Cycling Advice

[inchy14]

The best advice I can give anyone re Cycling is don’t use Evans, the retailer owned by Mike Ashley. Sent an evoucher purchased from Evans yesterday for my lads birthday and it has disappeared into the ether. Maybe these things happen but they have closed their customer service call centres, web chat is currently off line and has been for the last 24 hours so the only way of contacting them is by email. An automated message says they will do their best to respond within 10 - 14 days. Be warned.

Got mine through them on the cycle to work scheme but had issues with them regarding services etc... would look elsewhere in future.

 

[Brightwell’s left peg]

Tempting mate, really is. Did 9000 feet on the tour de Manc last year, should have done over 10,000 this year but obviously was cancelled.

9,000 is big, although I do think road biking is easier than mountain biking, based on the numbers who fly past me with ease going up hills! ;-)

I went from little to no cycling at the start of Lockdown, to getting it done in May (I’m 46, so hardly a spring chicken). Need to average just shy of 300m a day, which soon builds up if you miss a few days.

I used Strava to plan routes and Challenge Hound to track my progress (and others if you want to rope anyone else in). Easy enough to record. Gets quite addictive once you start.

I’m now doing 4 x 1,000m challenge in June (4 individual rides each over 1km vertical).

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Lots of people are migrating back to rim brakes due the issues with discs. Pad attrition and cost the main drivers....

I think once you have had decent disc brakes there is no going back.

Bad disk brakes suffer from alarming deterioration in performance where as rim brakes perform consistently at a mediocre level. On an ultra tight budget then maybe there is a place for rim brakes but I've had hydro disk mountain bikes for a decade at least, my road bike is currently a cable actuated hydraulic caliper which is decent but my next road bike will be full hydro brakes.

The cycle industry have perfected the art of tinkering with component standards so upgrading things is never simple and you can never go backwards. I thought my current disk road bike might be the a frame that i could use for 10 or 20 years (its is only 5 years old) but all new road disks are flat mount brake calipers and bolt thru hubs so I cant get new brakes to fit without some sort of adaptor and my upgraded wheels will not fit my next bike. You just have to go with the changes and enjoy the better tech.

 

[shevtheblue]

I could have written this exact message for myself

I think a lot of people are in the same boat

 

[shevtheblue]

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.

Oh yeah, im struggling to get much speed tbh but i realised it was because i needed to add some oil (lube ;D) to the wheels as they had obviously slowed down after not being used for ages! The other annoying thing is i've been trying to find some nice long rides that aren't mostly road, now that the traffic has come back, so i've been hitting the transpennine over here in stockport. Full of fucking tossers taking up the whole pathway which slows you down a lot and also they have the little shitty gates where you have to slow down and actually get off your bike to squeeze through them. My mate in Cheshire manages to get some good distance and speeds round his but theres fuck all traffic or people about there, obviously.

The missus has been going on about me having one bike and not using it much, if i had two and didn't end up using the other one much she would be taking pics and putting it on facebook to sell as soon as i left the house :D

 

[inchy14]

9,000 is big, although I do think road biking is easier than mountain biking, based on the numbers who fly past me with ease going up hills! ;-)

I went from little to no cycling at the start of Lockdown, to getting it done in May (I’m 46, so hardly a spring chicken). Need to average just shy of 300m a day, which soon builds up if you miss a few days.

I used Strava to plan routes and Challenge Hound to track my progress (and others if you want to rope anyone else in). Easy enough to record. Gets quite addictive once you start.

I’m now doing 4 x 1,000m challenge in June (4 individual rides each over 1km vertical).

I’m on Strava too mate Inchy14 if you want to follow, I’ve cycled for years on and off, mainly to work but decided 18 months ago to get a proper road bike as I was doing triathlons so needed something better than my old cyclocross bike. 46 is young btw....

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

Oh yeah, im struggling to get much speed tbh but i realised it was because i needed to add some oil (lube ;D) to the wheels as they had obviously slowed down after not being used for ages! The other annoying thing is i've been trying to find some nice long rides that aren't mostly road, now that the traffic has come back, so i've been hitting the transpennine over here in stockport. Full of fucking tossers taking up the whole pathway which slows you down a lot and also they have the little shitty gates where you have to slow down and actually get off your bike to squeeze through them. My mate in Cheshire manages to get some good distance and speeds round his but theres fuck all traffic or people about there, obviously.

The missus has been going on about me having one bike and not using it much, if i had two and didn't end up using the other one much she would be taking pics and putting it on facebook to sell as soon as i left the house :D

Haha, sounds like my missus.

It can get addictive but if you're stuck with one bike it might be worth looking at seeing if you can find a quicker one. Eg. If yours is front and back suspension then an upgrade to front only will give you more speed as it will probably be lighter. Tyre types & higher pressure can make a difference too.

 

[Man_City_Loyal]

The rim brakes are the old type, two blocks either side of the wheel rim that clamp together to slow the bike down - aka V brakes. Disc brakes will be identifiable because there will be a metal disc (a bit like a cog without the teeth) attached to the wheels in the centre and the braking action is made on these discs.

its rim brakes then from your description :)

 

[bluemcr]

Lots of people are migrating back to rim brakes due the issues with discs. Pad attrition and cost the main drivers....

I'm into my 90s era mountain bikes and road bikes better built quality parts and rim brakes I've had no problems at all done cannock chase many times. Steel is real!

 

[Brightwell’s left peg]

I’m on Strava too mate Inchy14 if you want to follow, I’ve cycled for years on and off, mainly to work but decided 18 months ago to get a proper road bike as I was doing triathlons so needed something better than my old cyclocross bike. 46 is young btw....

If you’re doing triathlons, Everest will be a piece of piss mate.

Just looked you up, can’t find Inchy14?