Cycling Thread - All Peddlers and Pedallers welcome.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Have started a new thread as the other one is very nearly full.

No, I still use inner tubes, SummerLightning, but get punctures so rarely (one every couple of years) that it's not worth switching over at the moment.
Anyway, riding without tubes would feel like going to work without knickers

Thanks for the advice on the handle bars. Will look into options. Something else to spend money on .

Bike back from service, went for combination pedals spd one side and standard foot plate the other. Got loads of new gear and can't wait to get out. Physio say's probably another 10 days rest with calf strain grrr. Hope the weather is not too bad for everyone and you manage to get out. sticky are you going to trial some bikes this weekend?

Habbibu, it's worth learning the right technique for changing a tyre. Brute force and ignorance works, but it's a lot bit easier if you know the tricks.

Ladies, would cleats be suitable for hardtrail? I've tried looking online and can't find any info. I ride a merida. Newish to cycling and also looking at winter gear. I bought cheap muddy fox cycling tights etc, but am at the stage of upgrading for winter. Any recommendations? I have a dare2b wind shell which has done ok, but is there a better jacket I could buy?

does anyone use a garmin edge?

butterfly bars

Peaches, I use cleats on my rigid touring/commuting/road bike. I've got a garmin......don't think its an edge. It's an etrex of some description which I used to use for geocaching, never used it for cycling. I'd like to, be able to use it for turn by turn directions if biking in an unfamiliar area but I'm a bit of a technophobe so not very confident.

My winter jacket is an altura night vision which I'm very happy with.

Hi viva, I've read a lot of good things about altura. Them and rapha? Just wondering if sticking some thermals under my cheapo tights will do for now. And a merino base layer? Have a 26 mile ride tomorrow and there will be a few stops, so thinking tis better to layer up!

The edge allows you to track online and was looking for others as you can have "friends" and sort of egg each other on.

Dh has got an altura night vision jacket, which he likes a lot. LadyM, would love to know tricks which might save my hands - could you point me in the right direction.

I like a buff in winter - keeps the chill out. DH just got a Garmin Edge 200 from PIL for his birthday.

I have a few buffs now, very handy for coastal riding and the bloody headwinds I get!

I had an altura night vision jacket, but it de-laminated and leaked after a year or so. so I now have the mountain warehouse copy, very similar but about half the price. pit zips work a bit different so you can't use them to access the whole inside of jacket as a massive pocket like you can on the altura.

I have spd pedals on my tourer. I use MTB shoes was they are nicer to walk in.

Did some fettling this morning and turned my and DS's bikes into somethimg approaching CX bikes! mudguards, pannier racks and lights all removed. my bike looks very naked.

I am not a massive fan of altura. I have a laptop pannier of theirs, it is very annoying, it has an outer pocket that doesn't zip up, and if the bag is full with, err, for example, a laptop, then stuff falls out of it. Shit design! But at least I can carry my laptop without having a backpack.
My experience of their clothes hasn't been great either, but can't remember why now as it's years since I've owned any of their clothes.

Rapha on the other hand, I can't justify the prices of. Actually I tell a lie, I had a pair of their socks, that my MIL bought me. They were great, i wore them so much that I put a hole in them though.

My clothes at the mo are a mixture of Pearl Izumi, sugoi, Craft, Terry, Maloja and probably a few others.

Tubeless means just that, getting rid of inner tubes, but I think you have figured that out habbibu. You can run lower pressure, so more grip, no pinch flats, and put slime in and you shouldn't get flats really. but I have not done it, and I find it a bit daunting even though my expensive mountain bike has tubeless rims. Unlike most biking women i know, I do not have a biking other half who loves fettling bikes so I have to do it myself.

ssmile changing a gear cable is easy, you just thread it back through where it was! The only slight difficult bit is adjusting tension for the derailleur, this is dead easy to look up how to do on the net though, and it literally should be a matter of twizzling the barrel for the tension rather than having to fiddle with the limit screws, if it was set up correctly before. It sounds like if it was crunching maybe you need new outers too? It is quite easy and it's soooo lovely having new cables after they have been getting a bit shitty!

peaches do you mean for a hardtail? I ride cleats on all my bikes. Even for the most technical mountain biking, i have even done a downhill race (badly) in cleats. I hate riding without them, but I do have a pair of flat pedals that I'm planning on putting on my hardtail for playing around on. Oh and they all have mountain bike spds on them, even the road bike. As i can't be bothered with different shoes for different bikes. My commuter has the 2 sided jobbies, these are great for popping to town in normal shoes. I have never got on with the caged ones, that are 2 sided spds but with a cage round them, as I found in normal shoes you could still feel the cleat, and in cleats I was not comfortable not clipped in so it was kind of pointless.

Oh and peaches don't know where you are but I'd have thought one layer of full lenght leggings would be ok for keeping warm in current weather. What size are you? As I have a merino base layer I don't want, I think it's about a size 10. I just don't get on with merino, I find it itchy! I can just about cope with it for socks, but not base layers. I appear to be in a minority though.

Summer thanks for the advice! I'm in Scotland,coastal and we get some cracking nippy winds! I'm a 12 on top

I might have to get cleats then. A friend said its like having an extra gear.

Sorry, I managed to hide this thread by accident.

Summer, thanks for the advice. Many of the 2013 Ridgebacks seem to have celestial body names. The 'Speed' is a bit of a letdown name wise, I'd much rather ride a Comet, or a Meteor

Crappy I am going now to the shop [excited!]. I'll report back.

I am totally unprepared on the clothing front. Or rather, my normal clothes are more or less suitable for cycling so I don't have much cycling specific gear. My only concession has been a high viz vest. Boring, me.

Wow, summer - I'm too chicken for cleats at the best of times, but doing a downhill race in them? That's hardcore. Mind you, I can fall off getting on my bike, so I think that tells you a lot about my skill level. I got 5 10 shoes which made a big difference, and will possibly see if Santa might bring some new pedals.

Peaches, I'm in Scotland too, on the Tay coast. Don't think we get quite the winds you do, though dh got blown off his bike once, at a break in trees on a cycle path.

Well, been to the shop today. I got to sit on a Meteor and a Giant Escape. the Escape left me a bit cold. The Meteor felt just right. Waiting for them to get a new model Speed to try, and then it's decision time.

Unfortunately, they can't get hold of the 2013 green for the Speed anymore (which is the one I liked the most). This means I'd have to chose between the new two colours, one of which is exactly the same as my old MTB and the other it's a bit nondescript. Alternatively, I could get it from other places online, but I'd rather my local shop assembled and adjusted it for me. Also, I'd feel a bit bad not to buy it from them . Which is silly, because we are getting DD's bike from there anyway.

Oh, I also saw some butterfly bars in the flesh, I like them! The man in the shop thought bar ends would not fit the bill in my case, and recommended getting the right handlebar height to start with instead.

peaches my top would probably fit you, it's a size M. Pm me your address and I will send it to you if you want it! It's just a plain black merino top. Hope you were warm enough, yes I was thinking when i wrote that should be warm enough in just one long layer on the bottom that it could depend on where you are!

sticky sounds like the meteor could be a good bet, plus you liked the name better :-)

habbibu no not hardcore, just too used to riding in cleats!

sticky I wish I had the patience you have. I'm amazed you left the bike shop without a shiny new bike :)

Have sent you a pm summer

I did it, I managed to come somewhere mid table in my 1st cyclo cross race and I didn't die.Or fall off ( nearly but I got it back again). I did wheel spin quite bit on the up hill slimey bit, but I managed to get into top gear for the grassy down hill after a couple of laps . It was quite good fun. Has me wondering about getting some cross tyres for one of my bikes....

Yay!!!! Fantastic. Are you on a bit of a high? I've only ever done one race, and was buzzing for weeks after (and I came almost last and fell off 4 times).

How does cc differ from mtb? Obv not the sticky downhill bits, and I guess no singletrack? Is it mostly grass?

Oh, I googled - wiki says it's the same thing - singletrack and stuff.

Oh my word I'm dim today. Cyclo cross not same as cross country. Bah.

CX ( cyclo cross) is mixed terrain racing, so it seems a typical course would include , grass, mud, tarmac, rough track, some up hill, some down hill, something that will make you get off and walk/ run past an obstacle.

XC is cross country- more MTB territory were one would not expect to get off the bike.

The novices race i did was largely grass, wood chip and mud with a short tramac section as well, some twisty bits through and under trees as well. The kids race had more single track through woodland and some short but steep (45degree) banks both up and down.

I was buzzing a bit, but not as much as my DS who came 2nd in his under 8s race. 1st time CX for him too. There were LOADS of kids, about 50 across U8, U10 and U12.

JUst looked it up properly - looks amazing. Hard work - all the climbing off and carrying the bike. Your ds must be really good - how brilliant. DS (who was 3 at the time) insists he won his under 6 race in a wee dirt crit thing. Stopping dead 3 yards before the finish line (after almost all the kids were through) rather gives the lie to that, but I do admire his self delusion. I'm not sure my kids will ever really be up there with the winners, but I kind of hope they get the racing bug a bit, just for the fun of it.

I am well impressed UniS, well done! And well done to DS too!

It's great that he came 2nd (wow) but also that he's out there enjoying the ride. Like Habbibu, I think DD will never be in that league but it would be so nice to see her try and simply enjoy the outdoors.