Road Cycling Essentials

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2012 at 08:37

helpimcrap said:
I am jealous of these 100 milers - i will do it this year. planning a monster 200+ miles weekend including a skydive.

How often do you get punctures though for the regular 100 milers?

I've been VERY lucky this year. Not had a single puncture on my commuter bike, so that's almost 2k of riding hassle free.

On my Boardman, I've had two 'punctures', both snake bite ones caused by riding over potholes and the rear rim hit the tarmac too hard. Proper annoyed I was for one of them as that was in the middle of another 100 mile ride!

ShiWarrior said:
i think your the closesest person to me in this thread, fancy doing some sunday rides?

I might be busy in the coming weekends moving house, but I should be able to squeeze some rides in. Whereabouts are you?

uniQ · 31 Dec 2012 at 08:41

DIABLO said:
Don't use that gear or your drivetrain won't last 5 minutes.

It isn't that serious. Modern components are much more durable compared to when this may have been an issue. The difference these days on decent groupsets I believe is negligible, and even less on compacts. I read a report that showed over something like 2000 miles, cycling in nothing but big-big would cost you around 31 miles of additional wear.

Better advice imo is to go by sound or do what feels right, some ratios combinations work better than others on different components/setups. But don't let it worry you should you cross chain.

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2012 at 08:44

I didn't think it was that serious either. My local bike shop (a very good one) told me that you can run the largest cogs front and back if you wanted. (SRAM Force kit)

I must admit I don't go all the way up to the largest cog on the back at all, as I find it better to switch to the smaller gear on the front.

Kimi · 31 Dec 2012 at 09:58

Done 35 miles yesterday, the wind was so bad it was hard to get any speed up, was a constant battle all day and felt ruined at the end of it. Nice ride tho

One More Solo · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:03

explicit4u said:
I'm in a similar situation, I've tried multiple times to plan a route on google maps at home and then remember it off by heart but I always end up getting lost and having to check my phone a few times and that really kills my momentum. I looked at the Garmin 800 but I couldn't justify spending £200+ so I think I'll settle for a good stem mount for my iPhone.

Riding out of London is a ****ing nightmare, you end up spending 30 or 40 miles of your ride just getting in and out of the city.

uniQ · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:10

Kimi said:
Done 35 miles yesterday, the wind was so bad it was hard to get any speed up, was a constant battle all day and felt ruined at the end of it. Nice ride tho

Yes the wind was relentless yesterday, I had a moment on the way back where I was struggling to maintain 7mph on a flat got out the saddle and gave it everything and still couldn't get above 9.6mph lol. Had me seriously cursing mother nature.

Although feels a bit strange today that I don't need to go out and cycle an obscene amount of miles in this awful weather. I love that the day after the challenge finishes the weather forecast is sun and clear skies.

touch · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:16

uniQ said:
I love that the day after the challenge finishes the weather forecast is sun and clear skies.

Perfect for the january base miles challenge

uniQ · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:42

I'll be happy with the bare minimum 200 mile badge on that one

What was your total mileage for the Rapha challenge in the end touch?

touch · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:56

501 kilometres

Worked out exactly how many miles i needed to do on my last ride and didnt go a single mile over

uniQ · 31 Dec 2012 at 10:58

Fair play, I'm still reeling about my missing 7 miles from frozen Garmin but finished at 116%

My legs are feeling it today. First time all week but noticed the fatigue kicking in yesterday.

Robzere31 · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:03

Not a bad year of cycling for me. (Old fart of 43

) Time to set a few new goals for 2013.
Set a target of 5,000 miles for the year & completed it 6 weeks early.
Disappointed with my end of year, doing only 500 miles in the last 6 weeks.

Count: 427 Activities
Distance: 5,509.17 mi
Time: 288:27:51 h:m:s
Max Speed: 46.6 mph
Avg Speed: 19.0 mph
Max HR: 208 bpm
Avg HR: 154 bpm
Calories: 220,285 C
Avg Bike Cadence: 98 rpm
Elevation Gain: 70,047 m

chanjy · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:24

Good stats :eek:

Trifid · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:36

Great stats there. What did you use to collect them?

Robzere31 · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:41

Trifid said:
Great stats there. What did you use to collect them?

I use a Garmin 500.

sloth · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:45

That's a LOT of cycling. How'd you find the time to do all that, or is a lot of it commuting? Very impressive!

Saundie · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:47

The wind was absolutely terrible on the way in to work this morning. For the first time since I started cycling as an adult I was actually frightened while riding. It got to the point where I was seriously considering getting off and walking. I really hope it settles down by tomorrow, I aim to get out on the bike for a proper ride, as I've not had one since September!

Robzere31 · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:49

sloth said:
That's a LOT of cycling. How'd you find the time to do all that, or is a lot of it commuting? Very impressive!

I commute about 10 miles a day, plus in the summer I stayed out after work getting whatever mileage I could in.
Was averaging 600- 700 miles a month between April - September. June was a bad month as I had 3 weeks off the bike due to getting married.

Best month was September where I managed 1000 miles in 30 days, another one of my goals for 2012.

Shadowness · 31 Dec 2012 at 11:59

I managed just over 3k this year.

I plan to hit 6k next year. I travel abroad a lot as part of my job so that makes things tricky. The reason I only did 3k this year was because I only properly started commuting in the last third of the year. I was a bit of a fair weather cyclist before that lol! If there was even a hint of rain, I'd go to work with my old man. Not any more!

uniQ · 31 Dec 2012 at 12:14

I hit 3070 non commuter miles for the year

Seriously close to pulling the trigger on this wheelset:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-sh...shimano-dura-ace-9000-c35-cl-wheels-pair.html

Someone talk me out of it or spec me something similar?

[DOD]Asprilla · 31 Dec 2012 at 12:27

uniQ said:
I hit 3070 non commuter miles for the year

Seriously close to pulling the trigger on this wheelset:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-sh...shimano-dura-ace-9000-c35-cl-wheels-pair.html

Someone talk me out of it or spec me something similar?

Go for hand made, once you've been there you won't go back.