Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
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Soldato
After contemplating it for a week or so, I finally got round to riding my racer (Felt F5C) yesterday for the first time in about a year, just to pop to the local shops and then do a few round the block laps. My god, it felt strange, so stretched out compared to the fatbike I've been riding the last year! Instantly brought back memories of my Tricross Singlecross RTA from Xmas 2013 and that very vulnerable feeling of leading with my head. But it was the reach that felt so odd, the bar flats were roughly the same reach as the fatbike, it was then stretching forward anothe ~15cm to grip the hoods.
Will give it another go when the weather is a tad better than today, but deep down, I think I need to accept that between my RTA demons and my lower back not liking the aggressive geometry of the 54cm frame, I need to try and sell it on (not that it is worth much at ~10 years old).
Felt like death warmed up this morning, so despite Storm Doris, I decided to jump on the fatbike and cautiously spin round the block for a while until the cross wind gusts picked up... Definitely not a day to chase KOMs for me!
Will give it another go when the weather is a tad better than today, but deep down, I think I need to accept that between my RTA demons and my lower back not liking the aggressive geometry of the 54cm frame, I need to try and sell it on (not that it is worth much at ~10 years old).
Felt like death warmed up this morning, so despite Storm Doris, I decided to jump on the fatbike and cautiously spin round the block for a while until the cross wind gusts picked up... Definitely not a day to chase KOMs for me!
No covers but they are more rounded supposedly. They are very narrow rotors though so can still see them doing damage in high speed crashes.
Even if rounded and blunt as hell, the fact it has sliced through leather like that is very worrying. If that was someones leg that would be horrific.
All judgement and opinion on disc brakes aside as you all know how I feel about them..... But I do believe a phased introduction is a ridiculous proposition and they need to do full peloton introduction/tests or none at all in the interests of safety. They are not listening to the riders and the teams and it is dragging on way too long exactly like the moto's disgrace where it takes countless acts and negative outcomes to finally force them into the correct decision.
Discs are without a doubt being seen on pro bikes because of manufacturers. It is not through need/want or desire of the pro riders and teams, it is through the dollar sign tinted glasses of the sponsoring manufacturers who have teams and riders wrapped around their finger because without them, sponsorship, backing & money, the sport would be dead. I think that's a dire situation and it annoys me most because everything we do in life is dictated and ruined due to influence of money and it is no different in the sport we all love. Everything, even safety, comes AFTER the money.
Fact... must be because of social media photo proves it was done by discs
In terms of damage done by a disc brake; did you see the GCN disc brake sausage test - the disc barely cut it but the spokes sliced through it easy.
Skip to 2m 40 sec
Also, did you see the cuts the rider had from the hitting the road - far worse than any disc brake injury
Ban roads Ban spokes 
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Very easy commute in this morning (lol), took 2 days off due to Doris but think my battery might be a bit flat on the PWM!?
Need to tally up how long it's lasted, will be nowhere near the 100-200 hours they're meant to. Rough totalling up from Strava is ~16 hours riding lol
Mission this weekend is finding an old iPhone 3GS I have somewhere & getting it running enough to install the Powertap app to update firmware.
Discs spin at a relatively slower rotation to a wheel, for a rider to get his foot *there*, then his leg/lower torso would be in the same vicinity as a very rapidly rotating wheel and spokes!
I'm still of the opinion that discs are no more dangerous than a chainring or cassette. Possibly even less so with protected/rounded edges, which is a very easy adaption!.
Take your time and do whatever you need to get comfortable on it, if you really want to ride it again! That could just be some rides in the summer, it could be putting it on the turbo so you can condition yourself a little to the position without being outside, or it could be adjusting the fit/components to relax the position. It could be selling the bike and totally giving up road riding, but I think the fact you've kept it for over 12 months unridden means you do want to get back out on it!
Need to tally up how long it's lasted, will be nowhere near the 100-200 hours they're meant to. Rough totalling up from Strava is ~16 hours riding lol
Mission this weekend is finding an old iPhone 3GS I have somewhere & getting it running enough to install the Powertap app to update firmware.
Have to agree about it being anything, especially with the area damaged. To get that level of damage on the top of a left shoe, from a disc mounted next to a spinning wheel on the left side of a bike frame, would be very tricky?! There really needs to be some video evidence to confirm it came from the disc, without it, it's purely guesswork.The top 'tongue' also looks torn - did the discs do that as well
Also, that brown stuff in line with the rip - I don't suppose that could be chain lube could it.
Given the likely speed of impact this could quite literally been anything, but oh no, 'Disc brakes so must've been the disc'
Discs spin at a relatively slower rotation to a wheel, for a rider to get his foot *there*, then his leg/lower torso would be in the same vicinity as a very rapidly rotating wheel and spokes!
I'm still of the opinion that discs are no more dangerous than a chainring or cassette. Possibly even less so with protected/rounded edges, which is a very easy adaption!.
Totally agree, but unfortunately pro cycling is governed by sponsorship almost more than any other sport. The whole thing is so distorted in cycling - almost nothing is proven, accepted or even considered unless it's been/can be ridden in the pro tour.
You could tweak much of the position (shorter stem etc) to make things less stretched as much of your demons seem to be from the actual position, not the bike itself? (I'm assuming by your RTC mentioning 'Tricross Singlecross', which was a Specialized model, that it didn't occur on your Felt). The position is very different between a fatbike with flat bars and a fairly aggressive road geometry frame, it's not something you can readapt to overnight (after ~12 months off from riding it) so don't feel so daunted by things!
Take your time and do whatever you need to get comfortable on it, if you really want to ride it again! That could just be some rides in the summer, it could be putting it on the turbo so you can condition yourself a little to the position without being outside, or it could be adjusting the fit/components to relax the position. It could be selling the bike and totally giving up road riding, but I think the fact you've kept it for over 12 months unridden means you do want to get back out on it!
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Soldato
I'm still of the opinion that discs are no more dangerous than a chainring or cassette. Possibly even less so with protected/rounded edges, which is a very easy adaption!.
Totally agree, but unfortunately pro cycling is governed by sponsorship almost more than any other sport. The whole thing is so distorted in cycling - almost nothing is proven, accepted or even considered unless it's been/can be ridden in the pro tour.
You could tweak much of the position (shorter stem etc) to make things less stretched as much of your demons seem to be from the actual position, not the bike itself? (I'm assuming by your RTC mentioning 'Tricross Singlecross', which was a Specialized model, that it didn't occur on your Felt). The position is very different between a fatbike with flat bars and a fairly aggressive road geometry frame, it's not something you can readapt to overnight (after ~12 months off from riding it) so don't feel so daunted by things!
Take your time and do whatever you need to get comfortable on it, if you really want to ride it again! That could just be some rides in the summer, it could be putting it on the turbo so you can condition yourself a little to the position without being outside, or it could be adjusting the fit/components to relax the position. It could be selling the bike and totally giving up road riding, but I think the fact you've kept it for over 12 months unridden means you do want to get back out on it!
The Felt was bought in 2007 IIRC and back then, the 54cm setup was ok. But in summer 2008, almost certainly down to lifting heavy white goods up and down stairs, my lower back went in a big way. I literally could barely walk for three weeks and when I did, I was lurching forward and left, had to take Diclofenac for ~9 months to combat the pain including sciatica.
In hindsight, I should have sold the Felt straight after this injury, but I kept hoping that I would be able to ride it again in comfort. I swapped out the default stem to a PX 100mm 35 degree which helped, but even then, sometimes my back would complain. I already had a hybrid Saracen Pylon8 which was much more comfortable to ride and in 2010 I bought the 56cm Specialized Tricross Singlecross, which effectively ended the Felt getting regular rides.
I got the Felt serviced and had some of new components fitted in 2010 before halfheartedly trying to sell it, but had no bites and since then it has had ~300 miles of riding since, perhaps 350 at most in the last almost seven years!
The Specialized was a great buy, almost as light as the Felt but for £300 and fitted like a glove, loved it until that fateful Xmas 2013 morning of 23rd Decemeber, when the rim brakes failed in that awful weather and I ploughed into the rear of a dustbin lorry after a sweeping bend at ~20mph. Made a mess of my maxilla and right hand among other injuries, but the bike was not too bad, just a duff front wheel and a gouged stem underside. Kept it for a while, still needing repair, until flogging itcheap last summer for a few quid towards my fatbike slush fund.
Sadly, I discovered a major shear developing on the Saracen's seat tube (~66% around, just below the top tube weld) in 2014, which sent that bike to the dust heap and my better half's barely touched mountain bike became a decent but heavy commuter until it was stolen while I was shopping in Sainsburys during the summer of 2015!
And then ~12.5 months ago, I took the very leftfield decision to buy a fatbike, which has been great fun and I have a set of 29er wheels for it for road duties.
It's only these past few weeks, while starting this recreational cycling malarkey on the roads, which has made me think about my decomposing Felt again and whether to flog it and perhaps try to find a hydraulic adventure bike of some sort, with the Pinnacle Arkose X looking a strong favourite currently.
It's looking quite nice outside today, think I might try moving the Felt's saddle forward to reduce reach to the hoods and see it I can get comfy and challenge my fatbike hill climbs!
OMG, apologies for the boring novel post!
I'm not sure if another bike is out of the question but your situation is actually much brighter than it would have been a few years ago as there are a large number of really nice flat bar road bikes on the market now. These aren't like the jack of all trades, master of none hybrids and are very close to drop bar performance on the road. Also, if you find that you want a bit more or less reach a quick stem swap can make that happen.OMG, apologies for the boring novel post!
No need to apologise, it's very useful to follow someones thought process when trying to advise on things like this! I'm a great one for laying everything out on here to try and help me decide on things, at times I've thought to start a blog (even opened a wordpress acct) but it would mostly be a mirror of most of my posts on here anyway! Maybe one day...And then ~12.5 months ago, I took the very leftfield decision to buy a fatbike, which has been great fun and I have a set of 29er wheels for it for road duties.
It's only these past few weeks, while starting this recreational cycling malarkey on the roads, which has made me think about my decomposing Felt again and whether to flog it and perhaps try to find a hydraulic adventure bike of some sort, with the Pinnacle Arkose X looking a strong favourite currently.
It's looking quite nice outside today, think I might try moving the Felt's saddle forward to reduce reach to the hoods and see it I can get comfy and challenge my fatbike hill climbs!
OMG, apologies for the boring novel post!
My other half has a womens road bike, a Giant/Liv Avail, and it has topbar brakes as well as STI shifters. The topbar brakes would be very easy to fit to any dropbar road bike. They're certainly a cheap enough addition which could aid with transition between bikes.
The Giant Fastroad CoMax springs to mind: dedicated disc brake road bikes with flat bars. They do a 'Rapid' series as well. I'm pretty sure I've seen one from Cannondale too!?
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Rapid...yUaMG_AxCbV-RP-yl7UwT5plzYX5tWyg4aApt48P8HAQ#
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/showcase/fastroad-comax/
https://www.cyclesurgery.com/c/bikes/commuting-bikes/flat-bar-road.html - several different brands here!
Soldato
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Plenty of these sorts of bikes. They're now called hybrids, but I don't think they should be called that. I call them flat bar road bikes. I've got one of this type of bike
Caporegime
Nothing wrong with riding at 15.5mph
I'd disagree. Hybrids have elements of both MTB and road bikes and depending on the model sit somewhere on the spectrum between the two. Flat bar road is purely a road bike with a flat bar, no MTB groupsets, frames, wheels, tyres etc.
Nothing wrong with riding at 15.5mph
15.5mph seems slow when you have to leave the county to find a hill!Hybrids tend to be more 'city' bikes, more upright, heavier and have wider tyres. They're more like a mountain bike, than a road bike, like a mountain bike with slicks and a road groupset. Equally there is such huge crossover in all of the sales 'labelling' of bike types these days. The 'flat bar road bike' the rider tends to be in more of an aerodynamic road position, then the upright you generally see on hybrids/city bikes (more similar to MTB).
Footage is poor and a .gif so it can't be paused. It shows Doull falling left, when Kittel is on his right shoulder, his bike then goes under Kittels causing Kittel to fly forwards and his bike into the air behind him. It looks like another rider to the front of Doull (in dark colours, Dowsett?) is knocked down left by him, then a rider behind Doull (white jersey, can't remember who else was listed in the crash?) also goes down. Kittels bike is nowhere near Doull when he hits the floor, only when he's going down, so how did he get his left foot under his own bike and up into either of Kittels rotors before Kittels bike it thrown upwards by Doulls!?
Much more likely the 'split' in the shoe is just that, the upper part being a split from him landing on it, the brown/red scuff being caused by contact with the road/barrier and the front cut being caused by the barrier. That's my conclusion anyway!
http://www.velonews.com/2017/02/video/video-can-disc-rotors-actually-cut_431182
http://www.velonews.com/2017/02/news/did-disc-cut-doull-race-footage-suggests-it-didnt_431165
Footage is poor and a .gif so it can't be paused. It shows Doull falling left, when Kittel is on his right shoulder, his bike then goes under Kittels causing Kittel to fly forwards and his bike into the air behind him. It looks like another rider to the front of Doull (in dark colours, Dowsett?) is knocked down left by him, then a rider behind Doull (white jersey, can't remember who else was listed in the crash?) also goes down. Kittels bike is nowhere near Doull when he hits the floor, only when he's going down, so how did he get his left foot under his own bike and up into either of Kittels rotors before Kittels bike it thrown upwards by Doulls!?
Much more likely the 'split' in the shoe is just that, the upper part being a split from him landing on it, the brown/red scuff being caused by contact with the road/barrier and the front cut being caused by the barrier. That's my conclusion anyway!
http://www.velonews.com/2017/02/video/video-can-disc-rotors-actually-cut_431182
Kittel has actually been pretty awesome about the situation and has stopped using the disc bike for the rest of the race for the safety of his colleagues.
If Doull was outright lying like everyone is suggesting I think Kittel would be making a different move in line with his team. If the majority of blokes around you don't want them and you're the only one using them though, I figure his move was the best for the easier life ha.
If Doull was outright lying like everyone is suggesting I think Kittel would be making a different move in line with his team. If the majority of blokes around you don't want them and you're the only one using them though, I figure his move was the best for the easier life ha.
Soldato
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I'd disagree. Hybrids have elements of both MTB and road bikes and depending on the model sit somewhere on the spectrum between the two. Flat bar road is purely a road bike with a flat bar, no MTB groupsets, frames, wheels, tyres etc.
You didn't even read my post did you ?
My view is pro's should quit winging about discs and just ride what they are given. They are paid enough money and are representing the sponsors who provide that money.
Crashing and hitting the road causing gashes and/or broken bones is much more of a worry.
Crashing and hitting the road causing gashes and/or broken bones is much more of a worry.
Soldato
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You were calling all Hybrids 'flat bar road bikes'. They're not.
hahahaha. Suggest you go back to school
?!?!
Suggest you go poke some hornet nests, I won't rise to the bait but I can see why several here have you ignored. Try not to come across so condescending and ignorant in your comments if you wish others to value your contributions. I'm aware I can come across as pretty obnoxious at times, but I'd like to think I'm not confrontational with it.
Back on topic... Noticed the lens on my Cateye Volt 800 has a 'burn' in the middle of it as if the LED has produced so much heat it's cooked the plastic lens! Thankfully it's not burst into flames, yet (lol). It's around 11 months old and was already a warranty replacement for another Cateye, will return to Wiggle and hopefully get credit for the value I paid (£72) not their current (out of stock) value... But what to get as a replacement...! Very tempted over the Exposure Race Mk 11 but quite pricey...!
Sure someone here said they had the Diablo, or was it the Strada?
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