Road Cycling Essentials

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[DOD]Asprilla;18673719 said:
Right, I'm booked in for a bike fitting at Sigma Sports on Monday. £120, but I think the outcome is going to be quite expensive.
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I hope that's for fitting for all of your bikes :O

Are you still using the Civia for commuting, or are you back on the Cervelo?
 
Saundie said:
I hope that's for fitting for all of your bikes :O

Are you still using the Civia for commuting, or are you back on the Cervelo?
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I've been back on the Cervelo since mid Jan, the weather is far too nice to be dragging all that weight.

The £120 is for one bike (Cervelo), but it takes 2-3 hours and then it's discounted off any frame or complete bike that I buy from them, should I do so.

I really want to know what my ideal sizing / geometry should be and buy a frame as appropriate.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;18674497 said:
I've been back on the Cervelo since mid Jan, the weather is far too nice to be dragging all that weight.

The £120 is for one bike (Cervelo), but it takes 2-3 hours and then it's discounted off any frame or complete bike that I buy from them, should I do so.

I really want to know what my ideal sizing / geometry should be and buy a frame as appropriate.
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Surely all of that extra weight would be excellent for training? :P

£120 isn't bad if they'll discount it off of any purchase you make, especially considering the fact that you're probably going to walk out of there having ordered a Cervelo R5. I've been considering getting fit for a bike, as I'm still struggling with my feet going numb, so I'll be interested in hearing your opinion once you've had it done.
 
Saundie said:
considering the fact that you're probably going to walk out of there having ordered a Cervelo R5.
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R5CA, surely.......

Actually I'm thinking about a number of options including an R3, a bigger S1 or maybe even a custom Ti frame. Since my tri / sportive bike is also my commuting bike and I do a lot of miles I want something that will be tough as old boots rather than light as a feather.
 
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platypus said:
I've just bought a Gran Fondo with SRAM Force, as they are very reasonably priced at the moment :).
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I'm thinking of getting a frame and a Force gruppo from Merlin. Don't need wheels (have Fulcrum R1s) and I can get saddle / stem / bars from ebay.

Incidentally, did anyone else notice that the Ribble Stealth (which looks very nice and did well in CW 2011 bike list) is actually a De Rosa R848? No prizes for guessing that that there is a substantial price difference between the two.....
 
I could kick myself. Just went to take the cranks off one my bikes to measure the bottom bracket, put the Park Tool crank puller on it and thought it was a bit damn tight. I've forgotten to undo the nut first, and now stripped all the threads out the crank :eek:

Hoping I'll be able to salvage it somehow :(
 
Jonny69 said:
I could kick myself. Just went to take the cranks off one my bikes to measure the bottom bracket, put the Park Tool crank puller on it and thought it was a bit damn tight. I've forgotten to undo the nut first, and now stripped all the threads out the crank :eek:

Hoping I'll be able to salvage it somehow :(
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You know what? I did exactly the same thing to a crank last week!! Luckily the thread was OK. Have fun tapping it :)

Also today I started to screw on a cassette with the small sprocket in first!! Luckily i realised quite quickly I was being a berk!
 
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I think I got lucky. It's wrecked the top threads but I didn't have it screwed all the way home due to debris in the bottom threads. Once I got it to catch a thread I spannered it all the way down and it seems to be still useable, thankfully :)

Pretty sure I never used the bottom threads before for exactly this reason: in case I trashed the top threads...
 
Saundie said:
I wasted a bit of time trying to get the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes on before it dawned on me that they'd never fit the rims. I'd ordered them in 700x32c; too big for the rims, which will accommodate a maximum of 28mm.
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I take it back; they fit on the rims just fine. All that's left now is to fit the rack and the mudguards, and it'll be ready for light touring :)

Are you up for a ride on Sunday, Jonny69?
 
Hi all,

I'm currently considering a GPS device to help out with routes, monitor my speed, distance and so on. I've had a search through this thread and noticed a lot of people using Garmin devices which look very good, but I'm not sure I can justify £100-200 just for this use. Are they really worth the money? Are there cheaper alternatives?

I also noticed some people using the GPS function on their phone with cycling apps, how do these compare to single-purpose GPS devices?
 
I just use maps + street view pre-ride, and my phone as a map during :p. I could technically use Google Maps as I would in a car and have the audio directions on but I've never needed to do that.
 
Phil99 said:
Hi all,

I'm currently considering a GPS device to help out with routes, monitor my speed, distance and so on. I've had a search through this thread and noticed a lot of people using Garmin devices which look very good, but I'm not sure I can justify £100-200 just for this use. Are they really worth the money? Are there cheaper alternatives?

I also noticed some people using the GPS function on their phone with cycling apps, how do these compare to single-purpose GPS devices?
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This is just my opinion but I can't see a dedicated GPS making that much of a difference to accuracy compared to a phone app, at least for most peoples needs. I use Endomondo on my iPhone like a lot of folk in this thread do, it's an excellent little app.

http://www.endomondo.com

MapMyRide is another good one that I have installed but I tend to stick with Endomondo. Have a look at it, lots of cool features such as real time tracking and keeping a training log of your rides. And best of all it's completely free. :)
 
Depends how long you ride for. iphone apps are fine for short rides, and you can get some very neat holders, but they don't last for more more than 2 - 3 hours. If you're going out for more than that Garmins are best - my 705 is well over 10 hours (longest ride I did was 9 hours and still had nearly half showing on the battery meter). Also the Garmins generally come with HR straps, which I know you can get for the iphone but they are expensive.
 
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