Road Cycling

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xdcx said:
I can't go anywhere on my bike without doing a 5min+ climb. Who's up for swapsies? :p

Both those segments do go off road that you linked.
Bealach Na Ba is the best climb in the UK in terms of comparing it to the likes of a French alpine climb, it is a tough one! It is the only legit CAT1 on Strava (road wise) in the UK I think, but that's on the climb up from Applecross to the top, not the typical/famous way - https://www.strava.com/segments/1244832 - 11th place is futile! haha.

And here is the official 100 segment for the Cairngorm climb you linked to - https://www.strava.com/segments/6674377 - down to 4th boooo
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Nice work on those climbs! And thanks for the proper segments. Need to make those a target for next year! Following you on Strava too if that's ok :)

Where is a good place to find Shimano spare parts? The little plastic pin in my FD is broken, and I need to find a replacement. It's about £2 for the part. Just not entirely sure what it's called :confused::(
 
SoliD said:
Cat 1 should only be determined by that which i ridden before it :P Not this stupid Strava definition... :D

My Garmin is getting worse, keeps randomly losing gps signal mid ride, which resets the date/time and then picks it back up, meaning I have to fix about 50% of rides now. This morning it has somehow geo located to somewhere on the equator I can only assume as my ride was 26k miles long.... Great! Can't access it at work to see if it even attempted to save a ride and if so wtf happened.
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I agree! But the day I done it, I had already gone over Bealach Na Ba the other way, so it was definitely a CAT1 at minimum after that! haha.
What you got, 810? Mines was perfect for a year but now for some reason it is dropping all signal to devices randomly and I lost half a training ride the other week, it's just gone all sketchy all of a sudden and I think I am one version old in regards to firmware....

Whilst I am mucking about on Strava, got some other climbs for you all if of any use, Scotland is the best you'll get for climbing in terms of options I think, here some of the bests:
Glenshee - https://www.strava.com/segments/7011208
Lecht - https://www.strava.com/segments/6674394
Cairn O' Mount - https://www.strava.com/segments/6674408

And 2 of our bigger local climbs here:
Glendoe - https://www.strava.com/segments/723617
Garbole - https://www.strava.com/segments/1511257

If anyone is actually ever planning training up in Scotland, give me a shout. I could definitely help you plan out some amazing routes and areas.
 
Maxeh said:
Is there any reason I couldn't/shouldn't change the frame on my PX London Road to a more road suited frame and keep all my components?
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Depends what do you mean by a 'more road suited frame'? More aero? Lighter? Comfort? Or do you really just want a 'different' bike (colour/looks)? :)

What I would consider is the whole plethora of compromises you may make to get 'all the components' to fit - crankset will determine the BB type & size on new frame, brakes will determine mount points, wheels/guards will determine frame clearance, forks will determine headset type and size etc etc. You might be totally limiting your frame choices by considering to swap 'everything'. Biggest cost implication is shifters & groupset which may determine your frame type (BB fittings). I wouldn't let forks/headset determine the frame so consider having to change them at the same time.

madindehead said:
The one thing that is worrying me about my new saddle height, is that I can't touch the ground whilst sitting on the saddle. That's a bit scary for me right now. Will need to always get off the saddle to touch the ground :eek:
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You'll get used to it, the majority of the time I'm stopped commuting I'm next to a kerb so generally still sat on the saddle with my left foot down. I don't really 'push off' with my left, the downstroke from my right does that for me. When stopped with no kerb the method is the same, just this time I'm off the saddle, my 'push off' with the left is a little more pronounced and used to get my arse onto the saddle, right pedal stroke again doing all the work to move me forwards.
ThaReaperGuy said:
Stupid question time from Dale.

Are there any decent tools to find hills/climbs nearby or is Strava Segment search as close as I'm going to get and search for CAT 4/CAT 3 climbs?
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Google! Quite a few of the cycle tour peoples write blogs and mention rides in areas so look for those as some of them hunt hills. Also look at other riders rides around your areas who get lots of elevation, then check the elevation profile to determine the segments areas which contain popular hills.

The Strava 'Segment Explore' is ok but totally reliant on segment data, if someones uploaded a ride with dodgy data and then created a segment - for some reason Strava uses their elevation data which can lead to some crazy gains and classifications. The 3 I've linked are just some quick examples I know of around me, flat roads with bad elevation data.
 
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D0842152-AD6D-4A2A-B2FB-33C2E0C6264E_zpsykmq0wlm.png

Ha I saw that too


Bear said:
Ooohh BennyC gets his bike photo on GCN :)
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xdcx said:
What you got, 810? Mines was perfect for a year but now for some reason it is dropping all signal to devices randomly and I lost half a training ride the other week, it's just gone all sketchy all of a sudden and I think I am one version old in regards to firmware....
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1000, was fine up until about a month ago. I'm commnunicating with one of the Garmin monkeys.
 
Roady said:
Google! Quite a few of the cycle tour peoples write blogs and mention rides in areas so look for those as some of them hunt hills.

The Strava 'Segment Explore' is ok...
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Will try hunt down some bloggers, wonder if they touch the amazing Birmingham though. :p - I have seen a lot of weird segments too whilst hunting through, (Why people create them as segments I don't know) which is why I wondered if there were any other better tools. :D

Shamrock said:
You are in the wrong country! :p
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Think the wrong city as well, would love to be 20-25 minutes away from where I live as I'm far too central.

madindehead said:
Haha that too!

I think the closest you get to long climbs in the UK is Scotland. Certainly with that average gradient. Here is a fun one for you ;) https://www.strava.com/segments/5017538
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I'm off to Scotland! :eek:
 
madindehead said:
Haha that too!

I think the closest you get to long climbs in the UK is Scotland. Certainly with that average gradient. Here is a fun one for you ;) https://www.strava.com/segments/5017538 (Although part of that is off-road from the looks of it!) This also looks a bit epic: https://www.strava.com/segments/9252073
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That's odd. I thought the highest climb in Scotland was essentially the same height as the highest in England:

https://www.strava.com/segments/732824

Are both of those partially off-road?
 
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FrenchTart said:
That's odd. I thought the highest climb in Scotland was essentially the same height as the highest in England:

https://www.strava.com/segments/732824

Are both of those partially off-road?
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It might be a question of how you measure it and what you're actually looking for. For example, Cragg Vale in Yorkshire is the longest continuous climb in England, possibly the whole uk, but overall it's quite shallow and doesn't get as high as some shorter climbs, so it's only a cat 3.
 
I thought the Bealach Na Ba was the highest tarmac road in the UK but I am not 100% sorry.

You lot decided to Brexit us so you better make the most of it and come to do our climbs whilst you can. In 3 years time you'll need a visa to visit us and do our climbs if you are nice enough for us to let you in that is!! :p :p
 
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