Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

All a baseline position ATM till i find a nice compromise between comfort and speed - Bars are seriously compact though so they are only up by approx 10 degrees and the lever bottoms are in line with drop bottoms, hence the need for the tilt or i'll probably be a bit heavy on the hoods with this set-up - time will tell.

Am happy to keep playing with parts though (shorter stem/deeper drops etc.) until it feels "right" - keeps me outta trouble and more importantly gives me a good base of knowledge to always fix my own machine should something break.

Hopefully first ride this weekend - am fighting a cold atm and cannot take decongestants etc. due to massive doses of warfarin i have to take to keep my inr between 3 and 4 - pretty much all medicines are contra-indicated against warfarin due to risk of interactions causing bleeding or clots Assuming it goes away and i'm not at risk of tearing inflamed airways i'll get out - been too long and am feeling the itch to spin away an extra kg i've managed to put on in last few month.

 

Quick fire opinions gents..... ive demo'd bikes until i cant tell anymore.... For XC and Trail riding which would you choose between:

Giant Trance Advanced 1
Santa Cruz Bronson C (with added pike up front )

My heart says Bronson my head says Trance.

 

Bronson all the way especially with the Pikes.

 

New road bike arrived yesterday so popped it together with some cheapie flats it came with and the bottle cages. Gears are going to take some getting used to but felt quick and easy to get out the saddle. Seats still a bit low for my liking but I'll sort that, not bad for £500

 

I found relix!



Appears he has moved his magnificent cheesecake to a .................... road bike tyre!

 

I think the only course of action is for us all to get them regardless of bike.

 

That looks excellent. Welcome to the world of efficiency. When I first got my roadie the shop set it up with the saddle low which I think they do to help people get used to a road bike. Put it up as soon as you're feeling you want it there.

Mmmm Bronson Santa Cruz cheesecake, that's what I'd like for myself.

Theres only one set on Ebay. Fight you for them!

 

Finally ordered a lid. Bell Super. Any ideas if it's any good?

I already have a full face, but after changing down from a full face I've never really used it.

 

you pay for what you get in all lids really, more you spend, better they will look and offer better protection

 

Suppose so. Went for the Super as I already have a Bell fullface and atleast that fits me just fine, so hopefully the other model will as well.

Also I went to a bike shop nearby and they had it on show for 150 €. From Germany it was 80 € with shipping included. I would like to support the local shops, but jthat's a bit steep.

 

http://dirtmountainbike.com/news/dirt-magazine-cease-publication.html#

Excuse me while I go and have a good cry.

 

Laced my first wheel today, spot the mistake

 

Will you redo it? They will be very good looking wheels when you're done.

 

Bronson, especially since the guys at Jungle are very good about after sales should you need their help.

Even more especially, the Giant uses a BB92 press fit BB, so it'll last until your second or third bearing change and then the shell will be slightly worn and it'll never be right again. I had an On One Whippet pre-prod frame many moons ago and that was the part that failed after 18 months. On a threaded bb as long as you don't strip the threads you can fit/re-fit/replace as many BBs as you want, on a PF bb in a carbon or Al frame you get a couple of goes and then the bb shell is worn. On the On One that was the cheapest carbon frame on the market at the time then fair enough, on a nearly £4k bike? Not so much.

#Just a disclaimer, Jungle/Stif is my local shop and they're the SC Bikes importer, so I might be a teensy bit biased, but in 15 years they've never done wrong by me.

 

Actually had sun today - so got off my arris and rode the bike i spent the winter building.

Usual 10 mile loop - taking it easy and still did it in a time i'd have to try quite hard to match if i was riding the hardtail

Now need to get some bibshorts - never saw the point with the hardtail as the sit up and beg position means reguar cycling shorts stay put, any hint of a belly on a road bike and your shorts start to creep down - the search begins......

Also pleased to report that the initial position i thought would be right - felt right, only issue was minor discomfort in my thumbs from hooking onto the shifters, so will also be looking for some suitably padded mitts (I have several pairs of long fingered gloves but neither have the level of padding i'm suspecting 'll need), no back pain, seat was actually right for height - even though it was set without my spd shoes on - i'll obviously investigated fore/aft adjustment as solution to above problem.

All in all - well pleased with myself, planning on doing 20 miles tomorrow afternoon while wife takes the kiddo to nursery and does various shopping errands.

 

I've got a bit of a weird question.

On most standard road bikes the right brake lever operates the front brake and the left lever operated the back brake right? Thats how it's always been on every bike i've ever ridden.

I ask because I found a cyclist lying in the road over the weekend. I called an ambulance and the police as his arm was clearly broken. Luckily he's okay. I had a chat with the police and took the bike home. The guy is going to collect it at a later date.

The thing that struck me as odd is on his bike his left lever operated the front brake and the right operates the back. As it was his first time out on the bike I can't help thinking he came down the hill going a touch too fast. Went to grab the back brake in a panic, locked the front wheel up and ended up in the road.

It just seems really weird for the brakes to be the wrong way around. Is it even possible to be assembled by a shop or himself incorrectly?

 

Thats the continental braking setup (as in the other way round). Probably explains his accident to be honest grabbing what he thought was the back to find its the front. Id advise him to get them swapped pronto

 

This.

It would depend on the bikes intended market. We often get bikes in the shop which are built for other countries because the supplier has ran out of UK spec bikes, 9/10 they come with the brakes swapped round, when building them we have to change it. I believe it's for every country that drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

On the other hand it may be his personal preference, I have a several customer who run them "back to front", one blokes reasoning is that if anyone steals it and they grab a hand full of back brake they are actually jamming on the front, flipping the bike and he has a chance of getting his bike back.

 

Shorts:

I'd start at the DHB Vaeon Pro level shorts as a minimum worth looking at. Before that they're a bit meh.

I have some Castelli ones that are so much more comfortable than anything else I wear, and are good for 80 miles. (Sold out but you can get the same in other colours)

Gloves:

I personally like long fingered gloves all year round (I know I'm a heathen). It stops me getting sore fingers on my rubber hoods on long rides. Not sure why this happens but it does.

These are great, gel padding and mine are currently about 7-8 years old are battered but still very comfortable.

 

Just bought some bibs myself awaiting the wiggle parcel ended up getting the aeron ones. Should be OK on shorter runs. Have to abuse the Wiggle Platnium membership while I have it haha.