Pedal Power Thread

bastic said:
Uuuuu posh part of London then;)

Am thinking about cycling more one weekend so need to look for options;)
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I have a friend whom I cycle with who is moving over your way- perhaps once he has moved we could organise to meet up!
 
I've had some great commutes recently (although today is a bit grey in York).
And to top it off I got my first Strava segment top 10 place on my way home yesterday - in fact I placed 5th on one segment, and 6th on another 2. Happy days.
[I won't mention that my 5th place has had 9 people do it - the other 2 are much more legitimate with ~70people.]
 
Loving it...chain gang season has started (1st one for me) and i love them...7 mile circuit (3 loops), i get dropped but hey ho.....next week is the start of the 27mile chain gang loop!!!

I've just got my new club kit...I've just worked out that in 11months of riding (seriously since November) i've lost 19lb...i'm now at 15.2stone and i might get into the 14stone bracket!!!! Good times!! :banana:

Plus my quads are like sculpted rock!!! :D
 
danmon_81 said:
Loving it...chain gang season has started (1st one for me) and i love them...7 mile circuit (3 loops), i get dropped but hey ho.....next week is the start of the 27mile chain gang loop!!!

I've just got my new club kit...I've just worked out that in 11months of riding (seriously since November) i've lost 19lb...i'm now at 15.2stone and i might get into the 14stone bracket!!!! Good times!! :banana:

Plus my quads are like sculpted rock!!! :D
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Well done on the weight loss. Your post has brought back pain filled memories to me, the odd time that I tagged along with the fast boys in a chain gang, and then spent the whole time in oxygen debt, usually getting dropped big time a few miles from home:shake:
Are you going to be doing any road racing or time trials, now that the decent weather seems to have arrived?
 
Edtog said:
For £200 you will be getting the cheapest of everything, I wouldn't risk my life on one of those, especially if it's from Halfords...

Look at secondhand or spending at bit more.
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That is in my opinion a very alarmist statement. I am basing that on 35 years experience riding and racing bikes, including maintaining and buiding them.
Back in 1985, you could have probably ridden the Tour de France on a bike like that, it is just that nowadays, "wannabes" have to have carbon fibre everything, power meters, electric gears and super aero wheels.
If you had given me that bike back in 1981, I would probably have done a PB for 10 and 25 mile time trials, and done the bulk of my training on it.
 
Edtog said:
For £200 you will be getting the cheapest of everything, I wouldn't risk my life on one of those, especially if it's from Halfords...

Look at secondhand or spending at bit more.
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I can't agree with this, either. Whilst the brakes might not be super sharp, nor the gears slick, nor the frame lightweight, there doesn't need to be any concern about the safety of bikes around this price point. If it was me I'd spend a little more to get a little more, but that's because I spend a lot of time riding and the investment is worth it. If it's just for cruising with the kids at their pace then I don't really think you'll get the benefit of a road bike and might get more bang for buck and pleasure from a hybrid.
 
neil_g said:
:|

http://road.cc/content/news/81677-n...n-driver-who-assaulted-cyclist-video-incident
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Read about this a couple of days ago. Absolutely shocking that he got away with such a clear assault so easily.

On the topic of cycling in the news, this epetition is gaining quite a bit of steam and has received backing from Cameron in PM's questions yesterday (for whatever that's worth). http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196

Perhaps people would like to sign up if it's a cause they agree with. (y)
 
andy700 said:
That is in my opinion a very alarmist statement. I am basing that on 35 years experience riding and racing bikes, including maintaining and buiding them.
Back in 1985, you could have probably ridden the Tour de France on a bike like that, it is just that nowadays, "wannabes" have to have carbon fibre everything, power meters, electric gears and super aero wheels.
If you had given me that bike back in 1981, I would probably have done a PB for 10 and 25 mile time trials, and done the bulk of my training on it.
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I'm basing it on 25 years of road racing/time trialling and many, many stories of bikes built by Halfords, that break the moment you ride it out of store, or aren't built properly, so no alarmist statement.
A £200 bike will have been built for, at a guess £100? You don't need any posh equipment, but you do get what you pay for..I really wouldn't like to ride on those tyres in the rain.
 
TopBanana said:
I've had some great commutes recently (although today is a bit grey in York).
And to top it off I got my first Strava segment top 10 place on my way home yesterday - in fact I placed 5th on one segment, and 6th on another 2. Happy days.
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Just started to use strava
Some achievements are silly....
On part of the road where I manage to speed up p to 30 km there is someone that managed to get up to 57!!
Simply impossible.on such a short distance....and yet....Some cars don't speed up so quick...
 
Edtog said:
I'm basing it on 25 years of road racing/time trialling and many, many stories of bikes built by Halfords, that break the moment you ride it out of store, or aren't built properly, so no alarmist statement.
A £200 bike will have been built for, at a guess £100? You don't need any posh equipment, but you do get what you pay for..I really wouldn't like to ride on those tyres in the rain.
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Would you care to link to any stories, because I have had ex clubmates take a job in Halfords, and I know that they can put a bike together.
I should also point out that I have no links to Halfords, have not worked for them or bought a bike from them - but I can use my eyes, and they have helped me out in the past, by installing a bottom bracket free of charge, when I did not have the correct tool.
As for tyres, that is something that you learn through experience. I used Vredstein tyres years ago, and ended up with a broken elbow - they were rubbish - £40 spent on Vittoria open corsas sorted that out though!
 
bastic said:
Just started to use strava
Some achievements are silly....
On part of the road where I manage to speed up p to 30 km there is someone that managed to get up to 57!!
Simply impossible.on such a short distance....and yet....Some cars don't speed up so quick...
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Don't worry too much about Strava times, because - Surprise, surprise - some people cheat.
There are times out there in the "mystic stravasphere" which would put Wiggins, Cancellara and Martin into the shade - even if they rode a team time trial:LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
Anyone used my tracks from Google??
 
A bit of water, some new tires and the old bike is ready again... :D

DSC_4817.jpg


Continental Super Sport with "Anti Puncture Belt"? :wacky:
 
andy700 said:
Well done on the weight loss. Your post has brought back pain filled memories to me, the odd time that I tagged along with the fast boys in a chain gang, and then spent the whole time in oxygen debt, usually getting dropped big time a few miles from home:shake:
Are you going to be doing any road racing or time trials, now that the decent weather seems to have arrived?
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Probably not...i dont understand the tactics enough yet...i'll do any club races or maybe some local TT's if i keep improving.
 
Did my first triathlon last weekend it was only a novice event so 200m swim, 15k cycle and 2.5k run. my intentions in the run up to the event was to get to the finish line, however i was quite pleased with my final result, I finished second overall and was the first male to cross the finish line (yes, beaten by a woman)

So to celerate i went to one of the local bike shops today and ended up coming home with this
8685208475_826e223f55_z.jpg
 
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Paul_W said:
Did my first triathlon last weekend it was only a novice event so 200m swim, 15k cycle and 2.5k run. my intentions in the run up to the event was to get to the finish line, however i was quite pleased with my final result, I finished second overall and was the first male to cross the finish line (yes, beaten by a woman)

So to celerate i went to one of the local bike shops today and ended up coming home with this
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Well done on your excellent result!

Not a bad way to reward yourself, either!

Anymore triathlons lined up?
 
Nice job on the tri!

I cycled to box hill and back today, about 50km all told. I have no record of it at present as I didn't press start on the garmin. You would think pressing go on a course would start it but no. Mind you it did take quite a while and we managed to end up on a bridleway round the back of box hill quite stupidly (last time my friend does the route!) and had to walk it at two points. We also cheated by going up the back way and down the zigzag which was rather fun!

So, my longest cycle yet and it was great fun. I do need a bike fit and a decent bike though.
 
menthel said:
Nice job on the tri!

I cycled to box hill and back today, about 50km all told. I have no record of it at present as I didn't press start on the garmin. You would think pressing go on a course would start it but no. Mind you it did take quite a while and we managed to end up on a bridleway round the back of box hill quite stupidly (last time my friend does the route!) and had to walk it at two points. We also cheated by going up the back way and down the zigzag which was rather fun!

So, my longest cycle yet and it was great fun. I do need a bike fit and a decent bike though.
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spent my youth pedalling round that area :)
 
Managed to combine the three bits of the ride we had between us into a single coherent file and upload to strava. Worked ok in the end!
 
andy700 said:
The bloke is an absolute "tool" IMO. His views are so out of touch with the other candidates, and of course the demographic of the area - Cambridge is one of the highest "cycle use" areas in the UK.
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I can't see that he's going to be very popular with local cyclists! He even demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of taxation by falling into the old trap of believing 'road tax' funds the roads, and that cyclists therefore use them without paying a penny. He seems to miss that 'road tax' is actually Vehicle Excise Duty, which is calculated from the emissions of a vehicle and of course a cyclist doesn't produce emissions (unless powered by baked beans :D) so a Tax Disc would cost £0 just like Band A motorists. He also fails to realise that since the 30s there's been no connection between this tax and the expenditure on public roads. They are in fact funded from general taxation and as such everyone pays. Not to mention that most cyclists are car owners as well.

I get the concerns about red light jumpers, of which there are too many, but the general intolerance of cyclists by so many road users for fundamentally flawed reasons such as this guy has demonstrated really does annoy me.

He also seems to think roads exist purely because of cars, not realising the role cyclists, horse and cart etc. had in creating our road network long before motorised transport was even dreamt of (2000 miles of roads were built by Romans between something like 40-400AD and there certainly weren't cars then!)

/rantover
 
Guys,
do you insure your bikes ? if yes then with what company ? do you have accident cover? liability insurance ?
my is due to expire - with Cycle Guard, and not sure if I want to stay with them... - over £20 per month is quite a lot....
and no, I dont have household insurance;) - I think it is time to get one...
need to double check if bike would be covered outside of house.
 
bastic said:
Guys,
do you insure your bikes ? if yes then with what company ? do you have accident cover? liability insurance ?
my is due to expire - with Cycle Guard, and not sure if I want to stay with them... - over £20 per month is quite a lot....
and no, I dont have household insurance;) - I think it is time to get one...
need to double check if bike would be covered outside of house.
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None of my bikes have ever been worth over £600, so I just do it through the house insurance - my buildings and contents, with legal cover come to £28 a month, so £20 a month for just a bike seems pretty steep IMO.
 
andy700 said:
None of my bikes have ever been worth over £600, so I just do it through the house insurance - my buildings and contents, with legal cover come to £28 a month, so £20 a month for just a bike seems pretty steep IMO.
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my bike is £1400 and includes accident damage...
 
This is my toy.

26053_429163954988_4830506_n.jpg


Cove Stiffee with SLX groupset, double and bash, RaceFace AM finishing kit, handbuilt wheels with XM719 rims and Revelation Race upfront.
 
bastic said:
Guys,
do you insure your bikes ? if yes then with what company ? do you have accident cover? liability insurance ?
my is due to expire - with Cycle Guard, and not sure if I want to stay with them... - over £20 per month is quite a lot....
and no, I dont have household insurance;) - I think it is time to get one...
need to double check if bike would be covered outside of house.
Click to expand...

Mine is a named item on my household insurance as is covered outside the house (although not for accidental damage as far as I know).
I'm looking at joining British Cycling or CTC in order to get insured for hitting someone!
 
Funnily enough I was researching bicycle insurance last night so I'll be watching this with interest. The quoted figure for reasonable insurance seems to be 10-15% of the value of the bike, so £20 per month seems a lot for a £1400 bike. Of course, you also need to take into consideration how extensive the cover is, the rep of the firm, and the cost of the excess and subsequent premium if you make a claim.
 
my reflexes were tested today...
I set off from lights and pushed really hard - wanted to beat my personal best on strava ;) - on a short distance to petrol station.
There are cars driving along me and suddenly some twit decided that he wants to get some petrol and that he will turn in front of me ....
back wheel locked...rear of bike sliding but managed to break down...
what a TWIT!!!!!!!!!
 
bastic said:
my reflexes were tested today...
I set off from lights and pushed really hard - wanted to beat my personal best on strava ;) - on a short distance to petrol station.
There are cars driving along me and suddenly some twit decided that he wants to get some petrol and that he will turn in front of me ....
back wheel locked...rear of bike sliding but managed to break down...
what a TWIT!!!!!!!!!
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I'm always a bit nervous near petrol stations - I think quite a few people make last minute decisions to turn in, you are in their blind spot, and they turn quickly as you say :eek:
 
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