Road Cycling Essentials

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Josh P said:
Thanks, given me a lot to think about. I primarily ride around town so drops aren't really practical, but I don't like having just flat bars when out on longer rides. Do you ride it fixed or freewheel?

When I first saw the picture, I spent quite a while looking for the 'Bullwing Airhorn', glad I cleared that one up in the end... :p
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For now I'm just getting used to the new bars and bike itself
so singlespeed.
I would like to try fixed someday although I hear that it can be quite demanding of your knees, so need to look into that as well
I guess it's all about technique.

If you are a bit of a handyman or got the tools ready
you could flip over the existing dropbars and cut them to make a bullhorn type of bar. It will be slightly shorter however some people prefer it that way. And it looks a lot better than good ol drop bars.
 
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Fixed is really great fun, but you need to gear it for your journey or you'll either be pedalling too fast or too slow to make any progress. It's also no good if you've got a big hill. Getting up the hill is no problem but coming back down you've got to remember you have to keep pedalling as fast as the bike is going :D
 
Going for a ride this weekend, part road but mostly through woods. What's the best Android GPS app that will track my route and give me loads of information on the ride that I can have a look at afterwards?
 
Richie said:
Edmondo, Runkeeper, Google MyTracks.... Take your pick really
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Thanks, I've now got Endomondo installed. There are settings for lots of sports including: Cycling Sport, Cycling Transport and Mountain Biking. Does it really matter which I select?
 
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Can anyone recommend good bar tapes?
I need a slightly thick bar tape because I feel that my "Cinelli Cork Bar Tape" doesn't cut it or should I just cover the tapes a bit thicker between wraps.
 
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Hamster said:
Going for a ride this weekend, part road but mostly through woods. What's the best Android GPS app that will track my route and give me loads of information on the ride that I can have a look at afterwards?
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Mapmyride is good for on road, not sure how well it works on the mtb though.
 
Hamster said:
Going for a ride this weekend, part road but mostly through woods. What's the best Android GPS app that will track my route and give me loads of information on the ride that I can have a look at afterwards?
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I've been using Google's My Tracks a bit lately (just recording my commute) and it seems to work fine, though the accuracy is reduced as I keep the phone in my pocket. It gives you total distance, total & moving time, average & max speed, elevation gain and grade. It will also plot your speed and elevation against distance/time on a graph so you can see how good/bad you were on the hills.

On the downside, for some reason it doesn't seem to want to upload the data to Google My Maps - this is a good enough reason not to use it in my opinion, though hopefully it's handset that's the problem.

I had not realised that Mapmyride had an android application until I saw Gin0rm0's post; I will give it a try tomorrow morning and report back, in case you don't get a chance to try it first.
 
collisster said:
Specialized allez? should I get the triple or the cheaper one? dont think i'd use three chain rings
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Are you fit? Do you ride hilly routes?
Which Allez are you looking at?

If it's the Allez Double with a 13-26 cassette and 39-52 front chainrings then in the lowest gear (26 & 39) at a cadence of 50 (you probably don't want to pedal much slower than this) you'll be going 5.9mph. Are there any hills you ride where you can't maintain at least 6mph ?
For comparison the Triple gearing will allow you to pedal at the same cadence at 4.5mph.
 
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Saundie said:
I've been using Google's My Tracks a bit lately (just recording my commute) and it seems to work fine, though the accuracy is reduced as I keep the phone in my pocket. It gives you total distance, total & moving time, average & max speed, elevation gain and grade. It will also plot your speed and elevation against distance/time on a graph so you can see how good/bad you were on the hills.

On the downside, for some reason it doesn't seem to want to upload the data to Google My Maps - this is a good enough reason not to use it in my opinion, though hopefully it's handset that's the problem.

I had not realised that Mapmyride had an android application until I saw Gin0rm0's post; I will give it a try tomorrow morning and report back, in case you don't get a chance to try it first.
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I used to use MyTracks and it uploaded ok to MyMaps ok. Threw up errors now and again but that could be a variety of reasons.

I now use Runkeeper as it has a website which it uploads to and shows the route on a map as well as pace, speed and elevation throughout the map and gives you split times as well.
 
Richie said:
I used to use MyTracks and it uploaded ok to MyMaps ok. Threw up errors now and again but that could be a variety of reasons.

I now use Runkeeper as it has a website which it uploads to and shows the route on a map as well as pace, speed and elevation throughout the map and gives you split times as well.
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There was a new version of MyMaps on the marketplace which I updated to this afternoon; it seems to have resolved the issue with uploading. Uploading to Google Fusion is quite nice; you can manipulate the data in some interesting ways with it, including mapping it on Google Maps, export it to KML etc.
 
Thanks for all the input and suggestions for tracking apps. I've now got MyTracks, Endomondo, Sports Tracker, Sportypal and Runkeeper installed. I wonder what will happen if I try and run them all at the same time!! My phone battery will probably last about 5 minutes!
 
Jonny69 said:
[about fixies] Getting up the hill is no problem but coming back down you've got to remember you have to keep pedalling as fast as the bike is going :D
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Lol, as Saundie witnessed me doing earlier. Coming down from Biggin Hill on 52/18 gearing I was doing a cadence of about 10,040 and about to fly off vertically upwards if I wasn't clipped in :D :eek: :cool:
 
Today was a humbling day in my cycling world. Not only was I left behind by a man on a 30 year old fixie going uphill, I also saw a man with half a leg missing cycling on the way home. If I was lacking an incentive to train harder, I've certainly found it now.
 
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