Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

I did not, cheers for the link

 

I'm so close to getting the spring classics achievement on Strava. But to get it I need to ride in daily this week: in rain and 40mph winds.

 

Skin is waterproof, stop being a girl!

 

True that.

I got to work and forgot I posted that. The ride in was fine, but it will be interesting fighting that wind home again. I think I will try a different route to last night to see how bad it is down the A21 (main road) in the wind.

I think I need to do one more ride on Saturday to get the challenge done.

 

I remember coming down quite a steep hill int oa headwind and I was in a low gear pedalling to keep the bike moving, not something I enjoyed!

I managed to slive the side of my tyre open at the weekend pinging off roots etc at I do a lot. Been looking at new fast rolling rubber. Was thinking something like a Rock Razor or Spech Ground Control but not sure :s

 

Had my first attempt at applying bar tape,it's not perfect but it does the job. I decided to double wrap the areas of grip as I've been struggling with wrist pains on longer rides and the extra padding has worked wonders even if it does make the bar look comically massive!

 

You've wrapped it the wrong way. As you hold onto the top and pull back, your hands will twist the tape backwards and undo it. I was always taught to start at the end of the bars and wrap towards the bike.

 

I did wonder but it's wrapped in the same direction as the original that was on the bike, and I never had any issues with it (except being a little too thin). It's fairly easy to take off so I'll see how it goes and redo it if it needs changing.

 

Cookies right. But double wrapping isnt uncommon lots of riders did do it for Tour De Flanders for example.
If you leave the tape as it is itll eventually unwrap or go slack but in terms of how the wrapping looks its good.

Side note spotted youve got SRAM shifters how you finding them?

 

The shifters are just what came as stock with the bike, I've not really got anything to gauge them against tbh. But from a usability pov I can't fault them, they do what they're supposed to and are comfortable enough.

I need new front and rear derailleurs, so might use that as a excuse to upgrade the whole groupset.

 

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9 times out of 10 the bar tape isn't fitted in the factory and the mechanic building the bike usually fit's it. I'd guess this was the case and the Halfords guy has never been shown the correct way.

I had one of those CX Pro's in the shop the other week, it's a rather nice bike, the owner was a friend of someone in Halfords and bought it for about £600 which I though was a bargain as I think he said it should have been closer to £1000. Never liked SRAM's double tap though.

 

I'm happy enough with it, I got it through the C2W scheme from my last job, I was looking at the PlanetX Dirty Disco/XLS but the option my employer went with meant I was limited to Halfords only.

The shifting of the double tap levers confused me massively on the first couple of rides, but now I'm used to it I don't mind it so much. I think I'll be switching it to a 1x11 setup though in the near future, possibly with hydro brakes.

Has anybody had any experience with Gevenalle/Retroshift shifters/derailleurs? They seem to be around £100 cheaper for the hydro shifter units, and look a little Heath Robinson in design but seem to get decent praise from what I've seen.

 

I'm so tempted to get another CX bike along the spec you're mentioning (hydro discs and 1x11), but I sold my last one due to not really needing it to commute any more as my ride went from 15 mile down to 1.8 mile a day.

Does anyone make a left hand brake lever with no shifting options as I imagine if they don't the lever would be a bit sloppy without any gear cable tension.

You thinking a full hydro system or an add on to your current levers like a Hope V-Twin or a TRP HY/RD?

As for Gevenalle, I've never seen any, but a quick google leaves me with the opinion they are f-ing ugly. I can't understand how you would down shift unless you're just always on the HUD's and would use your thumb.

 

I was thinking of going full hydro, Shimano RS685 paired with 105 seem to be the sensible choice. The SRAM CX1 levers only have the rear shifter, but that would mean I'd need a hybrid hydro system as well unless I'm missing something.

Gevenalle offer levers with only the rear having a shifter, but yes they are seriously ugly, and I'm not convinced on the ergonomics of them but they do seem popular in CX circles.

 

I would imagine it's because they are old skool basic with no moving parts other than the cam which pulls the cable, therefore there is very little to go wrong when crashed or caked in clarts.

 

Just gotten in to the Road Riding Scene. Bought myself this about a month ago.


So far swapped out to SPD-SL pedals (Shimano R540's) and a Prologo Kappa saddle.

I've done about 100 miles on road so far with about another 3-4 hours on the turbo trainer. I think I am going to have to go in for a fitting at some point in the near future as I am getting pain in my lower thighs (mainly left) and also outside edge of my feet.

 

How tall are you and what size is the frame?

 

5'10 and frame is 57cm. Which 'should' be right, if I remember correctly the B-twin sizings put me at either a 54 or a 57 as I'm the awkward height which fits both.

 

Brothers new ride: