Road Cycling Essentials

Murf · 28 Feb 2012 at 14:02

touch said:
Is 34/25 not your granny ring? What crank have you got?

Suffering from brain fade.

. It's a compact so 50/34. I use 50 at the front and 25 at the back for pulling away from junctions etc. I'm usually just a couple of sprockets down the cassette from that.

I use the granny ring for crippling head winds and major gradients.

touch · 28 Feb 2012 at 14:07

Murf said:
major gradients.

Dont you live in England?

Participant · 28 Feb 2012 at 14:10

New job would be 14.7 miles each way, mainly through pleasant country lanes albeit fairly hilly ones. Debating whether to get our second car back on the road or MTFU and commute on my bike...showers on site...hmmm...

If I'm not that fit now, I sure as **** would be after a few weeks of 29 miles per day :eek:

.

Lead_Head · 28 Feb 2012 at 15:37

Does anyone know where I can pick up a spare bracket for a RSP Astrum rear light and a SMART front light?

I don't see the point in buying two sets of lights, requiring two sets of batteries when I can just buy additional brackets and swap the light units over.

Dup · 28 Feb 2012 at 16:33

Robbie G said:
New job would be 14.7 miles each way, mainly through pleasant country lanes albeit fairly hilly ones. Debating whether to get our second car back on the road or MTFU and commute on my bike...showers on site...hmmm...

If I'm not that fit now, I sure as **** would be after a few weeks of 29 miles per day .

I'd bike that. You'll be surprised how far you can go compared to how far you think you can go. My commute is 5 miles each way and I find it tough some days but I can go out and do 50 miles on a Saturday morning without any gradual build up to that mileage (or breakfast for that matter! :eek:

).

I would certainly give it a go after my first week and see what's what. The main reason I got a bike was to get to work as I didn't think I'd be motivated enough so using work as an excuse to use the bike has propelled me and now I'm riding with the local club on the weekends.

Speaking of rides, I'm thinking of signing up to this: http://www.action.org.uk/ribble_valley_100

Much less madness than the 166 mile Bowland Badass I had my heart set on plus it's for charity, well organised and on my doorstep.

bastic · 28 Feb 2012 at 18:20

Shamrock said:
Yeah, only using the big ring and working up the rear sprockets feels the most smooth and gives me the best acceleration. But, if it's going to reduce the life of my components and cost me more money I think I have to stop.

I'm not big or heavy and only cycle 12 miles a day. The guys at London Bicycle Workshop were surprised I had worn out the chain and cassette in only 6 months.

am in similar situation...I mean I use my gears same way.
Only 2 rings in front and chain is on biggest one all the time.

will have to check if I have them on largest in the back when on lights..

on the other hand :
I was saying it takes me 16-17minutes to get over 4miles when I commute.
and thats when Im pushing it...well...
I managed to get the distance in 16,5minutes today on my work to work.
I thought I will try cycling relaxed on my way back...to my surprise it took me 15-16minutes to get back when I wasnt pushing as hard as always!...something strange is going on

I think that I was able to cruise at 30km/h for most of the time as I wasnt too aggressive on starts and going up hills...

still cant believe it ...unfortunately app that Im using to track my cycling froze and was not recording

will do same tomorrow and see how it looks like 'on paper'

its better to get somewhere faster and less tired

touch · 28 Feb 2012 at 18:38

bastic said:
I managed to get the distance in 16,5minutes today on my work to work.
I thought I will try cycling relaxed on my way back...to my surprise it took me 15-16minutes to get back when I wasnt pushing as hard as always!...something strange is going on

If you're going too hard you might tire yourself out half way through. You could think that you're going fast because you push yourself the whole time, but in reality you go off fast then slow down as your legs tire.

A slower pace that you can maintain the whole time would be faster.
Do you have a bike computer? (if not, you can get a basic one really cheap on ebay) They are good for helping you to pace yourself.

bastic · 28 Feb 2012 at 18:57

I have one but rarely look on it

Streeteh · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:02

What i'd like to know is which is better for improvement in fitness? I've only got a 4 mile commute so i want to make the most of it, in order to do this i absolutely rag it so at the end of the commute i want to pass out.

Is this a mistake, should i be pacing myself better?

Back on the very old, poorly spec'd Specialized Hardrock for the next couple of weeks. Pretty decent bike off-road (despite the lack of disk brakes) but dear god it's like piloting a tank on the roads. I want my Boardman back

touch · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:13

Streeteh said:
What i'd like to know is which is better for improvement in fitness?

The best for improvement in fitness is this:

Streeteh said:
Back on the very old, poorly spec'd Specialized Hardrock

Streeteh · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:15

touch said:
The best for improvement in fitness is this:

Can't argue with that logic!

Fuzz · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:25

Robbie G said:
New job would be 14.7 miles each way, mainly through pleasant country lanes albeit fairly hilly ones. Debating whether to get our second car back on the road or MTFU and commute on my bike...showers on site...hmmm...

If I'm not that fit now, I sure as **** would be after a few weeks of 29 miles per day .

My commute is almost that. It's a piece of **** and I'm no uber fit slim toned up cyclist..
You'd rock that in an hour I reckon.

Best ride..

Worst ride..

[DOD]Asprilla · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:41

bastic said:
I managed to get the distance in 16,5minutes today on my work to work.
I thought I will try cycling relaxed on my way back...to my surprise it took me 15-16minutes to get back when I wasnt pushing as hard as always!...something strange is going on

You know those days when it all comes together? When you are strong, you've feel no fatigue, your technique is soupless and you can spin like you don't even have a chain on?

Tailwind.

Participant · 28 Feb 2012 at 19:50

Hmm yeah if I can do it in one hour, ~30 minutes would have been commuting by car (in rush hour) anyway. So really it's like doing 1hr of exercise every day, i.e. perfectly reasonable. Thanks for that.

DIABLO · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:23

Got some Pro-Lite Braccianos and some Continental Grand Prix 4000S coming should hopefully make a nice upgrade and knock over half a kilo of the weight of the bike, £283 was a bargain i thought for 1.5kg wheels too.

remy87 · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:51

After getting galaxy S2 and didn't want to sell my trustworthy desire I've found some other use for it! Quite battery draining but might possible need a better ROM I guess.
The cradle is awesome for 10 quid ish I've pushed through som horrible roads and it is pretty much rock solid!

iGO app in night mode.

[DOD]Asprilla · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:52

What do you do when it rains?

Russinating · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:54

What nav are you using? Not heard of iGO before. You might be better of using Google Maps - it's very well coded for decent battery usage and it dims the screen when there's no turn coming up.

Does anyone here train with weights? I don't know what the correct term is, but for example in the army you train with weights on your back. If so is it better to do this with the weight on you or the weight on the bike? I cycled back from my local climbing centre this evening with a Kryptonite lock in my back pack and all my clothes/gear and I got home much sweatier than normal despite it being only a relatively short ride.

Streeteh · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:58

I often do my commute with my 2 kg Abus lock in my bag just to help improve fitness. As you say it actually makes quite a difference. I also often carry a Macbook Pro, i say this not to flaunt the fact i have a mac (i don't, it belongs to my workplace) but because that specific model has a full aluminium case so wieghs about 3kg too.

When i ride with nothing on my back or a near-empty backpack i feel so much faster, so it can only be good for training/fitness.

I prefer riding with them on my back as opposed to panniers as it simply makes the bike feel less balanced to me. I can... it's hard to explain, 'deal' with a lot of weight on my back better than i can with it on the sides of my bike.

remy87 · 28 Feb 2012 at 20:59

I'm not going to use it as a cycle computer, well maybe sometimes then obviously not on rainy days haha. This is more of a sat nav when I get lost or want to explore new routes.
Google maps require mobile internet and I won't have any sim on that phone and there is no point getting another one.
iGo only requires GPS as maps are already preloaded.

About the bag, yep same here my kryptonite lock nearly 3kg + another 2kg from the old D lock + standard spare tubes etc a small metal wrench(singlespeed) + work clothes and shoes. You do end up with some nice muscles to cushion the bag strap though haha.