Road Cycling

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So Canyon finally shipped my handlebars/stem! Only took 2 MONTHS - pretty much the same wait for the original bike.

But guess what - they managed to get my address wrong. AGAIN. This time I had already told them twice to make sure it was correct and both times confirmed to me on email that the address had been updated.

Sent them a massive email rant and copied in their CEO this time.
 
Grahame said:
The whole excitement thing for waiting on my new bike has been a bit soured to be honest. My employer (NHS Trust) outsource their bike to work scheme working to a 3rd party who (in true capitalism form) charge a disproportionate "admin" fee for their service. As a result, they happily send my bike supplier a purchase order for a bike, minus their "admin" fee which, obviously, the bike shop aren't prepared to absorb and so I have to pay myself... Fortunately, I am a higher rate tax payer so even with the "admin" fee, I will still save £200 overall, but it kind of negates the whole purpose for lower rate tax earners.
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A lot of the bike2work schemes charge an admin fee to be honest. A few bike shops will absorb it but not many. It's pretty annoying.

oli collett said:
So Canyon finally shipped my handlebars/stem! Only took 2 MONTHS - pretty much the same wait for the original bike.

But guess what - they managed to get my address wrong. AGAIN. This time I had already told them twice to make sure it was correct and both times confirmed to me on email that the address had been updated.

Sent them a massive email rant and copied in their CEO this time.
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That's awful. They're utter jokers to be honest. I don't know a single person that hasn't had trouble with them one way or another :/
 
FrenchTart said:
That's awful. They're utter jokers to be honest. I don't know a single person that hasn't had trouble with them one way or another :/
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I was planning on getting a speedmax but no chance of that now. The thing that annoyed me the most was that they were not at any stage in the process able to give me any kind of an ETA on the order.

I also read recently that for the bikes with an integrated stem/bars you can't even switch for a different size! I can't get my head around the idea of spending all that money on a bike only to discover it isn't the right fit, and you can't do anything about it without returning the whole thing!
 
Roady said:
They look awesome, then again white shoes always do before they've been worn for 10 minutes! ;)

What where you wearing before?
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http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Sport-Road-Cycling-Shoes_57568.htm
(In white too).

Served me well as a first shoe and 3,500miles, plenty of life left in them too so they'll be the backups...

Comfy enough, if a little roomy around the toes. No issue with heels on the upstroke. The insole isn't overwhelmingly comfy... but I did do a fair bit of climbing. Will consider the custom moulded insoles I had my eye on. Boa dial very convenient though :D

https://www.strava.com/activities/573901233/segments/13921357206

Knocked 1 minute flat off Waddesdon climb in the last two weeks. Down to 4:36 :cool: (169/3119) puts me just outside the top 5% and I've more beans in the tank too...
 
I've got a massive amount of climbing coming up soon (everesting!) and am getting cold feet over gears. How much difference would a 12-30 make over my current 12-28? I did a test ride and had 4 sprockets left (it's a shallow ish hill) but am thinking the more spinning gears the better! Or am I just doomed to suffering all day and two more teeth won't help me?!
 
Well if your ride is solely just Everesting then surely it won't hurt to have the extra two teeth? highly unlikely you're going to be using your top end 12 anyway! :p
 
GSVBagpuss said:
I've got a massive amount of climbing coming up soon (everesting!) and am getting cold feet over gears. How much difference would a 12-30 make over my current 12-28? I did a test ride and had 4 sprockets left (it's a shallow ish hill) but am thinking the more spinning gears the better! Or am I just doomed to suffering all day and two more teeth won't help me?!
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I doubt it would make that much of a difference... Got a strava of the climb?
 
GSVBagpuss said:
I've got a massive amount of climbing coming up soon (everesting!) and am getting cold feet over gears. How much difference would a 12-30 make over my current 12-28? I did a test ride and had 4 sprockets left (it's a shallow ish hill) but am thinking the more spinning gears the better! Or am I just doomed to suffering all day and two more teeth won't help me?!
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Probably the only time I'd bank on having something bigger than a 28. That extra couple of teeth will be a god send 6 hours in!
 
Annoyed with Strava deciding to stop my ride when I stopped for a pish!

Shame as I felt I had a headwind on the way out and was saving some for the return leg, had put the hammer down until the pee stop at just under 20mph average, didn't feel completely destroyed near the end as I was still striding along in big gears.

Wouldn't say I did the whole thing at 19ish but most definitely at the 18 mark.

https://www.strava.com/activities/573983415/overview

Potato
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GSVBagpuss said:
http://veloviewer.com/segment/1491769/Pashley+Road+Climb
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Pretty gentle. For the sake of buying a cassette I reckon 28 will be sufficient. Even on 34*28 at 80rpm you'll only be going 7.5mph so each ascent will take about 4 1/2 minutes. Add a minute and a half - optimistic- for turning round and coming down and you're looking at a 6 minute round trip. 201 ascents means 20 hours at that speed.

So spend your money on batteries for your lights rather than a cassette!
 
topgun06 said:
if dirt gets into the stitching it can look tatty pretty quickly.
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Agreed, white stitching is some of the worst! I've some gloves with some on and got some oily chain muck on them once upon a time... :rolleyes:
FrenchTart said:
Most important part of the ride, took a KOM I know uv wanted :p

https://www.strava.com/activities/573726878
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Good work!
Grahame said:
My employer (NHS Trust) outsource their bike to work scheme working to a 3rd party who (in true capitalism form) charge a disproportionate "admin" fee for their service.
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See, that's what puts me off the whole thing (not that I even have a c2w scheme), 3rd parties milking it with hidden fees which really ruin the whole idea of a tax free benefit for us (paying 3rd party tax instead!).
oli collett said:
Sent them a massive email rant and copied in their CEO this time.
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Spam it over social media too! Their service seems to be getting worse, they previously blamed a system change but that was months ago. There's no excuse for sloppy service for something which should be very simple & easy! :confused:
GSVBagpuss said:
I've got a massive amount of climbing coming up soon (everesting!) and am getting cold feet over gears. How much difference would a 12-30 make over my current 12-28? I did a test ride and had 4 sprockets left (it's a shallow ish hill) but am thinking the more spinning gears the better! Or am I just doomed to suffering all day and two more teeth won't help me?!
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I guess it depends on what you're climbing, is it the same shallow-ish hill or a very similar one? If it's the same hill then really no need, providing you can spin easy seated at low wattage and can recover well then you'll be ok gear wise. If you need something lower and spinny then might be worth swapping out.

If it's a different climb then you really are wasting your time, you need to test things on a climb similar to it (or the exact one). Next time you go out for a long/big ride (and are suitably empty) then get to your test climb and see if you can ride it easy enough to recover (+ pace easily) with your gearing. Gives you an idea how slow your legs will feel for probably the last 1/4 of your attempt.

If you want a borrow a 5800 11-32 gimmie a holla, as I've got a spare.

According to Strava segment that climb kicks up to near 20% at the end, can you not find something longer and more constant?
 
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