Cycling Advice

[discopop]

I had to get off my bike few years ago on the Cat and Fiddle or I'd have been blown over. It's got to be the windiest fucking hill in the world. Much prefer and always choose to ride up Derbyshire Bridge which runs parallel. I've got 66mm deep section rims so currently sat waiting for the weather to calm down so I can get a few evening miles in.

Ha ha 66mm rims would be like a fucking kite in today’s wind.

 

[johnnytapia]

Sounds like you're getting a passion for speed! If you need to be faster and can afford it, buy a decent road bike and have two bikes; one for off-road and one for roads/commuting. I had a mountain bike and commuting avg speed was around 13mph via trails and a bit of road but I then bought a hybrid with the hope I could ride both surfaces. The hard case tyres shredded quickly so ended up just using it on the roads. Luckily it was light and had no suspension so got decent avg speeds out of around 15mph. Not bad for an ageing asthmatic.

There is a simple formula for the number of bikes you should have:
n + 1, where n is the number of bikes you have.

 

[johnnytapia]

Ha ha 66mm rims would be like a fucking kite in today’s wind.

I know, I leant my "2nd" bike to a mate so he could get out on the road on a semi-decent set-up, which leaves me no choice (other than my track bike, which wouldn't quite cut the legal mustard. And most definitely wouldn't get me over the Brickworks).

 

[johnnytapia]

Disc brakes use a disk on the side of the hub as below. The cheap ones are rubbish as they lose effectiveness quite dramatically, you have to constantly tinker with them to keep them functioning and even then they are not great, they get to a point where they are basically non functional. You can service them with new pads, disks and new cables to get them back to working almost like new but you money is better spent on decent ones.

Some of the pro riders won't use them for safety reasons as the disc, if you crash can slice clean through you.

 

[johnnytapia]

Disc brakes use a disk on the side of the hub as below. The cheap ones are rubbish as they lose effectiveness quite dramatically, you have to constantly tinker with them to keep them functioning and even then they are not great, they get to a point where they are basically non functional. You can service them with new pads, disks and new cables to get them back to working almost like new but you money is better spent on decent ones.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...by-disc-brakes-in-abu-dhabi-tour-crash-314710

 

[discopop]

I know, I leant my "2nd" bike to a mate so he could get out on the road on a semi-decent set-up, which leaves me no choice (other than my track bike, which wouldn't quite cut the legal mustard. And most definitely wouldn't get me over the Brickworks).

doing track stands up the Brickworks would be a proper challenge a lot of people are missing the Velo at the moment especially the vets as for some it was their big social meetings of the week, my track bike is in the shed hiding as I have been busy with work for the last couple of years so my inability to skive a Friday morning has meant I have to go through a reassessment to get full accreditation back.

 

[inchy14]

Lucky indeed the C&F is a fast bit of road, for some reason I detest the Dovestones climb not sure why because it’s not particularly hard I just don’t like it. I have been doing Huddersfield Rd climb to Denshaw then going up and over Rippy Rd and turning left at the turnpike pub over to Baitings reservoir, barely see a car on that section although the Pig Sty with a satellite dish always make chuckle, hate to say say but Yorkshire has some great scenery

Done Huddersfield Rd too, love a really good climb, can’t beat the feeling when you get to the top. And yes it’s got some stunning views.

 

[johnnytapia]

doing track stands up the Brickworks would be a proper challenge a lot of people are missing the Velo at the moment especially the vets as for some it was their big social meetings of the week, my track bike is in the shed hiding as I have been busy with work for the last couple of years so my inability to skive a Friday morning has meant I have to go through a reassessment to get full accreditation back.

I've not been to the velodrome for a while too, used to go twice a week as well as have a ride when I took kids from the school I teach in. Never bothered with accreditation, just did the Monday and Thursday tasters as we had a good group who weren't too fast / weren't averse to putting the hammer down now and again. First started taking schoolkids down there in 2004 / 2005, we used to get there early and watch the GB squad sit 3mm from the rear end of the motorbike and whistle round at 60mph+ The GB squad were amongst the frielndliest down to earth bunch you could wish to meet - Hoy, Mclean etc, used to come and chat to the kids, sign waterbottles etc. Remember watching a young Cav and the coach (Andrea - think she used to be a bloke!) said, "keep an eye on that kid, he's special" She (He!) wasn't wrong.

 

[discopop]

I've not been to the velodrome for a while too, used to go twice a week as well as have a ride when I took kids from the school I teach in. Never bothered with accreditation, just did the Monday and Thursday tasters as we had a good group who weren't too fast / weren't averse to putting the hammer down now and again. First started taking schoolkids down there in 2004 / 2005, we used to get there early and watch the GB squad sit 3mm from the rear end of the motorbike and whistle round at 60mph+ The GB squad were amongst the frielndliest down to earth bunch you could wish to meet - Hoy, Mclean etc, used to come and chat to the kids, sign waterbottles etc. Remember watching a young Cav and the coach (Andrea - think she used to be a bloke!) said, "keep an eye on that kid, he's special" She (He!) wasn't wrong.

Chris Hoy is the nicest guy you can meet I was finishing a session once and was going back up the stairs with my bike he held the door and mentioned I looked a bit tired and offered to carry the bike the cheeky twat, I was ready to roll once just as the squad were finishing off and was one of the lads was ramming the guard of the derny to get him to go faster, Had a few nice chats with Brailsford who’s another very nice guy, had one off on there when a tandem got out of shape and took me out, proper bounced on the apron. One thing about the track is it massively improves your peddling action you tend to be a lot smoother which then transfers onto the road.

The taster sessions are one of the best bang for bucks entertainment you can get, kids of all ages love em.

 

[remember arthur mann]

Done Huddersfield Rd too, love a really good climb, can’t beat the feeling when you get to the top. And yes it’s got some stunning views.

Piece of piddle on my electric bike, easy peasy !