The biking thread

[Greycap]

Finally getting the cross bike on the road has been quite a case of learning new things, my previous experience of road bikes consisted of perhaps half an hour of test riding. After a few weeks I'm slowly getting to a point in which it feels comfortable and a ton of small tweaks here and there have been needed. On the shopping list are new pedals and a new stem, and in the distant future a 1x10 conversion is likely as the 36T chainring is too small and the 46T is too big, 40T or 42T will take care of the problem. Probably new tyres too, the current ones are on loan from a hybrid as the OEM ones had a bit too much tread for my use.

 

[TB]

After having never ridden at all in a group before, I just received an email from the event coordinator with instructions and it said that there are 400 signed up for the ride tomorrow night. Should be fun!

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

Hope you enjoyed it @TB 👍

I'd like to do more group rides. I started riding with a local shop that hold rides at the local trails and I soon learned how slow I actually am, ha. When I'm solo I feel like I'm going a decent pace but apparently not! But it definitely pushes you to go faster.

 

[TB]

Hope you enjoyed it @TB 👍

The ride, besides the wind, was fantastic. I just wish they had everyone chipped so you could see your time and standings as soon as it was over instead of 1) waiting for people to post their times and 2) it's honor system so hopefully everyone is indeed honest.

It's supposed to be chipped next year, though.

When I'm solo I feel like I'm going a decent pace but apparently not! But it definitely pushes you to go faster.

So much this! Getting passed like your standing still when you're going as fast as you can was a huge reality check but in my defense, they all had matching jerseys and had clearly ridden together a lot.

 

[W3H5]

On page 110 of this thread I posted a picture of a Specialized I had stolen in London. I recently had the police contact me saying they've recovered it.

As I had thrown away the proof of registration with no hope of it ever being returned the only proof of ownership I have is the pic on that page.

Once I've signed a statement my mate can go down there and recover what's left of my old bike, if there's anything left of it.

Thank you GTP image hosting!

 

[Bram Turismo]

It's been a while since I've last posted anything in here!

@W3HS Good to hear your bike has been recovered, thumbs up it's still in one piece!

My rides this week:

Wednesday: 70km in 2'20 @ 30km/h avg.
Yesterday: 100km in 3'37 @ 28km/h avg.
Today: 65km @ 29.2km/h avg.

I was a bit sore from yesterday so I thought I would go for an easy ride. Then a group of riders passed me, so I asked if I could ride with them and they were very kind to say that of course I could ride with them. So I decided not to interfere, and just stick at the back. Anywhere between 37-43 km/h on the flats. We never went below 30km/h, even uphill! I overtook a few of them uphill as they couldn't keep up with the fast guys, but I regularly train uphill so I could hold onto the fast guys.

It was a lot of fun riding with guys on a completely different level than I am. I mean, they were riding 52 cassettes, and they were just chilling on the small chainring at 40km/h!

Having seen all those fancy bikes, though, I fancy me some 50mm deep section wheels...

 

[Dennisch]

Anyone following the Giro? If so, I'll put it in spoiler tags.

Spoiler: Funny poop right here.

Dumoulin almost lost his pink jersey because he needed to go poop really bad.

 

[W3H5]

Anyone following the Giro? If so, I'll put it in spoiler tags.

Spoiler: Funny poop right here.

Dumoulin almost lost his pink jersey because he needed to go poop really bad.

I've been watching highlights on YouTube. It's been good this year.

Knowing how horrible it is to need a poo on a ride I think I would have sacrificed the pink for a squat in the bushes.

 

[TB]

Knowing how horrible it is to need a poo on a ride I think I would have sacrificed the pink for a squat in the bushes.

My wife wanted to go out for Indian food the day before the marathon ride. No way in hell I was going to do that to myself.

 

[Dennisch]

Spoiler: Giro D'Italia results.

TOM ****ING DID IT!!!!! For the first time a Dutch Giro winner. For the first time in 37 years a Dutch victory in one of the 3 big tours. For the first time in my life. Manly tear. Sniff.

 

[W3H5]

After getting drenched at lunch time during work I thought the rain had passed for the day and went out for a gentle 40km and with a pizza stop.

Within minutes of arriving home the whole neighbourhood has flooded from torrential rain but luckily for me the only dampness I have is from the shower I just had. Talk about timing.

I did get a may fly in the eye though and that kind of hurt. It's annoying that it gets dark here so early because I'd love to be able to ride past 7pm.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Covered 200km solo on Thursday and Friday, had to work on Saturday, and Sunday was motorsport day

Started with strength training on the bike again. Did 2min uphill efforts yesterday at pretty much max on a relatively big gear, finished the session with some 20sec explosive uphill sprints.

Today's strength training was pretty much just putting the bike in the highest gear, and spin the heavy gear at 45km/h or so. This was incredibly heavy, will be doing more of those!

 

[W3H5]

Knocked out a good 110km today with a guy from work. My colleague rides in competitions and trains daily so here rode my legs off for the first few hours and I had to tell him to wind it down a bit.

I nearly hit the wall on the return leg about 30km from home but a quick 10 minute break and some RedBull and Oreos got me going again. Much better than doing it solo though.

 

[Michael88]

I'm first and foremost a weight lifter but I go cycling 1x per week (depending on my exercise schedule) as part of my endurance training. Weightlifting alone without any kind of cardio is unhealthy.

Without wanting to boast, I have to say I'm always surprised of my endurance considering my size and weight, I'm only about 1/4 slower than the very seasoned cyclists here, and I weigh 107kg /234lbs. Uphill the gap is even smaller.

My route is only 15km long but I spend 3/4 of the total time climbing steep inclines of up to 20%-25%. (Austria has a ton of hills and mountains). It does have a decline though that allows me to reach speeds in excess of 105km/h / 65mph. Man, laying down on my time trial handlebar and flying down the street feels SO awesome.

 

[NINE_HUNDRED]

Took out a Specialized Enduro today (Specialized were holding a demo day). Felt really nice and now I want one, ha Though at it's current price it isn't really an option but was nice to take it out.

Apart from the obvious differences to my hardtail, having a dropper post trigger on the handle bar was so much nicer. Mine has a lever under the seat, which is alright but can get a bit hairy trying to grab it while going downhill.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I'm first and foremost a weight lifter but I go cycling 1x per week (depending on my exercise schedule) as part of my endurance training. Weightlifting alone without any kind of cardio is unhealthy.

Without wanting to boast, I have to say I'm always surprised of my endurance considering my size and weight, I'm only about 1/4 slower than the very seasoned cyclists here, and I weigh 107kg /234lbs. Uphill the gap is even smaller.

My route is only 15km long but I spend 3/4 of the total time climbing steep inclines of up to 20%-25%. (Austria has a ton of hills and mountains). It does have a decline though that allows me to reach speeds in excess of 105km/h / 65mph. Man, laying down on my time trial handlebar and flying down the street feels SO awesome.

Anything under 2 hours isn't considered endurance training

For endurance training I spend about 3-4 hours per ride on the bike. I'm hoping to up that to 6 hours in the summer.

Also, I think you should totally try strength training on your bike. Only people who haven't a clue about cycling say you cannot build muscle on the bike. Since you have those steep inclines anyway, try some 60-90 second intervals. Or even 30 second max efforts.

I regularly train intervals uphill, 90 second effort with 5 minute rest in between. It's pretty much like a 5 x 5 strength set. If you do it right, it'll kill your legs. The hardest training I've done so far is riding 50km/h on the flat after 3 hours of riding 32k avg. Nothing has hurt as bad as a big gear on the bike!

For myself, I've bought this upgrade for my bike:

50mm Campagnolo Bora Ultra carbon wheelset. Beautiful wheelset!

 

[Michael88]

Hey, they say anything above 150 bpm is cardio! I sure as hell go up to 180 constantly, especially the steep inclines.

I used to to do interval training for cardio and strength, but I have not noticed any gains. Maybe my legs are too far developed (in terms of strength) from weight lifting, I do squats with 440lbs / 200kg and 540lbs / 245kg deadlifts. I once pedaled as hard as I could up a steep incline and tore the chain of my bike.

 

[Bram Turismo]

That

Hey, they say anything above 150 bpm is cardio! I sure as hell go up to 180 constantly, especially the steep inclines.

I used to to do interval training for cardio and strength, but I have not noticed any gains. Maybe my legs are too far developed (in terms of strength) from weight lifting, I do squats with 440lbs / 200kg and 540lbs / 245kg deadlifts. I once pedaled as hard as I could up a steep incline and tore the chain of my bike.

That is very strong! Nice stats!

Maybe your chain was dirty and worn. A chain snapping shouldn't happen even under big loads. But I have noticed the quality in groupsets. I used to suffer from bad gear shifts with a Shimano 105 set. I am now riding a Campagnolo Chorus groupset, and the difference in power delivery and overall smoothness is out of this world. The more I am riding this groupset, the more I love it.

I did strength training some years ago, but I've never been remotely as strong as you. What I can say now though is how tough cycling really is when you try out some routines used by pro cyclists. It's insane the sheer volume they can handle, yet the incredible power delivery to the pedals.

 

[Michael88]

That


That is very strong! Nice stats!

Maybe your chain was dirty and worn. A chain snapping shouldn't happen even under big loads. But I have noticed the quality in groupsets. I used to suffer from bad gear shifts with a Shimano 105 set. I am now riding a Campagnolo Chorus groupset, and the difference in power delivery and overall smoothness is out of this world. The more I am riding this groupset, the more I love it.

Thank you!

Yeah, to be honest my components aren't exactly top notch, I have played with the idea of upgrading my shifting system to a high quality set but I have to gather some cash first.

Anyway, maybe you guys can actually help me here, I do have a nasty recurring problem when cycling: I overheat very easily.

When I go cycling in temperatures above 26 C° or 80F I feel really terrible after the cycling tour.
I do not have any problems with my endurance, I have as much power and stamina as when I go cycling in much lower temperatures - but right after the tour I start to freeze, nearly have to puke, get really bad headache and heart racing for the rest of the day. I feel totally trashed and need to take pain killers.

Before anyone asks: yes I drink a lot of water and electrolytes. I even pre-hydrate properly but no matter how much water I guzzle (several liters ), it cannot be prevented. Its definitely not hydration related.

None of those problems occur when I go cycling in lower temperatures, and I do not encounter these problems when doing other taxing things in hot summer temperatures like high alpine mountain climbing with heavy gear. Its just cycling.

So far my solution has been simply avoiding cycling on hot days but naturally, during the summer I have to wait for colder days, which sucks.

Any ideas? I tend to be slightly sensitive to heat in general, but I can deal with cold temperatures much better than most people. My blood pressure and other vitals are very normal and I'm a healthy fit person overall, but it seems like my body generates more heat than it can dissipate in some situations. Its especially bad when I do routes that have very long steep and slow inclines.

As mentioned before, I'm a powerlifter, is it possible that my muscle mass traps the heat or even generates heat making me more susceptible to temperatures than other people? I'm 107 kg / 235lbs at 184cm.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Picked up my wheels today!

The bike looks entirely different with a new set of wheels!

I have to get a new chain placed before I can enjoy it, though. Apparently the wear on chains and cassettes go hand in hand, so if you have a new cassette, you need a new chain as well. Currently I have indexed the gears, but the chain is just creaking on the cassette

 

[W3H5]

That does make a noticeable difference, @Bram Turismo. Congrats.

6 months after first mentioning it I'm still in the market for some new tyres. Never get round to actually buying any and the current ones I have are doing a fine job despite their age and wear.

Got toasted yesterday on a 150km ride. An hour of rain early in he ride washed off my sun screen and by the time I got home 4 hours later I had baked knees which I can hardly move now.

 

[Shaun]

Apparently the wear on chains and cassettes go hand in hand, so if you have a new cassette, you need a new chain as well.

Yes and no, normally a cassette will last two chains.
A chain can be measured for wear but not so much the cassette, that you just have to go by look and feel.
You can measure your chain simply with a steel rule, I have a Park Tools chain checker also for a quick check but always fall back to actually measuring it before throwing it away.

Wheels look good. 👍

 

[W3H5]

Yes and no, normally a cassette will last two chains.
A chain can be measured for wear but not so much the cassette, that you just have to go by look and feel.

I think cassette wear must be different for individuals. I manage tens of thousands of km on mine and others I hear about will get less than 10k from theirs.

Even when I swapped the last one out for new it was still in fairly good, usable condition with no 'spikes' on any of the teeth.

 

[Shaun]

Yeah should have been more specific @W3HS, the 2 per chain rule is just rule of thumb. It's normally about 3-4 chains for me or roughly 15,000 km.
The conditions you ride in are the biggest factor, wet and the chain/running gear picks up much more grit which wears much quicker obviously.

 

[W3H5]

Yeah should have been more specific @W3HS, the 2 per chain rule is just rule of thumb. It's normally about 3-4 chains for me or roughly 15,000 km.
The conditions you ride in are the biggest factor, wet and the chain/running gear picks up much more grit which wears much quicker obviously.

Speaking of ride conditions, yesterday I spent a good hour in the rain and you can imagine the crud I picked up all over the lower part of my bike.

Spent the best part of an hour cleaning it today; hose, bathroom cleaner (diluted), hose, towel, hose, WD40, towel, chain wipe, chain lube, wipe, adjust... quite therapeutic actually. It's such a good feeling having a clean bike.

 

[Greycap]

I usually take the wheels and chain off, put the brake "travel blocks" in place and take the entire thing to the shower armed with a sponge and car shampoo. Probably quite a sight when performed in a stall shower but hey, who cares.

 

[Shaun]

Baby wipes make an awesome water free cleaner when a full on clean isn't needed, quick follow up with furniture polish (on virtually almost all surfaces) and the bike looks like new.

 

[W3H5]

The only downside to having my bike shiny and clean is that the scars and scratches are much more visible.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Yes and no, normally a cassette will last two chains.
A chain can be measured for wear but not so much the cassette, that you just have to go by look and feel.
You can measure your chain simply with a steel rule, I have a Park Tools chain checker also for a quick check but always fall back to actually measuring it before throwing it away.

Wheels look good. 👍

I've put 6,000km on the bike so far, and I've bought it secondhand. So I've no idea how far the chain's actually been.
I want to ride it so badly, but it's making so much noise! Oh well, I'm going to try and get a new one tomorrow so I can ride with the group on Wednesday.

Last time I rode with them we formed a train and rode at 45-50km/h after 3 hours of riding at 36-38km/h. Needless to say I got dropped...

 

[W3H5]

Any got experience going from 28 to 25 tyres on the same bike?

The new tyres im looking at are the same Michelin Dynamic Sport I already have but I can't find a set in 28 locally so I might go with the 25s.

The roads here are far from smooth and the 28s have a lot of give, wondering whether 25s will be a big difference in comfort or not.

Also, since I've been riding (almost) every night for the for the last few weeks I've got a worrying click/ creak from the crank. I'm thinking those bearings must be in need of a swap.