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!

Ok now I'm very but I don't use lube on my bike...should I be and where? Once a year it gets a clean and bit oil on the chain...it must be 15+ yrs old and still going strong. I've only changed the tyres couple yrs ago to more road ones and DH put new pedals & shaft thing on last year as it was grinding abit :) no goes fine.

You should clean your chain and cassette regularly. Ours get done about once a month, but we do in the region of 500 miles a month. We have one of these which work really well for a quick clean. The chain and cassette then need a good lube.

I also give all the moving parts - chain, cassette, front and rear mech, pedals - if I have been out in the rain. My Tricross in particular tends to whistle in complaint if it has been left out in the rain. My neighbour was walking down my road when I came back from a ride a few weeks ago the day after my bike had sat out in the rain for a whole day; I had to attempt to freewheel all the way down the road as I was so embarrassed at the amount it was squeaking every time I turned the cranks.

It does depend a bit what you do with your bike. A rusty un-lubed chain or gunky oily stiff chain might cost you 50watts if really, really bad, but you have at least 150watts as you pedal along and probably more. In reality 15 is more realistic so 10% of your power is being wasted.

If you're just commuting to work and are happy with the speed you go, possibly not worth spending much more time. If you're trying to keep up with a fast group then regular cleaning, lubing and picking fast tyres that you correctly inflate each ride might make the difference.

My commute bike gets a spray of GT85 like stuff once every few months, my road bike gets lube on the chain every single ride.

Haha ssmile yes you should, I am lazy too though. I rarely give my commuter bike any tlc and it seems pretty bomb proof. Can't remember the last time i oiled the chain even...oops. I tend to do it when it starts making horrid noises.

I am also quite bad at looking after my road bike too, that currently needs some serious tlc as well. The front mech doesn't work at the mo!

I always use wet lube, but that is cos I am mostly a mountain biker and that is usually what I have around. I find I DO need to clean and oil my mountain bikes though or they break! Unfortunately I do not have an other half who is into bike maintenance (he does cycle but not as much as me) - I am always jealous of people who have these bike fixer type other halves. I just have to ask my mates nicely or go to the bike shop, or do it myself, which usually results in emergency texts to mates saying "Oh shit how do I get my cranks back on?"

dita re lights, not an expert on the ones you mention, I have heard of knog ones - are they emergency ones though in case you get caught short? You should probably get some that are "road legal" just in case - am sure it says on the small print of them whether they are? You won't need anything super bright if it's lit but you should have some that meet the requirements just in case (and I know it is unlikely, so not trying to worry you) some idiot hits you or doesn't see you so they can't say that your lights weren't good enough? Does that make sense? sorry for not answering for ages!

thistle I would have thought road bike would be harder to ride with no hands as well. I will have to try it now you have said it is easy!

Did mountain bike race at weekend - torrential rain and disgusting. AND some utter bastard knocked me off - badly, went completely flying. On a wide fireroad too so no excuse as there was plenty of room to get round. I managed to finish but knee and shoulder are still swollen now, couldn't hardly walk on Monday. Ah - remind me why I do such a stupid sport again?

Fortunately should be properly back on the bike next week i reckon (can just about manage to ride to work, but not proper riding)

wrath 27 miles a day is a good old commute!

Wow! Welcome to lubeworld!
My bike is a Trek 7300 hybrid, and now I am biking from Glossop (just inside Derbyshire) into Manchester central each day. Hence 27 miles return.

My gorgeous bike needs TLC as the roads throughout are tricky, and messy. Thistledew - I have one of those cleaning reservoirs and will use it this weekend. The gunk on the chain and crank wheels ( is that right?) is enormous! I hate the grinding noise it sometimes gives out.
Fred - it now gets a GT85 spray most days, but....what is the 'oil' function? Should the chain get an oiling regularly as well as the spray?
The biking is now such an integral part of my worky stuff I want to ensure I am doing right by it.

Summer - I know! It first happened 3 weeks ago when the train let me down and I was due to collect dd from school and have tea with her. No train that day meant...just get biking! Up hill most of the way. But it wasn't as bad as I thought, so now biking the distance is the 'new normal'.
< when I first biked into work at 6.30am I thought I was an Olympian.. Now it's just what one does.>

I use one of those chain cleaning things, do you have proper degreaser to put in it? That gets everything sparkly clean pretty well I find, and gets rid of the horrid grindy noise/feeling on the chain.

Is it normal GT85 or one that says it is a bike lube? I know you can get spray on bike lube stuff, but isn't GT85 like WD40 in that it is a water displacer not a proper lube?

Er...don't know re GT85 - I think it's just the normal stuff. Using the reservoir does make a difference.

And yes, I need a maid who will just whizz in and whizz out with the bike maintenance stuff.
I realised I'd watched too much tv cycling when I had a puncture and looked around for the 'Team Pan' car to instantly replace the bike.....didn't happen.

GT85 is pretty lousy as a chain lube, but will at least stop the chain getting rusty, but it won't help it go smooth and fast.

A clean chain and then a chain specific lube will have it run smoother - but you'll need to clean all the gunk off everywhere first.

GT85 is more of a lube than WD40, but not really specific to a bike chain.

Fred - yes I wasn't sure about that - we have a good independent bike shop in Glossop so I'll pop in on Saturday and get some proper stuff. ta.

How are you finding the dark though Wrath? I am not a fan of my dark evening commute now. I know I will get used to it though. Funnily though riding in the dark is fine later in the evening when it is more quiet. It's just the combination of fairly busy traffic and the dark that I don't like.

Oh it's a bit tough at times. I used to get the train to near work (about 15 mins ride on top) but now it's ride all the way. I do get all assertive and dominate lanes where it's okay, and am lit up like a Christmas tree. I hate junctions and in the dark really make sure drivers have seen me. But yes, riding in busy traffic in the dark does raise the pulse a bit.

I just don't like winter . I'm a right misery at the mo. I was hoping that given we didn't get a summer we wouldn't really get a winter either.

yes I wished I'd discovered the ease of riding all the way in summer! We have a bit of a community of bikers-into-Manchester on the train, and talked about how to ride it all the way. No-one else does it all now. Apart from me! I am beginning to suspect it's now in the bad weather it's just a macho challenge..

Wiggo in accident with car..

WrathdePan poor old Wiggo. But a wake-up call for drivers, so hopefully some good will come of it.

And now Shane Sutton is in hospital with head injuries after an accident on his bike

Yes the A6 in Levenshulme in Manchester is where I used to live. It's a really tough place for cyclists, with lots of cars fighting for space amongst themselves, and bikes get treated v poorly.
Surely two experienced and responsible victims in 24 hours has to inform a national consciousness about bikists safety.

Back to the lube thingy....I did get a 'wet bike lube' from the local shop. It's a sort of light oil that goes on the chain only and then gets spread around the gears as you change up and down. Yer man laughed at the notion of GT85 as a bike lube - it's only a teflony spray that clings to the metal where it lands and only for a short while and does nothing in terms of actual protection of chain/gear cogs.

Thanks for the lube advice I will look into it. well I did my second commute today. it was a hella lot warmer than last weeks frosty ride, I had to stop twice to strip off gloves n fleece enroute. but having not done it for two years was pleased I managed the 19miles round trip. was knackered getting home though again:st head wind and in drissle nearly finished me off! I guess I need to keep working on my fitness.

19 miles is a lot. I've trained myself to think of the 26miles round trip as sort of 'just going for a ride' albeit at odd times of the day, in heavy traffic and with a days work to rest up in.

I need to confess that since I got my bike in August I haven't done anything to it apart from ride it.

What maintenance do I need to do? If I get some wet spray lube do I just spray it on? Before or after a ride? Do I need to wipe off the excess?

What psi should I inflate my tyres to? Does it depend on the tyres? I've got schwalbe marathon plus, think they're 35mm. Or do I just pump up as hard as I can?

Questions, questions!

For the lubey-loo get some wet lube stuff - it comes in a small bottle with a teat-dispenser - dribble some drops (it isn't a spray) directly onto the chain. Turn the chain if it's off the ground as you do it. It'll spread as you change gears anyway. I was told for my 100/week trip I should do it weekly.

Tyres - I have no knowledge on this. I just pump them up until they are not squeezable any more. This may be wrong.

Viva yes you should pump up your tyres - it should say on them?? I would guess 80 psi?

Knee still knackered and not properly back on the bike! Argh

Ssmile well done on the commute!