Road Cycling

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At times cycling can get ridiculously difficult, ie. Tuesday morning storm..

But it's rides like this that literally make it worth it! The two overalls are segments I've been tackling for a while!

The 6th overall is one I've wanted for months, I've wanted to be faster than the lads at work. The other week they made a seg that went from my work to my house and beat my best time. So I worked on it and beat them both, today I took a seg that one of the lads has been working hard on during his commute :D

Feels great!

http://app.strava.com/activities/308231297
 
One More Solo said:
As it goes, I run a 12-30 cassette as standard, and an 11-32 for really long days out (like the Fred Whitton...) and I wouldn't be without it really. People that claim you can get by on 34/25 are either being far too modest about their ability or don't know what a hill is. :p
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11-25 99% of the year, and was what I took to Cyprus last year, although that was a struggle at times, took an 11-28 to Majorca this year, but didn't ever use the biggest cog. 11-26 would probably nowadays be my biggest requirement. 32s should be reserved for mountain bikes :D
 
Someone at work asked me a really good question today, which was whether Friday's leg waxing or yesterday's cycling was more painful. I have to be honest, the cycling was far worse. Hitting a cat 3 after 75 miles with no energy left and a cramping leg was just horrendous.
 
Do any of you tall skinny riders struggle with getting bibs to fit?

Im 6ft with a 30" waist with the skinniest legs ever. Measuring 16" round 2" above the knee and have trouble finding bibs to fit without being too baggy around the bottom.

Does anyone else have the same problem finding bibs to fit the thighs? Can anyone recommend me any to try?

Many thanks
 
SoliD said:
11-25 99% of the year, and was what I took to Cyprus last year, although that was a struggle at times, took an 11-28 to Majorca this year, but didn't ever use the biggest cog. 11-26 would probably nowadays be my biggest requirement. 32s should be reserved for mountain bikes :D
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I think you fit the modest about their ability category! That said, an 11-28 would do me fine for Alpine climbs but once you have a few 10+ percenters in your legs that 30t cog becomes more appealing. :D
 
Can you help my friend on sizing please.

He is 5'10" with 32" inside leg, the two frames he's looking at are:

M - 30"-32" 5'6"-5'9"
L - 32"-34" 5-9"-6'
 
Vonhelmet said:
In any case, hitting my max HR (well, 187 compared to highest recorded HR of 189) on the first of many climbs probably wasn't too clever. I think in future I'll have to know to just back off a bit and take it slower, in the hope that overall I'll be quicker. I've heard it said that it takes half an hour to an hour to recover from an all out effort, so given I was hitting big hills for the next two hours without that much flat ground - and what flat ground I did have was spent trying to get back on the group - it's not a wonder that I was dead by the end of it.
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That's one way of looking at it. So training to pace yourself on climbs so that you remain reasonably comfortable as your ride goes on.

The alternative if you want to get faster on the climbs would be to work on being able to recover from big efforts like that more effectively and do them repeatedly over the course of a longer ride.

Both are valid approaches depending on what you're trying to achieve.
 
James07 said:
Feels great!

http://app.strava.com/activities/308231297
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Great work as always mate :)

SoliD said:
32s should be reserved for mountain bikes :D
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Hush ya noise! Some of us like burgers, pizza and beer too much! ;)

J273 said:
Does anyone else have the same problem finding bibs to fit the thighs? Can anyone recommend me any to try?
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I find the opposite but find the same problem mate, I'm 5'7"ish (shorter!) and my thighs are too big for most bib shorts, I generally have to size up and live with baggy straps/arse to get them big enough for my thighs! :(

tedmaul said:
That's one way of looking at it. So training to pace yourself on climbs so that you remain reasonably comfortable as your ride goes on.

The alternative if you want to get faster on the climbs would be to work on being able to recover from big efforts like that more effectively and do them repeatedly over the course of a longer ride.

Both are valid approaches depending on what you're trying to achieve.
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How about both combined? That's effectively what I'm doing - finding hills and climbing them as part of my distance rides. Nothing huge but several longer hills on the same route that I'd otherwise avoid when doing similar distance! Ones like this, only a low average % but I stood for the whole of it and paced myself! High heartrate but wasn't close to blowing up, could've maintained it - honest! ;)

New wheels fitted! :D (bike isn't clean & apologies for mudguards :rolleyes:)

Before:
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After:
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One for grudas... Is your rear wheel's valve hole off centre? Mine is and I'm not 100% sure why? I would hope it's by design ;)

Going to give them some welly on the way to work tomorrow and can't wait, they feel smooth already (quick roll up and down the garden lol) :D

Couple of things I'm after advice on... Noticed a hefty dink on my chainstay, I can recall a ride a few days prior when changing down while climbing I felt my chain jam, it's the only recent 'incident' I can think of with enough force to damage paintwork. Have cleaned and 'treated' with clear nail varnish until I can get some Black, anything to worry about? Looking at the picture(s) I must've hit a stick or something, there's not really a physical way the chain can have caught the paintwork there without totally coming off (and it didn't) :(
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Also took apart, cleaned and regreased my headset last weekend, there's some rust/corrosion on my bearings (bike is 6 months old), again, anything to worry about?
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Finally, one of my 'jobs' from the weekend - Tool and lube shelf in my garden shed/bicycle workshop! ;) :D
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I would apologise for the spam but I know everyone loves pictures ;)
 
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Roady said:
That's pretty much all there is to it! I actually rounded a couple of my nipples with my cheapy PX spoke tool. I've now bought the Park Tools ones (bought green and black as wasn't 100% sure) and they're much better (although expensive - ~£5). If you do/done the same give me a shout as I bought some (100) spare nipples for the next time I rebuild the wheel (and obviously won't need more than ~60 even if I rebuild both).

I think that's the thing, now I have some fitness and have lost some weight I'm much more interested in improving my riding than 'losing weight'. It's much easier/fun to monitor positive riding progress than to stand on scales! (read: not as soul destroying) ;)
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I'd be surprised if you rebuild them at all now seeing as though you now have some new beautiful wheels!! Thank you for the offer though I'll bare it in mind!

My tool seems pretty good, very solid and strong it was just tricky finding the perfect size to use to adjust them. I'm using the one that came with that Halfords kit I bought, no complaints really.

Roady said:
Great work as always mate :)

After:
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I would apologise for the spam but I know everyone loves pictures ;)
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Thank you! Dead chuffed with myself!

Good looking wheels, definitely better than the Giant crap, get them guards off though :p haha

Dont apologise! Everyone loves 'arty' pictures xD

Your shed looks like mine sept mines about 300% more full with car stuff, all the bike stuff and expensive tools are in the house haha.
 
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Strava notification just as I went to bed last night - some bar steward stole one of my KOMs by a single second.

Apparently he's a student at the University where I work too. Time to abuse all my system admin privileges :p
 
Picked up the Canondale last night, missed my CX bike quite a bit.

I don't know if anyone remembers; but whilst I was riding, one end of the quick release flew off, and the rear derailleur ended up through the wheel's spokes.

Anywho, my mechanic friend found that the chain had a pin sticking out. He
reckons the pin got stuck in the derailleur and caused it to bend. Pretty lucky I wasn't doing any decent speeds :eek:
 
New wheels feel good, similar to pickup speed as the Giant P-R2's (they are similar weights) but seem to hold their speed much better. The ride feels stiff but I have got new tyres (Pro4E's 25mm) pumped straight up to 90PSI. I'm not too concerned if they are harder - at the end of the day I'm after some reliable wheels which won't go out of true! The freewheel is nice and subtle, clicky but not loud. I'm impressed so far, time will tell!

James07 said:
I'd be surprised if you rebuild them at all now seeing as though you now have some new beautiful wheels!! Thank you for the offer though I'll bare it in mind!

My tool seems pretty good, very solid and strong it was just tricky finding the perfect size to use to adjust them. I'm using the one that came with that Halfords kit I bought, no complaints really.
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Oh I will, I was fully intending on using them as 'summer' wheels but in reality I probably won't. They're a perfect excuse to have a 'spare' set of wheels with a turbo tyre on though! I should have no excuse for not selling my old bike then! My N-1 is currently 3 so I have 2 bikes to sell before I'm safe to look at a CX! ;)

James07 said:
Good looking wheels, definitely better than the Giant crap, get them guards off though :p haha

Dont apologise! Everyone loves 'arty' pictures xD

Your shed looks like mine sept mines about 300% more full with car stuff, all the bike stuff and expensive tools are in the house haha.
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I'm convinced if I take my guards off it'll rain! Same with fitting my saddle cover when at work... :p:rolleyes:

Shed was one of the mrs' internet specials... £120 and came flat packed, with no instructions! The base was the wrong size but I built it anyway... She chose the colour! I don't hate it to be honest and it's big enough to fit a bike in during the winter! Me=happy! :D

We sold our second car (Clio) so there's loads of room in our garage (where the bikes live) as my Fiesty (Zetec S) sits in the parking space looking fancy (and hardly goes anywhere)! Most car stuff is in the garage ;)
 
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FrenchTart said:
Strava notification just as I went to bed last night - some bar steward stole one of my KOMs by a single second.

Apparently he's a student at the University where I work too. Time to abuse all my system admin privileges :p
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I lost one of mine recently, by 48 seconds though!
It's a 1.6 mile section & I'd held it for best part of 2 years, surprised I was beaten by that amount though, as it's not a fast section.
 
I bonked massively at mile 24 on a 50 miler last night, on my own with no food and the temp had went from 16 to 8 within 1 hour of me leaving. One of the roughest rides of my short cycling career!

Uploaded it to Strava, 30kmh avg over the 50 miles. HOW? I could barely lift my head to look in front of me by mile 40..... The body is a magical thing.
 
Roady said:
Also took apart, cleaned and regreased my headset last weekend, there's some rust/corrosion on my bearings (bike is 6 months old), again, anything to worry about?
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I wouldn't worry. I've been having to replace my headset bearings once a year for the past three years and the same thing happens to me. They begin to corrode, then seize to the cups and eventually rip themselves apart when taking the forks out.

I'd take note of any markings/item numbers on the bearings so they will be easier to find and replace later before they become unreadable. Then get some anti seize grease and apply that to the cups, steerer tube and bearings. This makes them easier to remove if they do eventually seize.

Three years ago I had to get a complete new headset as I couldn't get one half of the bearing casing out of the cup!
 
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