Road Cycling Essentials

[touch]

I wouldnt worry about it tbh.
As long as the rest of your diet is sorted, just eat what you want at your coffee stop. It's only once (or twice) a week and you'll burn it off pretty quick on your bike. You're going to need some sort of carbs to keep you going anyway.

If you really want to avoid the cake, as Nexus said, bananas and cereal bars are good. Also fig rolls or malt loaf, you could even take some sandwiches with you (and hope that the cafe doesnt kick you out )
The worst part of your cappucino will be the milk (and maybe the cocoa powder on top) so try something without milk. Black tea/coffee, green tea, flavoured tea, herbal tea, etc.

 

[George Hincapie]

The worst part of your cappucino will be the milk (and maybe the cocoa powder on top) so try something without milk. Black tea/coffee, green tea, flavoured tea, herbal tea, etc.

Agreed. I prefer doppie espresso. All the caffeine and hardly any calories

 

[George Hincapie]

Box Hill

Guys next week ive got to take a day off work and was thinking of heading to Box Hill with a friend to check it out, neither of us have been before and i was wondering are the cycle routes marked out and easy to find? i dont fancy spending half a day driving round trying to find where we're supposed to go

There's a car park at the top of Box Hill, so park there, do the loop and come back up it at the end.

 

[touch]

All the caffeine and hardly any calories

That means you're allowed a bigger bit of cake with it, right?

 

[George Hincapie]

That means you're allowed a bigger bit of cake with it, right?

Well, you do need some energy to contest the sprints on the way back

 

[Nexus]

Are there any restrictions in place on Box Hill now?
Given that the Road Races are just a week away and they were supposed to have done a test of the security and such earlier this week.

 

[olv]

AFAIK, shimano shifters are compatible with microshift derailleurs, but best to check first with somebody who knows for sure.

Setting up the gears is not too difficult. There are a lot of good guides on the net on how to do it. It can take quite a bit of time to get them perfect though.
You'll also need to retape your bars over the internally routed cables, which isnt difficult either.

Thanks, should have mentioned I have 105 derailleurs already, it's just the shifters that aren't, so compatibility isn't a problem.

I've rewrapped my bars before which was fun and I would take the opportunity to get some narrower bars as well as I find the 440mm I have a bit wide.

When replacing cables do you generally do the whole thing including the sheathing or just the cable inside?

I should get reading this http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html really.

Now just to find some shifters going cheap on ebay

 

[touch]

I'd go for new inners + outers. You might need them to be slightly longer if your routing them under the bar tape anyway, so may as well get new ones.

 

[uniQ]

Black coffee & banana.

 

[Kimi]

There's a car park at the top of Box Hill, so park there, do the loop and come back up it at the end.

Thank you, im looking forward to giving it a go

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

My bike is broke already and I've only had it 3 days
I can't get the chain to go from the big cog to the smaller cog and my left gear changer feels solid.

I've also definitely got to get rid of the clip pedals and get some SPD's.
I don't feel safe trying to get my feet in the clips.

 

[George Hincapie]

My bike is broke already and I've only had it 3 days
I can't get the chain to go from the big cog to the smaller cog and my left gear changer feels solid.

I've also definitely got to get rid of the clip pedals and get some SPD's.
I don't feel safe trying to get my feet in the clips.

Where did you get it from? I'd take it back there and ask them to adjust the gears.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

Where did you get it from? I'd take it back there and ask them to adjust the gears.

There will be no problem with that.
I think something has broke on the left handlebar changer.

 

[Jonny69]

This is the Karma Triumph, the bike I won in March in the 'guess the bike' competition on Retrobike. It sat under cover in my dad's garden for months, but I got to bring it home recently and I've given it a good going over in the last week or so while my garage is empty. It's a 1975 Raleigh-built Triumph Ladies Roadster with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer dynohub also dated 1975, twist shift, rod brakes and 26" wheels.

Pics:

I haven't actually done much with it. I gave it a new set of tyres and brake blocks, but the rest has been simply elbow grease, freeing everything off, nipping everything up, true the wheels, fitting and adjusting the brakes and dressing the braking surfaces on the wheels. Other than that I've cleaned the frame and given it a damn good oil! Annoyingly, the ball bearing pinged out the twist shift mechanism and I lost it, so I'm hoping a spare one out a hub or something will do the trick.

These are the 'before' pics that were posted up after the competition:

It wasn't going to be one for the faint-hearted, particularly with the rod brakes, and it needed a good few hours spending on it. One of the cotter pins was in the wrong way round which left the cranks looking like this...

...and it took a bit of hammering to get the old one out, but once replaced it is fine. All three gears work a treat, though I think I could do with drowning the hub in oil. I think it's destined to be a bike that lives at work for getting round the site and to and from town and the station, but it's a wee bit small for me, so who knows.

 

[Vonhelmet]

There will be no problem with that.
I think something has broke on the left handlebar changer.

Does the shifter move at all? If the gears aren't adjusted correctly, then it won't change properly, but from what you're saying it sounds like the shifter physically isn't moving?

EDIT: Sora shifters and trying to go down on the front, so that means the little button isn't clicking in? That right?

 

[Jonny ///M]

Don't worry I've got the same sora shifters and the front is used for double and triple chainsets so it has an extra click.

Push the small button really hard and it will shift back down, or if you want undo the cable pinch bolt first(i just push it hard whilst on the bike).

Re the 105 shifters, they should come with new inner and outer cables if they are retail packaged.

 

[touch]

I'm doing a stage race this weekend. This is my main focus for this year. I did this last year and did a reasonable time for the prologue but i got dropped on stage1 and lost some time so finished just over 3 mins down overall.

It's 3 stages over 2 days:
Prologue TT - 4.3miles, Saturday Morning
Stage1 - 50 miles, Saturday Afternoon
Stage2 - 50 miles, Sunday

My plan is to do the best i can in the prologue then try to stay in the main bunch over the 2 road stages. I doubt there will be any attacking/breakaway attemps from me. Really looking forward to it though. I'll put it on my strava if anybody is interested.

 

[Kimi]

That sounds cool, good luck mate, hope it goes well for you

 

[grudas]

Ill ask here without creating a new thread on 25th i have an interview thats 12 miles away from me now the road i live in will be closed so no busses because of the olympic torch.. i will be up from 6 am cycling to work 5 miles then at 12 back home 5 and i gotta be at the interview at 2.30 so around 2 hrs to cover the 12 miles and then 12 miles back.. now normally i would be in shape and do this no problems

But since cracking my elbow 4 weeks ago i havent had a chance to ride a lotso what do you lot think will i be ok covering around 35 miles in one day ?? Mind you its on bmx bike

 

[Hamster]

I'd be somewhat concerned on your state of mind at an interview after the 12 miles.....carrying an injury....and on a BMX. Nobody can really speculate on your injury as only you and perhaps your physio/doctor knows how bad it is.

Have you also seen the weather forecast for London on the 25th? Currently forecast at 29C, you're going to stink unless you're able to have a shower somewhere.

I would seriously consider alternative transport.

Good luck in your interview though