Road Cycling Essentials

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I'm such a dumbass. I thought I'd ride up to Anglezarke and climb some hills. Against my other half's advice, I left my pump and saddle bag behind. You know, for the weight. although in hindsight, I'm heavy enough for it not to matter.

Anyways, surprise! Flat tire. I'm currently walking back home down the A6. If anyone sees a guy in a day glow Jersey pushing his bike, make sure to point and laugh at him..

Sigh
 
explicit4u said:
I'm trying to decide between two bikes but I don't know if there's enough of a difference to warrant an extra £100. Should I stick with the standard Sirrus and spend the rest on gear or get the Sport?

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I do like my hybrid, and I tried out a Sirrus before I bought any of my bikes, it rode really nicely.

Unless you really want the fat tyres and upright bars I'd go straight for a road bike I think, try both though because it's a very different riding experience - make sure you give the road bike a fair chance on a test ride as it will feel very unfamiliar if you haven't had one before.
 
Lopéz said:
I do like my hybrid, and I tried out a Sirrus before I bought any of my bikes, it rode really nicely.

Unless you really want the fat tyres and upright bars I'd go straight for a road bike I think, try both though because it's a very different riding experience - make sure you give the road bike a fair chance on a test ride as it will feel very unfamiliar if you haven't had one before.
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true, my first ~10miles on my road bike were scary! now i love it :)
 
grudas said:
true, my first ~10miles on my road bike were scary! now i love it :)
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I said "Jesus CHRIST!" a fair few times on my first road bike ride. The fast steering was the major difference for me, followed by the sensitivity to poor road surfaces.
 
Tyre choice can make a significant difference to ride quality.
Swapped rims but also changed tyres on my Boardman and went from Schwalbe Lugano to Continental GP4000S, running at the same PSI (110) the GP4000S's are a lot more comfortable.

(maybe the rims make a slight difference but i know from previous bikes tyres make the most difference).
 
Is there anyway to get the Veloviewer stats to update automatically once added to your sig?
(obviously after you have updated the details on Veloviewer)
 
[Damien];23144014 said:
I'm such a dumbass. I thought I'd ride up to Anglezarke and climb some hills. Against my other half's advice, I left my pump and saddle bag behind. You know, for the weight. although in hindsight, I'm heavy enough for it not to matter.

Anyways, surprise! Flat tire. I'm currently walking back home down the A6. If anyone sees a guy in a day glow Jersey pushing his bike, make sure to point and laugh at him..

Sigh
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:eek:

I look forward to seeing the strava readout for that one...
 
I losing all feeling in my feet towards the end of my rides. ICE BLOCKS.

Any recommendations for reasonably priced overshoes that will fit over an mtb shoe?
 
Lopéz said:
I do like my hybrid, and I tried out a Sirrus before I bought any of my bikes, it rode really nicely.

Unless you really want the fat tyres and upright bars I'd go straight for a road bike I think, try both though because it's a very different riding experience - make sure you give the road bike a fair chance on a test ride as it will feel very unfamiliar if you haven't had one before.
Click to expand...

Lopéz said:
I said "Jesus CHRIST!" a fair few times on my first road bike ride. The fast steering was the major difference for me, followed by the sensitivity to poor road surfaces.
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VeNT said:
any reason a hybrid?
the sport gives you an extra gear and that's about it?
I'd be tempted to poney up the extra £100 for this
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-airlite-200-sora-2012/

hell for another £150 or so you could get a ribble!

I think most people here will agree that 2nd hand is better at that price point and anythings better than a hybrid!
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I initially wanted a road bike, I borrowed a friends Pinnacle Gabbro Two (fully aware it's a womens bike) and tested a Specialized Allez at Evans but coming from 5 years of riding a mountain bike I just didn't feel comfortable with the positioning of drop bars. The absence of full suspension and thick knobby tires was bad enough :p

A cycler friend of mine reluctantly suggested I get a hybrid and stick on some bar ends if I was 100% sure I didn't want a road bike. I popped into my local Evans and tested out the standard Sirrus and it was a lot more comfortable to ride than the Pinnacle/Allez and almost as fast but for around half the price. Seemed like a no brainer.
 
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EndlessSky said:
I losing all feeling in my feet towards the end of my rides. ICE BLOCKS.

Any recommendations for reasonably priced overshoes that will fit over an mtb shoe?
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I just wear Castelli toe covers with Defeat merino socks and was fine this morning. I have some BBB Hardwear overshoes but haven't needed to use them yet. What socks do you use?
 
EndlessSky said:
I losing all feeling in my feet towards the end of my rides. ICE BLOCKS.

Any recommendations for reasonably priced overshoes that will fit over an mtb shoe?
Click to expand...

If your feet are cold because of the low temperatures, look at overshoes on PlanetX or the DHB brand on wiggle. Go a size bigger than normal because mtb shoes are generally bigger/chunkier.

Another cause could be that your shoes are stopping the circulation to your feet. In which case, overshoes wont do much good.
 
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After suffering last week with two pairs of hiking socks, I bought some "dhb Winter Thermo Sock". My toes didn't turn to ice as quickly, but by the time I got home they were numb. Hot water in the shower had them screaming in pain! Rule #5 right? :)

I've just bought those toe covers, thanks for the advice :)
 
Vonhelmet said:
:eek:

I look forward to seeing the strava readout for that one...
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I've just got back now. I got the flat on the way there on the A6 just about here. I'd walked about as far back down the A6 as the White Horse Tavern when the Mrs took pity on me and came on pit car duty.

I set back off after that and apart from me doing something as monumentally stupid as forgetting to get into the right gear before trying to climb Moor Rd, and therefore had to stand and mash until I got on a bit just flat enough to change gear on, it wasn't too bad.

Some of those descents are hairy as hell though in the wet. Especially with canti brakes...

Here's the readout: link

I've probably messed up a few segments due to stops I made when I thought my tyres needed topping up but I'll have another go at that route next week I reckon.
 
Glad you made it back in one piece.

Yeah, Moor Road is fun. We normally stop for a breather halfway up, but half the guys we were with have just started using strava do I was teasing them about the segment going all the way to the top, so we kept on hauling our way up. I had a tiny break on the viewpoint but only because I'd beaten everyone else up that first ascent!

If you're free next Saturday morning we'll probably be out that way.
 
I've just ordered a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tyres on [DOD]Asprilla's recommendation. I hope they'll help me avoid my annual weather-induced break from commuting by bike.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Glad you made it back in one piece.

Yeah, Moor Road is fun. We normally stop for a breather halfway up, but half the guys we were with have just started using strava do I was teasing them about the segment going all the way to the top, so we kept on hauling our way up. I had a tiny break on the viewpoint but only because I'd beaten everyone else up that first ascent!

If you're free next Saturday morning we'll probably be out that way.
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I'm snookered for next Sat I'm afraid. I have my little girl 3/4 weekends a mth so I'm only free that one Sat/mth or most Sundays. A week on Sat I'll be free though.

Do you ever go out on a Sunday?

Edit: I just realised too, the 1500kcal I apparently burnt today is about as much as I had yesterday just for my pudding. 1500kcal of cookie dough, plus ice cream. It's probably a good thing I ended up doing it in the end...
 
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Loving my new light setup. Ay Up Ultra Lite (+epic battery) on the helmet and a Zebralight SC600 on the bars. The Ay Up lights do 3-4hours on high and the Zebra does 2hours :cool:
 
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