The biking thread

[Mike Rotch]

Did you take the clips off your pedals or preserver with them?

Gave them another go, but didn't gel, so off they came and I am a happier lad now 👍

Also if you get the chance to go for a ride at night when it's foggy do it, I think all the runners I was passing last night though the aliens had come to abduct them when 1000 lumen from my two torches came beaming out of the gloom

You need to get one to lash onto the seatpost too

EDIT: You'll like this chief

Guy Martin is a nutter! The only guy I've seen who can have a conversation with himself and have people happy to listen in!

 

[Neal]

What's your riding stance?​

Only one position for hands on the bars and I do the vast majority of my pedalling seated unless it's a very steep and very short climb but I definitely prefer to sit and spin. On fast singletrack it's all standing up with arms and legs bent doing my best not to crash into a tree/rock/gorge, I'll still pedal standing up on this stuff where it's possible to keep the speed up but I need to practice that more as I don't really find pedalling standing up comes naturally.

You need to get one to lash onto the seatpost too

You can get a red lens for the torch although you'd probably blind drivers behind you and get rear ended At night on the road I have 2 of these on the back (lid and seatpost) and wear a hi-vis vest from work, I look like a right twonk but drivers seem to give me a wide enough berth so it does the job.

That guy is to English as Colombian is to Spanish.

Guy Martin is a nutter! The only guy I've seen who can have a conversation with himself and have people happy to listen in!

He's from Lincolnshire, I've been there once and it is without doubt the most remote place in the whole of the UK. The motorway ends and then it's approximately 6 hours driving to the next place place of inhabitation...where someone like Guy Martin greets you, mug of tea in hand, garbling incoherently. Nice sausages though...

 

[robert1]

finaly that time of year

full set of pics taken on that ride
Snow 2012

 

[Aldo]

EDIT: You'll like this chief

Such a legend! 👍

 

[Submerged]

For me, my riding stance is generally sitting on the seat, but not fully. Always stretched forward as its good for my arse not to get so sore!

For downhills and a high speed flat ride, I'm in the dropbars so I can have easy access to the brakes should something go BADLY wrong, quickly. Additionally, you do get slightly more chances to swing your way out of trouble in a smooth motion, or so it feels.

Normal riding on the flat, basically on the top of the drop so I can have access to the gear changes and the brakes and it helps to see ahead clearly. I alternative from the top of the drop to the middle of the bar, depending how long my cycle is and what I'm debating to do.

Uphill, if its a short hill that's not challenging, then I basically just power my way up the hill by building up speed on the flat beforehand and staying seated while going uphill. I try to keep myself seated as much as possible if I am going up hills, as I have found that it is best to measure yourself before you get to the hill and set a steady pace to make it up the hill and plan out the gear changes in advance. Only real time when I have to bleedin' stand up on the pedals is when I've realised that its gone all pear-shaped and I have to power the rest of the way up!

That kills.

Mind you, staying seated is hard when you're not exactly fit...

 

[ExigeEvan]

I have a question, about riding mainly, so here goes (and I'm aware that most of you are mountain bikers)....

What's your riding stance?

Flats, saddle, drop bars.
Downhill, saddle, drop bars.
Uphill, saddle, drop bars.
Steep uphill, saddle, central.

Never get out the saddle for power, mostly just to stretch my hamstrings.

 

[Tommi]

He's from Lincolnshire, I've been there once and it is without doubt the most remote place in the whole of the UK. The motorway ends and then it's approximately 6 hours driving to the next place place of inhabitation...where someone like Guy Martin greets you, mug of tea in hand, garbling incoherently. Nice sausages though...

This is true. 👍

What's your riding stance?

Most of the time i'm sat on the saddle and my hands are on the drop bars covering the brakes/gears. On steep uphill climbs I usually 'stand' and downhill (both are quite rare round here) I arch my body forward and down. Not been out on my road bike much though, so my stance will probably change as I get used to it more.

 

[daft biker]

What's your riding stance?​

I only sit down on the boring bits between the interesting bits.

Occasionally I put my seat up to a comfortable height to sit and pedal on but mostly it's a couple of inches lower to aid manouverability.

Although last weekend I had a bit of a moment when I lost the back end in a corner and ended up sitting down with my feet in the air and only the front wheel on the ground!.....back wheel was coming round so quick I'd have probably ended up coming of backwards into the trees but the back wheel caught a tree stump at the edge of the trail and got fired up in the air and damn near sent me over the bars into a rocky mogul. Got away with it though:tup:

 

[Neal]

This is true. 👍

I was going to name drop you in the description of Lincolnshire


In other bike related news I have finally accepted that my summer gloves don't cut the mustard in winter so have ordered some cheap Tenn Outdoors gloves, they look a bit gash but I'm not spending double or more on anything better from the usual brands. No doubt they'll be rubbish and the buy cheap buy twice saying will be true.

 

[hellnback]

30.7km today in 90mins 38secs mostly gravel type trails, undulating couple of half a dozen small climbs, two sand' sections where I had to run over for about 2 mins each time.

133km in the 16 days since I got it.

 

[Bram Turismo]

What's your riding stance?

During a general cruise I ride in a relaxed position with my hands on the top drops. If I want to speed things up I'm riding in the lower drops. Every once in a while I'll do mini-time trials where I just try to lay down as low as possible, forearms resting on the center bars, sitting on the forward edge of the saddle so I can focus on holding my entire body straight and still and let my legs do the work. Am I riding uphill I either ride on the center bars if the pace allows me, but I climb out of the saddle on steeper climbs. Downhill in the lower drops, of course.

 

[Submerged]

I've tried to have my forearms on the centre section of the upper bars, almost like I had aero bars on it.

I did manage to do it, however I've since then stopped it for a period of time (as I was doing shorter distances and not so long) and now forgotten my balance to do it again!

Also, it does require a certain speed and confidence in the balance of the body, which I haven't got yet....

 

[W3H5]

I've been tempted to install my aero bars onto the middle of the drops of my new bike. The problems with that are getting them on the last bike was a pig of an effort, it'll leave nowhere for my hands to rest at casual pace and it would probably ruin the lovely looks of my bike's proportions.

 

[Submerged]

... Looks vs Performance?

 

[W3H5]

Well, for me, performance, any day. Did you see my last bike?

I think it might set the headset off balance if I start fiddling with things. Also, I'd have to remove all of the levers because they're slide on aero bars and not clamps. The bike is too perfect right now for me to start messing with stuff.

 

[Submerged]

Oh, I see what you mean.

Nah, keep it stock. Although, if you want to keep the paint pristine and disguise it as a crappy road bike, wrap it in some fabric stuff and stick it on and paint on it. Then you'll keep the paint in good nick and it doesn't look like its brand spanking new.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I have aero bars at home, yet I ride without them in the same position. The aero bars I have is cheap crap, and I'd be damned if they weigh nearly the same as my bike!

 

[Neal]

 

[Omnis]

I literally said out loud, "OH ****! COOL!"

Great video. At first I thought it was some bike part until he mentions it. I love the dog too. It's so happy to be out there with them.

 

[Neal]

Pretty amazing isn't it, it's people like that who make you realise how much of a whining arse you can be when things are difficult.

 

[daft biker]

Pretty amazing isn't it, it's people like that who make you realise how much of a whining arse you can be when things are difficult.

Aye, and it's great to see how much his riding has progressed over the years - I remember seeing a video of him years ago and whilst I'll take my hat off to his grit and determination his riding was REALLY sketchy and quite scary to watch.

He still seems to like the steep, slow and technical stuff too:tup:

Ride one handed down stuff like that? **** that!

 

[Aldo]

Great video! That chap has some serious skills!

 

[Northstar]

Perhaps I can get some help, my crappy $99 bike has pretty muched stopped working so I'm looking as some bikes that are actually worthwhile. I found this one on amazon and was wondering if it's any good.

And help would be appreciated.👍

 

[Neal]

Perhaps I can get some help, my crappy $99 bike has pretty muched stopped working so I'm looking as some bikes that are actually worthwhile. I found this one on amazon and was wondering if it's any good.

And help would be appreciated.👍

If the small size is big enough for you than that bike is an absolute bargain, the cheapest you can get a similar bike for over here is £350. My bike was very very similar to it when I bought it and did a great job for a long time until I wanted better forks and brakes to ride the rough downhill stuff faster. I'm pretty sure you'd be happy with it and it'd serve you well for years.

 

[alpacaflip]

I'd have to agree with Neal. If it fits you go for it. You can always tweak and tune later on if you want to, but seems like a pretty sweet bike stock!

Example:
My friend found one of these in a dumpster with no wheels. It is a Walmart bike, but knowing nothing about bikes he picked it up.

What it looks like now.

Helped him pick out some decent parts off pinkbike, and local shop; and he loves it. He now loves mountain biking now, and bought an Iron Horse too haha.

Here is a little clip I took about a year ago on my GT hardtail.

 

[Northstar]

If the small size is big enough

According to Amazon's size guide it should be a near perfect fit.

Are there any kind of maintenance needs for disc brakes?

 

[Neal]

According to Amazon's size guide it should be a near perfect fit.

Are there any kind of maintenance needs for disc brakes?

Then buy it before someone else does!

Disc brakes are more powerful and easier to adjust than cantilever V-brakes. I had, and my wife still does have, those exact brakes and they're simple to set up, adjust and change the pads but for the majority of the time they just work and don't need touching. The main thing to remember with disc or any brakes is not to get oil on them so no spraying lube near them.

 

[Northstar]

I've ordered the bike, thanks for the input.👍

 

[Neal]

Good stuff 👍

As it's mail order it'll need some assembly and tweaking so check out the link below which will cover everything.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

 

[W3H5]

I officially limited to a few days a week of gentle cycling due to my diet and efforts to gain weight. Instead I must lift weights ( ) which I hate and will no doubt put on bulk to the detriment of my top speed and will also suffer a decrease in fitness due to not training throughout the week.

It's only for a month or two until my weight stabilises at 70kg and then I can get back to riding every day. The stress of a lifestyle change.