Cycling Thread - pleasure peddlers to serious cyclists sign in here!

at some stage I need to get the cassette off and give it a bath or something. Just rubbing it with a tooth brush isn't going to get everything, is it?

oh no snow ssmile, thanks! Forecast for lower Pennines was so, but none. Just really really cold. It's the coldest I've biked in this year, and I've realised you just have to do a sort of zen acceptance of it - otherwise it's a misery - and def. yes the the wind! Snow, hail, rain, Ok - NOT wind.

And am gobsmackingly impressed by all this talk of competitive biking, and velodrome stuff. Just wow. I bike past the National Cycling Centre in M/c near my journey's end and am sooo tempted to have a peek in or a go.

How did you get on pan cycling in the snow? I've just laid my kit out for tom hoping I can motivate myself to set off at 6.15am in dark n cold brrr. It's the wind I fear, last time coming home from work I was exhausted the head wind all the way just drained me. I have however with help of my DH on the gears, cleaned and lubed my bike after it was grinding abit and I realised how dirty it was DH had some wet cycle lube in the shed....who knew that was there!....so I will vow to clean it more regulary now :)

That looks really good. :) Hope you have a great time.

I watched the end of a Women's Only Track session yesterday before the start ds' training session - it was good to see all sorts of shapes and ages!

Poor ds - he's in the top group with some really good Youth A and B riders (two of whom I am sure will end cycling for Scotland at least) - and he's still on Youth C gearing. He's got to spin like billy-o just to keep up - and doesn't stand a chance once they go into full sprint mode (they were doing Japanese Kieran yesterday). But at least he got more confident at the standing starts.

I need to get myself fitter so that I can give the Track a go (at least to be able to do Accreditation 1): I can go up hills but reeeeally slowly in the easiest possible gear. There is no way at the moment that I could go up a 45 degree "hill" at the constant speed of a fixie.

I'll be setting of for work on my bike tomorrow at 6am. In the snow. The only person I'll be at war with is myself.

You're welcome, ruby.

here's one article on it

Hi All!

FYI, there is a concerningly-titled 'documentary' on BBC on Wednesday, in case you haven't heard of it yet? It's called "The War on Britain's Roads", and looks like a series of filmed 'flashpoints' between cyclists and vehicles.
If you get round to googling it at all, you'll see lots of bike sources expressing alarm at this initiative. One element of it apparently is an 'alley race' - this is a staged professional stunt race from an experienced film maker. Unfortunatley, the voice over fails to point this out and leaves it to appear as if it reflects normal cyclists' conduct.

I fear it will be grim and v misleading.

Have been buying stuff from Evans recently. Ds needed some Look pedals for his (borrowed) track bike (have I mentioned we've got a fandabbydozy new velodrome? ) as we had to give his borrowed pedals back. I did the research for the cheapest ones on-line and then got the local Evans store at Braehead to price-match as per their commitment . Got Look Keo Classic pedals for £35 instead of the official Evans price of £53!

Theres a merino woll sale on the sportpursuit website I linked to last week - have had a few bits in and out of my shopping basket all evening

Summer I'm about an hour from Glentress so can do day trips although it's slightly less enticing now that The Hub and their lovely cakes are not there anymore. Am going to make more of an effort to go exploring locally though, we have loads of footpaths and tracks on our doorstep which I really should get out and investigate.

Haha piffpaff sometimes that is the best way - to ride something without thinking about it - til it goes wrong of course. I was riding in the Surrey hills near dorking so a bit of a way from Glentress. I love it up there though. Are you near Glentress? Anyway course you could do it again you have done it once will be fine!

What do you mean on lightweight stuff lifeistooshort? In general I quite rate pearl Izumi, sugoi and endura for mid/pricey stuff (I don't do super expensive assos/rapha as I will just fall off and trash it - is for roadies anyway )
Cheap I do aldi or dhb (from wiggle). Got loads of reduced stuff recently from rose bikes in Germany - v good had to send some stuff back due to not fitting but was fine and easy.

Thanks Piffpaff good idea!

life if you've got an Aldi nearby then go and see if they have any of their cycling stuff left, it's astonishingly good value for money and good quality too. I got their winter trousers and a soft shell jacket. The trousers are, IMO on a par with an Altura pair I had which cost 5x as much (and had to get sent back after one wear cos the reflective stuff started peeling off [bangry]).

Any recommendations for warm lightweight cycling gear, anyone?

Where are you off to Tomorrow Summer? I went to Glentress for the first time in ages last week and had such good fun. But, because i hadn't been for so long, I'd forgotten which features I went over and which ones I take the chicken run round and ended up accidentally going over a huge drop-off that I've never done before. And I lived to tell the tale! Of course the big question is, could I do it again intentionally? (unlikely!)

Hurrah for brakes piffpaff.

I am going mountain biking tomorrow. On my fancy bike. It's in the kitchen for minor fettling and I am just looking at how pretty it is :-). I would never have thought I would be so shallow as to like a bike for being pretty..though I wouldn't like it if it wasn't awesome to ride too...

Tricross quiche! I have taken mine in for it's post-sale service and the good news is the brakes are now much improved! No more judder. The bad news is I don't know what they did!! However - they did mention changing the front brake hanger (?I think?) but they didn't have one in stock so it's going back next week for that. I shall update further once that is done.

of course :)

thats Hairbands obviously

I have recently started wearing one of these www.millets.co.uk/browse/chute.html

as it keeps me warmer when I am out on cold days. It also covers my ears which the helmet doesnt. If my head gets hot I can slide it down to my neck as a scarf or use if to cover my mouth /nose when riding if its chiily ( or I want to look like Dick Turpin )

Have a couple of them as I find them really versatile. You can even use them as hairnads if ,when you stop for a cuppa, you realise you have dreadful "helmet hair" lol

hi everyone, thanks for the welcome. Summer i'll look up the sites you mention. *SSmile i did think about an electric bike but i like the idea that i'm making an effort and getting my heart n lungs and legs working when i'm cycling. Even after riding 3 /4 days a week for about 6 weeks i notice i'm finding it easier and don't get so puffed.

I have a question which some of you may be able to enlighten me on: i have noticed some women wearing a scarf under their helmet over their hair. Is there a reason? is it to stop the insects biting? the wind getting through the helmet slats, to protect hairstyles??? Any answers??