Road Cycling

Bikmo are good and what I'd go for personally. I've claimed from them (as has OneMoreSolo I think) and both had good experiences.

I've also claimed from Cycleguard before and they were decent enough too but their coverage isn't as good as Bikmo.
 
Lethal` said:
For a £1 more I'd recommend getting the kit with levers included too. Could be handy to have some spares. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/park-tool-tyre-and-tube-repair-kit-tr1/rp-prod5790
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Good buy, I grabbed a couple of sets of those park levers for £1.99 a few winters back. I've not broken any so think I've got 4 sets of them floating around!? Good shout on the patches though, think I'll get some... Sure beats carrying 3 tubes like I did last weekend (and didn't need any of them!). Thinking about it, I've only punctured once since moving to 28mm+ tyres and the Diverge, so I've only punctured once in 11 months and 4000 miles (a thorn when commuting)! *inb4 jinxed* :cool:

lawrence281 said:
Does cycling socks help at all, been reading about sores and blood circulation. For long rides, especially with clip in shoes. Should I buy some for the long run? Any specific lol
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I've always worn 'cycling socks' mostly because my day to day work/leisure socks are cheapy crap cotton (primark!) and would be uncomfortable riding in. So in that respect, cycling socks for me are 'better' (but only because my other socks are cheap rubbish!). If you've 'sports' or more premium socks you may notice less difference.

Over winter I actually wore my merino 'cycling socks' (PX Thicky) for every day, riding or not, as they were warm and supremely comfortable (bought 12+ pairs!). I'm starting to wear my day to day commuting socks (DHB, 12cm version of these) for work as I'm gradually throwing my 'work' socks away as they gain holes. Although I don't suffer from hot/sweaty/smelly feet.

lawrence281 said:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-rosso-corsa-6-cycling-socks-1/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=100235733&kpid=100235733&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=UK_PLA_Clothing&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|s5Dj9eygq_dc|pcrid|67090792142|pkw||pmt||prd|100235733uk
The description on this looks promising, but i'd like your opinions :d
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They're good socks, I've 2 pairs of those exact ones. My club kit socks are the 9cm version. They're very breathable on the top and good for summer riding, you can find them for better prices than that (fairly sure I wouldn't have bought them for £10 a pair!). I've a couple of these and they feel very similar in the summer. These in Black/White/Grey at £6.40 a pair would be one of the better buys on Wiggle. Most of the other cheaper 'deals' are for smaller < EU38 sizing. Obviously also depends on sock length you prefer...

In a rush last night so didn't 'Stop & Finish' my ride on my ELEMNT... Go to ride this morning and realise as battery is flat as a pancake as the ELEMNT doesn't auto-off when a ride is 'in progress' (a ride being paused still counts as in progress). :rolleyes:

EDIT: Also totally screwed up my indexing after getting the rear wheel jammed yesterday refitting it, may have even bent my derailleur a little as the slight tweak on this mornings commute hadn't helped much.

I regreased cranks to eliminate a click I've got back. It's the same click I resolved before by removing my Praxis BB shell and refitting it. I either didn't refit tight enough and some grit has got in the gap or refitted with not enough anti-seize to protect the contact areas. I'm going to strip it later and I'm thinking about possibly greasing the 'gap' (I've got Morgan Blue Aquaproof paste) as a barrier against the grit/wet/dirt.
 
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Oh the ironing of my timing...

Having confirmed my suspicions for a few weeks, I created a true cat4 segment in Southampton last night on a fairly popular road (Mansbridge Rd bit of A27), which Stravaists had somehow failed to create over the years. http://www.strava.com/segments/15468031

I came back home from yesterday's extended commute home up the above segment, deciding I would finally get around to cycling over to Petersfield to tackle my first cat3 segment over the next few days https://www.strava.com/segments/7723919

Only we've had light drizzle all day in Bitterne and it's quite humid (with a sporadic thunderstorm warning in place), with wetter weather expected from tomorrow onward!
 
#Rule 5 9 (I got soaked at lunch. Light drizzle at home, even lighter at work, yet somehow in the 1 mile stretch inbetween there was a downpour on me! :( )

Everest it! ;)
 
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SoliD said:
Lol how is Steep a cat3, it's big ring all the way!
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Because Strava uses a scientific method to its climb categories, rather than artistic license, at say the Tour de France.;)

Segment must average 3% or greater gradient. Multiply average gradient by length of climb in metres.
8000+ cat4
16000+ cat3
32000+ cat2
64000+ cat1
80000+ HC

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216917057-How-are-Strava-climbs-categorized-For-Rides-

So "Bell Hill to the top" is 3.3 x (3.2 x 1609), ~16991. :D
 
WTF, it's not even 8% for more than a mile? It's the distance of that segment which makes it CAT3 and not the elevation.

Although same could be said for much of the UK CAT 3 & 2's. The categorisations are made for long climbs & not generally the shorter & sharper stuff we have here!

Look at what that '20% climb' did at the end of stage 12 of the tour. They built it up massively but it was a much nicer than much of the shorter & sharper stuff in the UK, 0.3 miles @ 10% avg which only touched over 20% a couple of places. It's not long enough for a massive categorisation, the Strava 'official' 1.4 mile segment is only a CAT 3. There's lots of similar around the UK!

http://cyclingskills.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/rating-climbs-and-defining-percent.html
 
Roady said:
WTF, it's not even 8% for more than a mile? It's the distance of that segment which makes it CAT3 and not the elevation.
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It's both, that's the point ;) It's length of climb multiplied by gradient, which implicitly translates to elevation. The thing is you can have very short sharp climbs or long shallow climbs. Not every climb of a given category is the same. There's some cat 4s I'd much rather ride than others! Cragg Vale is the longest climb in the country at 5.3 miles, but the average gradient is 3.4%. I could do that on my single speed, no bother, but there's cat 4s that scare me off on my geared bikes.
 
Only 45 minutes to change both inner tubes tonight :o first time ever doing it.

Pinched the first one so had to change that. Then just couldn't for the life of me work out how to get enough slack on the other tyre to get the tube in, that took ages. Eventually it just clicked and I redid both in under 5 minutes. So fingers crossed next time it needs doing I can do that again lol

It was two tiny bits of what looked like flint in either tyre that did the damage. But they both went from fine to fully flat in seconds so I was convinced it was something more sinister. I'm relieved though as I don't have to replace the tyres. I assume very tiny holes where I've pulled the flint out are ok?
 
Roady said:
WTF, it's not even 8% for more than a mile? It's the distance of that segment which makes it CAT3 and not the elevation.

Although same could be said for much of the UK CAT 3 & 2's. The categorisations are made for long climbs & not generally the shorter & sharper stuff we have here!

Look at what that '20% climb' did at the end of stage 12 of the tour. They built it up massively but it was a much nicer than much of the shorter & sharper stuff in the UK, 0.3 miles @ 10% avg which only touched over 20% a couple of places. It's not long enough for a massive categorisation, the Strava 'official' 1.4 mile segment is only a CAT 3. There's lots of similar around the UK!

http://cyclingskills.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/rating-climbs-and-defining-percent.html
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Strava categorisation is a bit odd. I think it does need some opinion applied but obviously for Strava's purposes and to provide categorisation automatically it suits fine.

In the US I did two HCs - both I took at a pace to get me over them without completely pootling. No particular efforts. I would rate them wildly different from each other.

Mt Hamilton - Road climb - Avg 4%, 18 miles, 1h:38m, Avg HR 148bpm

Edgemont - Gravel climb - Avg 5%, 9.9 miles, 1h:05m, Avg HR 162bpm

The Mt Hamilton climb I was actually ascending at an effort level lower than most of my rides so it was comfortable and I'd suggest far easier. The Edgemont climb had me struggling to maintain momentum a few times and I'd rate it quite a lot harder.

So really they should start taking into account surface material too :D I'm not sure on the accuracy of the second gradient, I'd suggest a lot of it was steeper than 5% but that could have been a surface issue. You could even suggest a smooth tarmac climb in Mallorca is uncomparable to one of typical UK potholed surface!
 
Refitted my BB shell again last night to eliminate an annoying click, anti-seize around it and then aqua-proof greased the edges of the cups where exposed to water/grit/dirt to hopefully stop any more getting in. I think the anti-seize I'd used before was just not man enough to form any kind of barrier to the elements. Slightly annoying as there's no mention of it on the Praxis instructions (which just say to use anti-seize, which is thinner than grease). Might explain why whoever fitted it (factory? LBS?) used grease and not anti-seize! :rolleyes:

All fixed on this mornings commute but will need a week or two of various conditions to confirm.

Also investigated and diagnosed why my rear thru-axle is coming loose. It looks like when I struggled to get the end caps off (by pulling them when they unscrew...) I may have damaged the thread (I think I also damaged the end of the axle slightly). So now when fitting the thru-axle in (screwing it) the end cap on the drive side is unscrewing (it's held by the hanger) as the one on the non-drive side is turning with the thru-axle which is turning the axle... Bad design flaw, as the thread isn't 'reversed'. I either need to track down replacement endcaps & axle or a new hub. I'm tempted to go the hub route as Hope do a great SCS compatible hub. But this could be the ideal opportunity to move away from SCS, so when I get new 'summer' wheels (Zipp Service Course 30) I don't have to keep swapping hangers when swapping wheels.:cool:

I've 'bodged' it for now (by holding the NDS endcap with mole grips while fitting the thru axle), but it's not ideal as I'll get the same problem at the roadside and not have my mole grips handy (and I'm not about to start carrying them!). The endcaps also both being slightly damaged means there's a little more movement on the thru axle so the wheel 'bangs' them when over any big hole rather than sitting flush, just making the damage to them worse. Kinda annoying as the initial damage would've been avoided if Specialized did any kinda of maintenance instructions for their hubs/components. :mad:

UTmaniac said:
http://veloviewer.com/segment/1239654?referrer=stravistiX

Has some evil bits between ~1.6 and 2.1 miles, vaguely comparable to that stage 12 finish.
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Comparable except the fact the stage 12 finish was a perfectly surfaced runway - I know most of us would give anything to have road surfaces like that over our UK climbs! Pro riders are spoilt - have seen so many freshly resurfaced roads on the Tour this year! :rolleyes: ;)

Steedie said:
Only 45 minutes to change both inner tubes tonight :o first time ever doing it.
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Good work & well done! Practice makes perfect! :D
 
Interesting night tonight!

Got overtaken whilst doing 28mph behind a van and a car, at a safe distance, rolling towards a red light. As we got closer to stopping I rolled up the inside and took my place in front of said idiot and went on my way at the same speed as all the car around.

Could feel him right on my rear wheel so slowed up, maybe more than I should have but he was a ****. He then overtook me again and forced me into the left hand lane a bit, I punched his rear window and he then cut right across lane one and ditched the car against the kerb. Jumped out and let his car roll up the hill, whilst I shouted about the state of him doing so.

Did take a short video but I swore far too much so can't post it haha. The second black arrow should be on the inside not on the other side of the road but you get the idea.

 
Nope! Embarrassing hearing your own voice loosing the plot. So high pitched.

Essentially it was something along the lines of 'That's what happens when you run into folk(fixing his mirror)' Him saying to go in front of him and see what happens. Then me asking the jolly good fellow if he would partake in fisticuffs right now as I put my bike down gently.

If it was someone my age I'd have probably just started kicking them in the head or something but you can't go about beating up older guys no matter how stupid they are.




Having come from the inside lane on the roundabout beside the white car. Not sure how I managed to stay upright!

 
What's the best time of year normally to buy a new bike in terms of offers and sales?

Fighting the urge to buy a Trek Emonda SL6 but if it makes sense to wait then I'm happy to do so given I've only had my bike 3 months :p

I just didn't think I'd get in to the hobby as deep and as quickly as I have, had I known I'd have bought a better bike to begin with. But hindsight is a wonderful thing...
 
Can anyone recommend a saddle which would be comfier than the one which comes on the Cannondale CAAD8?
 
Steedie said:
What's the best time of year normally to buy a new bike in terms of offers and sales?

Fighting the urge to buy a Trek Emonda SL6 but if it makes sense to wait then I'm happy to do so given I've only had my bike 3 months :p

I just didn't think I'd get in to the hobby as deep and as quickly as I have, had I known I'd have bought a better bike to begin with. But hindsight is a wonderful thing...
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Depends on the type of bike, but the next month or two is usually good. If you're an odd size you can get some right bargains early next year.
 
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