Road Cycling Essentials

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Vonhelmet said:
Looks like a nice bike!

Start with short rides, sure, but I'd reckon you could easily build up to 40 miles rides. I say that based on my own experience - I was doing that sort of distance within weeks of starting on a road bike.

A compact chainset is absolutely fine. A couple of the guys I ride with have triples, but they barely ever get into the bottom ring anyway, and most of us can keep pace on the hills on our compacts. If you're reasonably fit, as your running suggests you are, then you should manage fine with a compact.
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i haven't used my bottom ring yet :/ i barely use the middle one! just switch between 3 gears at the back and thats it
 
[Damien];23192527 said:
Yeah, I just reread his original post. Anyone know a way to set it on the 500?

Also Vonhelmet, you around next Sat? I'm free and I'll be up for a mooch round Anglezarke/Rivington etc if you're around. I went up Moor Rd again today but didn't do much better than on my first attempt.

http://app.strava.com/activities/28283743
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I think I may be free next sat, so if you guys do go out give me a shout
 
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[Damien];23193236 said:
Sounds like a plan. I'm used to riding by myself though so it'll be a bit weird riding in a group. Should be fun though :)
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Group riding is pretty fun, and you can draft someone if you get tired :D You'll see people doing all manner of hand signals when there's potholes or slippy crud on the road or cars to go around or whatever... That and shouts of "CAR" anytime one creeps up behind or us or comes against us.

Googling turns up this. Worth a look, in case you've not come across all this lark before!
 
minty said:
I think I may be free next sat, so if you guys do go p out give me a shout
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Will do. Whereabouts do you live? Out Bolton way somewhere? I'm down by Atherton train station, but we nearly always start by going up to Four Lane Ends, so you could join us there, to save going down the hill and back up again!
 
grudas said:
i haven't used my bottom ring yet :/ i barely use the middle one! just switch between 3 gears at the back and thats it
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Go find some hills then and ride faster ;)

I've been riding a standard crankset because I couldn't get a new compact to replace the old worn out one.

Made me toughen up when it came to climbing, when you get into the granny ring 39T up front and only have a 25T on the back and it keeps getting steeper its not fun.

If I bought a new bike I would buy a compact again, I only spin the top gears out when on a descent.

You have all seen the image of the pro rider with the really bad tan lines, I'm working towards that at the minute, not a good look!
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Will do. Whereabouts do you live? Out Bolton way somewhere? I'm down by Atherton train station, but we nearly always start by going up to Four Lane Ends, so you could join us there, to save going down the hill and back up again!
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I'm in Bolton, not too far away from four lane ends. :)
 
Berger said:
Go find some hills then and ride faster ;)

I've been riding a standard crankset because I couldn't get a new compact to replace the old worn out one.

Made me toughen up when it came to climbing, when you get into the granny ring 39T up front and only have a 25T on the back and it keeps getting steeper its not fun.

If I bought a new bike I would buy a compact again, I only spin the top gears out when on a descent.

You have all seen the image of the pro rider with the really bad tan lines, I'm working towards that at the minute, not a good look!
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whats the point of getting into a lower gear if im spinning out going up the hill in a higher gear? :D im ok with hills and have no problems climbing :o
 
[DOD]Asprilla;23195542 said:
There aren't many 'hills' in London. Unless you are going up Highgate or Crystal Palace the nothing really comes close.
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evening of swains training for me tonight, i've been lazy.
 
Berger said:
What hills? Ride faster in a straight line, poor average speed tbh ;)
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are you stalking me? :D i know my average is rubbish! i guess its because of all the traffic and red lights :/ if you look at the graph on either endomondo or strava i need to stop a lot which brings the average speed down :(
 
[DOD]Asprilla;23195542 said:
There aren't many 'hills' in London. Unless you are going up Highgate or Crystal Palace the nothing really comes close.
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kinda true, Alexandra palace hill is crazy in my eyes! next to impossible to get up on a bmx - haven't tried it on my roadie yet.. will do for sure.
 
Anyone got a problem getting on sports-tracker? i want to export my workout to Strava because i think i might have set a KOM yesterday but the site seems to be down
 
Ok well I've managed to fit one of my SK Raceguards. I cannot get the front one to fit, which is rather irritating as thats the most important one from my perspective of keeping dry!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Group riding is pretty fun, and you can draft someone if you get tired :D You'll see people doing all manner of hand signals when there's potholes or slippy crud on the road or cars to go around or whatever... That and shouts of "CAR" anytime one creeps up behind or us or comes against us.

Googling turns up this. Worth a look, in case you've not come across all this lark before!
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Good to know, thanks.

I tend to bounce over most potholes anyway though. It's a bad habit from my MTB riding days. Although I do need to true my wheels at some point this week. Not that the two are related of course...
 
Having recently changed jobs, I'm now in a position to be able to cycle to work. The journey is only 3 miles, but my journey home will be after sunset and as such I want to get a decent set of lights. Most of my routes are on cycle paths but there is some road travel.

Ideally I want a set that are decent with good light output but not overpriced for the daily 15 mins journey time.

Any suggestions?
 
My bikes have taken an absolute battering over the last few weeks what with the bad weather and storing them outside. I took Thursday and Friday off work to do some DIY but spent all of Thursday putting my bikes right, ready to ride them this week. The gritty crappy rain and damp literally ate the last part of my brake blocks and where my (old-style aero) rims are curved, the blocks munched their way onto the nice polished curved bit, so they'll need a polish next time I take them apart. The bottom bracket is lunch. I stripped it, cleaned it and re-packed it with fresh grease: it's a lot better but it's time to replace it with a sealed one. And I'm through to the foam on the saddle, so that needs replacing too - unfortunately a like-for-like Flite Titanium is going to be £80 :(

Still, the frame looks much better after a good clean and oiling, the gears are shifting nicely, it's quiet and it was quite nice for my knees to take a break from standing on a 48-16 gear all the way. New brakes are an OMG improvement despite being cheapies. I've also managed to re-arrange the shed so that her bikes are 'archived' for the winter with the pedals off and the bars turned round in flat-pack style and mine both fit in standing up for easy access. It's amazing how quickly they get trashed when they're living outside :eek:
 
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