Road Cycling Essentials

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Vonhelmet said:
Nah, I don't commute by bike at the moment. I don't know if I could handle 12 miles each way just yet! Maybe in the future.
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I do just over 10 miles each way on my fixed gear - you'll be alright on a geared bike :)

The secret is to not attack it too hard and don't get baited into races - not until the end of the week anyway. You just need to remember you have to be able to complete the week so you can start to push the speeds up near the end of the week if you want to, when you need less in reserve. With that sort of distance, in no time you'll find you're riding a lot faster than everyone else anyway because you'll be a lot fitter and stronger just to be able to cover the weekly distance, with all the accelerating and stopping, which most cyclists don't do.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Nah, I don't commute by bike at the moment. I don't know if I could handle 12 miles each way just yet! Maybe in the future.
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Easy :). I used to do 150 miles/week commuting, you just need to build it up slowly. Do 2 days a week, then 3. You'll be doing 5 days a week before you know it.
 
platypus said:
Easy :). I used to do 150 miles/week commuting, you just need to build it up slowly. Do 2 days a week, then 3. You'll be doing 5 days a week before you know it.
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ill be jumping straight to 100mile/week from 5th november! :) but then again i ride 9 miles a day 3-4 days a week now.. should be ok with double the mileage + road bike
 
I got my magicshine clone, my god its bright! I imagine they are not very friendly to drivers coming the other way - will have to have a fiddle with how to position it without blinding oncoming traffic. I have to say im not fully sold on it, may well try another lens but i am looking at the Philips light as it has proper optics so much kinder to other drivers - at £27 the clone is worth a play so will test it!

I also had my bike fit today, very informative and my setup was not great - my cleats where spot on tho!!! Looking forward to a ride tomms to see how it feels.
 
Shimmyhill said:
I got my magicshine clone, my god its bright! I imagine they are not very friendly to drivers coming the other way - will have to have a fiddle with how to position it without blinding oncoming traffic. I have to say im not fully sold on it, may well try another lens but i am looking at the Philips light as it has proper optics so much kinder to other drivers - at £27 the clone is worth a play so will test it!

I also had my bike fit today, very informative and my setup was not great - my cleats where spot on tho!!! Looking forward to a ride tomms to see how it feels.
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I use a magicshine for mountain biking at night and I wouldnt use it on the road - the beam pattern isnt controlled enough.
 
Kimi said:
I was just looking on FLYXI, is this a Pinarello Dogma 2?

http://www.flyxii.com/products_1.asp?menuid=308&id=1138
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Well its a dogma copy, yes. Ther're copies of nearly every popular frame, I say copies...some of them probably come from the same molds.

You can go full on ripoff if you really wanted and get yaself a fullon bradley wiggins jobby: http://www.greatkeenbike.com/main/home/cp_detail.php?id=116&nowmenuid=12&cpath=0009:&catid=9

If you are interested in buying a Chinese frame then I strongly recommend you read the following thread beginning to end: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...-thread-ebay-direct-version-6-0-a-272806.html
 
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Shimmyhill said:
I got my magicshine clone, my god its bright! I imagine they are not very friendly to drivers coming the other way - will have to have a fiddle with how to position it without blinding oncoming traffic. I have to say im not fully sold on it, may well try another lens but i am looking at the Philips light as it has proper optics so much kinder to other drivers - at £27 the clone is worth a play so will test it!

I also had my bike fit today, very informative and my setup was not great - my cleats where spot on tho!!! Looking forward to a ride tomms to see how it feels.
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I have it so that the spot is pointing down at the road and I put it from full brightness to half brightness if I see oncoming traffic. It seems to do the trick and I must say I quite like the mount and how adjustable it is.

I've tried the good old torch on the handlebars before now, and while they're bright enough, the mounts often leave something to be desired.
 
ShiWarrior said:
18 ? i doubt id keep up ! lol
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Shamrock said:
Yeah Brighton is 54mi and I'd like to do something new anyway. That loop to Biggin Hill sounds good.

Let's just hope the weather forecast doesn't turn sour!
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I'm probably massively overestimating my current speed then... I think by the end of my Newport ride my speed on the flat was more like 14-15mph. I'm also not factoring in stops, so I guess I don't really mean an average, more of a on free roads sort of speed. Traffic will of course slow me down too.

I'm is still going to be dreadful up the hills!
 
Bigsy said:
Well its a dogma copy, yes. Ther're copies of nearly every popular frame, I say copies...some of them probably come from the same molds.

You can go full on ripoff if you really wanted and get yaself a fullon bradley wiggins jobby: http://www.greatkeenbike.com/main/home/cp_detail.php?id=116&nowmenuid=12&cpath=0009:&catid=9

If you are interested in buying a Chinese frame then I strongly recommend you read the following thread beginning to end: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bi...-thread-ebay-direct-version-6-0-a-272806.html
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I set up the sky british colour model for a customer and the finish wasn't quite up to what I was used to.

Having to file the paint from the cable guides was a bad start but having to drill a hole for the front mech cable guide myself was disappointing. It did have a tiny cable sized recess under the paint but poking and prodding got nowhere for some reason.

That + the fact I think the seat sat squint in the frame which can't be rotated puts me off them.

The seatpost head is also a **** design and left the saddle still pointing to the sky when screwed fully in. Would have had to find a bolt the same size/thread to cut it down to fit properly.
 
Mr Flibble said:
I'm probably massively overestimating my current speed then... I think by the end of my Newport ride my speed on the flat was more like 14-15mph. I'm also not factoring in stops, so I guess I don't really mean an average, more of a on free roads sort of speed. Traffic will of course slow me down too.

I'm is still going to be dreadful up the hills!
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http://app.strava.com/rides/25944727

my ride yesterday

That was flat

the only time i really do go upwards is from Sydnham to Chinnor
 
Yeah, exactly why anyone considering one needs to read that thread, quality varies a lot.

My mtb frame was pretty much perfect and so was my road (giant TRC copy) bar the fork tube needed a lot of sanding to get the headset collar all the way down, still I didn't mind too much, just meant I could get everything super snug.
 
Yeah and that's the 6 iteration of it... I guess you could probably start about half way through, loads a great info in there mind.
 
I just can't see me ever getting a china made no name frame to be honest. I would love a £2k Felt F1 frame but when I see the quality difference between both and the backup you get from buying from a proper brand it is worth it.

Would never ever ever ride a chinese carbon bar either, even the good EC90 etc feel good but I think it's in my head. Pro Vibe would do me or ritchey wcs.
 
Mr Flibble said:
I'm probably massively overestimating my current speed then... I think by the end of my Newport ride my speed on the flat was more like 14-15mph. I'm also not factoring in stops, so I guess I don't really mean an average, more of a on free roads sort of speed. Traffic will of course slow me down too.

I'm is still going to be dreadful up the hills!
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So, weather permitting are we on for a ride? Not been out for a few weeks now!:(
 
Jonny ///M said:
I just can't see me ever getting a china made no name frame to be honest. I would love a £2k Felt F1 frame but when I see the quality difference between both and the backup you get from buying from a proper brand it is worth it.

Would never ever ever ride a chinese carbon bar either, even the good EC90 etc feel good but I think it's in my head. Pro Vibe would do me or ritchey wcs.
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Yeah guess it depends on circumstance...

I like to ride on carbon for the smoothness, I like to have a very light bike and I also like to commute on it but soon as I'm knocked off almost daily in the city centre if I'm only paying a couple of hundred its not a massive deal.

The china sellers have given me good backup, one sent me a free hanger when an off on my mtb bent it. And I can't really fault the quality of both my carbon frames vs my mates branded carbon, they're properly stress tested as well, plenty of vids of them up on test rigs etc. You hear of no real horror stories, certainly no more than you get with branded stuff.
 
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