Road Cycling Essentials

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Woo! Today is a good day. Got my first ever top 10 placements on Strava on today's commutes. One there, one back.

Considering I've been yawning all day after a terrible night's sleep last night I'm honestly surprised...
 
[Damien];22889040 said:
Mine's a bit too big to go in a pocket comfortably but I wear a backpack all the time anyway so it makes no difference to me. What do you do for pump, tools etc then if you don't wear a bag?

Saddle bag with spare inner tubes in, allen key swiss army type knife and a CO2 canister and pump. :)
 
[Damien];22893303 said:
Woo! Today is a good day. Got my first ever top 10 placements on Strava on today's commutes. One there, one back.

Considering I've been yawning all day after a terrible night's sleep last night I'm honestly surprised...

I got 11th place on one of the Manchester Road TT segments last night. It runs from the A580 into Leigh. I'm tempted to go back tomorrow and give it another push, see if I can break into the top 10.
 
Stupid question.
I have a Forme Longcliffe 3.0 and it uses 700c tyres and I'm going to replace them with the Continental Gatorhardshell tyres for extra puncture protection.
I've looked at my Schwalbe Lugano tyres but can't see if they are 700 x 23 or 700 x 25!!!
Should my wheels be able to take either size (its only 2mm after all)?
Will 2mm slow me down much or for somebody like me who doesn't look at the clock I wouldn't really know?
 
I think "back in the day" people thought thinner=faster with some people using ridiculously narrow tyres. Now I think it's generally agreed that wider tyres have less rolling resistance, but then this is offset by them being less aero.

There is a lot of debate about it, but to most people (non-pro) any differences aren't worth even thinking about and going with 25mm is probably best as they run at a lower pressure and so are more comfortable.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;22893998 said:
Endura Stealth Lite bib tights are waterproof (the none lite version will cook you in anything above -5c) and BBB Ultraflex overshoes are the best overshoes I've used.

Cheers, ordered a pair of the tights will see how I get on
 
Any thoughts on Planet X carbon wheels?

They've got £100 off these for a few days which is tempting.

Looking back at the spec of my bike (a Planet X), it came with their own Model B wheels. According this review on BikeMagic they come in at ~1623g, whereas the carbon options are heavier. Does the extra weight / stiffness mean more speeeeeeed?

Or if they are no better, should I buy them just for the bling factor? :D
 
I got 11th place on one of the Manchester Road TT segments last night. It runs from the A580 into Leigh. I'm tempted to go back tomorrow and give it another push, see if I can break into the top 10.

Yeah, I've noticed a few of your routes on the OcUK strava club. I might pinch a few and see what I can do.

One of mine was on this one. That hill is a bitch to ride up at speed, especially in rush hour traffic. Still, 6th overall and 1st in the 210lb+ weight group. I'm happy with that.
 
[Damien];22894650 said:
One of mine was on this one. That hill is a bitch to ride up at speed, especially in rush hour traffic. Still, 6th overall and 1st in the 210lb+ weight group. I'm happy with that.

Oh yeah, I know that bit of road, up to the canal bridge. I've not actually ridden down there. I don't actually think I've done any riding that way, and certainly not south of the A580. I might head down that way as it gets into winter, as I'll not be wanting to do the hills around Winter Hill once it gets colder and frosty. The guys I ride with were talking about doing some routes around Lymm in the winter, so we might be down that way sometime soon.

BTW, you should probably set your privacy on Strava, so it doesn't show your route all the way to your door!
 
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Any thoughts on Planet X carbon wheels?

Does the extra weight / stiffness mean more speeeeeeed?

The extra weight is probably because they have a deep carbon rim (well, technically its a carbon fairing over a metal rim).
However, the extra weight is balanced out by the much more aerodynamic shape of the bigger rims. Different people have different preferences but i would always choose a heavier aero rim (like PX ones you linked or Cosmic Carbones, etc) over a lightweight non-aero rim (like ksyrium elites, for example).
 
Oh yeah, I know that bit of road, up to the canal bridge. I've not actually ridden down there. I don't actually think I've done any riding that way, and certainly not south of the A580. I might head down that way as it gets into winter, as I'll not be wanting to do the hills around Winter Hill once it gets colder and frosty. The guys I ride with were talking about doing some routes around Lymm in the winter, so we might be down that way sometime soon.

BTW, you should probably set your privacy on Strava, so it doesn't show your route all the way to your door!

Yeah, I've been through Lymm a few times. I used to live in Cadishead so I know all round there. I have got my privacy set btw. That's not my house. Thanks though ;)
 
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Any thoughts on Planet X carbon wheels?

They've got £100 off these for a few days which is tempting.

Looking back at the spec of my bike (a Planet X), it came with their own Model B wheels. According this review on BikeMagic they come in at ~1623g, whereas the carbon options are heavier. Does the extra weight / stiffness mean more speeeeeeed?

Or if they are no better, should I buy them just for the bling factor? :D

Theyre coming up at £499 on their site, they have been that for a while now, is it a code to get 100 off?
 
I posted in the other bike thread by mistake, so I'll copy and paste over.

Newbie here!

I want to start cycling to work. Do I have to get a certain type of bike for road/pavement use? Are entry level bikes expensive? Bike recommendations? Any advice for budding cyclists in general?

Thanks!
 
I posted in the other bike thread by mistake, so I'll copy and paste over.

Newbie here!

I want to start cycling to work. Do I have to get a certain type of bike for road/pavement use? Are entry level bikes expensive? Bike recommendations? Any advice for budding cyclists in general?

Thanks!

I think the most important question is how far are you going to be cycling? Also do you want a bike that you can take off road too?
 
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