Road Cycling

My first ride on the Aeroad today, the windy conditions nearly put me off using it but I'm glad I did.
Just 7 miles into the ride and everything felt natural and compared to my aluminium Allez it's just amazing - comfortable smooth and fast. The bike just holds onto speed and you can sure feel the reduction in drag.

https://www.strava.com/activities/905983784
 
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Hey guys,

I've had 2 punctures in as many days... very unusual for me as I can go for months, even years sometimes without a thing but hey. I'm blaming it on all the roadworks that are going on locally at the minute as yesterday my puncture came from a bit of that sharp orange gravel they use to plug up potholes - I found it embedded straight away in the centre track of my front tyre. I removed it, changed the tube and on I went. Today I got a much slower puncture - this time on the side wall of the front tyre. It's made an easily locatable tiny hole. Again, I just changed the tube and on I went :rolleyes:

I guess what I want to know is, is my tyre still safe to use? Eg. are the same rules for car tyres applicable etc. They're Conti Continental GP 4000s II’s, about a year old.

Thanks.
 
It's horribly windy today! I got out for a short ride (28 miles, 2400ft of strava climbing) and it was very heavy going. Pedalling hard downhill in the drops and struggling to hold 25mph. Still, it was a good route, which took me to some less familiar places and there were a few good bits of climbing.
 
Same here! Was meant to go with the Sunday club run but woke up at 8am to wind and rain so I text the guy I was going to meet, he turned up to nobody so glad I didn't.

Decided to go a pedal on the MTB with the partner but she tagged out and by the time we finished what we had to do the sky was blue again.

Jumped out and had brutal headwinds all the way out, when I finally turned the rain decided to start, endured it with the hope I'd get a tailwind which I eventually did. Finished with blue skies again and felt it was worth it.

Wish the weather would hurry up and improve :(
 
SDK^ said:
The bike just holds onto speed and you can sure feel the reduction in drag.
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If you had stock rims on your Allez the combination of a decent hub & deep section will contribute massively to this, as will a tyre with lower RR/drag :)

Glad it arrived safe & sound!
 
What is the deal with disc brake mounting standards? Is it just a huge mess? I'm going to be installing trp spyres on my new bike, which are post mount unless you spend more for flat mount, but even the flat mount ones need adapters to fit them to a flat mount frame. Obviously if I get a post mount frame the post mount brakes are fine, but then if I instead get a flat mount frame I need adapters to get post mount brakes on there.

The frame I want - mango point ar - has post mounts, but it's not in stock. The Dolan rdx is more expensive and has flat mounts so then it's adapter hell or spendy flat mount brakes. The ribble cgr is in stock and post mount but it's more expensive than either of the other two and it's ridiculous bright flourescent yellow.

This is a pain in the arse.
 
Did the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs on Friday night and both bikes made it with the SeaSucker despite high winds and one deep section :)

EsMkw8il.jpg fzhiKETl.jpg
 
BennyC said:
If you had stock rims on your Allez the combination of a decent hub & deep section will contribute massively to this, as will a tyre with lower RR/drag :)

Glad it arrived safe & sound!
Click to expand...
The wheelset on my Allez was upgraded - Campag Shamal Ultras : 26mm front and 30mm rear rim profiles using ceramic bearing hubs.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-shamal-ultra-mega-g3-clincher-wheelset/

The tyres on the Allez were pretty good too : Schwalbe The One

So aside from spending lots of money on carbon section clinchers it was up there.

The Aeroad just wanted to go faster, it never felt draggy like im used to riding.
I've also never averaged 20mph below 240w avg over 30-40 miles. Today I was over 20mph for 225w avg in very windy conditions, there is more speed in this bike.

Not completely scientific testing but after riding 10k miles over 2 years on the Allez, the feeling the Aeroad gives me : 'ride me faster' :)
 
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Vonhelmet said:
What is the deal with disc brake mounting standards? Is it just a huge mess? I'm going to be installing trp spyres on my new bike, which are post mount unless you spend more for flat mount, but even the flat mount ones need adapters to fit them to a flat mount frame. Obviously if I get a post mount frame the post mount brakes are fine, but then if I instead get a flat mount frame I need adapters to get post mount brakes on there.

The frame I want - mango point ar - has post mounts, but it's not in stock. The Dolan rdx is more expensive and has flat mounts so then it's adapter hell or spendy flat mount brakes. The ribble cgr is in stock and post mount but it's more expensive than either of the other two and it's ridiculous bright flourescent yellow.

This is a pain in the arse.
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I'd try and get flat Mount with flat mount brakes.

The flat mount adapters needed to fit to a fork are relatively slender compared to having post mount to post caliper or flat mount to post caliper.

If you run 140mm on the rear the caliper should sit directly on the frame with the bolts coming up through the chainstay.

Don't look into headset or hub axle 'standards'...
 
SDK^ said:
The wheelset on my Allez was upgraded - Campag Shamal Ultras : 26mm front and 30mm rear rim profiles using ceramic bearing hubs.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-shamal-ultra-mega-g3-clincher-wheelset/

The tyres on the Allez were pretty good too : Schwalbe The One

So aside from spending lots of money on carbon section clinchers it was up there.

The Aeroad just wanted to go faster, it never felt draggy like im used to riding.
I've also never averaged 20mph below 240w avg over 30-40 miles. Today I was over 20mph for 225w avg in very windy conditions, there is more speed in this bike.

Not completely scientific testing but after riding 10k miles over 2 years on the Allez, the feeling the Aeroad gives me : 'ride me faster' :)
Click to expand...

More aerodynamic riding position on the new bike.
 
Berger said:
More aerodynamic riding position on the new bike.
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The handlebars are 4cm narrower which will assist. I adopt the lean forward elbows bent on the hoods for my riding which is the most aero position outside of the TT position.

Overall the bike is 1.8kg lighter and significantly more aero - it should feel and be quicker :) :)
 
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Vonhelmet said:
What is the deal with disc brake mounting standards? Is it just a huge mess? I'm going to be installing trp spyres on my new bike, which are post mount unless you spend more for flat mount, but even the flat mount ones need adapters to fit them to a flat mount frame. Obviously if I get a post mount frame the post mount brakes are fine, but then if I instead get a flat mount frame I need adapters to get post mount brakes on there.

The frame I want - mango point ar - has post mounts, but it's not in stock. The Dolan rdx is more expensive and has flat mounts so then it's adapter hell or spendy flat mount brakes. The ribble cgr is in stock and post mount but it's more expensive than either of the other two and it's ridiculous bright flourescent yellow.

This is a pain in the arse.
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Jonny ///M's advice is good.

The requirement for adaptors isn't that unusual even when you go for post mount. There are lots of standards for the frame and slightly less for modern road disk brakes. Steel frames often tend to be the most annoying when building up road disc brakes.

If buying new I'd personally just buy flat mount. I was very close to doing this for my post-crash build but for various reasons didn't - and I slightly regret that decision. I'd also not bother with TRP Spyres either. They're good for mech disc brakes but theyr'e substantially worse than hydraulics. Could you not get some setup with 105 hydraulics? The hood shape is kind of annoying but it's not awful and the brakes are substantially better than Spyres.
 
I'm buying on a bit of a budget I'm afraid, so aiming for the spyres as top end mechanical discs as the price jump to hydraulics is enough to dissuade me. That and I understand cables better than hydraulics, I guess!
 
I'm not sure the difference between 105 level hydraulics and Spyres is that much but I could be wrong :) HY/RDs are a nice half-way house if you can find a decent deal...
 
Vonhelmet said:
I'm buying on a bit of a budget I'm afraid, so aiming for the spyres as top end mechanical discs as the price jump to hydraulics is enough to dissuade me. That and I understand cables better than hydraulics, I guess!
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I have the spyres on my BMC. I dont have the funds to replace and go full hydro but I actually quite like them. For what they are, they are very good (coming from Shimano R-517). No intention on replacing just yet as this BMC is my winter/training hack, so spending loads on top spec kit isnt on my agenda. I got the spyres for £30 (I think) for the pair.
 
correction, £50 (posted) for the pair, but thats still a good deal! they came with some nearly new nukeproof pads too.

Got them on the bikeradar forum. Dude was trying to shift some items and they were buried in the middle of his post.
 
Death wobble at 40mph+ coming down a mountain road today, that was interesting. My wife was following and said it looked bad, I said she should have been where I was!

Weird because I've had the bike for nearly nine years and never had it on this frame before and I've definitely been down the road before.
 
While I'm asking about disc brakes... what do I need to know about rotors? Any recommendations? How do I navigate price/performance on these?
 
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