Road Cycling Essentials

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Anyone got experience of going from SPD to SPD-SL (or other road pedals)?

On longer road rides (50km+) I'm getting the odd hot-spot in my shoes. They are 11 or 12 year old Specialized MTB shoes though, so well worn (but not falling apart). Thus I'm debating getting some new SPD shoes (I like being able to swap shoes between my road bike & MTBs, especially my winter MTB boots) vs SPD-SLs being more comfortable (but then having to walk like Pingu)
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24471549 said:
You live in central London; the rest of us have to contend with country roads and the possibility of running into the back end of a deer.

I tried Ultrafire torches and the like but there were just too may issues with inconsistent output and turning themselves off when I hit a pot hole that I just have no confidence in them. Also, everyone coming the other way hated me for blinding them.
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i don't live in central london, i commute to central london :) never had these issues with either of them, mind you my little brother does have that issue so im not saying that it never happens. Id say your 800 lumen torch/light things w/e you wanna call them blind people too ;)

Saundie said:
You're right, there's no need, but making do with torches gets tedious. My LD20s would change mode when they were subjected to a jolt, so sometimes I'd end up with one suddenly switching to strobe mode - extremely unhelpful when you're trying to navigate a country lane in the dark, and potentially dangerous to anybody coming the other way. As [DOD]Asprilla pointed out, lower power lights are fine in the city when all you need is to be seen.

Also, buying new kit is one of the joys of cycling :p
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still you can get lights that work just as well for less than 120+ each lol :)
 
You don't commute though open country and unlit roads though do you?

Also, the Strada has a proper road beam pattern, letterbox shapes is how it is usually defined, so as to ensure you light up the road rather than signal passing aircraft. If you get a light that uses it's power properly then it makes a real difference.
 
Saundie said:
That is very true. For example, I paid £91 for that light, as I didn't get it from Evans :)
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IMO that is still a lot, but each to their own :) im happy with my ~30quid front/rear set and it does the job in well lit city streets for country roads i understand that stronger lights will be better :)

[DOD]Asprilla;24472151 said:
You don't commute though open country and unlit roads though do you?

Also, the Strada has a proper road beam pattern, letterbox shapes is how it is usually defined, so as to ensure you light up the road rather than signal passing aircraft. If you get a light that uses it's power properly then it makes a real difference.
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nope, i get your point :) im just saying "don't make it sound like 200+ is needed for a set of lights" this is what you NEED and IMO you could get it cheaper, but then again if you have money to spend and want to spend that much on a set/sets of lights go for it :)

this could simply scare off a lot of newbies who will quickly wash their brain with posh soap and think that the only way is 200quid + for a front light lol.

i'd love to have a nice set tho but there's simply no need in my case.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24472151 said:
to ensure you light up the road rather than signal passing aircraft.
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Yep, buy a £200 with a proper beam pattern to achieve this.



...or, a £3 angle-adjust mount for a torch and angle it properly.
 
grudas said:
this could simply scare off a lot of newbies who will quickly wash their brain with posh soap and think that the only way is 200quid + for a front light lol.
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touch said:
Yep, buy a £200 with a proper beam pattern to achieve this.

...or, a £3 angle-adjust mount for a torch and angle it properly.
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I must be reading a different thread to you, because I've not seen anybody state that you absolutely must buy a £200 light. The question was "which lights do you use?", not "which lights do I need?". In my experience those Twofish Lockblocks weren't good enough, but I didn't mean to imply that they're of no use to anybody. I'm sorry if it came across that way, because it wasn't my intention. Horses for courses, and all that rubbish.

Anyway, you can't complain about cycling enthusiasts being enthusiastic about cycling gear! :)
 
Saundie said:
I must be reading a different thread to you, because I've not seen anybody state that you absolutely must buy a £200 light. The question was "which lights do you use?", not "which lights do I need?". In my experience those Twofish Lockblocks weren't good enough, but I didn't mean to imply that they're of no use to anybody. I'm sorry if it came across that way, because it wasn't my intention. Horses for courses, and all that rubbish.

Anyway, you can't complain about cycling enthusiasts being enthusiastic about cycling gear! :)
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i never said anyone stated that lol, it just gives an idea when us cycling nupties start listing the price of our lights..
 
Urban commuter here so my lights are to be seen.

My lights are:

Knog Blinder rear x2
Knog Blinder front x1
Lezyne Macro Drive front x1

One flashing, one constant front and rear. I also have spoke reflectors and 3M reflective tape stuck on parts of the frame.
 
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Regy53 said:
what bike lights are we all using?

I have a simple flashing LED setup, but fancy something a bit brighter after buying a stupidly bright led torch.
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Fenix L2D at the front and at the back a Blackburn Mars 3.0 and a Fibre Flare. The Mars is becoming unreliable after 2 years use, so I think it's replacement time. I haven't had the problems with my L2D that Saundie described, so I think the LD20 must be slightly more different than it looks.
 
touch said:
Yep, buy a £200 with a proper beam pattern to achieve this.



...or, a £3 angle-adjust mount for a torch and angle it properly.
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Been there, tried it and bought the t-shirt.

On a low powered light the spill will be manageable but with higher powers in order to stop blinding folks you lose the reach of the light down the road and so the higher power becomes pointless.

Using torches is an adequate solution, but that's all. It's not a good solution.

You don't have to spend £200 but like brakes and helmets I like to have the best I can afford for when I really need them.
 
Jonny69 said:
I haven't had the problems with my L2D that Saundie described, so I think the LD20 must be slightly more different than it looks.
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There's more than one version of the LD20, I have one with a Q5 and an R5. I can't remember the difference, but one was more prone to changing mode when jolted than the other. My prevailing memory was of it switching to strobe mode while I was cycling down Featherbed Lane in the dark. I still use them as torches, so it wasn't a total loss. I just don't trust them for cycling.
 
I have a CREE XM-L T6 based torch at the front, which is super bright, but which eats batteries. I have an extra lens in that to make a wider letterbox type beam, rather than a spot. I also have a Cateye EL-135 with three LEDs, which I usually have on flashing either with the aforementioned torch, or just on it's own if I'm out at dusk rather than in the pitch black. At the back I have a Sigma Cuberider II which has 5 LEDs and batteries that last forever. I've also got a Cateye something or other rear light that stays on the mountain bike, and some dodgy Chinese rear LED job that came with the CREE torch, which has several mobile disco flashing modes and which I've never actually used as I've not bothered to fit the mount to either of my bikes.
 
Looking for a new bike after my trusty sirrus 2008 has just been robbed. These days rides tend to be me and a mate rather than the wives, as babies have turned up and ruined our lives :), so I don't need to be able to have panniers for picnics or makeup bags anymore.

I've been for a ride on cannondale synapse, giant defy 1, and specialised secteur sport triple, and of those I preferred the secteur as I think it's geometry is closer to what I have been used to. I largely go out for 50 miler rides and quite hilly, and will also likely do some 2 day rides like c2c, or coast and castles. however I quite fancy having a go at a triathlon next year once sleep has returned to normal ( fun stopper 2 is shortly due to be born). will the more relaxed/ endurance geometry hinder me a lot for that aim? Is there any other bikes that you'd recommend for my style of riding? Up to 900 at a push, but that's a very big push. I have 15% off list on those 3 bikes and they're all the 2013 spec.
 
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