Road Cycling

I'm on my winter wheels atm - Bontrager OE wheels - jeez they're rubbish, they just feel so heavy and clumsy compared with Racing 5's. Plus they need truing every 5 minutes, they're about as robust as yoghurt.

Still - I'm happier seeing these wheels get wrecked over winter, it's pothole city here already and the roads haven't even seen a frost.
 
merlin said:
I'm on my winter wheels atm - Bontrager OE wheels - jeez they're rubbish, they just feel so heavy and clumsy compared with Racing 5's. Plus they need truing every 5 minutes, they're about as robust as yoghurt.
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I'm running a combo of a Mavic Aksium One front and a Zonda rear after I discovered a dent in the front Zonda. I can certainly feel the Aksium flex when I jump out the saddle and put my weight over the front!
 
Familiar story - I'm well under 70 kilos but I can hear brake rub there's so much flex.

I've spotted some nice Bontrager Paradigm wheels (stiff, light, TLR, DT Swiss hubs) on Ebay (brand new, whipped off a new Trek) but the guy is on the wrong planet with his pricing.
 
Vonhelmet said:
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.
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Good stuff, glad to hear it's going well & long may it continue! :D

I splashed out on some super thick 3.2mm LizardSkins DSP stuff (£30+!) for my turbo bike. I figured being rubbery and thick it'd be comfortable & sweat proof to some degree. The Fizik Performance fabric (£14) tape I had on there, although comfortable hasn't lasted more than 2000 miles before falling apart. It was also super absorbent in the rain so I figure the sweat from being inside on the turbo really didn't suit it! Avoid it unless you avoid the rain/sweat lol ;)

Much less commuting miles and more stressful inner city roads when you switch back into working in Manchester? :(

Vonhelmet said:
Deda Elementi Mistral, which cost me £9.
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Lol can't argue with that! To be honest the tape my Diverge came with is fantastic, Specialized Roubaix £15. Fairly plain black tape but it's worn well (ie not at all!) in 14 months of all weather use. I should probably have got some more of that rather than the DSP at twice the price lol... (doh!)
 
Commuting into Manchester is doable, it's just more up and down so single speed isn't really a goer. There's some bits that hit 9% which isn't all that easy on a single speed bike. There's also loads of traffic lights, to the point that I might look at going in via a towpath as it might be quicker. I need to do some exploring sometime soon. Distance wise it's a touch further than my current commute.
 
I’m looking to get into cycling for fitness, I’ve thought about a trainer so I can stick the bike on it and use it before and after work.

I don’t want to use it for work as they’ve taken away all our shelters at work and no where to keep it safe inside.

I see Halfords do a carrera bike for £190 and then I’ll have to buy a trainer too.

Any better deals to be had? I aim to use it for 1 hour before work and after, I can service it myself etc but with it staying in the garden then it won’t need tyres etc.

Road bike or mountain bike?
 
Recently lost my btwin helmet lol, which was fairly comfortable of 3 years, looking for a new one, preferred blue, anyone have good links or places to get one that's affordable?
 
Clov!s said:
I’m looking to get into cycling for fitness, I’ve thought about a trainer so I can stick the bike on it and use it before and after work.

I don’t want to use it for work as they’ve taken away all our shelters at work and no where to keep it safe inside.

I see Halfords do a carrera bike for £190 and then I’ll have to buy a trainer too.

Any better deals to be had? I aim to use it for 1 hour before work and after, I can service it myself etc but with it staying in the garden then it won’t need tyres etc.

Road bike or mountain bike?
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Won't need tyres? Huh? You'll wear a rear tyre on a trainer.

Keeping it in the garden? Do you mean in a shed?

I don't want to rain on your parade but riding a turbo is very much an acquired taste. Most people who do it are doing it as a training aid to proper road riding. It's pretty heavy going riding hard with no air flowing over you, you'll sweat like a monster.

If you're turboing you should get a road bike really.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Won't need tyres? Huh? You'll wear a rear tyre on a trainer.

Keeping it in the garden? Do you mean in a shed?

I don't want to rain on your parade but riding a turbo is very much an acquired taste. Most people who do it are doing it as a training aid to proper road riding. It's pretty heavy going riding hard with no air flowing over you, you'll sweat like a monster.

If you're turboing you should get a road bike really.
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I’ve seen some trainers that just raise the wheel? I understand there won’t be much if any resistance so maybe those aren’t any good.

Sweating is fine as I’ll jump in the shower straight after.

I thought a road bike would be best, I may enjoy it much more than I think and want to ride out on the road instead.

I think a trainer is the best way to ease myself into it.
 
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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Gloves. Keeps it clean, kinder on the wrists and gives you somewhere to wipe failed snot rockets :cool:

Using some Fizik stuff which I've not changed in 8,000 miles. And it's white. And still looks it :p

Clov!s said:
I’ve seen some trainers that just raise the wheel? I understand there won’t be much if any resistance so maybe those aren’t any good.

Sweating is fine as I’ll jump in the shower straight after.

I thought a road bike would be best, I may enjoy it much more than I think and want to ride out on the road instead.

I think a trainer is the best way to ease myself into it.
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I would say get some rollers but you might struggle having not ridden a bike in presumably a while.

All trainers, even cheap mag non-smart ones, will require a rear tyre.

Buying a bike somewhere locally so they can set you up with a basic rough fit and provide a solution if you have any issue would be ideal. Maybe check a few LBS's to see if they have any sale bargains. Decathlon's B-Twin own brand offer very good value for money and they review superbly at their price point.

If all else fails you can always use the Carerra (or equivalent) as your turbo work horse and buy another bike (N+1 ;) ) if you find you're getting out on the road more.

Get a fan.

Get some bib-shorts.
 
Almost....





I’m feeling quite lucky now, hit a broken pint glass about 20 miles from home was expecting a hisssss that never came so plodded on.

Found this after a wash.
 
Saytan said:
it'd have to for £30+
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Yeah I can’t argue, it is expensive for bar tape. It’s quality tape though and you get aluminium anodised bar end plugs with an expander. Is it worth the money? I would definitely buy it again when I need to get some more.
 
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