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Original poster

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

994 replies

Thistledew · 13/08/2011 16:41

Hi All

I thought I would start a cycling thread. It would be great if we could make it all inclusive, so whether you currently just enjoy bike rides but are interested in taking it further, or already train seriously, please post what you are up to and what your aims are. By sharing knowledge and experiences, hopefully we can spur each other on.

If you want to, please post a quick biog of how long you have been cycling, how much you currently cycle, and what your goals are.

And for those who wish to engage in a bit of bike porn, please feel free to post what sort of bike you ride!

Happy peddling!

OP posts:
Original poster
Thistledew · 05/09/2012 07:58

You soon will do, I promise you! I used to get backache if I stood up for too long- eg walking around an art exhibition. After 18 months of working at improving my cycling I no longer do.

OP posts:
Piffpaffpoff · 05/09/2012 07:27

Core muscles? Not sure I have any of those SadGrin.

Lovely sunny day here, so heading out as soon as I've dropped the kids at school/nursery.

VivaLeBeaver · 05/09/2012 07:11

I think my core muscles are currently rather flabby so I expect my arms are having to work twice as hard. Hopefully that should improve. Smile

Original poster
Thistledew · 05/09/2012 06:57

I think in that case Viva it is just a matter of you getting used to the new position. I remember my hands hurting to start with.

Try to remember to keep your elbows soft and not locked out, so that you use your core muscles to support your weight rather than your arms. I was definitely surprised at how much cycling on a road bike improved my core strength.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 04/09/2012 22:57

Thistle, my bars are about the same height as my saddle now so I probably shouldn't move them up then. It's just that my hands are still hurting even with padded gloves. I thought this meant I had too much weight on my hands and couldn't see how to rectify this without moving the handlebars up?

I don't think I'm stretching too much so don't think I need a shorter stem.

Maybe I will just need to get used to it. Dh wonders it might just be from not being relaxed on the bike.

Ive ordered a computer so hopefully that will be here tomorrow.

Original poster
Thistledew · 04/09/2012 22:52

Hi Viva and Piff

I am glad you are both enjoying your bikes. What fun!

WRT raising the bars, the proper way to do this is by buying and adding an extra spacer to the headset. If you look closely at the tube under where your stem (the bit bolted to the handlebars) joins the headset you will see that the headset is in fact a number of rings rather than one solid piece. Your local bike shop should be able to disassemble the headset, pull the tube up a little and add an extra spacer.

You may also be able to raise the bars slightly by turning your stem- it will have a slant in it and depending on which way up you put it, it will sit either slightly uphill from headset to bars or slightly downhill. If it is put on downhill you can just turn it the other way up.

I hope I am making a bit of sense!

Bear in mind though that on the Tricross you should not have your bars any higher than your seat. It may just take a bit of getting used to, or it may be better to swap the stem for a shorter one if it really is not comfortable.

On my new Tarmac (I must write up a proper review Smile) I have the bars a good couple of inches below seat hight, and that is not even a particularly aggressive position. It takes me a few minutes to adjust to the feel of it if I have ridden my Tricross the previous day.

Viva - I think it was you who asked about fitting a bike computer. I have mine fitted to the stem for exactly the reason that with the additional brakes there is not really room on the handlebars.

OP posts:
Piffpaffpoff · 04/09/2012 22:34

Viva I'm just going to tilt the bars up a couple of degrees towards me so I was thinking I'll just loosen the two bolts where they fix to the stem (?). I felt like I was just slightly over-reaching a bit tonight I've no idea if this will work or not.

VivaLeBeaver · 04/09/2012 20:35

Well if you find out how to do the handlebars please tell me. Grin

Piffpaffpoff · 04/09/2012 20:34

Well I went out! It's lovely and so fast! I had the saddle about 2cm too high which I have sorted now. I think I need to fiddle about with the saddle position and the handlebars might need to be adjusted a smidge. Love it though!

VivaLeBeaver · 04/09/2012 18:54

I never used the saddle. Bought a Brooks B17. DH laughed when he saw the saddle, he thought it was the one that came with the bike and said I'd be wanting to change it.

I gave him a Hmm and pointed out I'd paid good money. He was blathering on about how it was rock solid and would be bloody uncomfortable. Its been fine, no sore bum at all.

I think I am going to get a custom fit done. Slightly paranoid that most people this bloke sorts out will be serious road bikers. Will have to warn him beforehand that I'm not!

Hope the gales die down for you.

Piffpaffpoff · 04/09/2012 18:47

Well Viva, they might but its possibly worth tolerating if it gets you a better fit. Funnily enough, DH and I were discussing custom fit at the weekend, someone near to us has started doing it and he's thinking about getting it done.

I'm going to brave the gales and go out for a few miles tonight. One thing I can say with some certainty already though is that I will be changing the saddle. It's not the most comfortable!

VivaLeBeaver · 04/09/2012 16:19

Great news.

I really need to work out how to raise the handlebars on mine. I've read how to, dh has had a go. He's normally good at this stuff but can't do it. Will the lbs snigger if I take it in and ask them to do it. I didn't buy it from them and I'm not going 40miles to the shop I did get it from.

Maybe I'll pay £100 and have a professional bike fit session.

Piffpaffpoff · 04/09/2012 14:40

I have my Tricross!! I have been up and down the street on it so far and that will probably be all for today as it is blowing a gale here. However, tomorrow morning when DD is at nursery I shall go for a run along the old railway line path to see how it goes.

GoldPicnminx · 04/09/2012 10:49

wow, all these cycling MNers!

just marking my spot for later

VivaLeBeaver · 04/09/2012 10:47

Been out and done 9 miles today. Its a pleasure riding it compared to the mountain bike. I reckon I could have done twice the distance and normally on a mountain bike that would have killed me!

I'm getting more confident about it been more twitchy than the montain bike. Its just a shame that I can't touch the ground while sat on the saddle. I have to step down and straddle the cross bar at every junction. New pedals are on and they seem very good. Once I'm a bit more confident I'll think about clipping in.

Am definetly going to do a short tour next year, probably the North Norfolk coast one as it should be flat. I'm also eyeing up the EuroVelo 6 and thinking about doing that in 5 or 6 years time once dd has left school.

VivaLeBeaver · 03/09/2012 17:27

Thats great news! Have a good first ride!

Piffpaffpoff · 03/09/2012 17:12

My Tricross is ready for collection!!!! I am SO excited. Going to get it tomorrow!

Piffpaffpoff · 01/09/2012 23:37

Thankfully the weather has been fairly rubbish up here so it's not like I've been sitting moping about all the lovely rides I could have been doing. Can't wait to hear how you get on on yours!

VivaLeBeaver · 01/09/2012 23:10

Fingers crossed for the end of the week then. The £50 saved will come in handy for any accessories you want.

I can't wait for dd to go back to school so I can get some good rides in. Roll on Tuesday!

Piffpaffpoff · 01/09/2012 22:35

No Viva, thanks for asking! The shop said two weeks, so I shall be on the phone first thing on Wednesday if I've not heard by then. Its my own fault, my one was £50 cheaper than the next cheapest one which would have come from an online shop in 2-3 days. Times are tight and, as I was already over my set budget, I decided that for the sake of £50, I could tolerate a small delay. But it turns out I can't!

Hoping I will have it by the end of the week.....

VivaLeBeaver · 01/09/2012 18:47

Have you got your Tricross yet PiffPaff?

DH has fitted my new pedals onto mine, haven't tried it with them on yet.

Piffpaffpoff · 27/08/2012 20:58

They only had three left in my size!

VivaLeBeaver · 27/08/2012 19:37

I wanted to get my tricross from them as it was £50 cheaper than Evans but they didn't have it in my size.

Piffpaffpoff · 27/08/2012 18:46

It's coming from the Edinburgh bike co-op who are my local bike shop who I've gone to for about 15yrs, and the delay is not in getting the bike but getting it booked into their workshop to be assembled. There's definitely a tricross with my name on it though, I've paid for it! I did think about going off and ordering it online once they told me there would be a bit of a wait but I'm a bit of a sentimental old sod and wanted to give them the business. (Plus they were the cheapest when I googled it last Thursday!)

VivaLeBeaver · 27/08/2012 18:33

Piffpaff, really hope your bike comes soon.

I've decided to order some Shimano pedals from amazon. They're spd one side and normal the other. So I'll use the normal side for now. Will order some Specialized gloves as well.

I've had a better look at the handlebars and I think the problem is because there is a bell and a front reflector mounted on there already there isn't the space for anything else. I'm going to lose the front reflector to make space for a computer.

I think shops legally have to sell bikes with reflectors and bells so that's probably why they didn't mention taking them off!

Where are you ordering yours from? Cam they definetly get one? Specialized themselves seem to be out of tricrosses in some sizes.

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