Road Cycling Essentials

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I've only made it out once this week, and only for 14 miles due to the cold and dark. I can't wait to get out tomorrow morning and get some miles in.
 
Hamster said:
If it's the one I think it is, unscrew the plastic part which goes onto the valve and there should be a rubber piece inside (you may have to knock it out). Turn that rubber piece the other way round and screw the plastic bit back on. I ditched my pump which was similar as it wasn't nearly as good as the reviews suggested it should have been.
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I did that but it won't lock on to the valve and I can't see the pressure indicator working either.
I'll take it back to Halfords with my front wheel tomorrow.
 
Dimple said:
I did that but it won't lock on to the valve and I can't see the pressure indicator working either.
I'll take it back to Halfords with my front wheel tomorrow.
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Just want to double check that before trying to inflate you unscrewed the locking nut on the presta valve and gave it a little press to make sure it's not stuck.

Also it's worth getting yourself a track pump for the home. Mini pumps can be quite a pain to get to good pressure, if at all. I could never get near 100psi on a similar pump to yours. Topeak Joe Blow is a very decent track pump which a lot of workshops use.
 
Had a really good day today, did a 95mile round trip from Bristol to Caerphilly to watch stage 6 of the ToB. Found a decent spot on the mountain which they looped twice and because it was so steep they came past pretty slow presenting plenty of photo opportunities :)

Ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/222610246

Favourite photo of some of the Sky lads:

teamsky-stage6-tob.jpg
 
Well, swmbo had a moan about me setting my alarm for 7 on a Saturday, so I've taken the only option available to me... I'm sleeping on the sofa so I can get up when I want. Night, gents.
 
Went out and did a ride I have thought about for a while. Driven round that way in the work vehicles plenty, but didn't pay that much attention to the hills apart from the main ones.

It was a lot tougher than I was expecting, rough roads vibrating made my feet go a little numb! Made it hard to get into a nice rhythm, once I got onto the last 20km its a main road, nice and smooth, made it a lot easier going.

I got attacked by Australia's version of a Magpie half way round, swooped me and felt his beak or feet on my helmet. Glad it was on a downhill as it carried on for a good 500m!

Endomondo and Strava calculate different altitude/elevations for the ride, Strava being higher. Despite there being some tough climbs, only one CAT4 according to Strava, which had a false summit, then another 800m worth at an average of 8%, this nearly finished me as I wasn't expecting it.

http://app.strava.com/rides/21983744
 
I've been out and done 33 miles. I could have stayed longer and done more, but I'd lost my nerve on some of the twisty downhills and had to walk down one bit and was mocked so I peeled off early and went home rather than doing another set of twisty bits :(

I really need to learn to descend faster, brake better, corner better... I just don't trust the brakes on the bike to stop me in any sort of sensible distance and I don't trust the bike or myself to corner well enough to not just slide into a wall or a parked car or off a cliff. Any suggestions, or is it just a case of practise, practise, practise until I'm more confident?
 
Vonhelmet said:
I've been out and done 33 miles. I could have stayed longer and done more, but I'd lost my nerve on some of the twisty downhills and had to walk down one bit and was mocked so I peeled off early and went home rather than doing another set of twisty bits :(

I really need to learn to descend faster, brake better, corner better... I just don't trust the brakes on the bike to stop me in any sort of sensible distance and I don't trust the bike or myself to corner well enough to not just slide into a wall or a parked car or off a cliff. Any suggestions, or is it just a case of practise, practise, practise until I'm more confident?
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Where are the hills you are struggling with, so I can have some idea of what you are up against/judge you ;)

When its dry here I don't touch the brakes on the descents ever, just need to switch off and go! I take it easy in the wet/damp as the roads go very greasy here and I use slick tyres.
 
Dimple said:
Yeah did that and that's why both tyres are now flat.
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:D
Old fool.

I strolled into Halfords with pump & tyre and said 'I'm either thick or it doesn't work'.
As soon as I handed the pump over the assistant immediately said I'd put the internals the wrong way round and it now works.

Now I've blown my tyres up I've realised that the pump is OK for emergency but I probably need something in the garage to do a weekly check and pump up.
I was looking at the Topeak Joe Blow or for my purposes would something like this do? - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_700388_langId_-1_categoryId_165661#tab1
 
I tend to find the Halfords ones are more reliable than the Joe Blows, although I'd probably go for the performance track pump for ease of use.

Having said that, the one you linked to will do the job fine for occasional use.
 
Dimple said:
:D
Old fool.

I strolled into Halfords with pump & tyre and said 'I'm either thick or it doesn't work'.
As soon as I handed the pump over the assistant immediately said I'd put the internals the wrong way round and it now works.

Now I've blown my tyres up I've realised that the pump is OK for emergency but I probably need something in the garage to do a weekly check and pump up.
I was looking at the Topeak Joe Blow or for my purposes would something like this do? - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_700388_langId_-1_categoryId_165661#tab1
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I've got that red one and it's reet grand.

For some reason it was half price as well but there were no signs, I think maybe the girl got confused. I kept quiet.

Vonhelmet said:
I've been out and done 33 miles. I could have stayed longer and done more, but I'd lost my nerve on some of the twisty downhills and had to walk down one bit and was mocked so I peeled off early and went home rather than doing another set of twisty bits :(

I really need to learn to descend faster, brake better, corner better... I just don't trust the brakes on the bike to stop me in any sort of sensible distance and I don't trust the bike or myself to corner well enough to not just slide into a wall or a parked car or off a cliff. Any suggestions, or is it just a case of practise, practise, practise until I'm more confident?
Click to expand...

You need to trust the bike - it will grip in the dry! Just feather off speed with the brakes until you're happy and go a little faster each time.

To get off and walk down - just how steep are we talking here?
 
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I got that Gore jacket from wiggle just now - glad i went with the medium as it is a pretty decent fit - arms are baggy!

I am almost willing the cold weather now, nice winter gear to test and can fire up the log burner again!!!
 
Berger said:
Where are the hills you are struggling with, so I can have some idea of what you are up against/judge you ;)

When its dry here I don't touch the brakes on the descents ever, just need to switch off and go! I take it easy in the wet/damp as the roads go very greasy here and I use slick tyres.
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PardonTheWait said:
You need to trust the bike - it will grip in the dry! Just feather off speed with the brakes until you're happy and go a little faster each time.

To get off and walk down - just how steep are we talking here?
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Here's the Strava ride. I had 3G switched off so the GPS gets a bit shonky, like thinking I rode through a lake at 14 miles, but you get the idea. In terms of what I struggled with... I wasn't overly keen on anything between 13 and 17 miles. The bit where I ended up getting off was at 15.5 miles where it goes down with bits close to 10%, into a right hander over a bridge. I don't think it helped that most of these are blind turns, so I didn't want to cut the corner and end up on the front of a Range Rover. It is also a bit damp around there because there's lots of run off from the surrounding hills. That's all excuses, though - the real problem is me cornering like a big girl. I really don't think I trust the bike to not just slide out from under me, and when I'm going down some of those slopes I can have the brakes on full and they don't do a damn thing to stop me. I find it helps to pump the brakes a bit, like ABS on a car or something, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do or what. Maybe the brakes are rubbish, or maybe I just need to get used to brakes on bikes not being up to much full stop!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Here's the Strava ride. I don't think it helped that most of these are blind turns, so I didn't want to cut the corner and end up on the front of a Range Rover. It is also a bit damp around there because there's lots of run off from the surrounding hills. That's all excuses, though - the real problem is me cornering like a big girl. I really don't think I trust the bike to not just slide out from under me, and when I'm going down some of those slopes I can have the brakes on full and they don't do a damn thing to stop me. I find it helps to pump the brakes a bit, like ABS on a car or something, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do or what. Maybe the brakes are rubbish, or maybe I just need to get used to brakes on bikes not being up to much full stop!
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You should be able to pull up pretty well even with standard brakes, just a matter of technique perhaps. You should be able to anchor on the front brake a lot as it will pitch your weight forward and increase the grip massively.

Perhaps try some pads recommended for wet weather riding?

What tyres are you using?
 
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