The biking thread

The cleats on my shoes are under the ball of my feet. I'd refuse to ride with my toes on them, though. Guess it's indeed a preference through personal training. If anything starts going, it's the inside of the quads. At the end of my training my quads are usually the muscles screaming for rest. Never had any issues with my calves.

Anyhow, today's ride:

Time 2:26:27
Distance: 67,61 km
Average 27,70 km/h

Had a similar ride on Friday, but 4 km shorter and 26 km/h averaged. The wind was blowing hard that day. Today there was a slight breeze at the max.
 
^ Impressive pace over that duration 👍 I had a big ride today at a significantly slower average speed but that's difference between road riding and mountain biking.

We were meant to go to Coed y Brenin trail centre yesterday to do The Beast but car troubles for my brother moved it to today and to the Peak District to do a loop of Mam Tor and Lady Bower Reservoir although it was the same distance and climbing we would have done on The Beast. The weather was glorious and I've even got comedy sunburn with red arms and white hands :lol: I only fell off twice which was a miracle considering how technical the descents were but the first time I shinned myself with the pedal and pummelled my balls on the saddle resulting in a Peter Griffin moment and the second time I landed on a rock with my shin in exactly the same place spot the pedal caught it :ouch: :ouch:

Strava says...
Distance 35.7km
Climbing 1,019m :D
Moving time 2:42:52
Elapsed time 4:17:46 (lots of stopping to read maps and let the others catch up ;))
Average speed 13.1km/h

All but one Strava segment included huge stopping time for crashes, map reading and snack stops but the I'm happy with the one that was mostly uninterrupted. 15 out of 59 on a 3.9km category 3 climb!
 
Did many short cycles recently (20k-ish) All of them with an average of 26Km/h or so. Next week I will aim for longer distances when I have more time.
 
Neal
^ Impressive pace over that duration 👍
Click to expand...

My goal is 30 km/h average, which is the speed most professional cyclists hold during 4-6 hour rides. I'll be very, very happy if I'd reach a 3 hour, 30 km/h averaged ride.
 
30km/h would be nice. Most recently I averaged 28.8km/h over a 48 km stretch in an hour and 50 ish, but that was hilly on the way back. Not sure if you can really count this, but did a 5 mile stretch on my local cycle track in 12:35, which gives an average spend of 23.84 mph or 38km/h. Needless to say that was fairly tiring !

Also, footwear related, can anyone give advice on cleats and pedals for a road bike, or good brands. Thanks :)
 
Emptyone
Also, footwear related, can anyone give advice on cleats and pedals for a road bike, or good brands. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Dunno if there's many roadies using these but I think they are pretty neat. Offroad they're a fairly common sight but maybe I'm missing something about what makes a good pedal on a road bike.

Are Look pedals lighter or allow more adjustments or something?
 
daft biker
Dunno if there's many roadies using these but I think they are pretty neat. Offroad they're a fairly common sight but maybe I'm missing something about what makes a good pedal on a road bike.

Are Look pedals lighter or allow more adjustments or something?
Click to expand...

Crank Bros are the most awful pedals in all of history. The rate at which the bearings self destruct on those things is amazing, I mean the design is great and all but they just bypass common sense.

For a decent road pedal I'd go for Look or Time.
 
boiltheocean
Crank Bros are the most awful pedals in all of history. The rate at which the bearings self destruct on those things is amazing, I mean the design is great and all but they just bypass common sense.
Click to expand...

I shall take your word for it.:) I'm sticking with flatties.
 
daft biker
I shall take your word for it.:) I'm sticking with flatties.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my dads Candy pedals went within 3 rides. I've also just swapped back to flats after years being clipped in because I'm starting to hit more DH routes on the Yeti, I'd rather take the confidence over the extra power. :lol:
 
Neal
The weather was glorious and I've even got comedy sunburn with red arms and white hands :lol:
Click to expand...

I have a permanent white hand, bronze arm tan thanks to riding in Chongqing sun. Throw in a white watch outline and my arms are quite humours in appearance!

Emptyone
Also, footwear related, can anyone give advice on cleats and pedals for a road bike, or good brands. Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I just went to my local shop an chose the one which suited my needs. Flat on one side, clip on the other. Some random brand from Europe made them. The seem to be working well so far.

As Bram said, Shimano are pretty up there with the best from what I gather from the research I did into footwear.

Crank Brothers, Look and the Dura Ace gear are highly rated but expensive. Check out evanscycles.co.uk and have a look at what they have to get a rough idea of things.
 
boiltheocean
Yeah, my dads Candy pedals went within 3 rides. I've also just swapped back to flats after years being clipped in because I'm starting to hit more DH routes on the Yeti, I'd rather take the confidence over the extra power. :lol:
Click to expand...

Understandable. I'm not overly keen on the idea of having the bike fixed onto my feet on interesting terrain either.

Another reason I like flatties though is that it takes good technique to keep your feet on no matter how grippy they are. It's quite easy for a foot to get bounced off a pedal battering down bumpy trails so I feel you have pay more attention and work harder to stay on. Getting the power down and smoothly is a whole other technique in itself too....great fun, especially on a hardtail:)

I guess, for me, being clipped in is a bit like playing GT5 with ASM on....takes some of the fun out of it :lol:
 
Hiya guys, need a little hand on forks for my bike.

I've been riding for around a month now, been going to some trails and my front shocks don't seem to be absorbing any of the shocks. I've adjusted them, set preload, but it does not make the slightest bit of difference.

I currently have SR Suntour XCT (SF12-XCT-V4-DS) forks and am looking to upgrade.

i've seen these Rock Shox XC 28 TK Coil Forks 2012 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=67884

What do you all think? any others i should look at? I have a budget of £100

thanks :)👍
 
Neal
Post not valid due to lack of details from down under ;)
Click to expand...

tumblr_m48f05mVzm1qi3rkr.jpg


Advice time!

I need some winter biking clothing, but am not sure what the smart buy is. Obviously, I want to spend as little as possible :D

Is the way to go thermals, or skins for example?
 
Mike Rotch
Is the way to go thermals, or skins for example?
Click to expand...

Depends how cold your winter is.

I was riding in track bottoms, a football t-shirt (Clima-cool) and a light weight wind and rain proof jacket.

Once I bought some Lycra leggings I was actually warmer but only after the first few km.

A buff is useful for your neck and a woolly hat to keep your head warm.

My main advice is to wear clothes that are easily removable and which can be mixed and matched to suit the weather conditions.
 
W3HS
My main advice is to wear clothes that are easily removable and which can be mixed and matched to suit the weather conditions.
Click to expand...

Similar advice can be applied to people who go dogging as well I presume. 👍
 
^ :lol:

mp10
...
i've seen these Rock Shox XC 28 TK Coil Forks 2012 http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=67884

What do you all think? any others i should look at? I have a budget of £100

thanks :)👍
Click to expand...

For £100 I got a second hand Rockshox Reba from some dude on Bikeradar. The jury is still out if the seller was a shister as they were not quite as described but he refunded me the £30 I requested for the shorter steerer and stanchion scratch so he wasn't a complete conman and I'm am properly happy with the Reba's. They are meant to be XC forks but I'm yet to push them too far and they've soaked up some pretty rough stuff.

The Rock Shox you've linked will be better than the Suntours but you would be much better getting a fork with 32mm stanchions rather than 28mm. If you can find the extra tenner down than back of the sofa or steal it from friends and family then On One are selling a RockShox Recon Silver TK Coil 100mm Fork With Lockout for £110 which is a much better fork than the XC 28 TK.

Mike Rotch
Advice time!

I need some winter biking clothing, but am not sure what the smart buy is. Obviously, I want to spend as little as possible :D

Is the way to go thermals, or skins for example?
Click to expand...

I doubt your winter will be quite as grim as mine but it can still get to you especially on road with the extra wind chill. Keeping you hands and feet warm is essential so get some decent gloves, warm socks and boots and/or neoprene overshoes. Winter leggings/tights under your shorts will be enough but I'm cheap so wore summer base layer leggings under my shorts which helped a bit. Up top I just layered up with base layers, t-shirts, fleeces, soft shell coat or waterproof coat to match the temperature and had a thin merino wool skull cap under the lid. Links below for ideas...most stuff I wore is generic outdoor stuff rather than bike specific.

Gloves http://www.tenn-outdoors.co.uk/cold...dproof-soft-shell-cycling-glove-blackgrey-sml
Over shoes http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CLPXOSH/planet_x_neoprene_overshoes
Leggings http://www.evanscycles.com/products...c019973?query=Altura Winter Cruisers Trousers
Skullcap http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=51319

ExigeEvan
Finally typed up my diary from when I was out there. I'm gonna try and put a few pictures and stories up soonish.
Click to expand...

👍
 
Neal
For £100 I got a second hand Rockshox Reba from some dude on Bikeradar. The jury is still out if the seller was a shister as they were not quite as described but he refunded me the £30 I requested for the shorter steerer and stanchion scratch so he wasn't a complete conman and I'm am properly happy with the Reba's. They are meant to be XC forks but I'm yet to push them too far and they've soaked up some pretty rough stuff.

The Rock Shox you've linked will be better than the Suntours but you would be much better getting a fork with 32mm stanchions rather than 28mm. If you can find the extra tenner down than back of the sofa or steal it from friends and family then On One are selling a RockShox Recon Silver TK Coil 100mm Fork With Lockout for £110 which is a much better fork than the XC 28 TK.
Click to expand...

👍 Thanks for the advice mate, i'm sure i can push the budget a little more. Will look around and then post back with what happens. thank again :)👍
 
Thanks for the tips peeps - I've got some research to do with some knowledge behind me know.

Its doesn't get too cold, but the wind chill is the issue as there its guaranteed to be gusty almost daily during winter. Certainly not on the scale of cold you UK blokes have, but hey, don't be hatin' :sly:
 
Wind chill has a surprising effect of actually freezing you to your very bones with very little effects if you don't have the right clothes!

There are cycle jackets that you can buy that does help to guard against some wind chill and are light, warm and comfortable to wear. Cycle gloves will help, but your fingers are still going to get bitten by the cold. If you have metal or smooth brake levers, full fingers gloves may find it tricky to keep a hold of the brakes.
 
Unless it's pissing down the best thing to wear is a soft shell jacket as it's windproof, pretty waterproof, warm but very breathable which a normal waterproof jacket isn't.
 
Rain + Mike Rotch = No riding for you!

I've ordered some baselayer thermals for "cheep" on a site that was having a sale. Only cost like $20 for top and bottom so I'll give them a go and see what is what with slap-dash riding gear I can muster from my closet.

As for my mug....the option is one of those mask jobbies or just going to have to cop it. 25kph into a 30kph wind and 10C is going to be fun :( On the up side, cold wind can't make it any uglier then it already is :D.
 
10 degrees here yesterday, I couldn't decide whether to wear just two cycle jerseys, or just one cycle jersey and a jacket. Ended up wearing a jersey and a jacket. With leggings and padded shorts. The jacket was overkill... Made me sweat a fair bit, thankfully was only doing 15 miles in one hour, so didn't get cold from the sweat that time!

However, 25kph winds?! That's going to be a challenge. Might as well just get some base layers going and just protect yourself a bit, till you get a bit hardcore with it all and can do it without. :)
 
Decided to go for the RockShox Recon's, will buy them soon and hopefully get them fitted when i have some free time.

Thanks for the advice 👍
 
Today's ride:

Distance: 28,49 km
Time: 56:01
Average speed: 30,52 km/h

The saddest part about writing your final project that grants you graduation (thesis?) is that you have to work stupidly long hours. I sat at university from 9am-8pm. And it's 20C the entire week outside :grumpy:

Anyway, I just couldn't resist going out on a ride. Even if it was this late in the evening, I just needed a few km just to feel I've actually done something today besides my project. So I kept the ride short, but punched it 👍
 

Similar threads

Katiegan
The BMX Thread
Replies
1
Views
2K
allent2
allent2
Hollow
Skincare Thread
2
Replies
39
Views
3K
Omnis
Omnis
sirjim73
The Nordschleife time trials thread
Replies
16
Views
4K
Alex p.
Alex p.
Nakano219
The Community Career Creator Thread [Accepting Submissions]
Replies
4
Views
922
sirjim73
sirjim73
Clinton Ducks
The Events & Features Wishlist Thread
Replies
8
Views
1K
Saf1
Saf1

Latest Posts

Back