Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Oh Christ that is nice! Looks amazing man. What is it? The allez?

 

I purchased my bike on Friday! Ended up spending more than I originally intended but the bike should hopefully last me a long time. I went for a Canonndale Trail SL 1 and the other half bought the WS Trail 2. I did not feel much difference between the Cannondale and the equivalent Trek's so I went with the LBS that provided the better service. Richard at Cyclehighlands was excellent. He spent nearly two hours going through the different bikes with us, explaining the differences and helping find the correct fit. They have a very nice set up with a test track outside the shop. As we bought two bikes together he offered us a good discount and has also offered us a discounted two day skills course for the two of us which will shows us some of the local trails, cover basic skills and trail side bike maintenance. We also get free bike health checks, brake and gear services for the lifetime of the bike as part of the purchase.

The wife's bike had to be ordered in so we will collect them at the weekend.

 

Got my new cycling jersey. SO EXCITE.

#amazeballs

 

Cheers Malvolio. Plan on doing it this weekend so I can get some more time on it.

 

Thanks mate.

It's a Secteur, basically an affordable Roubaix
Allez < Tarmac
Secteur < Roubaix

It is quite a joy, too bad it's pooring at the moment, I need to get out for a ride soon!

 

Just as an update to my previous post, I spent a good hour adjusting the brakes today. 6 miles later and all is still good. Looks like the toe adjustment worked, along with a few other bits (the brake now has a gentle setting as opposed to the on / off that it had before)

 

Been messing with my brakes too, couldn't figure out why they kept loosing oil turns out someone had overtightened the bleed nipple while I've been at uni. grr

Needs rethreading and a larger bleed nipple really but I have managed to bodge it with plumbing tape and superglue. New pads ready to be bedded in this coming week I also need to look at some new forks.

Also anyone know of any Trek demo days in the Uk that actually let you tests them offroad??

Arch

 

Could anybody recommend a lock for attaching two bikes to a car bike rack?

 

Any decent armored cable lock will do but I couldn't recommend a specific one. How does the rack attach to the car? If its just straps the lock will stop an opportunist thief but a man with a van can still just drive off with the bikes and the rack.

 

It is just to deter the opportunistic thief from grabbing a bike and running while I was stopped at a petrol station or something. It is highly unlikely that they would be left unattended on the car for any length of time.

 

For something like that you won't go far wrong with one of these - simple to operate and cheap, it won't stand much abuse, but someone won't waltz over and lift it off without tools.

 

The Cannondale Trail SL is a nice bike. I've got an SL5 but the only thing left of it that's stock is the stem, headset and seat clamp.

It's now running:
Fox 32RL 130 forks
Race Face bars - pink
Dt Swiss hope hoops
Fsa carbon seat post
Charge spoon saddle
Xt disc brakes
Xt cranks
Xt front mech
X0 chain, cassette - pink
X0 rear mech - pink
X9 shifters
Superstar carbon/titanium skewers
Wellgo mg1 ti pedals

Bit different to the original £500 bike!

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Thanks Krikkit. I'm wondering if there is a towing eye on the back of the Golf I could hook it though...?

I have no idea what most of that stuff is but it sounds expensive! Can you put longer forks on the bike with out messing up the ride?

 

Yeah, but don't go mad.
Mine came with RST Gila's at around 100mm. I'd say an extra 30mm isn't excessive.
The Recon's on yours aren't bad so I'd leave them until you break them.
Then get some nice Fox RL's

 

I have no intention of upgrading anything major for a long time....hopefully. A new (comfier) seat and some new pedals would be the only upgrades in the foreseeable future.

 

Charge spoon is a popular and comfy choice, and depending on if you want flat pedals you can't go wrong with a pair of wellgo mg1 from Ebay. Light and grippy.

I've got spoons on all my bikes

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Another good cleaning tip is to put a couple of drops of fork oil on your stanchions after every ride. Next time you go to ride a quick pump of the bars will lift a nice ring of dirt from the fork seals. Prolonging the life of the forks.

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Dicking about. Shame about the bike being so absolutely wrecked, I really, really need a new one.

EDIT: Also does anyone have any idea on how eye glasses and goggles mix, or should I just go for contact lenses?

 

So today I made the step to skinny tyres. My mate is the northern Forme bikes rep, I have a Forme Calver X Race as a demo on his account, if I like it and it's a better bike for commuting to work then I think I'll have myself one.

So far I've banged a pair of SPD's on and my Knog computer.

 

You can get goggles that fit over a pair of glasses, but from experience (I do a LOT of skiing) it is almost always a compromise. I have found lenses to be the best. Sometimes mixed so one eye is good for long-distance viewing to avoid fools on the slopes, and the other is optimized for map-reading and so forth.