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!

Good luck ssmile! I'll do a few laps of my local area if you cycle to work!

hello,
viva did you change your brake pads? Did it help?
ssmile did you get lights? What did you get? I answered on your other thread!

Gore jackets, I have a gore jacket, it is really good. however, I don't wear it that often. Even that, as an expensive jacket, gets sweaty inside so it has to be properly raining and I have to be out for a significant more amount of time for me to bother putting it on. Generally I just get wet in my normal non-waterproof gear.

newnames I reckon you just need to get on with it . You have all the stuff, what are you waiting for? I think cycling is good for losing weight and getting back in shape, you will be back into it in no time.

I am still riding too! I will commute all through winter as it is easier than driving through traffic, especially if I have to drop the kids off at nursery as although its almost on my cycle route to work it isn't on my drive to work (due to traffic) if that makes sense, and so if I drive the kids I sit in traffic for ages.

Oh I have a turbo trainer too, I don't use it that often these days. It IS boring, but I may have to dig it out as DH away with work in a couple of weeks and don't know how I will get my cycling fix otherwise (usually go out night mountain biking once a week). If you do get one, I like the sufferfest videos for making it a bit more interesting.

did a sprint triathlon last weekend. Bike section good. Run and swim not so good. Maybe I should stick to the cycling.

And I have entered a mountain bike race in a couple of weeks...some guys I met on my holiday persuaded me it would be a good idea.

I've narrowed the bike lights choice to two but had hellish week with sick vomiting baby, working away, broken cars, broken stuff so hope I may actually get to bike shop today!

newnames if I get some decent sleep this week &no more poorly kids I will try to cycle to work. My towel etc bag has been in my locker at work for a month now! I'm actually looking at changing my days as I can get better childcare on Mon for both girls and that would mean I'd have option to cycle two days a week to work :)

I meant to say last week - I did my longest ride ever last week, 31 miles! We stopped after 13 miles to drop in on a friend so it wasn't all in one go, but I'm pleased nevertheless. :)

Have just bought the cateye nano shot light so no excuses now on cycling to work! I did an 45min ride this morning was Fab really enjoyed an hr to myself after a long week of work and children :)

evilgiraffee that's Fab puts my 8miles this morning to shame.

Any advice on what to wear on cold mornings cycling so but not to overheat too much? Are there proper cycling leggings /tights? I've got 3/4 length &knee length cycle shorts. I tried the short ones with leggings over the top &longer socks. I could try normal tights but think after 20mins I will heat up too much. I've also got fingerless cycle gloves but fingers got numb from cold other morning but normal gloves not gripy enough. So any good gear tips appreciated &i can put on Xmas list :o

Hi ssmile

Kit choices are pretty endless! For my winter kit I have several options that I have to choose from depending on the weather. I have cycling leg warmers, that I wear with above the knee shorts. These are great for days where it is a bit chilly in the morning, but you think it will be warmer on the way home, as you can choose not to wear them later in the day. I have some quite thick 3/4 length leggings, which are actually pretty good for all but the chilliest days. I then have a couple of pairs of full length thermal cycling leggings, including some of these Altura Night Vision leggings which are pretty good. I also have a pair of ultra cosy Pearl Izumi thermal, windproof leggings, which are unpadded, so I just wear them under a pair of padded shorts. I have also on several occasions just worn an ordinary pair of leggings under my cycling shorts, which is enough for days that you don't feel you need a thermal layer.

I find that what I have on my upper body has more effect on whether or not I am over-heating. In the winter, I usually wear a thermal base layer, with a short sleeve jersey over it if I am working hard and it is not windy. I have a soft-shell jacket for chillier days, a windproof gilet, and a thin showerproof/waterproof jacket. I am hopefully getting a Gore waterproof jacket to keep me properly cosy and dry on the most miserable days. The answer is always layering, so that you can unzip something, or take an outer layer off if you get too hot.

At the moment I am using a pair of thermal gloves that I bought from an outdoor shop under my fingerless gloves. I found that these kept my fingers plenty warm enough through all of last winter. However, they are not waterproof, so I am thinking of getting some Sealskinz gloves for rainy days. I have heard good reviews of them.

Other cold weather gear I have is a headband - great for keeping your ears warm but allows the heat to escape off the top of your head. I usually wear two pairs of socks, and use toe covers or overboots over my shoes. It is amazing the difference that the toe covers make to warmth, whereas the overboots will at least make a valiant effort at keeping out rain.

DP has a Buff, which you pull up around your neck and face, but I hate having my mouth covered, so will only give this a go if the temperature gets really cold.

Thanks thistle given me some kit ideas to think about. I was wondering if someone made toe covers as I normally only wear my trainers but they been too cold so I swapped to my lightweight walk shoe which has better warmth& dble socks, I have been reading up thread the advice on clip in shoes these may well be going on my Xmas list :)

Well despite purchase of front light I still haven't managed the cycle to work as whole family had tummy bug last weekend, and I've just looked at the forcast for tom and its thick fog grrrr! I may do half train half bike tom, as I'm not sure I can do my first ride on new route in the dark at 6am in thick fog I'm not feeling that confident!

I agree with Thistle choices are endless! At the moment I am mostly in 3/4 lengths (I have some Pearl Izumi ones - love these, and some Red Maloja ones with a star on the bottom which I always get comments on!) I have a couple of pairs of toasty long ones for the winter proper. Think they are all pearl Izumi, they all have pads, but you could easily just layer leggings, either running ones or just normal ones with cycling shorts.

You will definitely need long cycling gloves soon! I have some cheap DHB (wiggle own brand ones) which are great apart from the liner sometimes gets turned inside out which is very annoying. But they are warm. When it's freezing cold I have some 661 Storm gloves, they are really really warm but quite thick. Don't even know if they make them any more!

I wear Shimano MW02 mountain biking winter boots on my feet, they are toasty warm and waterproof and I don't need toe covers or anything like that with them. Couldn't live without them, and I remember going out in winter with the local Road cycling club and they were all complaining of cold feet (even with toe covers etc) but I was fine

I agree with thistle on getting the top layer right being the important one. At the moment I am still on thin base layer with bike t-shirt over the top but will soon have to convert to windproof jacket I think.

Hope you were ok in the fog ssmile has been foggy here too, I am not a fan of cycling in fog.

Well done on the long ride evilgiraffe!

hey there, can I join you all, I am going to be commuting when I start my new job hopefully soon and just in the process of deciding on a bike, I have narrowed it down to this and this am open to other suggestions, but cant really go above £300. I have actually just sat here and read this whole thread and I think I am already well on the way to being obbsessed.

Dita I would totally vote for the Raleigh. I think the other one is fugly (shallow me? Not even looked at the specs!)

dita I'd go with the lightest weight one and most comfy position have you had a chance to ride either of them? I rode a few when I bought mine years ago and ended up buying something different to what I thought I was going to have but bought a higher rise handle bar stem to get the right height to suit my back issues.

No no listen to me! The second one's frame looks like it was designed by a toddler. What the hell is going on there?

Sorry may have had wine.

he he thats is funny, think I am getting the raleigh, just waiting for a price from my lovely cousin who works for raleigh

How exciting! Hopefully he/she can get you a deal!

I drove to work for the first time in ages taking kids to nursery due to Halloween party complications. Traffic was so awful reminding me why I never do it! Though I have to say I am not a fan of the newly dark evenings.

Mountain bike race on Sunday. Eeek not done a non team race since pre kids. Not really looking forward to it!

whats does a mountain bike race involve, speed or difficulty of course? my cousin and my brother are big into mountain biking. I am going to order the raleigh and I am very very excited.

Depends on the race! But this is a local race so will have people of varying ability so should not be too scary- I have raced there before. Basically ride as fast as you can over off road terrain some will be wide tracks some will be twisty windy singletrack (narrow and hard to overtake) there might be some slightly tricky steep bits but is quite an easy flat location so should be ok. Sometimes would involve very rocky scary bits but not here really!

good luck.
Now can you talk to me about lights? I was thinking of getting a set of skully and a set of knog frogs to make sure I am visible. Do I need a proper light as well? is street lit where I am riding. (I have to have the skully's I just really do). Still very excited about my bike.

hi all!
This could be a dumb question....but...what is the difference between the GT lubrication spray ( other lubes are available) and bike oil? If there is a difference, what is best? I'm about to increase my daily commute to 27 miles per day, so gear/chain wear is a bit important. tia

dita - if comfort is important, you can replace the seat with a seat post that has suspension in it.

Is the oil question a tricky one?

Not sure about the lube Pan. I'll ask DP later. I know we DP uses three sorts- there is a wet lube, a dry lube and a special sort of grease. I have to confess to not knowing as much about maintenance as I should as DP really enjoys looking after the bikes and is happy to do mine.

I thought I would share a small, silly thing I discovered today:

I did not sufficiently misspend my youth and so never learnt to ride a bike with no hands. I have been carefully practicing on my Tricross and have got reasonably good at doing a 50 meter stretch or so. I had not dared until today to have a go on my Tarmac, thinking it would be harder on the sharper bike. I have it a go for the first time, and discovered that it is in fact about twice as easy! I made it all the way down the road without having to catch the bars at all.

God I love that bike. It is sooo good. For something that is so rigid that it hurts your wrists if you hit a pothole and you have to stand up over every sleeping policeman or it bucks you out of the saddle, it is remarkably in-twitchy. I am actually more confident about throwing it into a fast bend than I am with my Tricross.

I'm just getting used to the gearing again after I switched to a smaller chainset. I had lost a bit of confidence a few weeks ago after going out on a ride that was much hillier than I had anticipated and finding that my rear dropout had been knocked slightly out of true so whenever I tried to change into the lowest gear it threw the chain off. It was not at all fun trying to climb 17% hills knowing that I either could not use my lowest gear or if I did I might come to a sudden stop when the chain came off. Fortunately I managed to unclip each time it happened but it really knocked my confidence in being able to get up a steep hill.

Ha! Thistledew, aged 14. I've never been able to go no-hands and I am now beyond trying.

Accidentally wandered, via google, onto a Pistonhead discussion about oils and lubes. Didn't think I'd ever be intimidated by this topic. There are as many lubes/oils as you'll find in a slightly more esoteric outlet. . Seriously need to get my gears/chain wheel/anything else that moves properly protected. As winter says 'hello'.

DP says dry lube for the summer- it is less sticky so attracts less dust. Wet lube is better for winter as it repels water more efficiently.

• I know what you mean by chatting about lube on the Internet. You have to pick your forums carefully.

Lithium Grease is the stuff for screws such as pedals.

Yes that's what I'm picking up, yet I recall from Geography lessons that we get as much precipitation in the UK in summer as we do in winter. Wet lube it will be though! I'm biking around the lower Pennine slopes at bit and we get lots of liquid sunshine.
thanks v much.

WrathdePan There is a slight difference in how quickly the road drys - so if you were to ride for an hour on each day you'd see more wet from the road in the winter but not out of the sky. However you may also ride less in the winter because of the bad weather... I certainly use the same lube, tyres and everything all year around.

I do not use a wet lube on a road bike, attacts too much dirt and it doesn't need the aggressiveness like an MTB lube might. I use Squirt which is a very dry lube for performance, however you have to re-apply that every time, on the commute bike I just use whatever's laying around and don't care a jot.