Road Cycling

[Jonny69]

What about Guru?
www.gurucycling.com/the-experience/

Except for that one

It looks like an excellent piece of kit and it's the only real way, by sitting the rider on the bike, riding, and continually measuring how small tweaks are making a difference.

I think that bike fitting place with the funny name near Brighton has one. I know, vague

 

[Roady]

yesterday got into an epic road rage war, all behind me so no cam action sadly!

Driver sounds like a total tool, I assume you have footage of him in the cycle lane and his registration? I would report it to whateverthatonlinethingforlondonis. The rest of us have to go to the police and take hours filling in an incident report.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457515300403

Review of various bicycle safety studies shows wearing hi-viz does not reduce your chances of being involved in an accident.

I was knocked off before by a guy that 'didn't see me' and I've been cut up numerous times by people who 'didn't see me' so I take whatever steps I can to be seen, if that's buying highviz clothing rather than wearing mostly black I consider it an easy step I can take to do my best to avoid it.

Read enough of those articles and you'll realise that we live in an utopian society where accidents never happen! The world isn't a perfect place!

so try to take what you read with a pinch of salt.

Best advice! Use them as guides rather than a be all solution. Some fits will work well for some people, others will work for others. Quite a general fit is the best place to start (heel down and KOPS are a good starting position), then tweak from there.

When I was in France training on top of a mountain in a tiny little village, even there you could walk into a docs and pay a small fee to get your bloods tested and results back the next day.

With added EPO?

 

[Shamrock]

As above, it doesn't make a difference so wear whatever you like. Driver education is the way forward.

I almost got taken out by a police car that turned right without indicating or looking.

They should be setting an example.

 

[FrenchTart]

I almost got taken out by a police car that turned right without indicating or looking.

They should be setting an example.

Sounds like the are

 

[touch]

I hate how it's a cyclist's responsibility to "be visible"

It's not just a cyclist's responsibility, it's everybody. There's a lot of stupid people using the roads and you need to look after yourself whatever type of vehicle you have.

I have a big car which is hard to miss but any time i'm driving i'll always have at least sidelights on.

 

[Vonhelmet]

From a car driver's perspective, I can't see how this is true.
If I can see a cyclist approaching I'm 99.9% less likely to crash into them than if they're wearing black in the dark.

Drivers either don't look, or they don't see. In the winter I'm bright and flashy, like a Christmas tree, and I still get people pulling out right in front of me.

 

[One More Solo]

I almost got taken out by a police car that turned right without indicating or looking.

They should be setting an example.

Haha - same thing happened to me last week as well. He apologised at least. Saw one eating a sandwich while driving the other day too, thought that sort of thing was frowned upon.

 

[Shamrock]

It's not just a cyclist's responsibility, it's everybody. There's a lot of stupid people using the roads and you need to look after yourself whatever type of vehicle you have.

I have a big car which is hard to miss but any time i'm driving i'll always have at least sidelights on.

You are correct, but it seems to be common belief that if I get hit it's my fault for not being dressed head to toe in hi-viz.

Your point about cars and lights really gets to me. I'm for Volvo style permanently on lights. Why give people a choice in the matter when they'll usually decide "oh I can see fine despite it being cloudy/foggy/rainy, I don't need my lights on". I'd appreciate drivers putting their lights on to be seen, even just side lights.

 

[FrenchTart]

Drivers either don't look, or they don't see. In the winter I'm bright and flashy, like a Christmas tree, and I still get people pulling out right in front of me.

I'm similar in the winter.

I actually have found that the only time I seemed to get drivers to wake up out of their daze was when I had my old SolarStorm X2 at full power (pointed down though). It looked a bit like car headlights on the road so I think that tended to be the kind of thing they looked out for more.

 

[Vonhelmet]

I almost got taken out by a police car that turned right without indicating or looking.

They should be setting an example.

Round our way the police stop in the ASL cycle box

 

[SoliD]

You are correct, but it seems to be common belief that if I get hit it's my fault for not being dressed head to toe in hi-viz.

Your point about cars and lights really gets to me. I'm for Volvo style permanently on lights. Why give people a choice in the matter when they'll usually decide "oh I can see fine despite it being cloudy/foggy/rainy, I don't need my lights on". I'd appreciate drivers putting their lights on to be seen, even just side lights.

So true on these points, however same should be for cyclists to some extent and I certainly don't ride around year long with lights on.

 

[FrenchTart]

So true on these points, however same should be for cyclists to some extent and I certainly don't ride around year long with lights on.

Neither do I but if it's a bit dark or foggy due to the weather I'll stick my lights on personally.

 

[Shamrock]

Even on summer rides where it's glorious blue skies and sunshine, I usually have a blinking rear and front as some roads and lanes around Surrey are very shaded due to excessive tree cover.

If (like a car) my lights effectively had infinite battery I'd never see a reason not to use them.

 

[FrenchTart]

Even on summer rides where it's glorious blue skies and sunshine, I usually have a blinking rear and front as some roads and lanes around Surrey are very shaded due to excessive tree cover.

If (like a car) my lights effectively had infinite battery I'd never see a reason not to use them.

There's nothing stopping you getting a dynamo hub wheel...

 

[grudas]

Driver sounds like a total tool, I assume you have footage of him in the cycle lane and his registration? I would report it to whateverthatonlinethingforlondonis. The rest of us have to go to the police and take hours filling in an incident report.

nope, no video :O couldn't be bothered charging my cam lol

 

[Roady]

This has been discussed before. Reflective clothing works assuming that the car has lights - and the colour doesn't matter at all. If you don't have lights then you won't see them even if they're wearing neon pink with assless chaps.

Lights, reflective gear are all that matters.

I wasn't generally talking about riding in the dark, 'being visible' is more than just a night time activity for us. And for your information my neon pink assless chaps are also reflective.

I hate how it's a cyclist's responsibility to "be visible" by wearing nodder yellow rather than for drivers to bother taking a moment to look before performing a maneuver like you learn in your driving test.

As above, it doesn't make a difference so wear whatever you like. Driver education is the way forward.

I totally agree with all of the points, but I'm also aware that there is not and will never be any driver (re)education or improvement in the small % of drivers who shouldn't be behind a wheel in the first place. I'm pretty sure most of us are aware of this!

I'd appreciate drivers putting their lights on to be seen, even just side lights.

If drivers have become so lax in even looking for other half tons of metal hurtling around our roads without lights on in the daytime, they'll soon become accustomed to seeing everything with side lights on and ignore them too. Having lights on 'to be seen better' in broad daylight just makes things worse for the rest of us who are trying to stand out in broad daylight...

 

[arknor]

at a T junction yesterday a HGV didn't give me priority

was going 20mph he just drove straight out even though there's a stop sign where he was!
forced me to go wide into the oncoming lane to get around him when he started to pull out then he was making a right turn almost instantly into some factory.
honestly wonder if he even saw me at all....

yellow line is me.
black line is him.

surely I was meant to have priority there's a big sign saying stop ffs

How many HGV drivers are foreigners that don't understand bicycles have the same priority as any other road vehicle....

Had some in the past at lights etc next to me check which way I was going and let me get away first but some are just plain crazy

 

[FrenchTart]

I wasn't generally talking about riding in the dark, 'being visible' is more than just a night time activity for us. And for your information my neon pink assless chaps are also reflective.

My reply was to Jono, who specifically mentioned it being dark

 

[rossk26]

The cooler nights are upon us.

What's the best way to go for clothing? Baselayer under jersey or softshell jacket/windbreaker over jersey?

 

[FrenchTart]

The cooler nights are upon us.

What's the best way to go for clothing? Baselayer under jersey or softshell jacket/windbreaker over jersey?

Right now I'd say base layer but within a month or two I'll be wearing a base layer and possibly a windbreaker too. Once we hit Nov/Dec I'll add an extra layer or swap out the wind breaker for a soft shell.