Road Cycling Essentials

platypus · 18 Jul 2013 at 09:10

Vonhelmet said:
Hey Damien, remember how I said Matchmoor Lane, where we went last night, was the highest you could get round our way?

I was wrong.

Cat 2 climb (albeit with a descent in the middle to take in Foxholes!) going up to 1400 feet. Over 300 feet higher than we got to last night.

There's a few routes you can start from, actually, but the key bit is getting to the top of Foxholes and on from there. If I were doing it, I'd probably go up Chorley Old Road from the roundabout near the Barn, turn left at the top of Chorley Old Road and work from there, rather than doing Foxholes which would destroy me before I'd even got to the fun bit. Here goes, this looks like a good one.

It shall be climbed. Oh yes, it shall be climbed.

I might try that Saturday morning, actually, if I feel like I'm up to it.

Holy crap that looks like an epic climb. I fancy giving that a go sometime. I'm not convinced that my gearing is quite right for hills that steep, though it could simply be that I'm not used to climbing - indeed I'm not used to using my gears

.

Berger · 18 Jul 2013 at 09:29

SoliD said:
Not happy this morning, go to ride to work and my rear wheel has dropped another spoke! Have emailed wiggle asking for a replacement this time.

That's what you get!

Buy a new one

I went down to my LBS today to discuss wheels and what my options are. Decided that there was nothing in budget that were worth buying and I would be better waiting until I buy a complete new bike or Ultegra 6800 is out.

Decided to get both wheels sorted, one just needed one spoke, the other when I took the cassette off at home, has damage to the spokes so must have had the chain dropped at some point. That one needs a few spokes replacing so will cost a little more as will take longer to true.

When I get a new bike it means ill be able to sell it with wheels and keep a spare set to train on with my new bike.

Had a look at a few Treks, this years Madone 5.2 is on sale at a cool $3000 at the moment. Unfortunately they come with a compact crankset and an 11-28 rear which seems a bit overkill for me, I don't think the 28 is needed with a compact.

grudas · 18 Jul 2013 at 09:36

touch said:
I read it as an italian built frame with an english thread.

No you cant? They thread in different directions.

I would guess you need a 68-110 bb. (68mm shell, 110mm axle)

touch said:
I don't think it's an Italian shell. Italian threads are 36mm diameter, English threads are either 34.8 or 34.9
Should work with a 68 bb and a spacer.

so that should fit then? what do you mean and a spacer? never seen BB spacers tbh.. but then again im a newbie when it comes to classic frames and generally don't mess around with them.. actually im noob when it comes to most BB's and headsets lol, too used to bmx and its parts

touch · 18 Jul 2013 at 09:51

grudas said:
so that should fit then? what do you mean and a spacer?

I'v never heard of a 66mm bottom bracket shell, so i'm not certain. It could just be a 68mm shell thats been faced a few times?

I think a 68mm bottom bracket is likely to fit. If not, you can get a 2mm spacer that makes the shell wider.

Ian_Eb · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:22

Hi,

If you use a trainer/rollers do you just go for it or do you put a computer magnet on the rear wheel or what?

I have been lent one and was considering using it on the nights when I am stuck at home (small children) but unsure if i should be measuring what i do at all.

platypus · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:25

I guess the only reason to measure what you do is if there is a desire to improve.

You can, of course, and will improve without measuring it.

touch · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:29

Best thing to do is measure your heart rate.
There are lots of training plans online you can follow.

Berger · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:30

Ian_Eb said:
Hi,

If you use a trainer/rollers do you just go for it or do you put a computer magnet on the rear wheel or what?

I have been lent one and was considering using it on the nights when I am stuck at home (small children) but unsure if i should be measuring what i do at all.

I tend to start off doing 30kmh and work up a gear every 5 minutes, then do a block at about 80-90% effort for 10-15 minutes then work down a few gears.

Much longer and I get bored. A HR monitor is more useful than speed on rollers I would say.

GJUK · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:46

Over the weekend I took part in the London to Brighton night ride, completed the 60 miles in just under 5 hours. slower then I wanted to, but I new to this road bike and as Essex is flat was not ready for the hills..lol (oh and having a week off work due to illness a week before did not help..lol)

But still I did it, will be doing it again..

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/215801893

Raised over £300 + gift aid https://www.justgiving.com/gary-judge

going to look at my training..more hills needed, going to start swimming again (having asthma the swimming helps with lung capacity - which will help going up hills)

planning my metric 100..I was close but just so tired to do the extra 3km to get to 100km

arknor · 18 Jul 2013 at 10:51

deleting every post I ever made in this thread

Ian_Eb · 18 Jul 2013 at 11:02

Thats what I was kind of thinking. I am pondering if i should move my wheel sensor to the rear wheel and if the wireless will still work on that sort of range.

HR is another matter. I sold my polar about 7 years back and don't have anything now. should i just look at a bluetooth/android kind of solution or persuade the mrs to let me have a Garmin Edge or something?

arknor · 18 Jul 2013 at 11:10

deleting every post I ever made in this thread

Ian_Eb · 18 Jul 2013 at 11:13

I don't remember as it was 15+ years ago that I last used them. I will tell you on Monday

Am sure you could fit a siren type fan to them if they were too quiet though

touch · 18 Jul 2013 at 11:19

It should work, the garmin wireless cadence/speed sensor goes on the back wheel and that works fine. Its not really that much further away than the front wheel.
Speed is pretty much irrelevant on a turbo though, it doesnt relate to real-world speed at all. It's far more effective to use heart rate.

I have an edge which came with the notoriously bad garmin hr strap. I think the newer ones have better straps now though? (can anybody confirm that?).

Rollers are reasonably quiet, turbo is pretty loud.

arknor · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:26

deleting every post I ever made in this thread

Mr Jones · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:35

arknor said:
lame my bike is reduced to £449 from 599 and I only bought it on the 5th
I know some times they had 100 off sales but grr

I'ma take it for the free service tommorow and grumble that it's discounted so heavily so soon and try and get some freebies..

I already spent £730 in halfords if they want to keep me spending there

That's why I always try and get bikes from big chains (Halfords / Evans) when it's on discount as the RRP they initially go for are often too high in the first place.

It gives them scope to advertise and promote offers.

I got lucky with my Fuji as it was Fuji that's running the offer, dropped lower than what Evans is currently doing. Quids in!

Vonhelmet · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:39

Mr Jones said:
That's why I always try and get bikes from big chains (Halfords / Evans) when it's on discount as the RRP they initially go for are often too high in the first place.

It gives them scope to advertise and promote offers.

I got lucky with my Fuji as it was Fuji that's running the offer, dropped lower than what Evans is currently doing. Quids in!

The price of the Carrera TDF at Halfords is terrible for this. It shuttles around all over the place. They list it as a £600 bike which is hilarious considering what you can get from, say, Ribble for not much more than that.

arknor · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:46

deleting every post I ever made in this thread

Vonhelmet · 18 Jul 2013 at 12:47

platypus said:
Holy crap that looks like an epic climb. I fancy giving that a go sometime. I'm not convinced that my gearing is quite right for hills that steep, though it could simply be that I'm not used to climbing - indeed I'm not used to using my gears .

This climb won't be so bad for gearing. Most of it is fairly civilised - 4-10% - with only the odd bit where it goes up to 15% or so, and that's not too much of a big deal if it's only for short stretches. The real issue is the length of the climb. The first mile is fine, I can do that any day of the week, and the second mile after the sharp left is OK as well. It's beyond that point that it'll get tricky, because I'll be over 2 miles in just as it starts ramping up the gradient, and what would have been fairly easy when fresh is suddenly very difficult. Still, if I just have to crawl up it at 4mph in 34*28 then so be it. It'll still be an adventure, and the view from the top will be spectacular.

Vonhelmet · 18 Jul 2013 at 13:48

I've just been looking at the Tour of Britain Knowsley TT route and I've mapped it out.

Knowsley Safari Park is 20 miles from my house, and the stage kicks off at 12:00pm, so I could make a day of it and cycle there in the morning and head back when things are done. I guess the challenge would be finding a good spot to see something going on without having to go too early in the morning. Anyone done this sort of thing before and got any ideas for where would be a good place to watch from? I don't know how crowded it's likely to get, but I seem to recall from the TV footage last year that it was quite busy on some stages!

I'm going to see if any of the gang I cycle with fancy heading down, and if anyone else fancies it let me know and we'll see what we can sort out.

Now, to justify to the wife taking a day off work to go watch the cycling...