Road Cycling

[AndyCr15]

I was struggling with the cold because I didn't have the proper gear.

What's the saying? There's no bad weather, there's just bad gear? Something like that anyway... I kind of believe it now too, now I've got my set of rules for 'what gear for what temperature'. I've been out a few times in the last few weeks with the temp being between 0°C and 3°C and (aside descending the Dunstable Downs at speed, where I thought my face might shatter as it froze solid) I haven't really even noticed it was cold. The icy road surface is the bigger concern these days, especially on cheap winter tyres.

My year has started strong compared to previous years -



But, I've just started a new job, 9-5:30, Monday to Friday... which I can see is really going to slow things down I guess some Zwift in the evenings and a couple of decent sized rides at the weekend... (I've worked shifts/lates/weekends etc for 27+ years...)

 

[Lethal`]

Expensive winter tyres aren't gonna save you much from ice unless they've got spikes.

I think there it is a little stupid to go out in icy weather unless unavoidable. I felt a bit on edge going out last week into Richmond Park near freezing. Didn't spot any ice but my mate slipped off on the way home.

 

[hellarda]

So I've got a work trip coming up to Barcelona - I'm out there for 6 days, and thinking of renting a road bike and going out in the mornings before work (probably be out 0630-0800ish)

Does anyone know the area, and have any recommendations for bike hire and/or any decent routes?

I'm staying quite near the airport (Porta Fira) - which seems like the worst place to be to get to the coast road to the north east, or the coast roads to the south west...

 

[Martynt74]

For those of you that don't care about out of date energy gels. SIS have an absolute bargain 30 for £8 with the caffeine ones being £11

https://www.scienceinsport.com/shop-sis/all-products/clearance/isotonic-go-energy-gel-30-pack-apple

 

[One More Solo]

Expensive winter tyres aren't gonna save you much from ice unless they've got spikes.

I think there it is a little stupid to go out in icy weather unless unavoidable. I felt a bit on edge going out last week into Richmond Park near freezing. Didn't spot any ice but my mate slipped off on the way home.

I’ve crashed on ice twice in the last few years and have completely lost my bottle now. Any frost and I’m staying in. It doesn’t help that we live on top of a hill so any direction is a descent to start, and I don’t fancy discovering halfway down that the roads are slippy.

 

[Junglist]

I've not been minding going out in the cold since I've had some decent gear. Been pestering one of my friends to spend £100 at Le Col so that we both get some free Winter Gloves (anyone here fancy doing it instead? ) as I'm currently using some cheap ones from Amazon I got for £14 with some merino glove liners. Work well enough but they're certainly the weak link!

Starting the year off quite well. I typically only go cycling in the spring-autumn but decided to really stick at it this year. Currently at 143 miles for the month but planning on doing a 50 mile ride tomorrow morning. Also found that just attempting the strava challenges helps with my motivation. Attempting to get the 400km in January badge. Rookie numbers for some of you but if I can do that much in January alone I think I'm going to smash my 3000 miles for the year target - fingers crossed!

 

[SoliD]

I’ve crashed on ice twice in the last few years and have completely lost my bottle now. Any frost and I’m staying in. It doesn’t help that we live on top of a hill so any direction is a descent to start, and I don’t fancy discovering halfway down that the roads are slippy.

100% not worth it. Obviously bit warmer down here but due to location on the South Downs we can get ice that isn't in forecast. Has been nice racing again this winter as means I don't have to worry about forcing myself out the door when it's freezing cold. Only be a month and will be warming up anyway! was nice going out last night and only having to turn my little light on for the first 20minutes of my ride.

 

[One More Solo]

100% not worth it. Obviously bit warmer down here but due to location on the South Downs we can get ice that isn't in forecast. Has been nice racing again this winter as means I don't have to worry about forcing myself out the door when it's freezing cold. Only be a month and will be warming up anyway! was nice going out last night and only having to turn my little light on for the first 20minutes of my ride.

I noticed it was just dusky at 5pm last night which was nice.

Last year's was the worst because it was 5 degrees or so when I went out but we had freezing weather overnight, and I got caught out by a shady patch where there was some field run off that was frozen solid. Properly makes me second guess things now. It's a shame as well because the coldest winter days are often the best, clear and crisp.

 

[SoliD]

I noticed it was just dusky at 5pm last night which was nice.

Last year's was the worst because it was 5 degrees or so when I went out but we had freezing weather overnight, and I got caught out by a shady patch where there was some field run off that was frozen solid. Properly makes me second guess things now. It's a shame as well because the coldest winter days are often the best, clear and crisp.

That temp drop is obviously especially bad this time of year, nice and warm in the sun during the day but no residual heat think we've had a frost the last 7 days in a row even though it's been nice and warm (relatively) for this time of year during the day.

Had a club run 2 weeks ago where 8 people had come down on the way to the meet point on black ice. One bloke broke his femur, hip, 3 ribs and wrist... No frost or anything forecast and it was absolutely fine by the coast.

If you raced CX you wouldn't have this problem

 

[AndyCr15]

I can hear a reasonable amount of water in my front wheel... if I google the issue, it seems reasonably common, but most people talk about having a drain whole in the wheel, which I don't seem to have. Has anyone else suffered with this and has a solution?

 

[Lethal`]

My bike gets full of water despite drain holes. Now and again I just take the seatpost off and empty it when I can hear too mush swooshing.

Wheels - bit more tricky but perhaps rim tape off job

 

[AndyCr15]

Yeah, I wondered maybe take the inner tube out and dangle the wheel with the valve hole at the bottom...

 

[Junglist]

About to head out. It. Is. Frozen. Hoping by the time we get to the hilly segment of the ride the roads will be a bit better.
Fingers crossed

 

[AndyCr15]

Yeah, was on the roads by about 9am myself. Met a friend and rode to a nice coffee/cake stop. Definitely seemed colder on the way home, I think the sun had gone back in by then

 

[Junglist]

3 of us went, they both fell over! I'm lucky to have escaped as they were cycling right behind me then i hear a bang, turn around and a synchronised slip happened! No injuries as we were going slow but a bit of ego was dented, we all had a good laugh about it.

That's my first 50 (just under 52 miles in the end) cycle under my belt. Felt surprisingly good and if I would've been asked to do another 10 or so miles I would've had it in me. We were going at a fairly slow pace though, didn't want to get half way around the trip and burn out!
Few more of those and then I'll try 75 miles working towards that first century

 

[Trifid]

Documenting for future reference but might be useful for others; Fitting Continental GP5000TL to Mavic Cosmic Pro UST carbon rims. Before discovering this method I took the wheels to the local bike shop and none of them could make it work.

Put the tyre in the oven for no more then 5 minutes on a low temperature (gas mark 1). Put a bit of lubricant around the centre of the rim.

Working quickly while tyre is hot
Put one side of the tyre into the centre channel all the way round, starting opposite from the valve
By hand put the other side into the centre of the rim until you get about 1/3 left
Using levers get the next bit in, working a bit each side by levering them over the edge of the rim, favouring one side.
At about 1/4 you'll have about 2" of tyre to still get over the centre and it will be super tight. It looks impossible.
At all times hold the tyre lever in on the side closest to the valve core, do not let this release
Now use the tyre bead seating tool to lift the lip of the tyre one inch away from the tyre lever and while the strongest friend you have pushes the tyre lever towards the valve core with all their strength.
Once on air leaked around the valve stopping inflation so just needed to press the tyre down by hand above the valve.

It is possible to fit in less then 5 minutes this way. Unless your name is Ganesha, you are not fitting this tyre solo. You are not fitting this tyre without a bead seating tool. I don't think I'll be a repeat customer and expect I'll be replacing once half worn to reduce puncture risk.

Now need to get a sealant injector as it will be impossible to fill it up while putting this wheel in with the amount of work needed to do the last bit. Got some air leaking out by the bead/rim edge on the front wheel which I expect will seal OK afterwards.

 

[Drollic]

I'm another for not going out of it's too cold or wet and there's an increased risk of binning it. Would lose a chunk of fitness depending on injury plus the bike is possibly now irreplaceable due to covid. I'm not even sure how the insurance company would handle it. If you ride a lot of hours it's just even more time out your week spent cleaning the bike as well.

 

[Junglist]

Yeah it's a really thankless task cleaning my bike and it getting dirty after 5 minutes of riding. But I spent a lot of money on this bike and it pains me to just see it say there and not being used.

the bike and riding have been a huge help to my mental health these last 6 months and I've replaced one addiction with cycling so it's not something I want to fall back to

I do wish I could afford another bike but I expect the perfect number of bikes will always be N+1

 

[One More Solo]

A quick hose down as soon as you get back plus giving the chain a wipe and re-lube will save you loads of time vs dumping it in the shed and worrying about it in a few days. Most dirt will just rinse off while it's still damp and you'll avoid rust from road salt.

 

[fez]

Right, got myself a road bike because I need to do some more exercise and over the winter I don't tend to get out on the MTB much.

What budget indoor trainer setups are you guys all using?

Budget of lets say £400. Literally just have bike.