Road Cycling

[Roady]

Brickworks KOM fell yesterday to Jon Mould fuelled by caterpillar cake. Maybe we're eating the wrong thing with all these gels and energy bars...

it doesnt have to be expensive....

Oh I know it doesn't but I'm bad a resisting bargains and pretty colours...

You can buy a decent bike for that!!

I've got a decent bike which cost less than that!

Accessories have always been the expense for me. I can't understand some of the guys racking up 5+ rides a week with only 2 pairs of shorts lol

 

[platypus]

not heard of the "phtochromic" lens before, not something ive heard in the photography world though

Its more from the world of optometry than photography.

 

[Saytan]

Maybe we're eating the wrong thing with all these gels and energy bars...

I'll maintain til my dying day that there's no good reason to put a gel in your body unless you're in a race and the extra half a minute to get some actual food in is critical

 

[topgun06]

FML...just been asked if I'm interested in a sportive in June, 80 miles. Yes I say, turns out its £88. EIGHTY EIGHT QUID! No thanks.

And what is so special about it? That is ridiculous.

 

[Jonny ///M]

New bike ordered, should be here in around a week.

Now I need to work out how to pay for it and eat

 

[madindehead]

If this is true then I should probably remove the KickR from my wishlist...

Nah. You know you want one

 

[Saytan]

New bike ordered, should be here in around a week.

Now I need to work out how to pay for it and eat

<snip>

that's a handsome looking thing.

 

[Roady]

I'll maintain til my dying day that there's no good reason to put a gel in your body unless you're in a race and the extra half a minute to get some actual food in is critical

I agree but equally I also appreciate how 'easy' it is to knock back a gel when riding and how convenient it is to grab one from the cupboard before you head out.

There's better things to eat, more quality and cleaner - but they're invariably more expensive (I love Cliff bars!), less convenient (pre cooked rice cakes) and/or have a limited shelf life so not always available (fruit/cake).

I tend to carry a combination, fruit for early riding, cake/museli bars/cliff bars for planned eating along with carrying a gel or two as 'get me home'/end of ride stop-gaps.

New bike ordered, should be here in around a week.

Now I need to work out how to pay for it and eat

Spoiler

Nice, but it's not a Felt! What changed your mind?

Orbea have always seemed fairly expensive for what they are, two guys I know with them have had various quality issues I was surprised about.

My girlfriends boss 'because she knows' someone high up at Orbea had to be seen riding one. Nice and light frame, fairly good setup, but even with her 'mates rates' it was £1500 more money than it should've been (£4000 with Ultegra and not even Di2!). She's done around 300 miles in the last 10 months. What a waste of money!

 

[kiteloopy]

Great news! Steady does it!
I've used a 'Pronty' patch on some damaged shorts before where my shorts had caught on the inner thigh on my seatclamp when my saddle had graduallyslipped backwards. It worked as well as can be expected but in a high friction/traffic area like that the patch (as it not as elastic as the material around it) will start to peel at the edges.

This. Although if it's in a contact place the last thing you want is more stitching to aggravate the idea as it'll cause pain/rubbing/sores. Sometimes you're better selling them off on the 'bay (to someone who thinks they can repair) and buying new/replacements... Depends on the age and brand what they're worth. I've seen Castelli shorts selling for near Wiggle sale prices & Rapha always sell for crazy prices.

Unfortunatly for me, Assos, T.Cento.
So about £200 to replace.

 

[SDK^]

I'm not sure I can sustain riding through another Winter; your bike gets trashed, icy roads are an injury risk and it's damn cold

So I will be looking at the smart trainer market post Euro Bike in September.

New bike ordered, should be here in around a week.
Now I need to work out how to pay for it and eat

A nice looking bike there

 

[lordrobs]

I'll maintain til my dying day that there's no good reason to put a gel in your body unless you're in a race and the extra half a minute to get some actual food in is critical

For my back ups I use gels. For things that I know I'm going to consume I take proper food. Often a gel will come out with me half a dozen times before it actually gets called into action. I used to do this with bars and by the time I ended up actually eating the thing it was a packet full of dust

New bike ordered, should be here in around a week.

Now I need to work out how to pay for it and eat

That does look very smart!

 

[Jonny ///M]

Nice, but it's not a Felt! What changed your mind?

Orbea have always seemed fairly expensive for what they are, two guys I know with them have had various quality issues I was surprised about.

My girlfriends boss 'because she knows' someone high up at Orbea had to be seen riding one. Nice and light frame, fairly good setup, but even with her 'mates rates' it was £1500 more money than it should've been (£4000 with Ultegra and not even Di2!). She's done around 300 miles in the last 10 months. What a waste of money!

I was initially looking at the Orca with 105 way back last year, it was £2k then and was a plain black.

I got onto the Felt F4 as it was a cracking buy, more for the customer at £1299 but the trade price was only about £15 less for me. The wheels are also proper crap, I'd need to change them right away.

The Orbea is £100 less RRP than the Felt at £1500 but with the staff purchase price ends up quite a nice price in my eyes. I should be able to ride the wheels for now until I can afford something nice. 105 over Ultegra but that won't bother me in the slightest.

Haven't had any major problems with Orbea, nothing that any other brands have similar problems with. The fit and finish is generally better as they are assembled in Spain then shipped out with probably the best packaging any bike company we use other than Wilier as they use bigger boxes that hold the bike in place like Canyon.

Went down from a 56cm to a 53cm on the Orca as the top tube is 55cm + 11cm stem vs 56cm+10cm. Also means I can get low as the stack is quite high on the Orca, a 55cm has a higher stack than my caad 8.

 

[DanF]

which colour shoes should I get? current ones are the old white version of these but most of my kit is black or dark colours

https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/5909/2017-expert-road-shoes/

 

[Roady]

The Orbea is £100 less RRP than the Felt at £1500 but with the staff purchase price ends up quite a nice price in my eyes. I should be able to ride the wheels for now until I can afford something nice. 105 over Ultegra but that won't bother me in the slightest.

Haven't had any major problems with Orbea, nothing that any other brands have similar problems with. The fit and finish is generally better as they are assembled in Spain then shipped out with probably the best packaging any bike company we use other than Wilier as they use bigger boxes that hold the bike in place like Canyon.

Sounds like a great deal & beautiful looking frame!

My friend Matt had an older Orbea with quite a common fault with them - one of the plastic cable stays/bosses that are epoxied to the carbon frame came off, without it there was no gear cable tension and because it was carrying tension whatever various LBS did to 'glue' it back on didn't last very long. Poor design as there was nothing on the base carbon frame to secure anything to. He sold it in the end after months of problems, he'd bought it second hand so couldn't deal with Orbea directly. The other friend (Richie) had his frame crack and went through months of to and fro with Orbea before they eventually warranty replaced it. Took around 6-7 months for their 'lifetime warranty' to replace a frame less than 6 months old when he started the process - was far too difficult a process for something under warranty, especially after the store he bought it from went out of business. Thankfully he's had no issues since!

 

[BennyC]

For my back ups I use gels. For things that I know I'm going to consume I take proper food. Often a gel will come out with me half a dozen times before it actually gets called into action.

Ditto. Always a gel carried in companionship with my spares kit. Only ever used reluctantly or if out of fluids. Rather carry & eat real food. Handy to give to a fellow cyclist if in trouble.

Wellgo (PowerTap) cleats arrived from China today from the 'bay. Real deal with bolts & washers for £8.70 a pair delivered RC-7B and RC 7C (fixed/7degree float).

 

[Jonny ///M]

Sounds like a great deal & beautiful looking frame!

My friend Matt had an older Orbea with quite a common fault with them - one of the plastic cable stays/bosses that are epoxied to the carbon frame came off, without it there was no gear cable tension and because it was carrying tension whatever various LBS did to 'glue' it back on didn't last very long. Poor design as there was nothing on the base carbon frame to secure anything to. He sold it in the end after months of problems, he'd bought it second hand so couldn't deal with Orbea directly. The other friend (Richie) had his frame crack and went through months of to and fro with Orbea before they eventually warranty replaced it. Took around 6-7 months for their 'lifetime warranty' to replace a frame less than 6 months old when he started the process - was far too difficult a process for something under warranty, especially after the store he bought it from went out of business. Thankfully he's had no issues since!

Sounds like a bad design to be fair, have worked on an older TCR that the cable stop sort of flared out and let the ferrule come through. I didn't like the older Orca, wish I could afford the Orca aero but meh.

It isn't just Orbea that are like that mate. Between me and my boss there must be a total of 10 calls and emails to enquire about the price of my potential bike and a crash replacement frame from Felt.

It usually comes down to the shop to fix the issue and chase the supplying brand to sort it down the line. We've had to hassle the hell out of companies to get their act together when guys have races coming up. One guy had replacement sram S30 wheels, then his Frame went which ended up in a new bike, then the S30s went again so he got zipp 101s. Thankfully his bad luck has run out.

No Felt repairs in Bristol because the guy who does them was out dealing with the TDF when it was here,not good enough, send it to Argos and invoice Felt etc.

 

[Liefrich]

I like the look of your Orbea. Very nice. I think Roady is just jealous .

The local bikeshop to my work only stocks De Rosa, Orbea and Wilier. All beautifully crafted bikes but in the age of internet sales you can of course always get more "bang for your buck" elsewhere. That said, I think I may treat myself to one of his bikes in the near future as they are lovely to look at, with classic clean lines, and he will do a full bike fit.

 

[madindehead]

On the subject of gels: They are great if you're really struggling for energy, and need one to get home. The only gel I used in the Ride 100 was in the last mile, when I dying down the Embankment. I had messed up my eating schedule a bit, so I just needed a boost to get home. Torq black cherry yoghurt. Yummy!

 

[Roady]

It usually comes down to the shop to fix the issue and chase the supplying brand to sort it down the line.

Oh I know exactly how it works, heard and read about enough horror stories!

Was just saying of the 3-4 Orbeas I knew within my fairly small circle, that 2 of them had problems with bad design and bad customer service. Neither of which are unique to Orbea!

I like the look of your Orbea. Very nice. I think Roady is just jealous .

The local bikeshop to my work only stocks De Rosa, Orbea and Wilier. All beautifully crafted bikes but in the age of internet sales you can of course always get more "bang for your buck" elsewhere. That said, I think I may treat myself to one of his bikes in the near future as they are lovely to look at, with classic clean lines, and he will do a full bike fit.

Haha naah not jealous, it is a fantastic looking bike though! I usually prefer my brighter bolder colours but some of the Felts and Swifts I see around here (lots of them as NFTO shop & team had them) are really fantastic looking. I've a particular soft spot for the matt black/carbon look of the AR2 with the sky blue accents. Beautiful!

Torq black cherry yoghurt. Yummy!

I really want to try the Torq Ghost Shandy or whatever it's called!

 

[Jonny ///M]

Oh I know exactly how it works, heard and read about enough horror stories!

Was just saying of the 3-4 Orbeas I knew within my fairly small circle, that 2 of them had problems with bad design and bad customer service. Neither of which are unique to Obea!

Haha naah not jealous, it is a fantastic looking bike though! I usually prefer my brighter bolder colours but some of the Felts and Swifts I see around here (lots of them as NFTO shop & team had them) are really fantastic looking. I've a particular soft spot for the matt black/carbon look of the AR2 with the sky blue accents. Beautiful!

Fingers crossed I'm not posting back here with bad news at some point.

I like a bit of colour but not quite sure I could have lived with the white option. You can customise the colour of any the higher end models with MyO and same with Wilier, can spec up the Zero 6 with a nice black and blue theme if you have deep pockets.