The biking thread

[Neal]

I saw your new pedals/ shoes in the other thread Neal - interested to hear how you get on with them [/T.Rex]

I shall report back, they've been dispatched so will hopefully get them fitted tomorrow night and use them on Wednesday night. Also I don't get the T.Rex reference...even though I may be Marc Bolan reincarnated.

Ended up doing 21.2 miles (33.92 km), from that Strava App. 751 ft Elevation gain (whatever that is) and an average of 14.6 mph (23.36 kph).

Elevation gain calculation from the Strava website..

We calculate total elevation gain of a segment or ride by summing up every elevation gain of the ride that is above a certain threshold. We don't include elevation points that appear to be "outliers", e.g. the ride didn't move between points or the grade or rider's acceleration is greater than a threshold.

I did a new route on Saturday with the intention of doing some bigger hills although at 211m elevation gain it was only 27m more than my usual route and virtually the same distance at 20.8km, the "big hill" was 54m gain in 1km which is double in both distance and height to the hill on the usual route. Still it all helps.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I shall report back, they've been dispatched so will hopefully get them fitted tomorrow night and use them on Wednesday night. Also I don't get the T.Rex reference...even though I may be Marc Bolan reincarnated.

Enjoy the recessed cleats, nothing like penguin walking on road cleats

From a couple I met cycling tandom across Aus, I'd suggest being careful on smooth flat floors. Tiled and vinyl floors are apparently very slippery even with recessed cleats.

 

[Neal]

Enjoy the recessed cleats, nothing like penguin walking on road cleats

From a couple I met cycling tandom across Aus, I'd suggest being careful on smooth flat floors. Tiled and vinyl floors are apparently very slippery even with recessed cleats.

Apart from the living room our entire downstairs is hard floors Actually I should be more worried about the missus stringing me up by my danglies when I scratch the wood floors...I'll just blame the kids

 

[ExigeEvan]

Apart from the living room our entire downstairs is hard floors Actually I should be more worried about the missus stringing me up by my danglies when I scratch the wood floors...I'll just blame the kids

I may be wrong, it was just one of the points they made when we asked how well they worked. They were extremely experienced though so I imagine they've tried a few pairs/systems.

 

[Neal]

I may be wrong, it was just one of the points they made when we asked how well they worked. They were extremely experienced though so I imagine they've tried a few pairs/systems.

I'll take their word for it and try not to go on my arse, my work shoes are like they're teflon coated in the wet so I've had practice at it!


Just done my usual ride but did it a fair bit quicker than before and averaged 24km/h, chocolate milk recovery drink FTW

Also...

 

[Bram Turismo]

Did a 10-minute cycling session at 200 watts as warm-up for my work-out at the gym today. Then had leg-presses and decided to end the work-out by doing an intensive short cycling session at 300 watts. Then I upped it to 400 watts and only held it for a short moment.

'Twas brutal!

 

[Submerged]

Hm, looking out of the window, the road is slightly damp (must have rained a few hours ago) and the weather forecast is for a cloudy day.

I'm not terribly keen to cycle when the roads are damp, but I do know I need to start getting time on the saddle.

Just hope it starts to dry out in the next hour or so....

 

[W3H5]

I dodged a damp ride today. I'm not too fused about riding on slicks if it's only partly damp but all the grip from the road gets stuck in my parts and it takes me a few hours on my day off to clean it.

I kind of wish I'd gone out now, even for a 20k or so, just a casual ride into the old town to buy some snacks or more novelty junk.

 

[Omnis]

Biking must be a lot more fun when you're not 300lbs. I hate hills. I think my chain keeps popping off the sprockets because it can't take the torque when I get my diesel on during climbs.

 

[Submerged]

Stupid question Omnis.... But can you lessen the force you're putting it through when you're going up the hill?

Its more about the cadence/candance(?) rather than pure brutal strength when you're going up the hills.

 

[W3H5]

I find uphills offer a great workout if you tackle them properly.

The best way is to ride the hill gently in the highest gear and once you're familiar with it you can try taking it on at a higher pace and getting the full benefit of uphill riding.

 

[Neal]

Hm, looking out of the window, the road is slightly damp (must have rained a few hours ago) and the weather forecast is for a cloudy day.

I'm not terribly keen to cycle when the roads are damp, but I do know I need to start getting time on the saddle.

Just hope it starts to dry out in the next hour or so....

MTFU


I try to include as much climbing as possible in my training rides so that when I'm out on a proper ride I can get up the hills easier (which are waaay bigger than anything near me) and have plenty of go left in the tank to rip up the singletrack on the way back down....with added gnar! Spinning the cranks too fast knackers me out so a medium cadence seems to work best for me which does generally mean pushing a slightly higher gear to other people.

Possibly NSFW due to uneccasry cross dressing, also my work PC has no sound so I'll stick a language warning in for good measure.

 

[Aldo]

Awesome

 

[Omnis]

Stupid question Omnis.... But can you lessen the force you're putting it through when you're going up the hill?

Its more about the cadence/candance(?) rather than pure brutal strength when you're going up the hills.

No, because the hill I'm talking about is a ramp to a tunnel that goes under one of the main roads surrounding the campus. You can't carry any speed into the climbs because you have to stop for idiots and can't just take for granted that someone else isn't going to be barreling down the ramp on their bikes to smack right into you. I do have to shift down eventually, but then it gets to the point where I'm pedaling so fast and going so slow that I would make better time walking it. And I do.

Here, look:



And then the street that he starts out on is all steep-ass hill. But you see what I mean when he gets to the bottom of the tunnel... you can't just carry speed because a flying skateboarder brah might come flying out at you. Would be no sweat if I was 100lbs. lighter though.

 

[Submerged]

I decided to head out anyway and see how it was. I hate country roads when its damp and the farmer's been out in their dirty, muddy tractors, leaving mud all over the roads. This means I'm having to daintly cycle my way through it! Ah, wasn't impressed when I saw the tyre was brown all over... until I hit some dry patches and it all went away. Hm.

Basically, it was alright, just a bit scary going downhill for me (overactive imagination) and didn't have a drink of my "Man UP!" juice beforehand!

22 miles (35.2 km), 15.4mph average (24.64kph) this time. After the first five miles when I was regretting sitting down on that tiny, tiny and hard saddle, it was pretty easy flowing and nothing terribly difficult. I kinda cheated this time and just went a generally flatter route, which Strava said it was 720-something ft Elevation thingy. Obviously, not that much flatter then...

Omnis, that makes sense. Hm, maybe you could use the upper body weight to push down on the pedals instead of using your leg muscles? Could be a way of just pedalling without actually using excessive leg power. If you notice the road climbers, they use their body weight to help push down on the pedals, no matter how slight they are.

So far, my legs are holding up alright. Tomorrow will be an interesting day, as I said that I would swim with a friend to keep them company while they're training for their event in April.

 

[Omnis]

Yeah, that's what I do. But my chain goes crazy when I do that. I wish I could look back at it and see what the hell goes on when I unleash the diesel. Basically what happens is it'll skip and crunch, and then I have to take a foot off a pedal and onto the ground so I don't fall over. Kinda ruins the whole Jan Ullrich moment.

 

[SuBMWaru]

Hey guys. Found this thread a few minutes ago. I ride a cannondale caad 8 and I've been a rider for years. Anyone know about the BRAG? (Bike Ride Across Georgia) it's an awesome ride. Great to know theres bikers and driver out there as well!

 

[Submerged]

Yeah, that's what I do. But my chain goes crazy when I do that. I wish I could look back at it and see what the hell goes on when I unleash the diesel. Basically what happens is it'll skip and crunch, and then I have to take a foot off a pedal and onto the ground so I don't fall over. Kinda ruins the whole Jan Ullrich moment.

A skip and a crunch kinda indicates that the derailler cables aren't in the correct tension for the sprockets I'm guessing. You may need to adjust that a little bit more to allow it a chance to "lock" into place. Sometimes they may need a certain level of slack or tension to keep them in place.

 

[W3H5]

I ride a cannondale caad 8 and I've been a rider for years.

Sweet bike, how much does it retail for? I had a look at a Sora before I bought my OCR. Is it the 16 gear set?

EDIT: Got any pics to post?

 

[SuBMWaru]

Sweet bike, how much does it retail for? I had a look at a Sora before I bought my OCR. Is it the 16 gear set?

EDIT: Got any pics to post?

I'll post some pics in a few hours. Got a deal From rei. Sub 1000 dollars. It had a sora triple up front but swapped it out for a double.

 

[Submerged]

I got a Sora triple.

Makes it a lot easier to go up the hills, although some of the gearing isn't as spaced out as I would like it to be. The big gears only ever for when setting land speed records but it does top out quite easily unless you're a power monster and can spin it so fast!

Yeah, saw the google images search of that bike, it looks well nice!

 

[SuBMWaru]

I got a Sora triple.

Makes it a lot easier to go up the hills, although some of the gearing isn't as spaced out as I would like it to be. The big gears only ever for when setting land speed records but it does top out quite easily unless you're a power monster and can spin it so fast!

Yeah, saw the google images search of that bike, it looks well nice!

The sora triple is ridiculous. It tops out very quickly on flat surfaces. Downhill is just atrocious. The ultegra double is older but much better.

 

[boiltheocean]

Yeah, that's what I do. But my chain goes crazy when I do that. I wish I could look back at it and see what the hell goes on when I unleash the diesel. Basically what happens is it'll skip and crunch, and then I have to take a foot off a pedal and onto the ground so I don't fall over. Kinda ruins the whole Jan Ullrich moment.

Sounds like your gears aren't indexed properly.

 

[W3H5]

I got a Sora triple.

Makes it a lot easier to go up the hills, although some of the gearing isn't as spaced out as I would like it to be. The big gears only ever for when setting land speed records but it does top out quite easily unless you're a power monster and can spin it so fast!

I'm kind of glad I went with the Giant now. My old bike with mountain gears topped out easy enough, the 16 speed on the OCR will just about top out on a 3km run down hill at 30 degrees!

 

[SuBMWaru]

Here's my ride. Its a fantastic bike. Still running stock rims and original tires. Its pushing 1k miles soon as it was a recent upgrade. Reading all these posts makes me wanna ride!! Cannondale CAAD 8 with an older Ultegra double up front and the Tiagra sub par stuff in the rear. Its an 18 speed at this point without the silly sora triple.

EDIT- Had to get the Panamera and Ferrari hats. Yeah, this child sleeps in my room.

 

[W3H5]

Nice. I've been looking at getting a bar-end mirror myself as the roads here are horrifyingly dangerous!

Are they slick or semi slick tyres? From the picture they look like full slicks.

 

[SuBMWaru]

Nice. I've been looking at getting a bar-end mirror myself as the roads here are horrifyingly dangerous!

Are they slick or semi slick tyres? From the picture they look like full slicks.

No slicks yet, Im gonna wear these out soon as Im on a trainer a bit. They're semis with slick top and some tread on the side. I put my bike through hell and these tires have failed to disappoint. As for the mirror it's the first thing I put on this bike. Pretty much unbreakable and makes you loads more comfortable when the loggers on the back roads give you a 2 inch margin.

 

[W3H5]

I have the same issue with taxis, there aren't any loggers in this city.

I could recommend some good slicks or if you're going with the semis again then Maxxis Detonators are a great choice, my last bike ran over 5'000km on a set with a little tread but mostly slick.

How do you train?

I live in a mountain city so there are plenty of large, steep hills to climb when I'm not commuting, and even on my commute. When the weather picks up and spring comes around I'll be back to the interval training on those bad boy mountains.

EDIT: Nice to se another road biker on the boards, as currently it seems to be just Submerged and myself!

 

[Submerged]

The sora triple is ridiculous. It tops out very quickly on flat surfaces. Downhill is just atrocious. The ultegra double is older but much better.

Yes, that I do agree with.

It is more for climbing uphills and it is more for a beginner's level of cycling.

At the moment, I'm not finding it uncomfortable to use the gears yet as I haven't got the cardio and power yet to really highlight the gears shortfalls yet. No doubt that once I do, I will start complaining about them! So far, I'm not there yet.

With the bar mirrors are they actually easy to use?

 

[W3H5]

With the bar mirrors are they actually easy to use?

And another question; is it a Cat Eye because that was the only brand I could find on-line here?