The biking thread

[W3H5]

That is a really good article, Neal. Although most of the information I've read on other sites there were still things that were new to me. 👍

An upright torso is also very poor aerodynamically. When cycling on level ground, the majority of your effort goes against wind resistance.

Hence my need for aero bars!

Sit on your bike with your hands on the handlebars and the crank arms horizontal. If you have a drop bar, hold the bar out on the brake hoods. Try taking your hands off the bar without moving your torso. If it's a strain to hold your torso in that same position, that's an indication of the work your arms are doing to hold you up.

Might cause extra exertion but is a great way to get a 6-pack.

I've decided on pay day I'm going to invest in some new bars (full drops and aero in one), new seat and some new front forks along with a new chain and gear cassette. It'll cost a bit but it's still cheaper than if I was to buy a completely new bike and most of my current parts are fine, e.g. frame, tyres, wheels.

I tweaked my front derailluer this morning and rode about 40k today with a BBQ break at my old man's place in between. Seems my micro-service, oiling, and raising the seat gave me a bit more speed. My uphill runs have become easier too though I think that's down to the interval training I've done recently. I'm rarely shifting out of top gear now so definitely require a new rear gear cassette.

One question, if I get them to install a new rear gear system I'm assuming it's just the cogs that are replaced and not the whole system. I'm mean, I'm aware that the handle bar shifter would have to be replaced but would they need to put on a new derailluer too? Any idea?

 

[TB]

I did some more reading today and am beginning to think the MTB is the wrong way to go. Trek make a line of 'urban hybrids' that look like they may be better suited to what I will be using it for.

That's the same category I suggested to Joey and very likely what I'll get should the worst happen to my beloved GT. Do me a favor and let me know what you think of them. 👍

 

[Neal]

That is a really good article, Neal. Although most of the information I've read on other sites there were still things that were new to me. 👍

Same for me. I'd previously used the plumb line from knee cap to pedal spindle technique to saddle for-aft position but have moved it further back after reading the article and it is better.

One question, if I get them to install a new rear gear system I'm assuming it's just the cogs that are replaced and not the whole system. I'm mean, I'm aware that the handle bar shifter would have to be replaced but would they need to put on a new derailluer too? Any idea?

The rear cogs (cassette) can be replaced on their own without replacing the rear derailleur or the shifters but the reason the rear cassette is worn is because you've been using a very worn chain for too long which will almost certainly mean the front cogs (chainset) will need replacing too as well as the chain.

 

[W3H5]

So I went to the bike shop and it turns out most of the fancy parts I want they don't have in stock so I'll have to order them from the web. They mostly specialise in MTB gear although I did see a a few helmets and every one keeps pestering me to buy one so that could go on the list.

 

[boiltheocean]

Yay POC! I can't get over how comfortable Martin Soderstrom looks on anything he does, probably why he's my favourite DJ/Street rider.

 

[W3H5]

I had a crazy ride home from work today!

I was doing my usual route, 12.5k, nothing crazy, when about 5 minutes in I hit the river road which covers 85% of my commute. Out of nowhere comes a guy in full national kit on a race bike who sits right on my tail. I pulled in to the curb a bit to let him pass and he takes off down the road like a rocket. Not wanting to let the side down (UK) I cranked up the pace to stay behind him. This went on for 10 minutes and began to feel the burn in my legs.

After a time we hit the hills where, for a very shapely man, he began to lose pace. I, on the other hand, have been interval training on them very hills and so made a pass halfway up.

Coming down we both coasted, him in my slipstream and me as aerodynamic as I could possibly make myself.

When we hit the flats again it was more of the same cat and mouse action. I have to give it to the bloke, he must have legs of iron. Another hill and again he's no match for my specialist area.

After about 25 minutes of this we pulled up at some lights where in my best Chinese I commented on how lovely his bike was, he replied in really good English (to my amazement) that it was a 40'000RMB bike and that it was only his training bike. He inquired where I was from and when I told him London he just laughed. I gave a puzzled look back before asking what he meant, half of me already had some idea what he was going to say.

Turns out he's a potential candidate for the Chinese velodrome team who would be riding in London next year if he gets the spot. He told me that he always rides alone because there are so few cyclists in CQ and he was pleased to have some one to ride with. I asked if he was at full pace (thinking I could be an athelete) to which he reminded me that he was only on a training run for improving strength and not doing race pace.

So, an amazing ride, first time anything so random has happened to me in a long time and even though I really over exerted myself I'm pleased that I could out climb a potential olympion.

I'm feeling so chuffed I just had to post about it, even though I nearly mowed down two, completely clueless, unaware idiots today on two separate journeys I don't even feel like complaining about it in the other threads.

Sorry if the post is a little sloppy, my iPhone buttons are nightmare for anything other than texting, useless piece of crap.

 

[TB]

That is all kinds of cool, shem. 👍

 

[Robin]

+1 That's a really neat story there Shem, certainly doesn't happen everyday!

Nice to ride against a pro and keep up with him too! Maybe when you watch London 2012 you'll be able to spot him on the team.

Robin.

 

[Neal]

That's awesome Shem 👍 Don't be modest, you beat an Olympic cyclist uphill...like a boss!

 

[boiltheocean]

World Cup fans should get ready for a tough few years. UCI have signed a new sponsorship deal with RockyRoadsNetwork(who?) for title sponsorship, part of this means Freecaster are no longer broadcasting each round.

Currently a huge argument between fans and the UCI is raging over who the hell are the RockyRoadsNetwork, supposedly they have over 221k unique visitors a day yet nobody appears to of heard of them. Nobody can find them on Site Ranking websites and the Google Analytics PDF they put out appears to be fake. The website looks like it was designed by a 5 year-old and they guy running it was previously a bartender, something seems really fishy.

http://www.facebook.com/UCIMTBworldcup

 

[Aldo]

World Cup fans should get ready for a tough few years. UCI have signed a new sponsorship deal with RockyRoadsNetwork(who?) for title sponsorship, part of this means Freecaster are no longer broadcasting each round.

Currently a huge argument between fans and the UCI is raging over who the hell are the RockyRoadsNetwork, supposedly they have over 221k unique visitors a day yet nobody appears to of heard of them. Nobody can find them on Site Ranking websites and the Google Analytics PDF they put out appears to be fake. The website looks like it was designed by a 5 year-old and they guy running it was previously a bartender, something seems really fishy.

http://www.facebook.com/UCIMTBworldcup

Does this mean no Rob Warner shouting ridiculous things whilst the other guy talks about the racing? Noooooooooo!

The situation does sound rather messy. Hope they get it sorted as I don't know if anyone could improve on Freecaster's generally decent coverage apart from some more cameras.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Ok, so back to the bikeshop this morning with the aim of sussing out Trek7.1's.

They had a 22" frame on the floor, so I hopped on and besides my immediate thought of "holy crap, that front tyre is really skinny", the only other contribution was the saleswoman looking glum and then saying "I think you need a 25" mate". Some seat adjustments later and with the store owner now also adding his thoughts, the conclusion is: 25".

Which they have to specially order . The 7.1 is noticeably lighter then the 3500 and although the comfort of wide tyres soothes my anxiety of riding (I haven't so much as sat on a bike for 10 years), the logical conclusion for road commuting is the 7.1, so I put a deposit down and will collect it Thurs or Sat, time dependent.

As a footnote, they tried to pull a shifty one on me by trumpeting the fact it was $499 reduced to $399. Then I pointed out that on the national bikes sales website (which combines all online bike listings) it was shown as $369 ! They said, no probs, and threw in an extra $10 too - $359 👍

I also wangled a free 'bike pack' consisting of pump, bottle cage, spare tube and seat bag.

I'm looking forward to getting it now.

 

[W3H5]

Good luck with the new bike Mike. Seems you got a good deal on it. It's not too big a deal riding on skinny tyres, mine are about as wide as my little finger! When you get it, post a pic up if you can. 👍

 

[Neal]

I managed to get my new suspension forks and hydraulic brakes fitted through the week, including a headset service, in time for a ride yesterday with a guy from work at Lee Quarry trail centre. I've only been there once before but as this was the previous Saturday it let me compare what difference the new bits have made to the bike and I pleased to say they are a huge improvement The brakes are plenty powerful enough for one finger braking but have got really nice modulation so I avoided going over the bars...which is nice. In fact even in full on panic situations, which there were a few, I managed to do emergency stops and keep it rubber side down. I think I need to fine tune the set up of the forks a bit more although I've got them more or less right but they are still all kinds of awesome. I was attacking the berms and rocky sections with much more speed than the previous week and the front end just dealt with it and stayed stable...now I just need to learn how to ride over kickers without getting thrown off the pedals, I fear boosting them will end in hospital. Actually on the note there was a guy who had taken a pretty bad tumble and was flown off in a rescue helicopter, keeps you on the right side of stupid

Here is the full route according to the GPS tracker although it struggles when you stop hence the multiple dots and breaks in the line.

This is a zoomed in section of the middle of the quarry. It has one route up and about 5 routes down, all of them with huge berms but some are more bum twitching than others.

Also here is a pretty decent video of most of the trails there, it's not me although I'm pretty much that fast...honest




Also congrats choosing the bike Brad, you really are tall aren't you!

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Yay POC! I can't get over how comfortable Martin Soderstrom looks on anything he does, probably why he's my favourite DJ/Street rider.

Aren't trials bikes NOT supposed to have seats?

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Aren't trials bikes NOT supposed to have seats?

Some do, others don't. As you can see from the video, most riders that run bikes with saddles for trials drop them right down as more of a 'nut saver' than a true saddle.

 

[Aldo]

Awesome to hear the new bits are decent Neal! I noticed my confidence levels rose with decent-er brakes and better forks too!

Aren't trials bikes NOT supposed to have seats?

Indeed. None of those are really trials bikes though...

In other news - Danny Hart you absolute :censored:ing legend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not only is winning the World Bleeding Champs good enough, he did it by 11 seconds!!!
The guy is a god!
Look at the course he did it on too:
http://uk.freecaster.tv/mountainbik...d-by-fox-racing-shox-world-championships-2011

Looks rough as hell. Be warned of the foul language... It is Rob Warner after all.
I like his style though - saying hello to every female on the course and then crashing and swearing lots. It's almost like it is a voice clip of me when I'm trying to pin it round Glentress and nearly falling off but not actually coming off.

Also:

Some comedy falls! A must see if you like watching fixie hipster nonces making an arse out of themselves! Loving the guy that did a barspin on the ground then faceplanted! Chris Akrigg is da boss though - a real rider!

Edit:
On the fixie and Chris Akrigg note, check out this vid of him!


What unbelievable talent this guy has. 👍

 

[boiltheocean]

Just rides past the Marshall, "I thought that was it bud, I was hoping you were going to pull me off"

 

[W3H5]

Here is the full route according to the GPS tracker.

That looks like a great place to ride. I've never done any mountain biking but did once own a off-road racing BMX which I took down hill sometimes.

Do you have to pay to use that place or is it a piece of open, free land?

Good to hear your new parts are working how they should. I've never understood why some people buy new parts that seem to have no function or purpose of improving speed/ times/ performance.

 

[Neal]

Awesome to hear the new bits are decent Neal! I noticed my confidence levels rose with decent-er brakes and better forks too!

I was relieved too, I would have been a bit sick if the forks turned out to be knackered and the brakes weren't up to the job of slowing down my fat ass

That looks like a great place to ride. I've never done any mountain biking but did once own a off-road racing BMX which I took down hill sometimes.

Do you have to pay to use that place or is it a piece of open, free land?

Good to hear your new parts are working how they should. I've never understood why some people buy new parts that seem to have no function or purpose of improving speed/ times/ performance.

It is a ridiculous amount of fun there and very different to the other cross country style trail centres I've been to, as a large proportion of it is basically a bike park a BMX wouldn't be too out of place there but it would get messy on the rocky stuff. It's provided by the council so rather unusually it is completely free although the only facilities are a butty van (nice burgers ) and the car park is the entrance road to the quarry. Most other trail centres charge a few quid for parking which covers the cost of the trails and the facilities.

There are far too many people who buy junk accessories for their hobby just for the sake of it. Saying that I've bought a few other bits on my bike (saddle, bars, stem, grips, tyres) but they're were to adjust the fit or replace worn parts. What really winds me up is when I see kids on cheap full suspension bikes that are ridiculously heavy with suspension that doesn't actually work. We're getting our son his first proper bike for Christmas which will hopefully be a Specialized Hotrock (12" wheels) as it's aluminium so is therefore light and is well made so will last both kids. They're not as cheap as supermarket bikes but they hold their value even when they're a few years old, in fact I may just get a second hand one off ebay as he'll only bash the hell out of it anyway.

 

[boiltheocean]

 

[Aldo]

"OHHH GOD!!!!! Danny!!! STAY ON YOUR BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!!!!!!"

Absolutely LOVING that massive whip towards the end! Warner and the other dude sounded like they were going absolutely mental!

 

[W3H5]

Today I did a, roughly, 50k interval training run up and down the mountains. The bike was in OK shape to start with but developed some creaking sounds towards the end so I'll have to check that out tomorrow.

The weather was sunny. Big time sunny and the temp peaked at 43. Seriously hot. I haven't been riding with a shirt for the last few weeks because of the heat in this city and the humidity. I've got slightly burnt on occasions but there's usually plenty of cloud cover. Not today, check out this burn. (And yes, it's seriously painful )

I'm usually a stubborn git and ignore when my wife says I should be careful of the sun. I don't think I'll be ignoring her any more.

Any how, the ride went well. I like the uphill runs because for a skinny aerodynamic fellow like myself they're a great work out and the way back down means I can race the cars at the speeds I'm reaching.

 

[Neal]

Shem, you are a nutter ...also I see what you mean about the jewfro


I managed to find a work PC compatible video of Danny Hart but I'll have to check out the youtube ones later, he's a bit handy on a bike isn't he

 

[W3H5]

I have to be more careful in future. It stings like a you know what.
The hair has to be tied up when I ride otherwise it gets in my eyes, usually it just frizzes out all over the place!

 

[Neal]

It looks like it could give Marco Simoncelli's a run for it's money

 

[W3H5]

Valderrama is the one I get the most often. The guy who played for the Argentine football team a few years past.
Or Side Show Bob from the younger generation.

 

[Aldo]

Marco Simoncelli

Or Side Show Bob

Same person.

 

[boiltheocean]

Red bull District Ride this Saturday from 13:55 onwards live on Freecaster. Course walk on Pinkbike: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Red-Bull-District-Ride-2011-Day-1-Course-Check.html

 

[Neal]

I could ride that