Road Cycling

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Vonhelmet said:
The motherland! As in, literally, my mother's land. You there for business or pleasure? I've not been there in years. Eat some reindeer for me.
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A friend just had a talk at a conference there so a couple of us are joining her for the tail-end of her stay. I'll be sure to eat lots of food, including reindeer if it's available :)

I haven't been before so if you have any other recommendations feel free to fire away with them btw...
 
Tempting fate here I know, but I think I've sorted my knee issue. Raised the saddle 5mm and moved my cleat further towards the bike. Just had 20 minutes on the trainer and then a 10 minute hoon around outside (couple of hill sprints) and no pain!

Thanks to those of you who said it could be my cleats :)
 
Just bought some Shimano 6700 brake shoes gonna try fit them on my lunch tonight, dont have a choice as they're really bad on the back now, barely stopped for a red light on a hill today, the hill wasn't even that steep and it was a fairly dry road..

I think it's a shame that I've had to buy new shoes, for the price of them anyway they should have been for as standard or offered to me on purchase.
 
Richand said:
Got the Merida CycloCross 500 today, nice bike and weights around 19lbs with heavy wheelset.]
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I've got last years 105 model and it's been almost perfect apart from the
stupid crank needs greasing every few hundred miles because it starts to tick/squeak once per revolution but it's a few min job.

if it happens to yours its the crank spindle not the bottom bracket making the noise.
 
Lethal` said:
Giant Defy 0 2015. Good choice for cycle scheme £1000 bike?
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I got the Defy 3, 2015.

Genuinely couldn't be happier with it! Fantastic bike, no problems with it since I got it, the only thing ive changed is the brake shoes and I've just done that now as the ones supplied with the bike didn't have interchangeable pads, maybe get them upgraded when you get the bike so you can change the pads easilly when it comes round to it.

Other than that literally nothing bad to report and I know others here find the Defy bikes to be spot on, this is where I found my pre purchase advice :)
 
Vonhelmet said:
How much weight have you saved compared to a520s or m520s? How muh extra have you paid?
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I refuse to consider bang-for-buck in this case otherwise I'll regret my purchase :p

I've been very conscientious about most of my bike build but in this case I decided to waste a bit of cash and go for bling. It's not something I'd really recommend anyone else do, admittedly.
 
Well that's what happens when you don't have a puncture for a couple of years, when you finally get one (on the ride home today!) the pump was seized and didn't work.

Had to call the misses to be rescued. D'oh!
 
James07 said:
I got the Defy 3, 2015.

Genuinely couldn't be happier with it! Fantastic bike, no problems with it since I got it, the only thing ive changed is the brake shoes and I've just done that now as the ones supplied with the bike didn't have interchangeable pads, maybe get them upgraded when you get the bike so you can change the pads easilly when it comes round to it.

Other than that literally nothing bad to report and I know others here find the Defy bikes to be spot on, this is where I found my pre purchase advice :)
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I think I'll give Giant in Twickenham a call and see if I can arrange a lengthy test ride :)
 
Lethal` said:
I think I'll give Giant in Twickenham a call and see if I can arrange a lengthy test ride :)
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I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I got mine on release so there were no reviews on the bike itself but since then I've read quite a few and not seen anything negative except from complaints on the wheels being a bit cheap and heavy, but at 9.5kg you can't complain too much! The Defy 0 will be lighter I assume..

See if you can find any reviews.
 
FrenchTart said:
I haven't been before so if you have any other recommendations feel free to fire away with them btw...
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Make sure you see the northern lights, also ice. Ice beer steins. Iced coffee. Ice hotels. Ice everything as you know... It's cold. :p

Have a safe trip! :)

FishFluff said:
Tempting fate here I know, but I think I've sorted my knee issue. Raised the saddle 5mm and moved my cleat further towards the bike. Just had 20 minutes on the trainer and then a 10 minute hoon around outside (couple of hill sprints) and no pain!

Thanks to those of you who said it could be my cleats :)
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Glad to hear you sorted it!

arknor said:
I've got last years 105 model and it's been almost perfect apart from the
stupid crank needs greasing every few hundred miles because it starts to tick/squeak once per revolution but it's a few min job.

if it happens to yours its the crank spindle not the bottom bracket making the noise.
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Any more info on this? I've still got the occasional tick/squeak on cranks...

Lethal` said:
Giant Defy 0 2015. Good choice for cycle scheme £1000 bike?
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Great bike, not really sure what it offers over what I've got (Defy 1 2015) except slightly better wheels?

You'll be fine with brakes and shoes, my Defy 1 has shoes, James' Defy 3 hasn't got shoes, not sure about the Defy 2 but the 0 will have.

FrenchTart said:
I just ordered the lightest non-sucky SPD peddles I could find. Including shipping they have increased the total cost of my bike by almost 10% lol :/

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Xpedo/M-Force-8-Ti-Klickpedale-p25052/
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Why not get eggbeaters? Similar look, only a bit heavier!

Bit of a tailwind on the way home tonight, 4 PB's on the long straight without an overly huge effort as half pacing myself due to some sidewinds. Got up to 28.4 mph at one point too! :D
 
Roady said:
Great bike, not really sure what it offers over what I've got (Defy 1 2015) except slightly better wheels?

You'll be fine with brakes and shoes, my Defy 1 has shoes, James' Defy 3 hasn't got shoes, not sure about the Defy 2 but the 0 will have.
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Hey! It does now! They look pretty cool too compared to the rubbish little black things I had on there!

Grats on the speed haha! Wind push you along?
 
I didn't fancy moving away from SPDs. I've read up on the various options and at the end of the day SPDs work well for me.

On top of that, egg beaters have a bit of a rep for requiring lots of maintenance and/or falling apart, unfortunately.
 
arknor said:
I've got last years 105 model and it's been almost perfect apart from the
stupid crank needs greasing every few hundred miles because it starts to tick/squeak once per revolution but it's a few min job.

if it happens to yours its the crank spindle not the bottom bracket making the noise.
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Knew I had seen someone with a 4 around here :)

I don't like the FSA crank on it, might look to replace it once it starts being a pain which I know it will.

compared to my old bike the geometry is so strange, the handlebars and seat are closer which forces you upright., will see how it does tomorrow on a longer ride.

My discs rub slightly, is that a wearing in thing or bad setup by Wheelies? It's done around 10miles today.
 
FrenchTart said:
I didn't fancy moving away from SPDs. I've read up on the various options and at the end of the day SPDs work well for me.

On top of that, egg beaters have a bit of a rep for requiring lots of maintenance and/or falling apart, unfortunately.
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Some versions of the eggbeaters do. As I recall v2 are good, v4 are garbage. I think asprilla likes them, for what it's worth.
 
I'd still have the issue of not having shoes I could easily walk around in unfortunately :/

To be honest, much like the reason why I ended up building a bike, there doesn't seem to be any option that is perfect for what I want - probably because I'm really demanding and want something that combines light, good power transfer and above all, being able to walk in the shoes properly. It's an unfair ask I guess.
 
I've ordered a pair of cheap SPD shoes just for when I know I'm going to need to walk around a bit - if i decide I prefer SPD i'll probably upgrade to Shimano RT82 shoes, although will try use the Specialized Expert Road SPD-SL's more in the summer when I know i'm just riding :)

On an unrelated note - do any of you guys use a torch as your front light? Some good deals on Amazon and been tempted to try one for when I need that extra bit if my ride carries over!
 
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