC02979.jpg


Need to do a lot of riding to justify all this effort now :D
 
Berger said:
I used to ride up from Haigh, through the hall, then up to Rivington, back and round. On my MTB though, so it wasn't fast!
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Ah, yeah, that's where I went with my neighbour the other day - he does all the hills round there. We went past Haigh, up to Chorley, past the Frederick's shop and then down across the bridge between the two reservoirs, past the barn and then home.
 
Hubs £50, rims £36, spokes £34. The jig cost me about £20 and I already had the pot of grease which was £10. Plus a lot of spare time. So the material cost for the wheels is about £120, the same wheels built by spa cycles are £200.
 
Anyone recommend come cheap strong 700c wheels that will take up to 35mm tyre? 130mm axle with a 10spd free hub body. I'd prefer 32 spoke all round (punage) and am not too bothered about weight.

Station hack, an early 2000's Claud Butler Legend hybrid, is to undergo a transformation.

Will be adding drop bars, sticking with canti brakes 1x10 shifting (48t up front and 12-32t at the back). Clearance is currently up to 40mm, but I only need 35mm for my studded Marathon Winters.

I was looking at CX bikes and there as just nothing that I liked that would take over a 35mm tyre (remember this is 35mm plus spikes I'll be using) so I'm going all Frankenbike.

Edit: Found M:Part Deore Hubs with Mavic A319 rims, look good.
 
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