Road Cycling Essentials

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platypus said:
Yep, best safety device I've bought for my bike to be honest.
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Your visibility increases a massive amount - I'm properly impressed with them... Not sure how I'm going to use them in the rain though as the bags wet weather covers doesn't have loops on it... might have to sew some loops onto it.
 
touch said:
Cycling, being an endurance exercise rather than a strength exercise, is not very good for building muscle. As far as i understand it (which isnt very far :p) something like cycling where you do a lot at a low power output is nowhere near as good for increasing muscle mass as doing an exercise with a large power output for a short number of reps (ie squats)
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Sprinting, grinding and hill climbing (or any combination of them) will increase your power output.

Also, lifting requires fast twitch muscle fibres which are short and fat whilst endurance sports require slow twitch fibres which are long and thin. The both require protein to grow but fast twitch fibres will generate more mass and volume.

I have a protein / oatmeal shake when I get to work and another before I leave. It might just be my imagination, but I think it's having an effect.
 
I've got a flare on my backpack (Alpkit Gourdon 20 which is waterproof without a cover) but it's only my secondary light. I bought an Exposure Flare last week. It rocks.
 
Fibre flares look interesting. I might get one of these myself :)

Saundie said:
I couldn't decide which pedal wrench to get, so I'll leave that for next pay day.
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Don't get a Park Tool PW-5, it's just an expensive 15mm spanner and won't undo anything stubborn. If you want to get a heavy duty wrench, get the bigger one that the bike shops use; otherwise just get a good quality 15mm spanner like a Halfords Pro, Teng, Britool, Draper Pro etc.

Dup said:
Does anyone here take protein supplements alongside cycling only? I'm quite a slender person but my only exercise is cycling. I'd like to at least get some more meat on my legs so to speak and was wondering if this would be a good start?
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I'm as skinny as a rake. Bigger legs just come in time when you're riding regularly, especially if you ride quite hard.
 
I'm hoping that the fibre flare attached to the right seat stay, a Cateye LD610 on the rack, a Blackburn Mars 3.0 on my backpack and a red Spokelit on each wheel will be sufficient this winter.

Jonny69 said:
Don't get a Park Tool PW-5, it's just an expensive 15mm spanner and won't undo anything stubborn. If you want to get a heavy duty wrench, get the bigger one that the bike shops use; otherwise just get a good quality 15mm spanner like a Halfords Pro, Teng, Britool, Draper Pro etc.
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I was thinking of getting the Park Tools PW-3, it looks a lot more beefy than the PW-5. It'll also come in handy for doing up the axle nuts on my internal hub gear bikes, too.
 
So Cav is confirmed as moving to Sky next year. Will definitely be interesting to see how he copes in the grand tours without having a full team to take him to the line if they're also helping Wiggins and Froome in the GC.
 
It might work out next year if wiggins is going to focus on the olympics and not give 100% to a high finish in a grand tour.

I cant see it going well for either cav or wiggins if they try and go for both green + yellow.
 
platypus said:
I just let 'em get wet :p.
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Nah - I mean my backpack - I've no problem letting the Flares get wet - there's just nothing to attach them to when the bag has it's cover on.

[DOD]Asprilla;20289104 said:
I've got a flare on my backpack (Alpkit Gourdon 20 which is waterproof without a cover) but it's only my secondary light. I bought an Exposure Flare last week. It rocks.
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Yeah been looking at those - do you ever get complaints from other cyclists for getting dazzled?
 
Saundie said:
I doubt anybody is able to catch up with him in order to complain ;)
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Had my ass handed to me a few times last week. I'm quicker than most but there are still an awful lot of folks I see who can scalp me without breaking sweat. I realised that other day that I've been mashing a lot recently and I need to get back to spinning up rather than changing gear.

On the subject of the Exposure Flare, not had any complaints and I've had it both full on and pulsing (not it doesn't flash on / off but pulses on / on more). Had a couple of folks enquire what the light is, where from and how much; never had that with a light before.
 
SteveOBHave said:
My aim has been to raise the level of the lights to driver eye level especially as close as I can to Lorries so on the backpack seems the best bet, time to bust out the sewing kit methinks...
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I have: Two Fibre flairs on the rear seat stays on constant beam. A Cateye TL-LD600 on my seat post, and another TL-LD600 on my backpack :p.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;20295431 said:
Had my ass handed to me a few times last week. I'm quicker than most but there are still an awful lot of folks I see who can scalp me without breaking sweat. I realised that other day that I've been mashing a lot recently and I need to get back to spinning up rather than changing gear.

On the subject of the Exposure Flare, not had any complaints and I've had it both full on and pulsing (not it doesn't flash on / off but pulses on / on more). Had a couple of folks enquire what the light is, where from and how much; never had that with a light before.
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hehe I get a little bent out of shape when I get properly blitzed but then my power to weight ratio is somewhat less than most being 5'10 and 97kgs (15 stone ish) and being on a single speed that I paid around £300 for does me no favours. I get a little satisfaction in hanging onto the back of someone that has clearly spent way too much on their bikes and gear.

I've been quite impressed by the visibility of the Exposure Flares - the price is a little off-putting though, but when it comes to not getting steam rolled at night it's generally worth it IMO.
 
Well, I found I was spending around £30 each winter on new rear lights; they only tend to last a winter before water gets in and ruins them. I've had Blackburn Mars, Fleas, Cateyes, etc. This Fibre Flare is on it's third winter, but I've taken it off the seat stay as it started getting water in.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;20295665 said:
Well, I found I was spending around £30 each winter on new rear lights; they only tend to last a winter before water gets in and ruins them. I've had Blackburn Mars, Fleas, Cateyes, etc. This Fibre Flare is on it's third winter, but I've taken it off the seat stay as it started getting water in.
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Good to know... I might have to get my mitts on one to accompany the smart light I have on there at the moment. I like to have an offset pulse cycle as it makes it more noticeable.
 
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