Road Cycling

Saytan said:
What type of thing, head-down and bang racer? winter? sportive?
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All year round commuting and Audax/bikepacking for the majority.

Vonhelmet said:
Dolan, Ribble, Planet X, Mango would be the proper cheap ones I'd be thinking of... most will be aluminium at that price but you might stretch to carbon at Planet X. Genesis Equilibrium if you fancy steel. You can't quite stretch to a Kinesis on that budget, which is a shame.
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Ta, chucked him the Dolan RDX. I reckon he'd be better placed to just get a whole new bike. He wants full mudguard mounts and potentially discs if he went down that route though which is pushing him back to the budget new frame option.
 
SoliD said:
All year round commuting and Audax/bikepacking for the majority.
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Kinesis T3 or Planet X RT58 Alloy V3 would be getting my eye for those purposes. Both will take a 28mm tyre and a proper mudguard.

I have a kinesis T2 and i'd really recommend it (T3 is same geo). it's got 5 digit mileages on it now and it's always been good to ride.

they're a bit long though
 
I looked at the Dolan Rdx before building up my mango but decided against on account of the relatively low tyre clearance. My mango is for going off-road, though, so it depends what you're after really.
 
Jonny ///M said:
Felt strong for the weekend I had on the beers, took it too far and had to crawl from where the bosses wife dropped me off to the front of my drive. Slept there for a bit until some random got me up then I woke up on my kitchen floor at 9am.
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ROFL, #scottish.

Vonhelmet said:
I looked at the Dolan Rdx before building up my mango
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How's the mango going? Think I've still got a soft spot for them after looking at building one before the Diverge. :cool:

Shamrock said:
Those are just for show! They don't make me any faster.:o:(
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Of course they do! (others are distracted & ride slower in awe!) ;)
 
Roady said:
But you don't need membership for the RCC rides?
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I never said anything about club rides :confused:

I don't think they will want to too heavily saturate the market place with clubhouses, perhaps a little contradictory to boosting revenue but part of their image is to be mildly exclusive and a little niche.

Which is a shame as any establishment akin to celebrating cycling culture and providing a place to congregate, drink sweet brown nectar and eat cake should be wholeheartedly embraced :D
 
Disc owners talk to me, I'm after some advice!

My front hydraulic brake seems to have faded in well under 2k miles (1600!). Using Uberbike 'race compound' pads, R-785 shifters and R-685 calipers. It feels like it's worn out but the pads have plenty of wear left in them, similar to how air in the system feels (spongy with no modulation).

I totally bled it yesterday figuring the fluid was at least 16 months old (and I've topped it up once or twice, only miniscule amounts so I've not got a leak). Pad alignment looks good so don't think it's a sticky caliper. Fluid I bled was totally clean, no dirt/discolouration. Do I just assume I've contaminated the pads somehow and replace them? It could be air in the system as my method of bleeding was pretty poor, but it was like it before I bled, even just topping it up. I think I need a syringe so I can add fluid from the bottom flushing upwards (rather than the funnel & bag solution flushing down) as the R-685 you have to totally remove the bleed port to affix the tube, rather than being able to tighten it with it in place (so replacing it you trap air in it). :rolleyes:

Think the EBS kit has the syringe, whereas the Shimano instructions all point towards a bleed port you can loosen/tighten with the tube in place so only supply a tube & bag with their kit I have. Le sigh.

Totally unrelated, anyone have a spare DT 11 speed ratchet freehub, don't care how old/worn/heavy it is. Resurrecting an old hub with DT internals & 10 speed on it for a turbo wheel & don't fancy paying £75 for a new freehub. Can then flog the rubbish Giant PR-2 wheels I'm currently using and another couple of sets. Need to make some space/excuse for new wheels! ;)

I've heard there being 'fake' ones around but have yet to find details to source one.

BennyC said:
I never said anything about club rides :confused:
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You linked the RCC clubhouse & their rides, which I assumed would be RCC club members only?

Totally agree, there should be more encouragement but much of the time regional kinda clubs stay constrained within certain geographical boundries and apart from some open club TT's hardly ever seem to interact! Some riders do, but not really the clubs themselves. Certainly around here anyway...
 
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@Roady Any chance it could be the pads that have worn? I had to swap out my front B01S pads on my Voodoo Wazoo recently after ~2500 miles, by complete luck my cracked frame Saracen Pylon8 had the same pads, so I grabbed the rear set from the Pylon8 as a short term fix. Must get around to ordering at least two sets of B01Ses, but at the same time, I shall probably order some replacement pads for the BR-M505 hydraulics on my Cube Attain GTC (which might be different to the ones you need for the BR-M685 calipers).

Check which pad type you can use as replacements, the brake system may not be designed to work by default with bother resin and sintered pads.

Welcome back to bringing this thread back to life, btw. ;)
 
I know the generally accepted rule is that tread is pointless on road bike tyres as they are too narrow to aquaplane. Unless you ride at 130 mph of course :p

Is this still the case when you throw in the mud and fallen leaves of country lanes? I tend to ride the quietest roads possible but the downside of these is that the tractors drag mud onto the roads, it gets compacted into the tarmac and then when it rains becomes super slippy. Same with the leaves, there is enough traffic to mulch them but not enough to clear them. For these conditions I'm under the assumption you want some kind of tread to introduce a leading edge to grip into the surface, the same reason that winter car tyres have sipes cut into them. Am I right and if so what is the best compromise on a winter road bike that sees mainly pretty cruddy lanes? My first thought is some small block CX tyres but I'm open to ideas :) Puncture protection is a must as a puncture in freezing conditions makes Rob an unhappy chappy :p
 
UTmaniac said:
@Roady Any chance it could be the pads that have worn? I had to swap out my front B01S pads on my Voodoo Wazoo recently after ~2500 miles<snip>

Welcome back to bringing this thread back to life, btw. ;)
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Totally possible, but they seem to have plenty of visible 'pad' left in there. I got 5000+ miles out of the Shimano pads so was hoping for similar, ~1600 is quite a lot less! :o

Thanks ;)

lordrobs said:
Am I right
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Yes!

The thought that bike tires "don't need tread for wet weather as don't aquaplane" is only related to the water on the surface caught between the surfaces causing a loss in traction. Loss of traction due to dirt/mud/grit/ice/other 'debris' (even maybe water when cornering, controvesy!) would all be reduced by having more grip on the leading edge.

GP4 Seasons were my previous favoured tire, but after riding the Specialized Roubaix I now use these. They're half the price & don't cut up as much! Several from my local club do too (even non Specialized fanboys) as my LBS recommends them.

I did pick up some cheap Continental Sport 'Contact II' tyres in quite wide sizes when toying around checking clearances under my guards. Got a 32mm and 35mm for less than £10 a piece. Haven't ridden them so unsure what puncture protection is like but the tire surface would be good for what you're after. Don't know how quick they'd wear on tarmac either, but they are a 'city' tire so shouldn't be too bad. Not that heavy either!
 
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The Hunt wheels get rave reviews. I've just fitted a set of disc ones to my winter hack. Not ridden it yet, but a mate says they're really good for the money. Light too!
 
Price/requirements?

I'm edging more towards Hunt 4Seasons (£370) rather than rebuilding my AXIS wheels (£160 hub, £20 end caps, £35 spokes, still stuck with a heavy rim) but I am disc. Hunt do various rim brake wheels too obviously! Very well regarded for winter wheels...

Previously I bought some Campagnolo Khamsin (£100) to replace the factory wheels on my Giant Defy and found them superb! After around 3500 miles I did need to change some bearings and I just re-used them on my other halfs bike (again to replace Giant factory wheels). Racing 3's are interchangeable with Campagnolo Zondas (same wheels just different spoke patterns & decals) which are also very well regarded and several here own them.
 
Roady said:
How's the mango going? Think I've still got a soft spot for them after looking at building one before the Diverge. :cool:
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I like it, it's good fun doing some light offroad stuff.

I need to change the bar tape on it. I spent £25 on LizardSkins stuff and it's coming apart after just a couple of hundred miles. I've got some bright green Deda stuff instead, which will hopefully hold up better.

I've got a second set of wheels for it which I need to put together, which I'll be using over the winter to ride it on the roads. It may also become my commuter in that guise, as I'm going back to working in Manchester and I don't think the route in is flat enough to pull off on my single speed.
 
Vonhelmet said:
I need to change the bar tape on it. I spent £25 on LizardSkins stuff and it's coming apart after just a couple of hundred miles. I've got some bright green Deda stuff instead, which will hopefully hold up better.
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Which stuff, I use the cheaper bright orange one, cant remember exact name and it's perfect for CX. Double wrapped with the old stuff underneath, not super grippy but cleans up so much easier!
 
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