Road Cycling Essentials

Mr Jones · 26 Jun 2013 at 19:51

Finished work and went straight out for a ride with my boss till we part half way. For a 40+ year old bloke, he's fast (he's got a Planet X carbon from CTW, I'm saying kit played a part

) It's my first time leading and drafting with another cyclist. Makes me work harder and pushed beyond my normal miles under the belt ride.

http://app.strava.com/activities/63013283

Definitely joining a club soon.

[DOD]Asprilla · 26 Jun 2013 at 20:10

ShiWarrior said:
so if I put slicks on , its close to a roadie then ?

Pretty much.

My CX is a CAAD CX9. Front triangle is a CAAD9 with a CX specific fork whilst the back end is CX specific with wishbone seat stays and longer thinner chainstays to absorb the bumps.

Edinho · 26 Jun 2013 at 20:28

Mr Jones said:
http://app.strava.com/activities/63013283

I think you need to go west and go climbing.

Mr Jones · 26 Jun 2013 at 20:33

Edinho said:
I think you need to go west and go climbing.

I will do, still slowly working my legs to more miles under my legs. The next Strava challenge will defo make me push more verticals.

Edinho · 26 Jun 2013 at 20:39

Mr Jones said:
I will do, still slowly working my legs to more miles under my legs. The next Strava challenge will defo make me push more verticals.

Good job. Plan properly and you are in cycling paradise around here. A club will know all the routes inside-out.

Makhaira · 26 Jun 2013 at 20:49

I'm continuing to follow the advice of "little and often" to start cycling, went out tonight for my second ride and did a gentle 6 miles or so with the other half. Evening sun, nice cycle paths, loved it

.

A technical question - she's using my old bike, a Rayleigh Endurance Boulder, which is just an old mountain bike, nothing special. It has gripshift gears on it which are an absolute pain, and I was wondering what was involved in changing them over to a more traditional gear shifter arrangement. So, the questions:

1) Anything more I need to consider other than new shifters and presumably new gear cables?
2) Having read up on and subsequently indexed my Hybrid Comp, which is now wonderfully smooth and silent through all the gears (although it took me a bloody age!), should I be capable of changing the shifters on the Rayleigh?
3) What haven't I even thought of due to my lack of knowledge?

Cheers!

EDIT: It appears to be a Shimano SIS GripShift setup, with 5 speeds on the rear cassette, 3 front.

VeNT · 26 Jun 2013 at 21:40

Bit of a run in on the way down today
http://app.strava.com/activities/63001447#1189767821
can you spot it?
squeeky bum time!
old guy turned right across my path, nearly ended up going though his window!

ShiWarrior · 26 Jun 2013 at 22:05

[DOD]Asprilla;24521022 said:
Pretty much.

My CX is a CAAD CX9. Front triangle is a CAAD9 with a CX specific fork whilst the back end is CX specific with wishbone seat stays and longer thinner chainstays to absorb the bumps.

thanks for the info

ill look out for Cannondales as well then

[DOD]Asprilla · 26 Jun 2013 at 22:06

Makhaira said:
I'm continuing to follow the advice of "little and often" to start cycling, went out tonight for my second ride and did a gentle 6 miles or so with the other half. Evening sun, nice cycle paths, loved it .

A technical question - she's using my old bike, a Rayleigh Endurance Boulder, which is just an old mountain bike, nothing special. It has gripshift gears on it which are an absolute pain, and I was wondering what was involved in changing them over to a more traditional gear shifter arrangement. So, the questions:

1) Anything more I need to consider other than new shifters and presumably new gear cables?
2) Having read up on and subsequently indexed my Hybrid Comp, which is now wonderfully smooth and silent through all the gears (although it took me a bloody age!), should I be capable of changing the shifters on the Rayleigh?
3) What haven't I even thought of due to my lack of knowledge?

Cheers!

Dunno a lot about thumb and twist shifters but you need to make sure that the shifters and mechs have the same number of indices, and that the pull ratios (the amount of cable pulled for each click) are the same. Getting shifters from the same manufacturer may not be enough of a guide.

I've got to rebuild my hybrid as a kiddy carrier since I've sold the Bryant and I've bought a new rear mech and matching shifters to take the guess work out of it.

Makhaira · 26 Jun 2013 at 22:22

Thanks Asprilla. Looking around it seems like 5 speed setups aren't exactly common. Got half a mind to tell her to stick with it for the time being, and if cycling becomes a lasting thing for us, just get her a whole new basic bike. Seems pointless throwing £100 for shifters and mech at a bike that was only ever £200 new about 15 years ago!

Vonhelmet · 26 Jun 2013 at 22:41

There shouldn't be anything unmanageable about grip shift. I have grip shift on my old MTB. What's the problem with it? Do the shifters need a bit of a service?

[DOD]Asprilla · 26 Jun 2013 at 23:09

Vonhelmet said:
There shouldn't be anything unmanageable about grip shift. I have grip shift on my old MTB. What's the problem with it? Do the shifters need a bit of a service?

Tbh I'm not a fan of grip shifters because I have ladies office worker hands, not rough man working hands. I tend to end up getting sore on the palm at the base of my thumb.

minty · 26 Jun 2013 at 23:23

The Fizik R1's turned up. Slipper like fit so far, just gotta wait and see how they feel after some rides. Top quality and pretty slick looking if i do not say so myself :cool:

Indigo · 27 Jun 2013 at 00:13

Broke a spoke today somehow on my Giant

Getting it serviced next week and the spoke shall be fixed then so not long before it's as good as new again.

Guy in the shop said it'd be ok to ride with just one spoke missing (back wheel by the way) saying the wheel would just be a bit weaker and to be more careful. What are other peoples thoughts on this? Ok to ride to work (19 mile round trip) for the next 3 days?

grudas · 27 Jun 2013 at 00:17

IndigoGorilla said:
Broke a spoke today somehow on my Giant

Getting it serviced next week and the spoke shall be fixed then so not long before it's as good as new again.

Guy in the shop said it'd be ok to ride with just one spoke missing (back wheel by the way) saying the wheel would just be a bit weaker and to be more careful. What are other peoples thoughts on this? Ok to ride to work (19 mile round trip) for the next 3 days?

if they are 32 spoke wheels you'll be fine.. anything less and i wouldn't risk it

mind you i rode home on a 20 spoke wheel with one spoke just holding with no tension at all.. - wheel was buckled up tho.

6thElement · 27 Jun 2013 at 00:28

^^ What he said. If they're low spoke wheels then no, avoid it. You're putting more stress on the remaining spokes.

platypus · 27 Jun 2013 at 07:40

Saundie said:
How dare you! I've done over 1000 miles on it, I'll have you know!

Same here, and like you my left foot tends to go numb first. I'd really like to get it sorted if possible, as it holds me back from doing longer rides. It only takes an hour for me to lose all feeling in my feet, after which I have to get off the bike for 5 or so minutes to get the feeling back. I cannot figure out how the cleats should be, which is why I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a bike fit. It's the day before the Dunwhich Dynamo, which may turn out to be a mistake...

I've decided not to enter Saundie, my knees have been giving me real jip since comnig back from diving.

[DOD]Asprilla · 27 Jun 2013 at 07:43

platypus said:
I've decided not to enter Saundie

Is he disappointed or relieved?

platypus · 27 Jun 2013 at 07:54

minty said:
The Fizik R1's turned up. Slipper like fit so far, just gotta wait and see how they feel after some rides. Top quality and pretty slick looking if i do not say so myself

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2360/udbo.jpg[/IMG]

Good shoes to be sure, and I don't mean to rain on your parade but I just don't like them. I think I've unwittingly become even more of a snob since being allowed to buy Rapha. The only important thing of course is that they are actually comfortable for you. I still can't rate anything higher than Sidi.

platypus · 27 Jun 2013 at 07:55

[DOD]Asprilla;24522615 said:
Is he disappointed or relieved?

We could have had a nice ride together

.