Road Cycling Essentials

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cork-spotters said:
I've the same bike, bought it in August. Lovely ride coming from an alu hybrid!

On the question of weight, I started in April at 101kg :eek: Started going to the gym and set myself a target to lose 10kg and said as a reward I'd treat myself to the Cube :D
As of yesterday I was at 87.5kg, so really pleased with progress. Want to hold steady for Christmas and then really get in shape for next years season :)
Height is 172cm.
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Cube Agree GTC Pro! Bought mine at the end of August from Tredz!

I absolutely love riding it; quite a big difference to my Reynolds 531c with Campag Athena Group set!

You have any photos of your Cube?
 
Go on, you know want to! :p

Was riding into work this morning when a white van pulled alongside me waiting at the lights at a pedestrian crossing and rolled his window down. I was fearing the worst but he only said "Just thought I should say, your lights are brilliant, the best I've seen!" which completely threw me. :p Not all white van men are bad I suppose.

If anyone is interested in a fairly cheap lighting setup to get you started I use:

Front: Ultrafire WF-501B torch with a handlebar mount (one charge lasts me 2-3 hours). Cost about £20 all in off the auction site.

Rear: RSP Astrum, which was less than £15.

I wish I'd never wasted my time with the usual rubbish Cateye options because you will never get a specific cycling front light that good without spending at least twice the amount.
 
Streeteh said:
Just had a look at that, looks ace and have bought one. I'm gonna switch my cheap £5 rear light up to the hook on my backpack and fix that directly to my frame.
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That's exactly what I did. :) The build quality is not the best but for £15, I'll just buy a new one when it packs in. They claim it's visible up to 1km, not sure how realistic that is but it is very very bright.
 
Mostyn said:
Cube Agree GTC Pro! Bought mine at the end of August from Tredz!

I absolutely love riding it; quite a big difference to my Reynolds 531c with Campag Athena Group set!

You have any photos of your Cube?
Click to expand...

Got it on August 11th.
It just keeps on rolling, can cover immense distances. It's my fitness that lets the bike down, not the other way around!

Here's a pic from when I got it home from the shop:
64b26.jpg


Bars look at but tilted up in that photo, but it's an illusion!
 
Am I a numpty for cycling in the rain without mudguards? The wet doesn't bother me, but a friend is adamant that it will knacker my bike in record time!

I've fitted a small guard to the front wheel, but don't have one that fits the rear unfortunately.
 
Oh yea while we are on the "how heavy are you"

I'm 5'11".
Fully clothed and after stuffing down tonights roast beef and yorkshire pud dinner I am 85Kgs on the nail just now.
No young pup any more either at 38 yrs old :(

I have been down to 76Kgs last year during a weight training regime.
 
Streeteh said:
Am I a numpty for cycling in the rain without mudguards? The wet doesn't bother me, but a friend is adamant that it will knacker my bike in record time!

I've fitted a small guard to the front wheel, but don't have one that fits the rear unfortunately.
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I don't, I just take a lot more care of the drive train during winter/wet weather.
 
One More Solo said:
Go on, you know want to! :p

Was riding into work this morning when a white van pulled alongside me waiting at the lights at a pedestrian crossing and rolled his window down. I was fearing the worst but he only said "Just thought I should say, your lights are brilliant, the best I've seen!" which completely threw me. :p Not all white van men are bad I suppose.

If anyone is interested in a fairly cheap lighting setup to get you started I use:

Front: Ultrafire WF-501B torch with a handlebar mount (one charge lasts me 2-3 hours). Cost about £20 all in off the auction site.

Rear: RSP Astrum, which was less than £15.

I wish I'd never wasted my time with the usual rubbish Cateye options because you will never get a specific cycling front light that good without spending at least twice the amount.
Click to expand...

I've got 2 x Ultrafire 502BC's on the Pinarello and I can honestly say they are absolutely awesome at lighting the road up. Stonking value for money as well. Mate has a Hope Vision set up on his Giant that rushed him @£260 and it doesn't come close to the performance of twin Ultrafire 502 BC's. I've got them mounted with Twofish Lockblocks and they don't budge a mm on my run in to work despite some stretches of rough tarmac. Highly recommended. Suppose it depends if you want a bespoke light system or are happy to experiment a little with mounts and LED torches till you find a decent set up.


George Hincapie said:
Have any of you guys got a turbo trainer? Have been thinking about getting one, was looking at Wiggle last night. The Cycle Ops magnetic one looks OK @ £200 or so.

Thoughts?
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Couple of years ago I bought a Tacx Flow which was about £300 iirc. I've used it a handful of times. I find it boring and a bit of a chore, I'd rather go out and ride than sit indoors on a trainer watching MTV. It lives in the loft now in it's box. :p Some folk get on with turbo trainers, some don't.

I've really not managed to get out much on the roadbike for months. Combination of things over the last 5 months. Wife went back to work full time in September after the birth of our son in March, so logistics wise its a nightmare trying to fit a cycling commute into a week's work, have to drop the wee fella off at his Grans for childcare when I'm on day duty then pick him up on my way home, so cycling is out of the question. Managed to get out a few hours a month on the mountain bike on my local trails and had a couple visits to Glentress but not much. Weather recently hasn't helped either I 'spose.

As a result, my fitness has dipped from what it was in August this year when I was commuting 36 miles a day on the bike and my weight is now @90kg ( I'm 6 ft 0" and used to hover around the 85kg mark ). Need to address this after the new year, I really, really miss my morning rides in to work. :(
 
Draeger said:
I've got 2 x Ultrafire 502BC's on the Pinarello and I can honestly say they are absolutely awesome at lighting the road up. Stonking value for money as well. Mate has a Hope Vision set up on his Giant that rushed him @£260 and it doesn't come close to the performance of twin Ultrafire 502 BC's. I've got them mounted with Twofish Lockblocks and they don't budge a mm on my run in to work despite some stretches of rough tarmac. Highly recommended. Suppose it depends if you want a bespoke light system or are happy to experiment a little with mounts and LED torches till you find a decent set up.
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The 502s look good, I might get one of those to run full beam and set my 501 to strobe. Choices, choices. :D
 
platypus said:
If it helps, I always double lubricate in winter, ooer. I grease the chain/cassete/derailleur with fairly thick teflon cable grease, then use a light teflon lubricant, usually Finish line.
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I'm using chain oil twice a week but will look into the above, cheers.

Just sat down for an hour to tinker with bits that were bugging me. I'm really chuffed actually as i've aligned the disk brakes better than the guy in my LBS did i *think*. The rear one was rubbing quite substantially to the point where it was stopping the wheel when spun, but now it doesn't even make a peep.

(Tomorrow i imagine i'll scream head first into oncoming traffic due to a brakes failure).
 
I think sadly I'm winning the OCuk fat ******* road cyclist award at the moment. Currently 99kg and 5'11.75 (and bitter about that last 1/4 inch). Drinking far too much for Christmas and not cycling enough. Just in from an epic drink from 13:30 onwards and feeling drunk but guilty.

When I was rowing quite a bit at uni (16 sessions a week) I was still 83kg and as fit as I think I'll ever be/thin as I'll ever look. Need to get some more long rides in. Last one I did was a 56mile to Southend to teach on a resus course averaging 18.3mph out from my house in SE London (solo). Otherwise I'm stuck with my 5 mile (twice daily) commute which really isn't burning enough calories (especially considering how much I'm drinking and eating pre Christmas).

Anyone in London need a riding buddy? I could do with the motivation.
 
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