I'm going to book on the London Bike Kitchen courses. I know with a bit of confidence and being shown what and how to do I'd be fine with maintaining my bikes. Their courses lead up to a complete strip down and rebuild of your own bike. Not that cheap but in the long run they'd pay for themselves. Cycling - the most expensive free way to travel!
Thats the one thing I hate about cycling, the bloody maintenance.
I need my front and rear mech indexed properly but havent had time to do it myself and nor have I had any spare weekends to take it to my local LBS. I need to get organised as rode my bike 2-3 times and loved it, now havent been on it for about 6 weeks again!
Take you ten minutes to index your rear mech, five for your front - provided you have a bike stand. Longer without it, but not impossible. GCN videos for that as well
Thats the one thing I hate about cycling, the bloody maintenance.
I need my front and rear mech indexed properly but havent had time to do it myself and nor have I had any spare weekends to take it to my local LBS. I need to get organised as rode my bike 2-3 times and loved it, now havent been on it for about 6 weeks again!
Take you ten minutes to index your rear mech, five for your front - provided you have a bike stand. Longer without it, but not impossible. GCN videos for that as well
Honest, I've tried so many times but I always end up fcuking it up even more. I'm not cut out for it. One of the main reasons I switched to running! I know, me bad.
Thats the one thing I hate about cycling, the bloody maintenance.
I need my front and rear mech indexed properly but havent had time to do it myself and nor have I had any spare weekends to take it to my local LBS. I need to get organised as rode my bike 2-3 times and loved it, now havent been on it for about 6 weeks again!
Take you ten minutes to index your rear mech, five for your front - provided you have a bike stand. Longer without it, but not impossible. GCN videos for that as well
Honest, I've tried so many times but I always end up fcuking it up even more. I'm not cut out for it. One of the main reasons I switched to running! I know, me bad.
LOL - you're preaching to the converted. I despise bike maintenance. I just spend so much money on it that I HAVE to do a lot of it myself. I've found when reindexing, a trick is to line the derailleur up properly to begin with, no matter how bad the turns are to get it there. Once that's done, the rest of it tends to fall into place. I spent an hour trying to get it right the first time I did it, only to eventually check properly and find that my rear mech hanger was bent... Never going to bloody work when the derailleur is sitting 5mm over to the inside
Did Velo Birmingham yesterday. On the whole, very well organised, and some of the support from the villages we passed through was great - on a par with, if not better than Ride London. Some idiot deliberately sprayed diesel over the road about 30 miles from the start, leading to a 45 minute delay at the start whilst it was cleaned and straw placed down (oh the irony of complaining about road disruption, then lengthening that disruption by around an hour...) and apparently some places had tacks chucked down (but didn't see any of that). Was ridiculous at the start with all the nodders in the first couple of waves. Organisers of events like this really need to reserve the first few pens for people who want to ride it fast - some of the folk at the beginning hadn't a hope in hell of finishing the ride inside 8 hours, let alone 5. I understand the need to spread out estimated finish times, but the riding was atrocious from a lot of people who'd clearly never ridden in a group of more than about six riders before
The route was a bit 'meh' - topped off with the 'climb' being built up as the midlands' answer to Hardknott pass - but ending up as not even as challenging as Box Hill! Oh, and almost taken out by a ten year old on her Noddy bike when she toppled straight into the road in front of me...
@Leroy Ambrose and that right there is why I avoid all organised events/sportives at all costs (well, apart from the 312, as you know that's only going to appeal to those who do know how to ride a bike..)....you just don't know who's going to be in there or what their capabilities are going to be...hear too many horror stories and so prefer to ride on my own/with my mates... Bah humbug! :-)
and just to follow up on what I wrote yesterday, have just found out that one of my regular cycling buddies did the same event in Brum, where he was taken out at full speed, resulting in a serious head injury....( @Leroy Ambrose he did the world champs event you did too..)
and just to follow up on what I wrote yesterday, have just found out that one of my regular cycling buddies did the same event in Brum, where he was taken out at full speed, resulting in a serious head injury....( @Leroy Ambrose he did the world champs event you did too..)
and just to follow up on what I wrote yesterday, have just found out that one of my regular cycling buddies did the same event in Brum, where he was taken out at full speed, resulting in a serious head injury....( @Leroy Ambrose he did the world champs event you did too..)
Urgh - hope he's not too bad. Was it another rider with skills lacking, or a nodder cutting across him? I think the main problem is that the early waves will always attract people who want to ride it semi-competitively, but many of them won't have the balls, skills or fitness to ride an actual race. Add people lying about their predicted finish time and the organisers' insistence on mixing up ability in the start waves to make sure there isn't a massive pile up later on and it's a recipe for disaster. There's an obvious solution to this - restrict the first few hundred entries to people with a BC or TLI race license. I know that goes against what the event is supposed to be for (inclusivity, charity, challenge etc) but it's a simple fact that fast people will want to ride fast. I believe RideLondon already have a club challenge, where BC registered clubs are (almost) guaranteed a team entry - it wouldn't be a stretch for all such closed-road events to do something similar
Racing accidents will happen - they're unavoidable (I got taken out in the world champs by a Swede who couldn't hold his line on a descent) but having people who've never ridden in a bunch before, let alone one at 27mph, riding alongside people who do it every week just isn't sensible.
Ride according to the conditions. If you can't race just accept it.
As a racer, that's fine by me. I'd never treat a sportive seriously as a race. However, because you'll never convince people not to do the same in a closed-roads event, I don't see the problem with making the first few waves a 'race' pace. You don't stop people racing in the London Marathon and the start waves are designed accordingly.
Ride according to the conditions. If you can't race just accept it.
As a racer, that's fine by me. I'd never treat a sportive seriously as a race. However, because you'll never convince people not to do the same in a closed-roads event, I don't see the problem with making the first few waves a 'race' pace. You don't stop people racing in the London Marathon and the start waves are designed accordingly.
And often just as mixed. I always started at the back of marathons as I got a lift out of, seemingly, always having someone I could pass up the road.
and just to follow up on what I wrote yesterday, have just found out that one of my regular cycling buddies did the same event in Brum, where he was taken out at full speed, resulting in a serious head injury....( @Leroy Ambrose he did the world champs event you did too..)
Urgh - hope he's not too bad. Was it another rider with skills lacking, or a nodder cutting across him? I think the main problem is that the early waves will always attract people who want to ride it semi-competitively, but many of them won't have the balls, skills or fitness to ride an actual race. Add people lying about their predicted finish time and the organisers' insistence on mixing up ability in the start waves to make sure there isn't a massive pile up later on and it's a recipe for disaster. There's an obvious solution to this - restrict the first few hundred entries to people with a BC or TLI race license. I know that goes against what the event is supposed to be for (inclusivity, charity, challenge etc) but it's a simple fact that fast people will want to ride fast. I believe RideLondon already have a club challenge, where BC registered clubs are (almost) guaranteed a team entry - it wouldn't be a stretch for all such closed-road events to do something similar
Racing accidents will happen - they're unavoidable (I got taken out in the world champs by a Swede who couldn't hold his line on a descent) but having people who've never ridden in a bunch before, let alone one at 27mph, riding alongside people who do it every week just isn't sensible.
Just a question, why do you call them Nodders ? and is this a regular used term ? I presume you're referring to casual week end riders, just interested in the phrasing, that's all.
Nodder is a term used by regular commuters, racers and anyone else who rides a bike reasonably regularly. It's a light-hearted perjorative term based on people who don't ride regularly and their tendency to bob their head when riding 'hard' - generally on display every time they pull away from traffic lights in huge swarms. Spotted regularly each year around the first week in January on new bikes, rising to a crescendo around spring time, culminating in 'noddergeddon' (the first sunny day of the year after the clocks go forward). They're an absolute killer at events like this, because they tend to massively over-estimate their ability, especially on any route involving a hill, invariably smash out of the start at Cav pace, keep that up for 10 miles, then basically die over the next 90. As they tire, they weave all over the road, taking out people who are either riding it quickly, or at their own (realistic) pace
Nodder is a term used by regular commuters, racers and anyone else who rides a bike reasonably regularly. It's a light-hearted perjorative term based on people who don't ride regularly and their tendency to bob their head when riding 'hard' - generally on display every time they pull away from traffic lights in huge swarms. Spotted regularly each year around the first week in January on new bikes, rising to a crescendo around spring time, culminating in 'noddergeddon' (the first sunny day of the year after the clocks go forward). They're an absolute killer at events like this, because they tend to massively over-estimate their ability, especially on any route involving a hill, invariably smash out of the start at Cav pace, keep that up for 10 miles, then basically die over the next 90. As they tire, they weave all over the road, taking out people who are either riding it quickly, or at their own (realistic) pace
Cheers for that Leroy, I,ve just not heard it before, glad you took the time to explain. Love that 'noddergeddon' by the way
It originates from the commuting forum on the BikeRadar site. There's some cracking descriptions on there
'Peak Nod' is another term for the season leading up to Noddergeddon
'Allez Man' is a description of a particular breed of West London ponce who thinks they're all that cos they have a low end road bike - generally rugby sock-wearing, pinky ring-sporting wankers
'Chopper' is a term that's made its way over from the amateur racing world - describing blokes who look strong (and think they are because they can drop their mates on the local club run) but can't ride a bike for shit, cut you up at lights, can't corner and get dropped by anyone reasonably competent on any long section of road where you can put the power down
'Carrera Man' or 'Network Rail Man' is a bloke on a bike shaped object wearing so much hi-vis it looked like he had it painted on, turning a cadence of about 15rpm with a saddle approximately 2 inches higher than his rear wheel
Thanks Leroy, always look out for your insight into cycling. I view your knowledge and views on this, like I do Tutt Tutts views on tactics and performance on a football match. Although, I think he's stopped posting at the moment or I haven't seen them recently.
@Leroy Ambrose update on my mate: a spectator walked out across the road (which was enclosed by barriers so think it was literally right at the end) looking left, when all the bikes were coming from the right...am not sure if my mate hit him or if he swerved and hit someone else...details still sketchy... Anyway, he's going to be OK, just bruised, battered and sore (and in need of a new crash helmet, as it disintegrated, and a new Colnago C60 as his top tube snapped in two....)
@Leroy Ambrose update on my mate: a spectator walked out across the road (which was enclosed by barriers so think it was literally right at the end) looking left, when all the bikes were coming from the right...am not sure if my mate hit him or if he swerved and hit someone else...details still sketchy... Anyway, he's going to be OK, just bruised, battered and sore (and in need of a new crash helmet, as it disintegrated, and a new Colnago C60 as his top tube snapped in two....)
Jeez, I hope he is insured! That's one expensive bike to replace.
@Leroy Ambrose update on my mate: a spectator walked out across the road (which was enclosed by barriers so think it was literally right at the end) looking left, when all the bikes were coming from the right...am not sure if my mate hit him or if he swerved and hit someone else...details still sketchy... Anyway, he's going to be OK, just bruised, battered and sore (and in need of a new crash helmet, as it disintegrated, and a new Colnago C60 as his top tube snapped in two....)
Jesus H Christ. Is his bike insured? That's horrendous - if it's another rider that's bad enough, but a spectator? What a tool.
Autumn definitely in the air today. First decent leg stretch for 2.5 weeks today. 55 mules to Herne Bay. Cold and very windy. And to think certain people had mocked my very "camp" Castelli Squadra fold away rain coat. Kept the wind out today.
Had my last race of the season last Sunday, so entering the offseason. Which means weight loss for me
Doing the Manchester to Blackpool nighttime charity ride tonight - that'll be interesting, considering it's meant to piss it down and be blowing a headwind the whole way...
Nice to see @'Charlton Charlie' this morning, all be it he was cycling through Petts Wood/Chislehurst and I was in a hire van moving some furniture for my MIL.
Good to briefly see you @JohnBoyUK - that was my first time on my bike in ten days, after I got knocked off my Vespa...was a slow, social ride...my companion was cycling with a broken hand, whilst I couldn't actually do up my cycling shoe on my left foot due to the bruising from where it was crushed by my scooter, which is why I was wearing overshoes: only way to keep the shoe on.. :-) Was a lovely day for it and so was glad to get out.
My Cyclescheme certificate came through today. So Saturday I pick up my new bike. A Genesis Tour de Fer 10 2017, reduced from £999 to £850. The 2018 one which is essentially the same is now £1250 so I'm very pleased.
I'm thinking of selling my bike. I love it, I've only had it for 2 years or so, and it's had fairly light useage (short commutes mainly). My problem with it is the size. I'm 5ft3, and I have short legs - the bike is a 52cm frame and ideally, I'd like a 47 or 48cm. I can't stand with both feet on the floor, even off the saddle!
I've modified it slightly (shortened the seat post by an inch, and replaced the pedals with slimmer metal ones). It's got a few scratches but nothing major, and a pair of near new Continental gatorskin tyres. Breaks and gears are in good condition too.
Ideally I'd like at least £250 for it, as I'm using the cash towards a new set of wheels. If anyone is interested let me know - pick up from either Forest Hill or Chancery Lane.
Comments
Not that cheap but in the long run they'd pay for themselves.
Cycling - the most expensive free way to travel!
The route was a bit 'meh' - topped off with the 'climb' being built up as the midlands' answer to Hardknott pass - but ending up as not even as challenging as Box Hill! Oh, and almost taken out by a ten year old on her Noddy bike when she toppled straight into the road in front of me...
Wouldn't do it again, tbh
A nice story: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-41393230
Racing accidents will happen - they're unavoidable (I got taken out in the world champs by a Swede who couldn't hold his line on a descent) but having people who've never ridden in a bunch before, let alone one at 27mph, riding alongside people who do it every week just isn't sensible.
I always started at the back of marathons as I got a lift out of, seemingly, always having someone I could pass up the road.
'Peak Nod' is another term for the season leading up to Noddergeddon
'Allez Man' is a description of a particular breed of West London ponce who thinks they're all that cos they have a low end road bike - generally rugby sock-wearing, pinky ring-sporting wankers
'Chopper' is a term that's made its way over from the amateur racing world - describing blokes who look strong (and think they are because they can drop their mates on the local club run) but can't ride a bike for shit, cut you up at lights, can't corner and get dropped by anyone reasonably competent on any long section of road where you can put the power down
'Carrera Man' or 'Network Rail Man' is a bloke on a bike shaped object wearing so much hi-vis it looked like he had it painted on, turning a cadence of about 15rpm with a saddle approximately 2 inches higher than his rear wheel
Therw are more...
Doing the Manchester to Blackpool nighttime charity ride tonight - that'll be interesting, considering it's meant to piss it down and be blowing a headwind the whole way...
A Genesis Tour de Fer 10 2017, reduced from £999 to £850. The 2018 one which is essentially the same is now £1250 so I'm very pleased.
I'm thinking of selling my bike. I love it, I've only had it for 2 years or so, and it's had fairly light useage (short commutes mainly). My problem with it is the size. I'm 5ft3, and I have short legs - the bike is a 52cm frame and ideally, I'd like a 47 or 48cm. I can't stand with both feet on the floor, even off the saddle!
It's an Eastway R4.0, with Shimano sora gears.
Here are the specs: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/eastway-r40-sora-2015/
This is what it looks like: http://www.wigglestatic.com/product-media/5360085045/Eastway-R4-0-2014-Road-Bikes-Blue-White-EWB13R4XL-0.jpg?w=2000&h=2000&a=7
I've modified it slightly (shortened the seat post by an inch, and replaced the pedals with slimmer metal ones). It's got a few scratches but nothing major, and a pair of near new Continental gatorskin tyres. Breaks and gears are in good condition too.
Ideally I'd like at least £250 for it, as I'm using the cash towards a new set of wheels. If anyone is interested let me know - pick up from either Forest Hill or Chancery Lane.
Cheers!