Pedal Power Thread

As a newbie of a few weeks I've only just hit on this thread. I have three bikes, two road and a full suss. mountain bike. Because of where I live (Poole) there isn't really a lot of off road so have to travel. Consequently you will find me a lot of the time in North Wales, Llandegla to be precise. The blue trail there is what I consider to be the best warm - up trail going......get that under your belt, have a brew and rip up the red. If that's not exciting enough wait until winter and do the black with lights! I've ridden up and down Snowden and that was scary but doing the black at Llandegla with very little light is just awesomely cloth touching. If you don't stack your not going fast enough.
I ride one of my road bikes at least 5 times a week to try to get in the miles. I'm averaging 175 at the moment but it used to be 200 until I took up photography again. I just love street. Did a Pirates day on Poole Quay a couple of Saturdays ago, fired off approx. 175 frames. Ended up with 131 good piccies. Well pleased. Going to that there London town next Weds (9th) and hope to fill a 4gb card with street. Really looking forward to that. Guernsey the week after.:):nikon:

I've gone tubeless and its the best move I've ever made. Stans and Nobby Nicks...bombproof. Only been attended to once in two years.
Oh and knee/elbow protection. I use them all the time. I'm 67 and take bloody ages to heal. If you want to limp home with cut knees and or elbows do so your a plonker!
Thanks for reading my ramblings.....get used to them there will be more.
 
neil_g said:
:confused:

You know how stans tubeless "gloop" works?

You'd go through the stuff at a rate of knots just to swap tyres around every time you wanted to use the rollers.
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get a cheap rear wheel and swap the cassette over - quicker than swapping tyres probably

I change my tyres frequently and don't loose much sealant
 
POAH said:
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How stupid can that driver get. At first glance it looks like he meant to do it until I saw the slow mo. Yet another driver that needs lessons on the basic observations. Luckily the guy is alright but doesn't look a cheap repair.
 
POAH said:
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That is pretty shocking -I've seen it done in London (without the crash) plenty, sometimes people don't see, sometimes they just know you have to break or get hurt. But this one is just bizarre.
 
neil_g said:
Way too hot for riding today, think I've got a touch of heatstroke

:-/
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Same here as well. Even on a night it can turn into a shower of sweat for me with this heat. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a pair of hobbits throwing a ring on the hot roads.

I went to Laggan Wolf Trax last weekend. I'm normally fine with cycling up to the top of the trails but I had to pay for uplift because even coming down the heat was just draining me. Need to get out more and get rid of my beer belly.
 
CaveDweller said:
Same here as well. Even on a night it can turn into a shower of sweat for me with this heat. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw a pair of hobbits throwing a ring on the hot roads.

I went to Laggan Wolf Trax last weekend. I'm normally fine with cycling up to the top of the trails but I had to pay for uplift because even coming down the heat was just draining me. Need to get out more and get rid of my beer belly.
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i managed 13m with about 1100ft elevation but i was really blowing out my arse by 3/4 way :LOL: stops where i could when i eventually found some shade. i hung my helmet on my bars at one point and when i went to put it back on there was a collected puddle of sweat inside :puke:

have some pictures of riding in/near some corn lol

Pepperbox Hill area - 26/07/14 by neilgates, on Flickr

Pepperbox Hill area - 26/07/14 by neilgates, on Flickr
 
Much cooler this morning, thank goodness. I tried a hybrid road ride instead as my local MTB trails are just too over grown at the moment - bramble city deluxe and it is too warm to wear anything to protect ones arms and legs.

Managed 60km in 2h30 exploring the country roads so overall pretty please. Need to work on the hydration though as thought a single bottle would do, which it did not although I must say much nicer riding without the camelbak :banana:
 
Yes the heat recently has been a nightmare on the bikes. I went out in the rain last night and flying down the muddy trails has been the most fun I've had on the bike in a while.
 
I managed 60km today only drinking 400ml (and before eating). Obviously everyone's different but I find if you eat well and keep yourself well hydrated off the bike then you'll be surprised how far you can go on the reserves your body naturally retains.

I treated myself to a Garmin Edge 510 a couple of days ago and today was the first ride with it. Having all the information in front of me as I ride is definitely going to be a big help!
 
TriggerHappy said:
I managed 60km today only drinking 400ml (and before eating). Obviously everyone's different but I find if you eat well and keep yourself well hydrated off the bike then you'll be surprised how far you can go on the reserves your body naturally retains.

I treated myself to a Garmin Edge 510 a couple of days ago and today was the first ride with it. Having all the information in front of me as I ride is definitely going to be a big help!
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Hydration hasn't been a problem, I've pretty much had to drink at least 4l a day to feel even vaguely human in this heat :LOL: had another 1.5l in the camelbak too.

The garmins are great though, I've got the 800 shouting at me with directions :D
 
oh don't mention the Garmin edge 800, I was sorely tempted to get myself one but bought a 910xt watch as I wanted something for running also.
 
I know most areas and trails around the Highlands and up north Scotland like the back of my hand so never really looked into a Garmin. But I wouldn't mind something that tracks my details like speed and altitude etc. I like those nerdy details :D
 
I like to try and mix it up with new routes a lot. It helps too when, like this weekend, keep coming across densely overgrown bridleways/byways or right of ways with farmers crops blocking the way and have to find a detour :D

The tracking and addon sensors are great too, I've got cadence/speed and hrm. Although I accidentally set a couple of KOM on strava when I left the 800 running in the car :LOL:
 
Well - I haven't been around here much... I've been participating in a bit of a online cycling challenge themed around the Tour De France.

Basically, a team of 9 people go out and try to ride the same distance that the peloton do each day. Not too difficult, you say, considering there's 9 people, but the challenge is on a weight loss and fitness site rather than a cycling specific one, and there are, how shall I say, certain people of "mixed abilities" - with the teams deliberately mixed up to provide a relatively level basis for the 4 teams.

Anyhow - my own personal aim was to ride all 21 days (out of the 23 days of the actual tour... two whole rest days days whoop-de-dooo!) and to try and get at least 1/3 of the overall distance of 3656km.

Overall - I made all my goals - riding 1296km (35.4% of the distance) and climbing 9,812metres over the 54h40m32s of the challenge. No, I wasn't the rider in the challenge with the longest distance, or the highest, and certainly not the fastest. But, only 2 people out of 36 ride every day, and I did clock more distance than the other guy...

All the rides were mapped on my Garmin 800, pushed into Strava, and then a bit of analysis in the very wonderful Veloviewer. I particularly like the "wheel" view of things...

LeTour2014_Wheel by The Big Yin, on Flickr

It was great fun, and a positive joy to be riding in the warm weather rather than the cold and wet like the last couple of these challenges that I've participated in.
 
That's bloody good, nice one! Definitely makes me want to get in shape more rather than getting uplifts all the time and seeing how long it takes me to go downhill lol
 
Get up at 6:30, work for a couple of hours, out before 10:00am generally for a ride, back home for a shower and something to eat, watch LeTour, another couple of hours work after the race finished, Eat, then a final couple of hours working until around 10pm then fall in bed comatose.

Not bad for a fat lad... still hovering around 110kg (after dropping 68kg so far), wrong side of 50, and only properly back on my bike for maybe 3 years after a good 20 years complete lay-off - so if I can do it, anyone can.
 
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neil_g said:
ah right, self employed?
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Obviously - that's the great thing about being self employed - you have the freedom to work whichever 16 hours a day you choose to.

ETA: actually, the guy who rode the biggest distance (1822km, at around the same average speed as me) actually did it whilst holding down a 9-5 job - just did a 2 hour commute to work and a 3 hour one back home most days - then got some serious distance in on the weekends...
 
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I have a Scott Reflex 20 hard tail MTB which came with Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic disc brakes.

The bike is about 4 years old but both the lever master cylinders leak and despite buying and fitting the replacement seal - still leak.

My question is, how do I know what brake sets I can buy to replace them - obviously disc size and calliper mounting spigots/lugs are important to ensure they fit. The levers will need to be replaced too due to them being integral to the leaky reservoir.

What would be a good replacement? Should I stick with hydraulic or go with cable operated instead?

Thanks in advance
 
Well, I thought I posted earlier but it doesn't seem to have appeared, maybe it timed out.

Anyway, just wanted to share.

I've just had the opportunity to do a couple of 30 mile bike rides with my dad. He has a road bike (secteur sport) and I have a mtb (rockhopper fs '99) with road tyres on.

Sunday's ride was nice, it was a 30 mile circuit around near Bignor, Sutton, Bury, Amberley etc in West Sussex, starting and ending in Storrington. Quite nice for a gentle Sunday afternoon ride really but tiring by the end of it.

Then, yesterday after work it was a very different ride, it was still a road ride but it was from Steyning to the top of Ditchling Beacon and back. Really a very nice route with such lovely scenery. But it was so much harder. More hilly I think, plus I was probably still tired from Sunday.

Mainly I am posting this because I am happy to say I got up Ditchling Beacon without stopping and walking. It was my first time on the Hill. It's not proper steep like some famous climbs are but it's fairly long, which is probably why it's known as a bit of a killer around these parts. It's the big hill people do at the end of the London to Brighton ride.

I only normally ride for a couple of miles from Lancing to Shoreham airport each morning to work along a flat A27 and then back again, so I am chuffed to have done it. Middle chain ring at front and 3rd biggest sprocket of 9 speed cassette at the back.

I hope to do more in the future but it was great to be out there and I have a new found respect for all those riding climbs like it's easy.
 
bl0at3r said:
I have a Scott Reflex 20 hard tail MTB which came with Avid Juicy 3 hydraulic disc brakes.

The bike is about 4 years old but both the lever master cylinders leak and despite buying and fitting the replacement seal - still leak.

My question is, how do I know what brake sets I can buy to replace them - obviously disc size and calliper mounting spigots/lugs are important to ensure they fit. The levers will need to be replaced too due to them being integral to the leaky reservoir.

What would be a good replacement? Should I stick with hydraulic or go with cable operated instead?

Thanks in advance
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avid have got a bit of a bad rep these days for reliability.

shimano are doing very good things in disk brakes for reasonable prices. see rose bikes for extra cheapness. theyll fit with the correct adapters (if you're keeping the same size rotors you might even get away with a straight swap), you can keep your existing rotors as long as theyre not worn out. rotors arent manufacturer specific, although shimano utilise a lock ring arrangement rather than the more common 6 bolt.
 
Got soaked out on my ride today, typical it was dry when I left but 20 mins in a monsoon arrived

At least it did not last for long so could have some fun on my usual single track route

oh for the lovely dry days we had last month like this...

20140713_101132 by amaFotho, on Flickr
 
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A little glimpse into how fast and closely the pros do things:


It's an incredible video!
 
Been mountain biking for fives years now. Currently own a Cannondale SL5 with upgraded forks. Not been able to enjoy any riding since May. Had a knee Arthroscopy in december 2013. Back riding Feb and cruelly ended by a ruptured Achilles in May. Hoping to get out this month.
 
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