I'd say take your chances then and start exploring for a suitable route out into the countryside. Strava premium or the free Garmin connect offer good popularity routing.
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
I'd say take your chances then and start exploring for a suitable route out into the countryside. Strava premium or the free Garmin connect offer good popularity routing.
Soldato
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Good ride yesterday. A cross between and Audax and a Sportive - no timings, sign on/off but with organised food stops. 3 stops (and a pre-feed!) in 65 miles. I think I may have eaten more calories than I burned...! Got a lift out (was going to ride out - then nearly rode home but family picked me up). Spent most of it riding with several slower club mates. So lots of efforts up climbs then stopping/riding easy, then other times riding on the front. Legs where superb - fuelled by lots of sugar & coffee barely ate any of the food I carried. Lots of clubs and various riders around. Saw most of the West-Mids & Shropshire clubs out, then others from as far as the South-Downs, Bristol and even 1 club out from Windsor (they had 'over 300' riders signed up then more on the day it must have been over 400). Good weather, although cool with various bits of sunshine. Fantastic views and scenery along really quiet lanes. Winds mostly ok, cold descents and barely any rain. Lots of social riders out - mostly the older tourer types on various equipment. Being on an aero modern disk brake road bike I was in the minority!
Can't comment too much - being a country bumpkin from the West and not really knowing either of the areas (had to google where Northolt was), but geographically & easy access to 'green' areas Fareham looks a far nicer place to be...!Looking for some advice from the road-riders in here
I'm due to move with work soon and I have West London(Northolt, specifically)<snip>
The other likely option would be somewhere around Fareham<snip>
Northolt well within the M25 and even if you head the shortest 'way out' you're straight into a very busy part of the country around Slough, Watford, Windsor and such. Will be around there shortly (stay in Bracknell before a day at Legoland Windsor) and can't imagine trying to ride around there as the roads are horribly busy and very little 'road cycling' space! The segregated cycleways around Bracknell (walked around a few times) look good for commuters, but just means there very little else on the roads themselves.
Very different world to me... Several points yesterday would ride 20-30 mins with only seeing a couple of cars. Even 20 mins this 'busy' stretch of A road on a sunday afternoon probably only saw ~20 overtakes. Almost zero need for cycling infrastructure (none along that stretch, except a couple of bits of paint on the road in the town).
Good plan and good work! Bike Fwriends are the best.
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I've only just clocked you're from Hereford, @Roady
My partners Aunt lives in Hereford and we pop up a couple of times a year. She lives in Eign Hill and whenever I drive there, usually along the A438, i think it looks like such a nice place to ride. Plenty of rolling hills. Very jealous
My partners Aunt lives in Hereford and we pop up a couple of times a year. She lives in Eign Hill and whenever I drive there, usually along the A438, i think it looks like such a nice place to ride. Plenty of rolling hills. Very jealous
Soldato
They are, but i still prefer riding solo. I'm obviously just a miserable ****
Soldato
Yes, it's very quiet up here in central Lincolnshire and like you say, I can at times go a good 10 minutes of riding without seeing a car in either direction. Fareham I've already been there with work which is putting me off, hence looking at another place, ie Northolt
Soldato
Go buy a bike and leave me alone!
Caporegime
Why is it so fricking hard to average 30kph over a short ride! Something always gets in the way. Traffic lights kill me, cars slow me down. Bah!
Soldato
Pedal harder?
Soldato
Probably need a new bike frame. Something carbon without imperfections.
Caporegime
I've got a new bike frame but some bugger has put a 1x on it. I'm slower than ever on that. Been hunting for deals on a 2x shimano GRX groupset for it... I'm kind of tempted to go di2 but man its expensive! I am tempted by SRAM but by all accounts their front mech still isn't that good and I don't want to faff with dot fluid.
Soldato
If you mean eTap, I have gen 1 eTap and the front shifting is perfectly good. Yes not quite as fast and crisp as the latest Di2, but I’ve never had an issue with it, or thought it’s sluggish.
Soldato
Yeah. I have the pre facelift version of force and have no issues. Although not used DI2 for a reference.
What was quite a bargain, is that the guy i was out with had a brand new Pinarello. However it was the older Paris model frame. He got it with 105 DI2 for just over £2.5k. Made me tempted as a pure road bike and then turn mine into a gravel bike!
What was quite a bargain, is that the guy i was out with had a brand new Pinarello. However it was the older Paris model frame. He got it with 105 DI2 for just over £2.5k. Made me tempted as a pure road bike and then turn mine into a gravel bike!
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Caporegime
I don't even know what I mean honestly. SRAMS lineup is a complete mess from a simplicity point of view.
- Apex 1
- Apex 1x12
- Apex AXS
- CenterLine
- Force 1
- Force 22
- Force AXS
- Force eTap AXS
- GX 1x11
- GX 2x11
- GX DH
- GX Eagle
- GX Eagle AXS
- NX
- NX Eagle
- RED
- RED AXS
- RED eTap
- RED eTap AXS
- Rival 1
- Rival 22
- Rival eTap AXS
- SRAM RED®
- SX Eagle
- X01 Eagle
- X01 Eagle AXS
- XX1 Eagle
- XX1 Eagle AXS
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Soldato
Haha fair. At least with Shimano you get R6800/R8000/R8100 to be able to identify generations, i don't think SRAM does that.
I had thought mine was Force eTap AXS, but then i also know mine is the older generation. Although i'm sure they play nicely with each other.
I think i bought from here. It weirdly made more sense financially to buy a 1x groupset and add a separate FD/Battery than to buy a 2x groupset!
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Caporegime
I think you are right about them generally playing nicely with each other but when trying to find a good deal, it makes comparing prices and understanding exactly what you are buying a nightmare. Is this a good price? Is 30% off good because its the latest generation or is that 30% off a 2 generations old RRP and overpriced. What do I search for on the second hand market to find what I am after.
As you say, shimano makes comparison much easier. You have GRX for their gravel as well.
Soldato
Well got my new bike shoes. Had ordered 2 pairs, the CX242 and the CX201. Kinda struggling to decide which to keep.
Tried the CX242 on first, they're cool as they have the upper in 3 sections attached to mesh, so each piece is separate and gives flexibility in the upper. Then got the CX201 out and they're all mesh at the front and feel like slippers. This gives absolutely masses of wiggle room for my toes which will be fantastic and no pressure at all on the sides.
Struggling a little to decide which to keep. The CX242 are probably the "better" shoe and with dual Boas will feel more locked in, however the mesh feels more comfortable and i think that's more important for me. Just not sure how that amount of wiggle space will feel when cycling.
If anyone wears Barefoot style shoes and cycles. The CX201 is a game changer. Just might be an issue in the UK as it'd be pretty cold with only a mesh front.
Annoyingly, tomorrow was going to be a rest day, but now i want to get out!
Tried the CX242 on first, they're cool as they have the upper in 3 sections attached to mesh, so each piece is separate and gives flexibility in the upper. Then got the CX201 out and they're all mesh at the front and feel like slippers. This gives absolutely masses of wiggle room for my toes which will be fantastic and no pressure at all on the sides.
Struggling a little to decide which to keep. The CX242 are probably the "better" shoe and with dual Boas will feel more locked in, however the mesh feels more comfortable and i think that's more important for me. Just not sure how that amount of wiggle space will feel when cycling.
If anyone wears Barefoot style shoes and cycles. The CX201 is a game changer. Just might be an issue in the UK as it'd be pretty cold with only a mesh front.
Annoyingly, tomorrow was going to be a rest day, but now i want to get out!
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First Look: Pinarello Paris - So Much Italian Style For So Little Spend - Road Bike Action
Multi-time Tour de France winning Pinarello brand is introducing the entry-level Paris model with will sell for $2950 with hydraulic disc brakes.
roadbikeaction.com
Sounds ok, certainly if you want to be seen riding a Pinarello, but I expect it's very similar to what the 'Prince' was like - pretty heavy and a 'poor mans F10' with a premium price tag. Pinarello have never made light bikes, nor particularly aero ones (even at the high end) compared to other brands like Trek, Giant or Specialized. Yes they've 'won' a lot, but it wasn't all down to the bikes. If anything they've improved quite a bit the last ~10 years, but other brands have improved more (or where lighter/more aero/faster to start with).
Still think a Pinarello 'in the wild' should only be seen with Campag... But always think the same when I see them/Colnago/Bianchi/Cipollini. You pay all that extra money for a premium Italian name, then stick a Japanese/American groupset on it. Blasphemy! Like buying a Ferrari in any colour other than red (or a Bianchi in anything other than Celeste!)
Wow I had never realised there was so many! How much cross compatibility is there? AXS only to AXS, or can you do eTap and AXS?
Shimano is pretty good for it, I'm mixing 3 different generations of 11 speed with zero problems. But there are 3 different cable types, thankfully the old one is obsolete now and the newer 2 are cross compatible with a converter.
But you do have to be careful, the newer 12 speed di2's are less backwards compatible/swappable than the 11 speed was across generations...
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