Road Cycling

daveski · 2 Jul 2015 at 20:37

Quite happy to pick up a KOM tonight. Wouldn't normally comment but only likely to be KOM for a few more minutes, I'm sure other riders will be uploading their rides soon!

oli collett · 2 Jul 2015 at 21:18

Jonny ///M said:
Check the height and that it's parallel to the chainrings? Does the cage look splayed out at all? the outer plate should be basically vertical.

It seems to be OK, but there's virtually no room for adjustment as it appears to be way too close to the chain when i'm in small chainring/big cog. I've got it now so it's just about there on high/low but it still doesn't shift from small to big chainring unless i'm right down in the smallest cogs

Only other thing I can think of is chainring wear - the chainset has done about 15,000km since new so is probably due replacement? Might explain the chain slipping off from big to small as well

Jonny ///M · 2 Jul 2015 at 21:37

If it's under load then yeah when the big ring slips it will drop to the small ring.

Worn chains don't help with shifting either as they get so baggy and flexy.

tom_nieto · 2 Jul 2015 at 21:58

Just completed my first 100km week on my road bike. Seriously tired, but feels good! An unexpected late finish at work really ruined my commute home, I completely ran out of gas... at least it had stopped raining by the time I left. Commute is 12.5 miles each way from Harborne to Sutton Coldfield and this is the first time I've done it 4 days in a row. Would have gone for 5, but on call long days and nearly an hour each way cycle don't mix well, so back on the bike Monday. Padded shorts are the next purchase I think!

SoliD · 2 Jul 2015 at 22:02

Tried the new wheels tonight for the first proper ride, they're quite awesome, they definitely seem to go better at higher speeds, but need to get my tyre pressures sorted as they didn't quite have the same feel.

Also this happened earlier.

75BYHANBfKf4CIYRgTrAmG7tU9QQ8lnTFESno-F1Pg=w1144-h643-no

I won't bother reviewing them all, but basically the best two were the sportful and under armour top, but I'm going to return all apart from the under armour, and order the sportful in a smaller size as it was slightly too large! The DHB was actually my second favourite mesh top! The northwave top was ridiculously heavy, felt like wearing chainmail!

ShiWarrior · 2 Jul 2015 at 22:04

thanks Solid

great reviews on the craft one on bike radar, road CC etc. what didn't u like about it ?

the UA, I guess that wasn't a wiggle purchase? I love my UA winter base layer

SoliD · 2 Jul 2015 at 22:16

ShiWarrior said:
thanks Solid

great reviews on the craft one on bike radar, road CC etc. what didn't u like about it ?

the UA, I guess that wasn't a wiggle purchase? I love my UA winter base layer

It was good, but I didn't really like the fit, it was close to the dhb and sportful.

The UA was wiggle, I do like their gear, as a Spurs fan don't have much choice with my football jerseys! Just trying to find the sportful elsewhere! Looks like chainreaction have smalls!

ShiWarrior · 2 Jul 2015 at 22:29

ahh I see the UA one now, its under "running" is the cut different to the cycling specific ones or something?

oli collett · 2 Jul 2015 at 22:32

Jonny ///M said:
If it's under load then yeah when the big ring slips it will drop to the small ring.

Worn chains don't help with shifting either as they get so baggy and flexy.

Sounds like the chainring has gone then

Although that still doesn't explain the other issues with it, I'm guessing that it got hit during my flights recently

Berger · 2 Jul 2015 at 23:00

The cycling gods were not smiling on me this morning.

-5.5c, dark meet up for the bunch ride, late leaving the coffee shop, 2km done and I get my first flat for 20'000km. Gloves off to replace the tube in the dark was just BS. Got it started with my pump then someone gave me a CO2 to speed it up.

My hands warmed up, gloves on and carried on and they just froze, physically hurting from the cold. I had early winter gloves with liners on which are good for about freezing. I put another pair of liners on as that's all I had but it made no difference, with the wind chill at speed.

daveski · 3 Jul 2015 at 06:17

-5.5! That's how cold it was when I slipped on ice and knocked myself out. Be careful!

uv · 3 Jul 2015 at 08:47

-5C is for turbos and fatbikes only! I'd have stayed in bed tbh

FrenchTart · 3 Jul 2015 at 08:53

I'm saving the links to all Berger's posts so when we're in winter and he mentions how awesome the weather is I can re-read them to make myself feel better

Berger · 3 Jul 2015 at 09:17

FrenchTart said:
I'm saving the links to all Berger's posts so when we're in winter and he mentions how awesome the weather is I can re-read them to make myself feel better

If anything we have worse and better weather.

There is a much greater temperature variation than the UK. -5 being about the coldest and 35c being the hottest. If you were self employed or retired you would have it better in winter as it generally reaches high single or low double digits after lunch so you could avoid the freezing mornings.

We have more dry sunny days than the UK by far, getting rained on and filthy really sucks, I feel for you guys! But you need to have the right kit on or you'll freeze or boil to death. Everything from deep winter to super lightweight.

One More Solo · 3 Jul 2015 at 09:47

Got in a couple of hours riding before work this morning and a metric after work earlier in the week. Weather great for both apart from wind on Tuesday. I <3 summer.

Sorry Berger (although the fact you get dependably hot summers makes me less sorry).

FrenchTart · 3 Jul 2015 at 10:02

Berger said:
If anything we have worse and better weather.

There is a much greater temperature variation than the UK. -5 being about the coldest and 35c being the hottest. If you were self employed or retired you would have it better in winter as it generally reaches high single or low double digits after lunch so you could avoid the freezing mornings.

We have more dry sunny days than the UK by far, getting rained on and filthy really sucks, I feel for you guys! But you need to have the right kit on or you'll freeze or boil to death. Everything from deep winter to super lightweight.

To be honest I'd struggle to do much in 35C so I don't really envy that. I do envy the slightly more reliably nice weather though

SoliD · 3 Jul 2015 at 11:21

Berger said:
If anything we have worse and better weather.

There is a much greater temperature variation than the UK. -5 being about the coldest and 35c being the hottest. If you were self employed or retired you would have it better in winter as it generally reaches high single or low double digits after lunch so you could avoid the freezing mornings.

We have more dry sunny days than the UK by far, getting rained on and filthy really sucks, I feel for you guys! But you need to have the right kit on or you'll freeze or boil to death. Everything from deep winter to super lightweight.

I always find in the UK that when it is cold, it feels much colder than it actually is, and due to the damp weather, roads are pretty much permanently damp all winter! If that makes sense to anyone, ie if you go skiing or abroad and it could be -5,-10 it feels as cold as when it is perhaps 0, -2 over here.

One More Solo · 3 Jul 2015 at 11:26

FrenchTart said:
To be honest I'd struggle to do much in 35C so I don't really envy that. I do envy the slightly more reliably nice weather though

You'd be surprised how quick you acclimatise - Perth over Christmas was pushing 40 but after a few days it starts to feel normal. The dry heat is easier to deal with too.

Kimi · 3 Jul 2015 at 12:10

Brill Hill for lunch i think.

Roady · 3 Jul 2015 at 12:22

Went out for a ride last night ('extended' work commute!). Couple of friends and I ride Monday/Thursday nights and call it 'Bike Club' ("The first rule about bike club is..."). The others dropped out yesterday (something about rain?!) so I went solo. It was only light rain but the roads were wet, I wore waterproof legwarmers and my neoprene overshoes. Temperatures around 16/18 degrees. Around 9/10 miles in the sun was glorious, things had dried up and temperatures nearing 28 degrees! Gotta love the British 'summer'

I had to stop and strip off next to my friend - an ostrich/emu type thing I've been gradually making friends with...

Great ride, although very damp feet (puddles/neoprene & warm weather!) my legs felt strong (after my complaints earlier in the week). I Beasted it home a little and got a decent PR/segment haul all the way around so quite chuffed

Jonny ///M said:
Yeah he's a bit of a loner. He is totally genuine though, surprising to a few people.

Next step is to get him out with the bundy and hopefully get him into the spirit of riding in bunches.

He sounds like a genuine nice guy, to be fair to him he took the Strava criticism thrown better than most people would!

I dropped a comment on regarding questions about the 510/810.

You guys will have quite an awesome rider if you can get him into the bundy/club riding. Group/bunch riding will come with experience, he's got the right attitude for a club rider, but maybe not a racer? Although the KOM/scalp hunting he's done does indicate he's competitive enough!

tom_nieto said:
Just completed my first 100km week on my road bike. Seriously tired, but feels good! An unexpected late finish at work really ruined my commute home, I completely ran out of gas... at least it had stopped raining by the time I left. Commute is 12.5 miles each way from Harborne to Sutton Coldfield and this is the first time I've done it 4 days in a row. Would have gone for 5, but on call long days and nearly an hour each way cycle don't mix well, so back on the bike Monday. Padded shorts are the next purchase I think!

Well done, keep it up! Good mileage and a good time on what is probably a tricky commute. Regarding the 'ran out of gas' it'll be fueling (try eating something easy 15/20mins before you leave work) or lack of hydration. I'm a bad one for not hydrating before leaving work @5:30 (and I won't have drunk/eaten anything since 2). I get away with it as my commute is short.

SoliD said:
I won't bother reviewing them all, but basically the best two were the sportful and under armour top, but I'm going to return all apart from the under armour, and order the sportful in a smaller size as it was slightly too large! The DHB was actually my second favourite mesh top! The northwave top was ridiculously heavy, felt like wearing chainmail!

Are the Sportful the 2nd Skin X-Lite? Need to get me some more but the sizing on Wiggle seems to have changed. I previously bought 'Large/XLarge' and now the only size they have in stock is XXL! :confused:

Where else have you spotted them in stock?