Road Cycling Essentials

[DOD]Asprilla · 9 Jun 2014 at 10:35

Sweet! I saw your Strava log and thought you'd done it! Do you get a special yellow BB to ride for the rest of the year?

Good to see KW represented on the podium. Try to pull in okgo next year for a KW TTT.....

Berger · 9 Jun 2014 at 10:50

Good on you for winning the race, looks great fun!

Arsey · 9 Jun 2014 at 11:01

[DOD]Asprilla;26425209 said:
Sweet! I saw your Strava log and thought you'd done it! Do you get a special yellow BB to ride for the rest of the year?

Good to see KW represented on the podium. Try to pull in okgo next year for a KW TTT.....

I want a world champion colour Boris Bike. I did get a year's free cycle hire and a pretty nice looking Hiplok though!

platypus · 9 Jun 2014 at 11:12

Awesome work, congrats!

FrenchTart · 9 Jun 2014 at 11:15

I'm out cycling in a shirt and shorts ATM. Not sure why I thought coming out without a soft shell or waterproofs was a good idea this morning

FrenchTart · 9 Jun 2014 at 11:16

platypus said:
Michelin Pro 4s Service Course.

What's the puncture protection like on them?

platypus · 9 Jun 2014 at 11:24

FrenchTart said:
What's the puncture protection like on them?

In 6 years of commuting and riding, averaging over 10,000 miles a year (in all but the first), I've had three punctures. I've almost exclusively used Michelin Pro 3s and 4s in that time.

Two of those three punctures where a double blowout when I hit something in the dark on an unlit street (never did find out what it was).

I stand by them, and won't bother trying any other brand, even when they're on offer

.

Jonny69 · 9 Jun 2014 at 12:04

At Staines station this morning:

Looks like two people might have lost their bikes here. The lesson: don't use braids to secure your bike. ALWAYS use the D lock.

From what I can see here the D lock has not been cut or opened, the owner either used or accidentally used the braid to secure the bike and it's VERY easy to snip through one with nothing more than side cutters.

Vonhelmet · 9 Jun 2014 at 12:36

platypus said:
Trust me your address mate.

Message sent.

ShiWarrior · 9 Jun 2014 at 12:58

nice one @Arsey

so how did you get picked for this? I wanted to race

Been in bib shorts and 1 s/s jersey all last week, even at 8am this morning

Going to Cali · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:04

Been shorts and short sleeve tops since late March / early April around Richmond and Surrey. Fantastic weekend weather-wise, unfortunately had family down for the majority of it but was able to get out for a loop of Esher (once I'd negotiated the horrendous traffic) and the standard pre-work 3 laps of Richmond for a nice easy 100km weekend effort. Hopefully have a crack at the Gran Fondo in the next few weeks.

http://www.strava.com/activities/150988929

http://www.strava.com/activities/151307864

Vonhelmet · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:07

Haha, I've just Googled "marathon plus 28mm" to try to find some tyres for my offroad road bike conversion, and Google has helpfully informed me that:

Google said:
marathon + (28 millimetres) = 1.00000066 marathon

FrenchTart · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:13

Lol

Just got back from a short ~35 miler. As above, I didn't take any waterproofs - just shirt and shorts so when the rain hit about 10 miles in I had a fun time

Also, as I'm on gatorskins and their grip is awful you can see on Strava how much I had to slow down once it hit :/ On the final 5 mile stretch my rear mudguard decided it wanted to become detached too so all in all it was a really awesome ride.

InQ · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:20

Oooops just ordered some Reynolds Assault SLG......

Hope the Campag 11sp works ok on my DA9000 groupset as its reported it does.

Vonhelmet · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:22

I'm hoping the rain lets up a bit by the evening, as I want to get out and ride tonight. I've got my eye on this beauty. I've done it in the wet before, but you do have to be a bit careful as it can be covered in crud after the rain. I also want to give the full mast cat 2 climb a go this week, but I'll probably save that for Wednesday. I need to get some practise in on a long climb like that as my planned cycle route to the TdF in July takes me up Holmfirth Road which is a longass climb.

NotAGolf · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:29

Are gatorskins really that bad in the wet? I've only ever ridden on gatorskins so have nothing to compare them to, but I've never had any 'moments' in the wet.

nydryl · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:32

I've never tried Gatorskins but I recently swapped out my 4Seasons for a pair of Michelin Pro 4. Hard to make any quantifiable comparison but they Pro 4s feel like they roll better and I've got far more confidence in the wet with them. Quite surprised as I expected, just on the name alone, that the 4Seaons would feel better in the wet.

Vonhelmet · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:33

mpledge52 said:
Are gatorskins really that bad in the wet? I've only ever ridden on gatorskins so have nothing to compare them to, but I've never had any 'moments' in the wet.

I once nearly had an off on gatorskins but that was at the bottom of the descent down a cat 3 when I hit a huge patch of ice, so I don't think I can really blame the tyres

Nearly poo'd myself, I did.

FrenchTart · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:33

mpledge52 said:
Are gatorskins really that bad in the wet? I've only ever ridden on gatorskins so have nothing to compare them to, but I've never had any 'moments' in the wet.

Compared to every other tyre I've used (which is admittedly only about three of four different types) gatorskins are utterly awful in the wet. In absolutely dry conditions they're just about okay...and I can't complain about the puncture protection on my hardshells *touch wood*.

nydryl said:
I've never tried Gatorskins but I recently swapped out my 4Seasons for a pair of Michelin Pro 4. Hard to make any quantifiable comparison but they Pro 4s feel like they roll better and I've got far more confidence in the wet with them. Quite surprised as I expected, just on the name alone, that the 4Seaons would feel better in the wet.

I'm pretty sold on these. Any idea if they wear as quickly as 4seasons? I'm still a bit worried about puncture protection too. Central Manchester seems to be pretty bad for cack on the roads.

Vonhelmet said:
I once nearly had an off on gatorskins but that was at the bottom of the descent down a cat 3 when I hit a huge patch of ice, so I don't think I can really blame the tyres

Nearly poo'd myself, I did.

I suspect I'd have gone a bit further than 'nearly' pooping

Vonhelmet · 9 Jun 2014 at 13:35

nydryl said:
I've never tried Gatorskins but I recently swapped out my 4Seasons for a pair of Michelin Pro 4. Hard to make any quantifiable comparison but they Pro 4s feel like they roll better and I've got far more confidence in the wet with them. Quite surprised as I expected, just on the name alone, that the 4Seaons would feel better in the wet.

I've used Lithion 2s, which are like the cheap little brother to the Michelin Pro series, and they're pretty good. Much faster than the Gatorskins I was using before. I did get a few punctures in them, though. One was unavoidable - huge spiky bit of metal that would have gone through most anything, but the others were just general crud which I suppose the Gatorskins would have coped better with.

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