Road Cycling Essentials

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Can anyone recommend some decent tyre levers?

I'm really struggling to get the Vittoria tyres off my Aksiums (to the point that four levers are employed and it still takes half an hour). They just seem ridiculously tight and my levers are bending far too easily.
 
InsomniaCalls said:
Thanks! Some of the CRC reviews are claiming the tip snaps easily on these. Presumably you've not experienced this?
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Pedros tyre levers....like a boss.

Have you got all the air out and unseated the bead at both sides meaning the tyre is sat in the middle of the rim?

Just been thinking really, would have the saddle too far forward alter how much power I could push down on the pedals? I'm thinking it's more the fact I'm using normal spd and will be changing to SPD-SL soon. The saddle will be going back a bit when I get a slightly shorter stem on it.

I feel I could push more power on the MTB than this road bike but maybe I'm tripping.
 
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Jonny ///M said:
Just been thinking really, would have the saddle too far forward alter how much power I could push down on the pedals? I'm thinking it's more the fact I'm using normal spd and will be changing to SPD-SL soon. The saddle will be going back a bit when I get a slightly shorter stem on it.

I feel I could push more power on the MTB than this road bike but maybe I'm tripping.
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As far as I can make out the important things when it comes to saddle position and power is the location of your knee in relation to the BB and how open your hip angle is.

Unfortunately the optimum position is very much down to the individual. However, a quick rule of thumb would be that if the cranks are at '9 and 3' then your leading knee should be directly over the pedal axle.

With the hip angle then the more upright you are then the more power you can deliver from the hip flexor, although obviously this makes you less aerodynamic. This is why timetrialists move their saddle forward and arch their backs as opposed to bending from the hip.
 
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platypus said:
About £800 on Wiggle.
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Looking at it a second time it's about that on CRC as well, I accidently added the internal and external cabling :o

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On a different note, I have a Giant Defy and am looking at getting mudguards for it for the inevitable decline in weather over the next couple of months.

I've seen there are some Defy-specific guards, are these necessarily any better than other after-market mudguards? Any recommendations?
 
InsomniaCalls said:
Can anyone recommend some decent tyre levers?
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I've got some steel ones from Halfords. No way they'll ever break or bend, but you've got to be careful not to chew up the side of the rim. I prefer using the plastic ones. Much of getting the tyre off the rim seems to be down to technique rather than brute force. I snapped the plastic ones for years, but now seem to have the knack :)
 
platypus said:
I'm a big fan of Decathlon, especially the French stores. Not sure if the gear is all the same (I know for a fact that the French stores have more stock), and in France in all the major cities they have another chain of stores to sell B grade stock even cheaper, pretty hard given how cheap Decathlon is already! Have picked up some absolute bargains - and they sell TdF team kit :).
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I (and my fiancee) are genuinely addicted to Decathlon, and the promise of even cheaper stores in France sounds AMAZING! :D Haha. I bought a set of these on the weekend and they are easily as good as a pair of £40+ shorts, would highly recommend them. They have actually upgraded the padding since I last bought a pair of their shorts and they are now seriously comfortable.
 
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