Pedal Power Thread

badlywornroy said:
You could move to North Yorkshire ? beautiful scenery, thousands of miles of largely traffic free rural roads and remarkably crime free. :) Not too many of you though, I like my space.
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The thought has crossed my mind many times, but I think I'd miss the taste of pollution and the feeling of claustrophobia on my morning commute.
 
Whilst on the subject of bikes being nicked here is one that happened locally this week. Whilst I sympathise with YT industries who had their demo bikes stolen to leave them in a tent overnight with a lone security guard beggar's belief. I wonder which bike the guard had?
http://singletrackworld.com/2017/05/stolen-yt-bikes-test-fleet/
 
Could THIS be the perfect(ly named) bicycle for the hipster photographer?
 
I got myself a new fork, manitou mattock pro 2, as the pikes developed play in the left leg bushing.

only been out for a couple of miles so can't really compare it to the pike, but the HSC does seem better on it.



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I got reminded today that it's not quite summer yet. Damn South Downs clay strikes again, front wheel locked solid with the mud and sticks under the guard. First ride out on the wider rims, seemed to have a bit more traction pedalling through slippery regular mud sections.

Got the horse introduced to the bike for the first time too.

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POAH said:
I got myself a new fork, manitou mattock pro 2, as the pikes developed play in the left leg bushing.

only been out for a couple of miles so can't really compare it to the pike, but the HSC does seem better on it.
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be interesting to see how they compare over a period. manitou dropped off the radar for several years, would be nice to have another option than RS or Fox.
 
Anyone got any advice on turbo trainers? I'm only looking around the £100 mark, so I think smart ones are out of the question but there do seem to be a few fluid ones at that price amongst the magnetic ones. Not really sure what I'm looking for though!
 
I'm on my 3rd trainer Tim and the retail price is a good indication of the overall quality. Well worth looking 'used' as you may get a better quality one that has many years of use left on it.
 
badlywornroy said:
I'm on my 3rd trainer Tim and the retail price is a good indication of the overall quality. Well worth looking 'used' as you may get a better quality one that has many years of use left on it.
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Thanks @badlywornroy I found someone vaguely local who was selling a basically new Elite Crono fluid trainer with a nice little wireless headunit that gives you time/speed/distance/power. So although it's not a smart trainer it will give me a bit of an indication on how hard I'm training. Not bad for £60 I thought.
 
What sort of training do you guys do on a turbotrainer? I find that any longer than twenty minutes and I have to use intervals simply to stop me getting bored.
 
andy700 said:
What sort of training do you guys do on a turbotrainer? I find that any longer than twenty minutes and I have to use intervals simply to stop me getting bored.
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I think intervals give you the best bang for your buck when it comes to training, so that's what I do in the gym (and will on my new turbo trainer). I can't see much joy in a long steadystate ride indoors when you could be outdoors (I'll ride in all weathers), but I think it's hard to do accurate and focused intervals when out on the road.
The other thing people use to keep it interesting are apps like TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and Zwift. With @badlywornroy being the latest posterchild (posterman? posterOAP? ;) ) for Zwift https://community.zwift.com/news/1257-a-70-year-old-zwifter-feels-his-power
 
TopBanana said:
I think intervals give you the best bang for your buck when it comes to training, so that's what I do in the gym (and will on my new turbo trainer). I can't see much joy in a long steadystate ride indoors when you could be outdoors (I'll ride in all weathers), but I think it's hard to do accurate and focused intervals when out on the road.
The other thing people use to keep it interesting are apps like TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and Zwift. With @badlywornroy being the latest posterchild (posterman? posterOAP? ;) ) for Zwift https://community.zwift.com/news/1257-a-70-year-old-zwifter-feels-his-power
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When I go to the gym, I either use the cross trainer or semi recumbent bike for my cardio work. I usually try for 30 to 45 minute sessions, and the intervals are either cadence based or resistance. So, on the bike I may warm up for 10 minutes @ L11/12 @ 100RPM, then do 6/8 X 1min @ L16/17 with a 2min rest in between, then do a gradual cool down. If I was doing cadence based, then the level would stay at 11/12, but the interval RPM would go from 100 to 120/130. I also do a "ladder" routine, where the warm up is followed by a gradual increase in the levels 12/13/14/15/16/17 for minute each, then rest for 3 minutes and repeat 3 to 4 times, which can be quite brutal.
I have often thought it would be nice to have a shed with a big telly and watch cycling classics whilst you train.
 
andy700 said:
When I go to the gym, I either use the cross trainer or semi recumbent bike for my cardio work. I usually try for 30 to 45 minute sessions, and the intervals are either cadence based or resistance. So, on the bike I may warm up for 10 minutes @ L11/12 @ 100RPM, then do 6/8 X 1min @ L16/17 with a 2min rest in between, then do a gradual cool down. If I was doing cadence based, then the level would stay at 11/12, but the interval RPM would go from 100 to 120/130. I also do a "ladder" routine, where the warm up is followed by a gradual increase in the levels 12/13/14/15/16/17 for minute each, then rest for 3 minutes and repeat 3 to 4 times, which can be quite brutal.
I have often thought it would be nice to have a shed with a big telly and watch cycling classics whilst you train.
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I use the Global Cycling Network training videos on my phone to ride along to, some of them have Point of View riding videos in the background so that you can pretend you're doing some epic riding! Here's the youtube playlist:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hl1WAGKjMc&list=PLUdAMlZtaV13e3-rJq1W0O1kf2DVlslmC
 
TopBanana said:
Thanks @badlywornroy I found someone vaguely local who was selling a basically new Elite Crono fluid trainer with a nice little wireless headunit that gives you time/speed/distance/power. So although it's not a smart trainer it will give me a bit of an indication on how hard I'm training. Not bad for £60 I thought.
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Tim, the 1st trainer I had was an Elite crono elastogel fluid that served me well until I was 'infected' by the 'smart trainer' virus. I think for £60.00 you have an excellent buy.
 
andy700 said:
What sort of training do you guys do on a turbotrainer? I find that any longer than twenty minutes and I have to use intervals simply to stop me getting bored.
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Andy, I also found it extremely boring which is why I found Zwift when used with a 'smart trainer' completely different. Just being surrounded by and having little personal battles with other riders makes it so much more involving.
 
badlywornroy said:
Tim, the 1st trainer I had was an Elite crono elastogel fluid that served me well until I was 'infected' by the 'smart trainer' virus. I think for £60.00 you have an excellent buy.
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Thanks Roy, I've only had a quick go on it so far to make sure it works. The wheel is sitting right over to the side of the roller though so I'm going to have to see if I can adjust that. But so far I'm impressed with the feel of riding it and my weedy legs are going to have to get much stronger to get it spinning at a decent speed as there seems like a decent amount of resistance available.
 
hehehehe Aye, you should try the no quarter stuff. It's well worth it :)
 
digitalfailure said:
hehehehe Aye, you should try the no quarter stuff. It's well worth it :)
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Im tempted to.
Ive already been in touch with them about getting my frame and forks powdercoated.

They only charge £65 for a single colour coating so next time the bike is due a strip down it will be going off go them for that. I may order some cleaning goodies while im at it.
 
Anyone else here doing the prudential ride London - Surrey 100 this Sunday? I am and my start time is 7:20. I am riding for Macmillan cancer support. Looking forward to it!
 
Have a great time @mr.si and @Phil1974 :-)
I work with people who have done it before and said it was great, particularly if you can get in with a good group of riders.
 
havent posted here for a while ;)
joined nearby facebook cycling group - friend of mine is a member, and we are going for London - Windsor - London ride this saturday :)
might finally put some proper miles in to my bike with them :)
and upgraded my stock wheels :)
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Success! My cast aluminium kick stand broke. But the 8mm bolt holding it to the standard frame plate wouldn't budge. I damaged my cheap 8mm Alan key attempting to undo it. A new, cheap yet decent Alan key didn't budge it either. Even when I applied heat, as I was recommended. I only had a candle though. No blow torch.
Anyway, today I drilled 4 holes, all the way through the stand, along the threads of the steel bolt. This made it easy to undo the bolt and throw the broken stand away. Hooray!
 
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Drilled stand showing threads in both parts cut away by the drill.
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Pulled my MTB out of the shed last week, so been riding that to crossfit, then crossfit to work as a bit of extra exercise. Enjoying being back on the bike, think I did the right thing keeping the MTB but selling the road bike last year, as the MTB is going to be more versatile out and about with the little'n.

Although 5" of travel on my forks is overkill for both a commute, and Norfolk in general. Still, at least it's a pretty bike.
 
Yes. On my commute in the city about half the bikes are mountain bikes. Great for mounting kerbs. But most don't have lights and many don't have mudguards. Most cyclists here seem to want to limit themselves to being fair weather commuters.

Very few of them can operate their gears sensibly either. Preferring to stand up to pedal away from traffic lights. So I zoom off ahead, using gears 1,2,3... until they pass me later. And this repeats itself at every traffic light. What's that all about?
 
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ianp5a said:
Yes. On my commute in the city about half the bikes are mountain bikes. Great for mounting kerbs. But most don't have lights and many don't have mudguards. Most cyclists here seem to want to limit themselves to being fair weather commuters.

Very few of them can operate their gears sensibly either. Preferring to stand up to pedal away from traffic lights. So I zoom off ahead, using gears 1,2,3... until they pass me later. And this repeats itself at every traffic light. What's that all about?
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I dunno, but I see plenty of people on road bikes without lights as well tbf and head to toe in lycra but I can overtake them on my MTB when my biggest ring is 36t so who knows.

Mudguards look crap though, my bike works fine in the wet without them.
 
ianp5a said:
Here all the city bikes come fitted with lights and hub dynamos. Though not all of them use them.

For commuting, mudguards are handy if you are dressed for work.
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True, we have showers in the office, so I just get showered and ready when I get here :)
 
R.I.P Luciano Berruti eccentric cyclist and public face of the ‘Eroica’ series of vintage bike races.

Fittingly he passed away while enjoying a bike ride near his home in Italy.

More about Luciano here: https://eroicabritannia.co.uk/

" When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the World "

I first saw him when I attended the 1st L'eroica at Bakewell in 2014 and he has attended every year since. He was a crowd favourite and always had time for everyone, photographers included !

Here are a couple of pics I took of him.


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He will be sadly missed by many in the cycling community.
 
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ianp5a said:
Very few of them can operate their gears sensibly either. Preferring to stand up to pedal away from traffic lights. So I zoom off ahead, using gears 1,2,3... until they pass me later. And this repeats itself at every traffic light. What's that all about?
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The high torque / low cadence helps build legs muscle, especially for sprints. A lot of cycling articles recommend exactly that to get a form of training in on the commute. I'd never thought about it, but it must look a bit odd not to use the gears that are there!
 
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