Road Cycling

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
21,047
I get the same feeling when out on the road after mostly being on the trainer - The bike feels fast and nimble.
Also I find my quadriceps get more of a work out on the road and my calf muscles on the trainer.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Apr 2008
Posts
24,069
Location
Lorville - Hurston
So I rode outside! First time since October!

First things, pump tyres up. Valve core winds out of the tube... fix that. Find Garmin, powertap batteries appear to be flat, oh well.

First pedal strokes, wow how fast is this bike, it’s so light and moves around so much more than on the trainer.

But it’s so windy :( some terrible road surfaces too. How good are separated bike lanes, then they finish after 400m and you can’t get back on the main road easily!

Just over 60k in 2 hours, 30kmh average smack on. My calf muscles feel like they got a proper workout, maybe I use them more on the road compared to the turbo.

And I have a noisy cleat, which gets annoying rather quickly, and then another noise appeared after 50km which I think could be the BB or chain.

60km? thats brilliant
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
Posts
15,875
Location
Norwich
Hard work this morning. Left it until nearly 10:00 to get out to allow the roads to thaw out which worked well but towards the verge the standing water was still pretty solid. Tried a new route so I could try out turn by turn navigation on the Bolt which had a couple of slightly sketchy lanes but the winter machine just soaks that stuff up.

TBH I'm seriously considering a nicer gravel bike as my summer machine because you can just plot a route by clicking away at random and if some of that turns out to be dirt track or trashed lanes then game on :p
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2006
Posts
14,349
I had these until i dropped one... Silk type right?

Yeah, kinda, they have some little grippy bits on the palm and finger tips.

I wear them all the time with my (also DhB) summer gloves when there's a bit of a chill in the air as they have a mesh back and they just take the chill off perfectly.

I think liners tend to perform better in the 5-15 degree range as opposed to the sub 5.

Wore them in my Rapha Winter gloves this morning between 1 and 2 degrees, my hands were still cold due to the high wind, not painfully so but I was conscious. Without them though I'd probably have been more concerned. Probably quite handy in the event of a mechanical as you've some dexterity and slight wind shelter.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2006
Posts
14,349
Shame about TV brand, just as I dragged up that picture from twitter/insta of Cav for the fan mounting bracket I'd previously looked at. I then did a doubletake and realised the TV brands & stands looked very similar (and the fans) to those at Rapha. Happy coincidence, or maybe they are the same and there's some sponsorship going on. Rapha & UK Pro team riders would be some clever product placement...

AAIsWNgl.jpg

Run with Alienware:

HxeFbIGl.jpg

And zip-tied. Didn't stand directly in front but could tell it was shifting a fair bit of air and quite quiet too. Two arriving in the next week or so.

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37EyHMXl.jpg

I was considering a Tripod but I moved some things around in the garage and made a workbench out of double thickness 18mm MDF and some £30 Saw-horses instead :cool: A tidy dungeon is still a dungeon :p

XkEUVCyl.jpg

KoO0qeMl.jpg

J9HoPGhl.jpg
 
Caporegime
Joined
28 Jun 2005
Posts
48,104
Location
On the hoods
Rode in to work this morning, through the snow and ice. Just over 10mph!! Saw a few crunches cars where people had screwed up in the snow. I did more off-road than I usually would do to avoid the roads where possible.

Looking at the weather this might be the last time I’ll need these tyres this year, but even with the few times I’ve used them they’ve paid for themselves in terms of times I’d have taken the train instead.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
Any similarly black bezeled TV would be fine unless you want to be a fanboy :p
Haha I was just thinking how tidy they looked and how solid the stands where so (wrongly) figured they where made for the TV's! :p

Interesting they're Samsungs, have two but not that big...

So I rode outside! <snip>
Nice list of complaints, you're settling back into it fine! ;)

TBH I'm seriously considering a nicer gravel bike as my summer machine because you can just plot a route by clicking away at random and if some of that turns out to be dirt track or trashed lanes then game on :p
That's one thing I love about my Diverge - no roads bother it and the occasional dump into a pot hole or foray onto gravel it just takes in it's stride. Also one of the reasons my mates don't let me choose routes as I'll always have some random shortcut in there down a road I don't know but have spotted when mapping. Usually resulting in roads like these! (while they're riding their race frames and small tyres!) :D

I've a pair of DhB liners which are fair.

They help a bit but when it's that cold...
If they're the same liners I'm thinking of then really REALLY size down on them. I bought Medium and they where huge, swapped for Small and still far too big. XS where out of stock so just kept them. I'm a Medium in most gloves, inc other DHB's.

AAIsWNgl.jpg

Run with Alienware:

HxeFbIGl.jpg

And zip-tied. Didn't stand directly in front but could tell it was shifting a fair bit of air and quite quiet too. Two arriving in the next week or so.

64i860jl.jpg

37EyHMXl.jpg

I was considering a Tripod but I moved some things around in the garage and made a workbench out of double thickness 18mm MDF and some £30 Saw-horses instead :cool: A tidy dungeon is still a dungeon :p

XkEUVCyl.jpg

KoO0qeMl.jpg

J9HoPGhl.jpg
Great pics thanks, gives a great view of a solid setup.

Those tripods look very tidy, even more so with those PC's mounted. Alienware PC's and ~2 year old Samsungs. Although nice UHD Upscaled 4K Samsungs 40" TV's so not exactly 'old'! Sweet setup! If only I was allowed a 40" in my garage lol... :D

Shame the fan mounts are only zip tied, the one on Kennaughs looks mounted to the pole so would be height adjustable. Will be interested in how you find yours! Really do think I'm going the stand route, it's just so much tidier. My monitor arm is literally leaning over from the saw bench I'm using at such an angle it'll overbalance with a larger/heavier screen on there, so I need to do something.

Your workbench looks superb, good job! Bikes mounted above or just wheels?
 
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Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
10,646
Can't do this whole turbo thing so got out tonight for a pedal with my mate.

Under 29 miles, his light died so 20+ miles with my front light only was fun for the pothole avoidance.

I'm back to being up by about 4 miles on last year! Mentally I kept looking at that on Strava and getting sad.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Apr 2008
Posts
2,701
Location
Notts / Reading
Hi all, quick question about disc brake calipers.
My bike is a BMC GF02 with 160mm Post mount fixings front and rear; at the moment I have TRP Spyres direct fixed on.

If I go hydro and change to flat mount I guess I'll need an adapter of some sort? Id like to keep it 160mm if I can so I dont have to get new rotors. Anyone know the part that I need?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,617
Hi all, quick question about disc brake calipers.
My bike is a BMC GF02 with 160mm Post mount fixings front and rear; at the moment I have TRP Spyres direct fixed on.

If I go hydro and change to flat mount I guess I'll need an adapter of some sort? Id like to keep it 160mm if I can so I dont have to get new rotors. Anyone know the part that I need?

I don't think the two systems are compatible in that way. Think you'll need to stay with post mount calipers.

You can get adapters to fit post calipers to flat frames but not the reverse. Because the flat mount is 'closer' to the frame you can't really adapt to it.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Apr 2008
Posts
2,701
Location
Notts / Reading
I don't believe such adaptors exist - only the other way round. You'd be best off getting a post-mount set like the ST-RS685, but they're quite costly new. Might actually be worth buying a second hand bike with hydraulics and swapping the brakeset off!

I don't think the two systems are compatible in that way. Think you'll need to stay with post mount calipers.
You can get adapters to fit post calipers to flat frames but not the reverse. Because the flat mount is 'closer' to the frame you can't really adapt to it.

Cheers guys. Just taken a look at Merlin cycles website and they list the following:
STI Levers/Disc Brakeset: 1 x Shimano ST-RS685 Hydraulic Disc Brake STI's & BR-RS785 Disc Brakes (Post Mount)

So I guess thats what I need if I want to go hydro.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Oct 2004
Posts
10,884
Also don't forget that the latest Ultegra brought hydraulic shifters under proper series branding, so the R8020 may also be suitable. Not sure if/how they differ from the RS685 though.

I have RS685 after upgrading from Spyres and it was a nice upgrade
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
Cheers guys. Just taken a look at Merlin cycles website and they list the following:
STI Levers/Disc Brakeset: 1 x Shimano ST-RS685 Hydraulic Disc Brake STI's & BR-RS785 Disc Brakes (Post Mount)

So I guess thats what I need if I want to go hydro.
Yup that'll do it. You don't save anything by buying parts separately and price you see on Merlin is fantastic anyway! Most other places the levers alone are a similar price.

Yeah pretty much, although those are ultegra/DA level parts and cheaper options may be available if you want them
When I thought one of my RS-785 calipers was sticking they where such crazy price to buy individually (they've dropped now to around £35/40) that I actually started to look at using MTB calipers, specifically the Saint and going 4 caliper. Everything I read indicated it should work, the only unknown was the reservoir volume on the RS685 maybe not being enough. I read of guys with broken RS785's swapping them for the Deore calipers successfully. Unsure if it was the M6000 or M446. There was even hints about Shimano using the same ceramic pistons on them so if you cracked one you could swap one over.

Yeah get the 685s! I hate the shape of the 505 and it doesn't feel as nice IMO.
Agreed, coming from 5800 the 685's felt bigger but only marginally with the same shape and a similar 'feel'. The 505 felt flimsy in comparison almost like they where thinner than the 5800's but I think that was to the reservoir making the upper hood feel bigger so the shape is different.
 
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