Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
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Can't get Katusha colours in the Speedmax, unless it's an ex team bike sadly. Trust me I would have bought red if I could have
I'm more likely to strike up conversation with people, I'm really really chatty, so much so I'm that annoying guy that chats so much I can barely breathe and get dropped all the time really quickly.
Fixed
Decided to defy the elements this evening and ride despite the solid drizzle. So much for cloudy & dry... Had planned to ride the Speedmax but it's lively enough in the dry. Wasn't windy nor too cold initially so I didn't mind being out in the foul weather. Ended up near 8 degrees at the end and a wet cold raincape and only windproof gloves were doing a good job of stiffening up my forearms & wrists
On another tangent:
Recommendations for wind & waterproof gloves. I do need a set of decent winter gloves. Raynauds makes keeping them warm near impossible in the winter and it's unlikely I'll ride in both the wet & cold but may as well go the full hog. I did see some rather nice looking ones in the Assos store a few months back. Like a decent jacket I'm prepared to pay good money if they're durable and perform well.
I've still not found a glove to keep my hands warm enough in below freezing, but best I have are my rapha winter. I really need to invest in the lobsters or their deep winter problem is being able to keep any sort of dexterity.
Sealskinz, and add silk liners on the very coldest days
Ta, will check both of these out. I think a soft shell in supremely cold conditions might become a necessity for the hands, regardless of how gash they look or un-aero they are. Truth be told winter riding is never going to set the world on fire for speed or PB's
Edit: I do have some liners. Funnily enough I wear them in my well vented summer gloves if it's a little windy or cooler than is ideal. Didn't find them beneficial thermally unfortunately below 5 degrees.
I've got some gore gloves - cost £30/£35 and my word they're warm, I mean like PROPER warm, but alas they are not waterproof - as I found out during a very wet Sportive early March. I've since done them with Nikwax but I'm expecting that to have made pretty much zero difference, maybe at best 5 minutes shower proof.
Great 'Bike Club' ride with Richie last night, he'd been doing 'lots' of turbo work so I was hoping for a good leg stretch. Unfortunately he obviously hadn't done much power/hill simulations work as any incline we hit I was easily dropping him, so much so I had to ease back to below ~200W for him to keep contact. On the flats he was keeping pace easier so I tried to jump on the front for any rolling stretches or headwinds. A few spots of rain didn't amount to anything so was an almost perfect evening for it. Block headwind home killed the average from 18.2mph to 17.6mph as I took it easy. Could feel some sit-bone pains along with a dodgy shoulder I'd woken up with (old age!). Have an annoying saddle sore today so with the bad rain/weather forecast tomorrow I'm going to take a rest day, missing the group rides. As sunday is a much nicer forecast I'll get out rather than any turbo this weekend.
Top cap isn't meant to carry the tension, the stem bolts are. You use the top cap to add preload tension to the bearings (6nM should be enough - there's a 'trick' of applying the front brake and pushing the bars to determine the tension is enough), before tightening the stem bolts to hold the steerer, then loosen off the top cap. Leaving the top cap too tight will impact the steering (you'll feel it 'snag') as the bearings are under too much pressure.
Although worth mentioning: more often than not my headset 'clicks' have come from the stem/bar interface, not the stem. Use carbon grip paste, even on alu to alu interface.
Different people have different hands, my hands don't sweat much and I don't tend to suffer with my hands easily overheating. So I do tend to wear long fingered slightly more than other people when it's windy. I don't suffer from 'clammy'/sweaty hands very often but when I do it's one of the worst feelings - I'd prefer my hands to be cold/wet than hot/clammy. My hands don't suffer too bad in the cold either, my fingers and thumbs do. My joints are pretty good and with the extra bar comfort I have (gel below tape) I've not had achey hands for a year or two. I'll go through my glove selection and describe each of them, starting from my midwinter offerings:
Re: limit screws. Yes, many times I've tried and tweak something 'slightly' (like indexing) and end up going the 'whole hog'. Think just a combination of cable stretch and embedded grime, I usually start from the start again as constantly tweaking and missing something wastes far too much time (not to mention the frustration!).I've also got a bit of a click from the headset (AGAIN!). Is there a torque setting for the top cap bolt or can I just crank it up tight. I've been tightening it to about 6Nm for no other reason than thats what the other headset bolts require but that probably isn't the most scientific method to use
Top cap isn't meant to carry the tension, the stem bolts are. You use the top cap to add preload tension to the bearings (6nM should be enough - there's a 'trick' of applying the front brake and pushing the bars to determine the tension is enough), before tightening the stem bolts to hold the steerer, then loosen off the top cap. Leaving the top cap too tight will impact the steering (you'll feel it 'snag') as the bearings are under too much pressure.
Although worth mentioning: more often than not my headset 'clicks' have come from the stem/bar interface, not the stem. Use carbon grip paste, even on alu to alu interface.
Mum's on hybrids drafting you like flies after a bullock?I wouldnt have an issue with someone on my wheel, but let's face it, there is never going to be anyone that slow
*cough*wank3r*cough*Fixed
Are you after winter gloves, spring gloves or summer gloves?
Different people have different hands, my hands don't sweat much and I don't tend to suffer with my hands easily overheating. So I do tend to wear long fingered slightly more than other people when it's windy. I don't suffer from 'clammy'/sweaty hands very often but when I do it's one of the worst feelings - I'd prefer my hands to be cold/wet than hot/clammy. My hands don't suffer too bad in the cold either, my fingers and thumbs do. My joints are pretty good and with the extra bar comfort I have (gel below tape) I've not had achey hands for a year or two. I'll go through my glove selection and describe each of them, starting from my midwinter offerings:
- Sportful Sotto Zero - These are superb but buying again I would probably choose the Fiandre for some extra rain protection, they're not bad but in persistent rain they do start to get sodden. They're good down to around -8 windchill, much below that my thumbs would start to freeze. Without windchill ok down to -10/-12. I had frost/ice forming on the outside of them while my hands were warm, have worn them in temperatures up to 8/10 degrees before hands started to get overly warm. Amazingly breathable while still retaining heat and keeping winds out. Dexterity is fantastic, modern tech fabrics & insulation so very little bulk.
- Galibier Barrier II Winter Glove - No link on the Galibier site, they had the Barrier III winter 2016/17 so maybe they're just refreshing them. Great glove for the money (~£20) but not very waterproof, more of a classic glove which insulation soaks up water. Great visibility/reflective 'pipes' for low light/dark winter commuting. Quite thick so more restrictive than the Sportful (1/3 the price!) and I found the fingers quite short (and I've got short fingers). Padding on palms is good, but uncomfortable gel edges riding on the hoods for more than a couple of hours. Wouldn't wear in lower than -5 and probably not much below -2 windchill. Wouldn't wear in temps over 5 degrees.
- Sportful Essential Windstopper - My go-to glove. Supremely comfortable and with a fleece backed windproof fabric they feel almost like a thin neoprene. Waterproofing is one of the best but the thumb pads do tend to absorb in heavy rain. Found them slightly too warm in the 14/15 degree humid shower rides recently. Wouldn't wear them much below zero, or much over 14/15 degrees in the dry.
- Sportful Pursuit Tech - A thinner version of the above, not fleece backed yet supremely windproof. I'll happily wear these in heavy rain as although they get wet, due to the lack of insulation they don't feel 'damp'. They dry out fast too. Temperature range is around 4/5 degrees up to 16/17 if it's windy, slightly lower if it's not.
- Gripgrab Hurricane - Bought these on a whim for some waterproof gloves, they're good but the fabric is quite thick so they're not breathable in the slightest. Good wind protection but too humid/clammy in rain temperatures over 10 degrees. Padding is superb (all Gripgrab is), just let down a little by the cuffs and non breathable materials.
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I'm going on holiday tomorrow and wanted to take my Allez with me to stay cycling fit. I've paid £100 to hire a bike box and £50 luggage fee for the flight.
Today I go to pack the bike in the box and the seat post is 'welded' into the frame. I've spent the last hour using GT85, boiling water and a hammer to loosen it but it's not budging
Any more tips anyone has please?
I have 2 other bikes I could use but they have discs brakes and the box only supports standard Thru-axles.
Today I go to pack the bike in the box and the seat post is 'welded' into the frame. I've spent the last hour using GT85, boiling water and a hammer to loosen it but it's not budging
Any more tips anyone has please?
I have 2 other bikes I could use but they have discs brakes and the box only supports standard Thru-axles.
I'm going on holiday tomorrow and wanted to take my Allez with me to stay cycling fit. I've paid £100 to hire a bike box and £50 luggage fee for the flight.
Today I go to pack the bike in the box and the seat post is 'welded' into the frame. I've spent the last hour using GT85, boiling water and a hammer to loosen it but it's not budging
Any more tips anyone has please?
I have 2 other bikes I could use but they have discs brakes and the box only supports standard Thru-axles.
No other advise, you're a bit buggered unfortunately.
Confused how a bike box doesn't support a fork and drop out, I presume your Allez doesn't have "Thru Axles" but QR, and so does your Canyon?
You could try the two extremes - hot water it again, then wait a minute and then try iced water for some quick expansion & contraction.
Do you have a bike shop local? Maybe worth calling them and see if they will have a crack at it.
Soldato
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- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
https://www.aldi.co.uk/c/specialbuy...lStatus:nontransactional:Event:Cycling&page=0 from Sunday 21st.
Thinking of maybe grabbing a pair of the bibshorts, although I've never worn bibs in my life. What's their advantage over the padded liner that came with my Funkier and Endura baggies I bought this year?
Thinking of maybe grabbing a pair of the bibshorts, although I've never worn bibs in my life. What's their advantage over the padded liner that came with my Funkier and Endura baggies I bought this year?
Cheers!
If they're alu then heat is your friend. Try leaving a hair drying blowing on it for 10/15/20 minutes.
You could also use a long piece of wood jammed into the saddle rails to see if it'll twist (long lever). You could also try 'shocking' it with a hammer blow against the wood to see if jarring it frees it up. Just don't hold me accountable if it bends your saddle rails!
Depending on how the case zips up, could you remove the saddle and have the post stuck out wapped in bubble wrap or something, if it only protrudes a small way?
Talking about things stuck/jammed: Think the alu screw on my front disc caliper is corroded and won't undo. Although I've not had a real effort at it yet... Head is so small it'll break easily.
You could also use a long piece of wood jammed into the saddle rails to see if it'll twist (long lever). You could also try 'shocking' it with a hammer blow against the wood to see if jarring it frees it up. Just don't hold me accountable if it bends your saddle rails!
Depending on how the case zips up, could you remove the saddle and have the post stuck out wapped in bubble wrap or something, if it only protrudes a small way?
Talking about things stuck/jammed: Think the alu screw on my front disc caliper is corroded and won't undo. Although I've not had a real effort at it yet... Head is so small it'll break easily.
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Both Alu
I've packed my Hybrid now - 13kg's of flat bar awesomeness
I'm going to Florida so it doesn't really matter - it's not not exactly a Swiss Alps biking mecca
Plus it means i'll get more of a workout, which was the whole reason for taking the bike.