Road Cycling

Thomas. PLease. · 18 Aug 2015 at 12:38

+1 for cateye. Bought mine to replace a broken exposure flare. Battery life is absurdly long.

You northerners lol. Can't remember the last time I had to put more than a SS jersey or skinsuit on.

janp · 18 Aug 2015 at 12:58

Jono said:
Which lights?
Also does anyone know of a waterproof rear one that could clip on saddle bag or seat post? My smart one is not waterproof. At all.

Funny you should mention lights, I've just ordered a Fly6. No idea if it's waterproof though, I'll let you know what it's like.

At the moment, I have several of these cheap Lezyne rear lights, that I clip to my high viz jacket:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-femto-drive-rear-led-light/

Vonhelmet · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:02

Berger said:
Meh, I still do an hour in the dark before it gets light in the morning, having good lights helps.

Then by the time it gets light for the whole ride, the clocks change!

I don't mind riding in the dark, apart from the fact that any interesting roads are unlit and tend to have dire surfaces. I need to get my decent light back on the bike.

FrenchTart · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:26

topgun06 said:
Exposure Flare is very good.

Look at us, talking about winter lights. So depressing. Has the season even changed from Meh for the past 10 months?

Yup, not the best of summers by a long shot. A few nice days here and there at most.

This morning when I set off it was actually chilly :eek:

SoliD · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:34

FrenchTart said:
Yup, not the best of summers by a long shot. A few nice days here and there at most.

This morning when I set off it was actually chilly

Think the weather up north has been much worse than down here, it has been pretty nice for short sleeve for the past couple of months, it's just the wind that has been frsutrating. Hardly any rainy rides and don't remember the last TT I had that was actually affected by rain.

FrenchTart · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:37

SoliD said:
Think the weather up north has been much worse than down here, it has been pretty nice for short sleeve for the past couple of months, it's just the wind that has been frsutrating. Hardly any rainy rides and don't remember the last TT I had that was actually affected by rain.

Well....I'm envious.

If I end up taking voluntary redundancy maybe relocating down south is the best option. Then again, as much as I love cycling, choosing where I live solely based on the weather for it might be a bit silly

Jono · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:57

Just come to North Yorkshire and teach me how to ride more goodlier.

FrenchTart · 18 Aug 2015 at 13:59

That's very north indeed. I imagine the weather is even worse...

Plus I'm not sure I could adapt to eating all the coal you have to eat when you live in Yorkshire

janp · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:03

SoliD said:
Think the weather up north has been much worse than down here, it has been pretty nice for short sleeve for the past couple of months, it's just the wind that has been frsutrating. Hardly any rainy rides and don't remember the last TT I had that was actually affected by rain.

Did you not ride your bike last week? Think I got drenched on every commute last week.

Particularly chilly this morning though!

Just ordered my 11-32 cassette and new rear mech

Jono · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:03

Coal is only for southerners, south of Sheffield, so being in Manchester you'd be ok. The weather in Yorkshire is amazing. We don't have bad weather, just southern poofters in the wrong clothes.

Typical weather on any day of the year >> http://andynayler.com/USERIMAGES/Swaledale.jpg

see?

xdcx · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:08

Boys..... Some of us have bared our arms to the world TWICE in the last 3 months... Not even joking. The Scottish "summer" has been the worst I can remember in my time on this planet. 200% more rain than we typically see in July was the claim.

Also been a few evenings out at 1600-1800 on the bike and it has been below 9 degree's (this was in the last few weeks of July) and regularly, like just now after finishing on the bike, settling around 10-13 degree's consistently. I just finished that ride there wearing a base layer, long finger gloves and overshoes.

It has been utter ****!

FrenchTart · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:16

Jono said:
Coal is only for southerners, south of Sheffield, so being in Manchester you'd be ok. The weather in Yorkshire is amazing. We don't have bad weather, just southern poofters in the wrong clothes.

Typical weather on any day of the year >> http://andynayler.com/USERIMAGES/Swaledale.jpg

see?

An ex of mine was from a more Southern bit of Yorkshire (Dewsbury), though also half-Italian. She certainly seemed to have lots of fond coal-related memories. Mostly to do with coal soap iirc.

That weather does look nice. Certainly better than Manchester weather.

xdcx said:
Boys..... Some of us have bared our arms to the world TWICE in the last 3 months... Not even joking. The Scottish "summer" has been the worst I can remember in my time on this planet. 200% more rain than we typically see in July was the claim.

Also been a few evenings out at 1600-1800 on the bike and it has been below 9 degree's (this was in the last few weeks of July) and regularly, like just now after finishing on the bike, settling around 10-13 degree's consistently. I just finished that ride there wearing a base layer, long finger gloves and overshoes.

It has been utter ****!

Yeah, it sounds like it has been utterly horrendous up there. I think squatting at platypus or randomshenan's houses in France is the way to go actually.

Jono · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:54

My new wheels (Racing 3) are here.
I never thought about this before, but should you lube up the skewers with something before you insert them? Doesn't say to.

touch · 18 Aug 2015 at 14:57

Jono said:
My new wheels (Racing 3) are here.
I never thought about this before, but should you lube up the skewers with something before you insert them? Doesn't say to.

They dont need lube, the wheel doesnt rotate on the skewer. You could lightly oil or grease them to help stop any corrosion but I have never really found this to be a big issue - I guess most skewers have some sort of anti-corrosion coating on them these days.

Jono · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:06

touch said:
They dont need lube, the wheel doesnt rotate on the skewer. You could lightly oil or grease them to help stop any corrosion but I have never really found this to be a big issue - I guess most skewers have some sort of anti-corrosion coating on them these days.

Yeah, that's what I thought. These are galvanised, then I won't bother - it'll probably just attract dirt anyway.

James07 · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:08

Roady said:
Good going and enjoy a good writeup! You're turning into a machine on those hills! That CAT2 looks an incredible climb!

Easy commute in this morning as my thighs are still feeling quite abused. Thought I'd take it fairly easy and wasn't going to do the 'hill' route but it was a cold start and I needed warming up! Didn't push hard just kept spinning and PR'd the damn thing lol

The Cat2 is easy, because its spread out you have certain areas which are steady and you can bring your average speed right up. Its hard once you get to Oxenhope and I feel the climb from Oxenhope to Hebden is far harder than the climb up from Keighley (Cat2).

Id call that hill you PR'd today a slope haha

you southerners make me laugh

youd have a fit if you came here haha

I have a fit everytime i leave my house and look around lol.

Your ride Saturday on the other hand, that was brilliant. Im not sure I could keep 19mph average up for over a hour. Although id love to try! Charity ride i did in June was 30 miles and my average was 16.6mph I think and i kept slowing down to talk to people, next year im going for it, hard.

SoliD · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:28

FrenchTart said:
Well....I'm envious.

If I end up taking voluntary redundancy maybe relocating down south is the best option. Then again, as much as I love cycling, choosing where I live solely based on the weather for it might be a bit silly

What about if you moved to Spain? I don't think that would be silly.

janp said:
Did you not ride your bike last week? Think I got drenched on every commute last week.

Last week was a bit of a write off due to work actually!

Roady · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:49

janp said:
Funny you should mention lights, I've just ordered a Fly6. No idea if it's waterproof though, I'll let you know what it's like.

At the moment, I have several of these cheap Lezyne rear lights, that I clip to my high viz jacket:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-femto-drive-rear-led-light/

Let me know what you think of the Fly6, I've fancied one for a while and probably will when they drop 'cheap' enough! (probably ~£80 for me).

The Lezyne Femto are good lights, lots of guys around here using them - can see them from quite a distance! Not too great for non-direct viewing as they don't bleed sideways much.

FrenchTart said:
This morning when I set off it was actually chilly

Very chilly! 6/7 degrees here, wore my long fingers, arm warmers and knee warmers!

FrenchTart said:
If I end up taking voluntary redundancy maybe relocating down south is the best option. Then again, as much as I love cycling, choosing where I live solely based on the weather for it might be a bit silly

You're single! Nothing to stop you moving to the foot of Ventoux!

xdcx said:
Boys..... Some of us have bared our arms to the world TWICE in the last 3 months... Not even joking. The Scottish "summer" has been the worst I can remember in my time on this planet. 200% more rain than we typically see in July was the claim.

Glad you guys had it and not us - which the forecasts got totally wrong. They'd forecast a wet summer but it's been fantastic really! Might just be that I'm comparing it to the seemingly short one we had last year... Winds have been worse this year, many days of fantastic weather only to ruin riding with brutal gusty winds!

James07 said:
Id call that hill you PR'd today a slope haha you southerners make me laugh youd have a fit if you came here haha I have a fit everytime i leave my house and look around lol.

Your ride Saturday on the other hand, that was brilliant. Im not sure I could keep 19mph average up for over a hour. Although id love to try! Charity ride i did in June was 30 miles and my average was 16.6mph I think and i kept slowing down to talk to people, next year im going for it, hard.

I only call it a 'hill' because from the other way it is... 0.2 miles at 4% (kicking upto 9% at the end!) or 0.6 miles at 1.6%! Not many others I can combine into my commute as it's always a pain having few options of crossing the river... I have to go at least 10 miles east or west to include a different bridge when I'm trying to head south! :rolleyes:

Ride from saturday was a group ride, surprising how you can get your speed up when trying to keep on a wheel with shelter from the wind!

Dunks · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:51

Hm, so turns out my front disc brake has been rubbing even with the adjustments moved right out, wheel stops pretty rapidly if you try and turn it by hand. So that's where my power has been going this past week

Time for a realignment I think...

topgun06 · 18 Aug 2015 at 15:56

FrenchTart said:
Yup, not the best of summers by a long shot. A few nice days here and there at most.

This morning when I set off it was actually chilly

Yep, I had to be up extra early this morning. Definitely chilly.

You're spot on, "A few nice days here and there at most".

Since taking up cycling I've begun to rate the quality of summer by the number of days I can go cycling in full summer kit. I count about four this year. Four. Yes, I'm more nesh than most others, but I remember in past years sweating to death going up some climbs. Cant really remember it this year.

I love a good weather moan.