Road Cycling

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FrenchTart said:
Aren't those bib tights rather than knee/arm warmers?
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They come in bibs, knee warmers and leg warmers.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sportful-no-rain-knee-warmers-2/

Tbh the nanoflex/no-rain is a bit of a gimmick and disappears after a few washes. Apparently ironing refreshes it but I can't be bothered to iron my shirts let alone my cycle kit!

grudas said:
what 18t freewheel would you guys recommend? and what do you think of 18/48 gearing? Sensible enough for London?
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I ride 48-17 on my single-speed and think it's great for Central London. It's the right combo of not too spinny and not too knee destroying.
 
FrenchTart said:
Windowless office here too though I'm getting out a bit early today for a Dr appointment. Could in theory get out for a ride afterwards but I'm also meant to be doing a 90 minute tempo TR session. Hmm.
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Get out today as it's fantastic out there... Work in an office too but have to support a large site so get to walk around outside some of the time, it's glorious today! No wind at all here! :D

Plenty of time the rest of the week for the turbo as it's forecast wet & windy :)

FrenchTart said:
DHB thermal leg warmers are decent enough and cheap...though really it's getting to the weather where they're not needed isn't it? I've moved to shorts this week and I've been okay (Grudas mode activated).
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Dunks said:
I found my Castelli Nanoflex arm and knee warmers to be pretty good :)
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Shamrock said:
Rapha merino or Sportful no-rain (cheaper version of Castelli nanoflex)
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topgun06 said:
I used dhb for a few years through winter. No problems. Have been using Santini leg warmers this winter, very warm.
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I've not tried leg warmers yet, always gone the tights route as my legs don't tend to feel cold - my hips/bum/thighs do first so I occasionally wear some normal running shorts over my bib tights... These mornings I'm wearing DHB thermal tights with some fakestelli tights over the top which are semi wind-proof.

I guess I've gone the bib-tights route as I ride in all weathers most of the week - I own more tights than bib shorts. Quantity matters more to me (commuting) so I have multiple pairs of £30-40 bibs rather than 1 pair of £150 bib-shorts... If I had expensive shorts I'd probably have leg warmers! :D

Are there other benefits to switching from tights to shorts and warmers?

I may get some of the sportful no-rain arm ones as one thing that does get cold and wet in prolonged rain is my arms.
 
grudas said:
what 18t freewheel would you guys recommend? and what do you think of 18/48 gearing? Sensible enough for London?

or should I get a 17t freewheel for extra powaa....

on that note, I hate closed roads!

https://www.strava.com/activities/265847208(
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I run 49/17 in London, but then London only accounts for 1/3 of my journey and 48/18 gets a bit spinny once I get into Richmond Park and beyond.

I'd say 48/18 is fine.
 
Roady said:
I guess I've gone the bib-tights route as I ride in all weathers most of the week - I own more tights than bib shorts. Quantity matters more to me (commuting) so I have multiple pairs of £30-40 bibs rather than 1 pair of £150 bib-shorts... If I had expensive shorts I'd probably have leg warmers! :D
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Or, you could get some decent shorts and a pair of padless tights to wear over the top.

I've got 5 decent pairs of shorts (purchased in sales) and then a pair of dhb padless tights I wear through most of the winter and wash once a week, a pair of Rapha Deep Winter padless tights I wear when it gets really cold, and a pair of Endura Stealth Lite padless waterproof tights that I wear when it's biblical.
 
dodg3rman said:
Keep your eyes out for a luminous green Pinnacle around the roads of Easton/Barford way
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I quite like riding out Bawburgh way so we may well cross paths at some point!

TBH I can't argue with how my one was setup. They've obviously thought about it as the downtube had been cross cabled so I've got nice smooth curves coming from the shifters.

I didn't bother getting "fitted" as I got the impression that it consisted of nothing more than setting the saddle position and as I was in my work clothes I decided to just do that myself.

As I'm on the crossover height between L and XL I've got a fair bit of seatpost showing but it feels fine to ride. Just want to get out there on it now but with work it will be weekends only until the clocks go forward.
 
grudas said:
on that note, I hate closed roads!

https://www.strava.com/activities/265847208

got a bit lost.. ehem.. and rode up a thing that felt like a wall after leg day :(
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Spa Hill? You still did well up it! Quite strange not many people have ridden it (67?!) as the elevation gain is quite high (162ft) for London?

Shamrock said:
Tbh the nanoflex/no-rain is a bit of a gimmick and disappears after a few washes. Apparently ironing refreshes it but I can't be bothered to iron my shirts let alone my cycle kit!
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I cool iron my tights if they look bad after a wash, the thermals are the worst for it...! Jerseys I generally don't as I'm 90% of the time wearing a jacket over them, but I may start to do so in the summer! Iron 10+ shirts a week! Slacker! :p :rolleyes:

Asprilla said:
Or, you could get some decent shorts and a pair of padless tights to wear over the top.

I've got 5 decent pairs of shorts (purchased in sales) and then a pair of dhb padless tights I wear through most of the winter and wash once a week, a pair of Rapha Deep Winter padless tights I wear when it gets really cold, and a pair of Endura Stealth Lite padless waterproof tights that I wear when it's biblical.
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To be honest that's the way I'm heading towards, but I've kinda done it the 'wrong way around' and got lots of tights. At least several pairs of my cheapy DHB's are showing signs of wear so won't feel too guilty replacing them! I grabbed 5 pairs of shorts in the sales (4 DHB Flashlights for commuting) so this summer etc I'll be tracking the tights down similar to what you have! Really after some waterproof padless as can't continue with the waterproof overtrousers I have (only a matter of time until they split). ;)

I only started wearing bib-tights August '14 so it's all been a learning curve, only removed the pad from my fakestelli's in the really cold winter to try them over my padded thermals and they work well! :)
 
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Asprilla said:
I run 49/17 in London, but then London only accounts for 1/3 of my journey and 48/18 gets a bit spinny once I get into Richmond Park and beyond.

I'd say 48/18 is fine.
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Shamrock said:
I ride 48-17 on my single-speed and think it's great for Central London. It's the right combo of not too spinny and not too knee destroying.
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cool! 17/48 it is then! :) ordered halo clickster.. simply prefer a good freewheel rather than cheap dicta's..

on that note, my pompino build will come to £473 in total, better spec the complete build from PX too! wonder how much it's going to weight.. guestimating around 9kg..

Roady said:
Spa Hill? You still did well up it! Quite strange not many people have ridden it (67?!) as the elevation gain is quite high (162ft) for London?
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yeah, never knew there was one there! was a bit unexpected tbh.. my quads are hurting from leg day already so basically 10 meters up the hill and I was in pain! :rolleyes: it's just the part of london that I live, it's quite hilly compared to the rest of it(yeah yeah von go away)
 
Roady said:
I cool iron my tights if they look bad after a wash, the thermals are the worst for it...! Jerseys I generally don't as I'm 90% of the time wearing a jacket over them, but I may start to do so in the summer! Iron 10+ shirts a week! Slacker! :p :rolleyes:
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I'm not going to judge, but ironing cycle kit seems like a big waste of time to me!:p

The reason for ironing the gabba/nanoflex/no-rain is that the heat supposedly re-activates the water resistance.
 
grudas said:
what 18t freewheel would you guys recommend? and what do you think of 18/48 gearing? Sensible enough for London?

or should I get a 17t freewheel for extra powaa....
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Depends on your knees and how far you're riding and how stop-start it is. I use 48/18 in the summer and 44/18 in the winter, both fixed, commuting 3-5 times a week 10 miles each way. Any bigger than that and my knees really start to complain on that distance because my commute is very stop-starty.

Bigger gearing doesn't mean less acceleration, your legs just get bigger to compensate. But your knees can only take so much punishment for so long, so it becomes a bit of a juggling act :p
 
Jonny69 said:
Depends on your knees and how far you're riding and how stop-start it is. I use 48/18 in the summer and 44/18 in the winter, both fixed, commuting 3-5 times a week 10 miles each way. Any bigger than that and my knees really start to complain on that distance because my commute is very stop-starty.

Bigger gearing doesn't mean less acceleration, your legs just get bigger to compensate. But your knees can only take so much punishment for so long, so it becomes a bit of a juggling act :p
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think I'll be ok with 17/48! :) brother sits on 16/49 and he's happy with it, slow to get off the line but ok when you start going!

on that note..


that's the steep part, lol worthy, not a fun start to the morning! my muscles were cold.

and a dick.
 
arknor said:
36mph gusts in Newcastle for seemingly weeks, I can't even be bothered, riding into it on a flat surface is awful and with a crosswind it's like someone tugging on the handlebars.

40mph gusts 26mph wind right now :S
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Seriously - don''t let a 30-40mph wind stop you from riding.
I actually enjoy it with a strong headwind sometimes as it means you get a harder workout for the same distance. then when it's behind you, you can challenge the top KOM times :D
 
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