Road Cycling

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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8,420
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Hereford
<snip>got two coronas, met the guys at the finish to pedal home.

Worth it.
Quality, gotta remain positive when sometimes it's just not meant to be! Lesson learnt? Always carry tubes which work with your valve, or carry a combo co2/pump? :D

Feels, 30-35 here. Still riding, and I'm a jock. Though the weight is dropping off me.

Probably no where near the same distance as most though :p
But probably double the elevation, or more?! :o

My view is try get a shimano 105 bike such as Specialized Allez Elite or a Canyon AL 7.0. But if I earn enough maybe a Canyon CF 7.0. Thought of going for 105 is because its pretty similar to top end groupsets unlike tiagra or sora, meaning that I can then spend extra money on say tyres wheels etc and leave drivetrain since it will do.
Your thinking is spot on, current 105 is quality and you'll find it across the ranges. My £900 alu Giant Defy came with it, as did my £2500 carbon Specialized Diverge. Saving money by buying 105, yet still getting as quality a frameset as you can, will mean you can 'upgrade' as time/wear goes on.

Now they do look smart, real quality paint jobs too.

The ICS bar and stem look great, slightly ugly frontage but nowhere near as bad as most of the others, fitment looks better, simpler and more adjustable too.

Nice, though at first glance doesn't look too different from the new Cannondale SystemSix

https://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/cannondale-systemsix-52536/
Which is also great, but still shaped and looks like complete copy of the Giant Propel.

EDIT: Liam beat me to it! :p

I like the bottle cage and storage bit on the BMC *thumbs up!*
The bottle shrouds are a great & neat idea. Almost looks like they would also fit on other frames if mounted to bottle bosses? Reminds me of what Pinarello (+ others? Scott?) built into their frames...

Storage bit is a copy of the Specialized SWAT box mk2 on the Roubaix and Ruby ;)

New Venge I somehow totally missed yesterday!. Great to see them doing away with the previous ugly integrated bars & stem to now go with a tidy looking combo. Colours featured here don't really do it justice though. Matt black looks tidy but as a 'new' flagship style featured bike they don't exactly make the shape pop/stand out.
 
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Associate
Joined
12 Nov 2016
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172
Location
Dorset
105 is all anyone really needs. I don't see any point spending more unless you want di2 or you're a tart*
*which is of course entirely acceptable.....

Yeah that was my thinking I'm not a pro I don't need the best stuff. 105 is best group set in my price range so get it over tiagra

Ultegra isn’t much more than 105 usually! :o

Its at least a few hundred more than my budget though for such a small gain.
 
Associate
Joined
12 Nov 2016
Posts
172
Location
Dorset
Your thinking is spot on, current 105 is quality and you'll find it across the ranges. My £900 alu Giant Defy came with it, as did my £2500 carbon Specialized Diverge. Saving money by buying 105, yet still getting as quality a frameset as you can, will mean you can 'upgrade' as time/wear goes on.

Yeah I'm thinking get something around £1000 run it for a bit upgrade as I wish. Once graduated and fully qualified I will have much more disposable income to spend maybe just on a frame, plug in 105 groupset or maybe buy a new one and also plug in wheels as I'll buy as an upgrade first.
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2004
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26,494
Location
....
Quality, gotta remain positive when sometimes it's just not meant to be! Lesson learnt? Always carry tubes which work with your valve, or carry a combo co2/pump? :D

But probably double the elevation, or more?! :o

I've moved so a 10k out from any hills, where as before we had a brutal 500m climb outside my door.Also been doing 12 hour shifts all week, plus it's summer so the beers are too easy to swallow!
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
And the baklava? One of my favourites... Not to mention the Moussaka... Damn must really get back over there soon - one of our favourite places in Europe! :D

Solid move, have some flat route options now? Or still mostly MTB based riding?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Hereford
Yeah today here the sun only appeared for a couple of hours so it's felt much cooler. Really considering Zwifting later! Coolest it's been in weeks! Actually wore arm screens at lunchtime! :D
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
21,047
I like the bottle cage and storage bit on the BMC *thumbs up!*
It does look very good and makes this bike stand out from the crowd.

I’m surprised Specialized didn’t implement a similar system in their new Venge, given the MTB range has been running their SWAT integrated tool system for at least 5 years.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2008
Posts
5,949
Not sure if more MTB or Road thread wise, but anyone here got a Brompton? Sold the Planet X a while ago and for commuting looking at a Brompton and just wanted to see what those that have one think!
late reply but I use one and it's great. No complaints really, other than with the 6 speed the derailleur that is used for 2 sprockets was a bit iffy over winter but it was helped by changing to a dry type of chain oil and weekly giving the shaft the two derailleur pulleys sit on a spray with wd40. Not had to do this for a while now however. Might also be related to folding and cable stretch too, ie, it was always worse after being folded.
Depending on intended use a 3 speed might be good enough. It's worth testing a few out if you can, Evans dealerships will sort this for you. The reason I mention 3 speed is because those use an enclosed sturmey archer type of gear only so it's pretty much maintenance free and they're very reliable. The 6 speed uses the sturmey archer hub too, and also two external gears controlled by the deraileru(more parts to go wrong here). Changing through the gears on a 6 speed can take a bit of getting used to as you have two levers. Best way to see it is for each of the 3 sturmey gears, you have a low and high external gear too = 6 speed in total. WIth the 6 speed you can use it as a 3, which is what I had to do a few times over winter when the derailleur refused to switch the two external gears.
Enjoy mine so much I've been tempted to pick up another. Bought my current one last summer, so had it for a year nearly and used it daily for 4 mile round trip, and sometimes at weekends to get around.
They're not light so I tend to fold half of it down and push around the office using the handle bars. It's easier to do this if you have the rear rack (mine doesn't) but is still possible to do. Other than that I would only fold down when need to, ie, such as just before getting on a train.
 
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Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
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18,139
Location
Hampshire
I've got some wierd horrible creak coming from my Ridley and I cannot for the life of me work out where it is coming from!

It's mainly the left side so I thought it was the pedal, no play in this or the cranks, so checked everything associated even taking apart the rear freehub etc and cleaning it up, along with cassette etc, still there. Going to try the bottom bracket next but will have no idea where to go if it isn't that. Haven't had any horrible noises for a while and forget how frustrating they are to solve.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,617
I've got some wierd horrible creak coming from my Ridley and I cannot for the life of me work out where it is coming from!

It's mainly the left side so I thought it was the pedal, no play in this or the cranks, so checked everything associated even taking apart the rear freehub etc and cleaning it up, along with cassette etc, still there. Going to try the bottom bracket next but will have no idea where to go if it isn't that. Haven't had any horrible noises for a while and forget how frustrating they are to solve.

I've got a shoe that creaks. It was super annoying for a while until it clicked that all my testing was trainers on the pedals, no problems...
 
Caporegime
Joined
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....
And the baklava? One of my favourites... Not to mention the Moussaka... Damn must really get back over there soon - one of our favourite places in Europe! :D

Solid move, have some flat route options now? Or still mostly MTB based riding?

I could live off Moussaka!

Yeah a fair bit. Though all my excuses failed today. 1000m, 67km and 35c! Ran out of water about 36km in, luckily found a shop in the next village.
 
Don
Joined
19 May 2012
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17,053
Location
Spalding, Lincolnshire
Lol it's Armageus' annual I broke something post, so prepare for some "noob" content:

Noticed in the last few days gear shifting started to become less than smooth, so have checked chain length and is over 1% with one of those wear gauge things that I should use more often.
However looking at the rest of the drivetrain, the Cassette looks fine, but all 3 of my chainrings are in bad shape ("shark teeth", as well as a couple of very square broken looking teeth, and general corrosion).
edit: realised this is just the shape of the smaller and mid rings and specific teeth to assist in changing gear

Assuming I should replace the whole lot, and would like to give it a go myself (rather than pay anyone - upon checking cassette realised local LBS had fitted "wrong" cassette last time).

Bike is a 2011 Lapierre Audacio 200: Shimano Claris 2300 8 Speed Triple (Cassette should be 13-26 although has a 12-25 fitted, and chainrings are 52/42/30).

1. I have a generic Aldi bike toolkit which has a chain rivet extractor, freewheel remover, crank arm remover, chain whip etc - is there anything else I need in that regard?

2. For cassette I assume I just need: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-hg50-8-speed-cassette-road/

3. For chain what is the difference between these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-cn-hg40-6-7-8-speed-116-link-chain/ http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-hg71-678-speed-chain/? And presumably they are long enough?

4. Not sure which chain rings I need? Appreciate Claris 2300 is "old tech", but surely must be able to get parts?
EDIT: In retrospect, only really need the outer 52T Chainring (as barely use the middle and don't use the small, and can presumably just clean them up and re-spray to make good?)

Is stamped as an SG A-52, having measured between bolt holes (76.4) and non adjacent bolt holes (123.6) looks to be
BCD of 130 (based on Sheldon Brown table)

This might be the closest I can find?
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/chainri...r-chainring-d-type-silver-50t-for-chainguard/

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/specialites-ta-cring-shimano-130mm-8-9-10-spd/#pid=21529


Have had a look at the GCN youtube videos and seems reasonably straight forward, but any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
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Associate
Joined
12 Nov 2016
Posts
172
Location
Dorset
OK promise this is my final post about buying my new bike. The Canyon AL 7.0 is discounted £100 to £899 and that's tipped it for me now screw the Allez Elite . Just a few questions about Canyon bikes.

1.How much assembly is required?
2.Does someone have to be there for the order as my house is typically empty?
3.Says it comes with a canyon toolkit will i need anything else such as a torque wrench?

Thanks in advance
 
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