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

[Thistledew]

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!

I think the decathlon bikes are too big. Their tourer is 161 cm in its smallest size. Now according to specialized I need a 149cm bike. Big difference, unless the sizes are very different for different makes?

I do also like the idea of a women specific bike as I'm so short. Shorter stems, etc will benefit me as well as overall frame size.

Nearest decathlon is 50 miles away so it's not like I could nip in to try one easily, though I could if I thought it was worth it. At the minute I'm not convinced.

Viva I've got a ladies felt road bike and I really like it. If you don't want to ride on the drops, you can just sit up on the err horizontal bars ( sorry don't know right name!). Mine has a second set of brakes there.
V jealous of anyone who saw the road races over the weekend. Time trials tomorrow - considering " working" from home so I can tune in!

I'm looking at the Specialized Tricross now, can get last year's model for £550 and it comes in a 49cm frame.

That's the bike I've got, Viva. I would thoroughly recommend it for anything other than pure road riding. I must admit that I am falling in and out of love with mine at the moment- I fall in love with it every time I commute, or go on a long distance ride. I am just slightly less in love with it for club runs when everyone else is on full carbon bikes and I am feeling the extra weight of the aluminium frame. But unless you are planning on doing 50 miles every Sunday at speeds of around 20 mph on the flat, I would say it is a great bike.

The Borough tyres it comes with will be great for the dirt cycle path. In fact, the bike really comes into its own on that sort of surface and gives a much better ride than on the tarmac.

Thistledew - would you say it was OK to take on good surface bridleways, I'm talking canal towpath, converted railway line type cycle tracks, etc. I like the fact it has the brakes both on the drops and on the flatbars.

Great, thanks. Now need to find a shop with them in so I can try it. Its all very well the bloke in the lbs saying I just need to decide which bike I want and order it, but I can't decide without trying them first!

Specialized do have their own stores, so if you made a trip to one you could try several of their bikes.

Hello can I join in? I got a Carrera virtuoso road bike 4 weeks ago after not cycling for years. Never had a road bike before but DH convinced me. I got it through the cycle to work scheme and due to being 5ft3 I didn't have a lot of choice of bikes. I've been doing rides between 3.5 to 7 miles although we did a cycle route together at the weekend that was 23.5 miles, I could barely walk that night. We are doing it again this weekend and planning a trip to blackpool and possibly back, it's 25 miles from our house but safe in the knowledge we can get the train home if it's too much. Also planning to do the Manchester to blackpool ride next year.

Sorry not read all the thread. Does anyone cycle with young children? We can only do the bigger rides planned in advance with a babysitter as our children are 3 and 6 months. We are wondering whether to invest in a double trailer and take them with us on the cycle ways.

Thanks, they've got one a couple of hours from me so might see about going over the week after next. Fingers crossed I find one I like!

Just been able to do 15 miles sans trailer - it was great to get re-aquainted with my top cog!

FrillyMilly welcome! You'll have to wait a bit till you can put the little one in a trailer, but DS1 went in a bike seat (Co-Pilot Taxi) at about 8 months. How about one parent has one in a bike seat and the other has the other in a single trailer? My two are nearly 5 and 2.7 so trailer won't last bigger one much longer

I don't think we will be taking them out until after the winter so he will be 12-18 months by then. How does the trailer attach to the bike? I've been keeping at eye out on eBay for one. What will you do once your 5 year old has outgrown trailer? Do you think he'll be ready to go it alone then? I only ask because someone has asked if we are interested in buying a trail gator.

Hi FrillyMilly Trailer attaches to back axle. Just got the bog standard Halfords folding one but it has done over 1000 miles.

DS1 can cycle but still needs help starting and isn't up to the trip to school (about 7 miles each way)! Don't think a trailgator would work for us as still have to transport DS2.

Hi do you mind if I pop in and say hello?

I got back on a bike for the first time in about ten years today! I did 6.6 miles in about an hour with ds in the weeride kangaroo seat, legs feel like jelly now but it was good fun and ds loved it.

I'm aiming to do about 14 miles with him once a week (I have lots of Wirral Way to rediscover) as part of a general toning up mission I'm on. I'm not really looking to lose weight, just to be a bit less wobbly!

Riding on the road with ds is terrifying though. Where I am there are a lot of country lanes with 60mph speed limits and with him being in front of me on the bike I worry he won't be seen. I feel like putting a baby on board sign on my back!

Hi Magneto perhaps you should. I've seen a trailer with a laminated picture of the occupant attached to the back, just to remind drivers there's a real person in there. Find all the cycle paths you can - Sustrans website should be helpful (and apologies in advance if I'm teaching you to suck eggs).

I'll take a look at that after, thanks (and no you're not teaching me to suck eggs don't worry ).

I'm very glad I got the wee ride though, it makes absolutely no difference to the bike's balance whereas the normal child bike seats we tried made me very unsteady and the bike did tip backwards once or twice if i didn't concentrate on leaning forward - not good when I'm pretty nervous about having ds on there with me anyway!

I'm hoping cycling will help me start to get fit, I do a lot of walking as I don't drive but I'm bored of that now and I need to find things that ds can be involved in (or that I can do at home).

Well I'm still going round in circles trying to decide on a bike. A bike shop has ordered a tricross for me to look at but won't be there for over a week.

However I've decided I might like to do a bit of touring as well, so am looking at stuff I can put panniers on. Getting conflicting opinions on whether or not a tricross can do this. Folks on the ctc forum say no, the wheels are crap, etc. but then I've been reading blogs from people who have toured across continents with a fully loaded tricross.

Unfortunately been a short arse most tourers are too big for me.

I put panniers on my Tricross for commuting. It is perfectly possible to fit a raceblade mudguard on underneath as well. Do you know what they mean by the wheels not being up to it? I would say a Tricross would make an excellent tourer.

Wheels not strong enough and not enough spokes, spokes affecting the strength I gather. Gears too high, though I guess I could change that? Or rather get the lbs to do it!

Toe overlap on front mudguard and risk of heel strike on rear panniers.

Thistledew, how tall are you and what size tricross so you have?

I am 5'9" and I have a 54 cm frame.

I'm 5ft2" and am hoping the 49cm frame will fit.

I suppose wheel strength depends on how much you are going to carry on the bike. I would not have thought it would be a problem unless you are going fully laden, in which case there would be no reason why you could not change the wheels. Gearing I would say is fine. You have a triple chain ring as standard and a fairly friendly cassette. I doubt there would be much you could not pedal up in the lowest gear.

Catching your heel on your rear pannier depends on what panniers you use. I have Ortlieb panniers, which are quite adjustable in themselves so I was easily able to adjust them to provide clearance for my foot.

Id like the option of been able to a fully loaded tour next year. Just a short one but taking a lightweight tent, etc. but bike states it can take 185kg. So even if I had 20kg of stuff I'd be well under the weight limit. Not sure how much new wheels are but it's an option if I had problems. Any loaded tours would be short, not like I'd be doing it lots.

I've been to see a Dawes tourer in a 43cm frame today and its too big for me!!!!! I'm hoping that Specialized ones fit smaller.