Road Cycling Essentials

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DEL 707 said:
I only cycle at the weekends.
Terrain wise, roads and a little bit of off road, country paths etc.

I appreciate the advice on that I may have just bought into a false economy, but it was 1/2 price at the time. And since this is my 1st proper bike in nearly 20 years, I really didn't fancy spending £500+ on something I could just wreck or get bored with. :p
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I did something similar - bought something very cheap (even cheaper than that) to see if I could get into riding again. I found that I could and immediately threw out the POS I had got (and sadly replaced it with hybrid that was also pretty cack). Anyhow, third bike along I learnt my lesson and got something decent :p

If you get out riding on it and enjoy it you can upgrade in a few months without feeling that you've wasted too much money.
 
janp said:
Does anyone recommend a particular brand/type of bar tape? Came off last Thursday and mangled most of mine :/
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Raleigh tape is remarkably good quality and excellent value. It grips the bars better than a lot of tapes I've used too.
 
FrenchTart said:
I did something similar - bought something very cheap (even cheaper than that) to see if I could get into riding again. I found that I could and immediately threw out the POS I had got (and sadly replaced it with hybrid that was also pretty cack). Anyhow, third bike along I learnt my lesson and got something decent :p

If you get out riding on it and enjoy it you can upgrade in a few months without feeling that you've wasted too much money.
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Yeh, this happened to me. Although the 2nd bike I purchased was awesome.

Sorry if my post seemed harsh, it wasn't intended. I was just left very frustrated with my Crossfire 1, and even more so with Halfraud's shoddy handling of it. I hope yours turns out ok.

Thanks for all the advice on bar tape guys :) Still not sure what to go with.
 
Another night battling with public transport... Some berk has driven into a bridge near Wigan so now no trains are running out of Manchester to anywhere useful to me, so I'm on the bus... One of these days I'll start cycling to work and I'll never look back.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Another night battling with public transport... Some berk has driven into a bridge near Wigan so now no trains are running out of Manchester to anywhere useful to me, so I'm on the bus... One of these days I'll start cycling to work and I'll never look back.
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How far is it?
 
Vonhelmet said:
About 13 miles, depending on the route. I'd need to work out a decent way in, as it's a bit sketchy in parts, but it would be doable.
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easy.. I do 11.5ish one way and an extra mile wouldn't make a difference :) just jump on your bike and force yourself to do it.. soon you'll start enjoying it :)
 
well i decided to exorcise my daemons from last night's meeting with a verge and went back out the route from yesterday but i extended it up to 22.8 miles. Quite pleased with the time of 1hr 38 mins (and 51 seconds). I managed to get a few personal bests again so I'm beginning to think I wasn't trying on the time before (every time!). Only thing i was disappointed in was the distance as i was wanting to get 25 miles. I'll be able to alter my route slightly though to get the increase next time I'm out.

http://www.strava.com/activities/169051671
 
Vonhelmet said:
Two tyres in the post from wiggle today, three bags of haribo in the box. Bit of a record, that one.
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I never get any from Wiggle, stingy gits don't want to pay the extra airmail cost to send it me :(

After breaking my power meter wheel spoke and flatting my tube I was down in the dumps a bit. Dragged myself up for the group ride this morning.

Wasn't too bad, little way off my best on the climb, but rather than racing the fastest guy up there I set off on my own. We had waited 5 minutes past the normal time but assumed nobody else was coming, then they showed up at the turn around/nature break...

Posted my PM off to be built into a new wheel and also bought 4 tubes of Mastik One I found in Australia! Heres to hoping that its better than the Continental Carbon glue which I didn't love.

Cleaned up the tubular wheels and the non punctured tubular, put that and my spare tubular back on the wheels to make sure they are nice and stretched for gluing.
 
Whenever I see haribo in my Wiggle orders I immediately pull it out and frisbee it across the room in the general direction of the bin in utter contempt.
 
I like the sugary crocodiles the best but you only get them in Tangfangtastics!

Still mooching about saddles, despite how pimp the all carbon San Marco one is I don't think it will suit me and I can't see it being comfortable for longer rides.

I think I'm going to go for a Selle Italia, either a SLR Team Edition Flow, or an SLR Kit Carbonio Flow. Or a Selle San Marco Aspide Open if I can find one....

I'm trying to work out the difference, it seems slightly different colour/design on top, different design carbon rail on the Carbonio and less padding so saves 20g. I'll probably go for the Team Edition, just they are out of stock on the Aussie website who are $15 cheaper than wiggle!
 
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