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I have a 2016 Propel with
I have a 2016 Propel with Ultegra, I love it. Haven’t ridden the other two, so won’t comment on them but mine offered the most bang for buck when I was buying (I did a lot of research as well as test rides) plus to me it looked the best and came in the nicest colour, so I still miss riding it when I haven’t been on it for a few days.
I did a 27 hour Everesting on it not long after buying it so comfort isn’t really an issue, for me at least. I’ve ridden it in the mountains in Italy, and to work throughout the UK winter, notching up nearly 20000 kms on it. I should really buy a proper winter bike, the clearances are a bit tight to cope with the muck and crap that come off our roads, but given the time I spend riding it I don’t begrudge having to replace parts now and then.
Still in two minds about helmet use. Been using a cotton cap all week as I just sort of felt like it but this weekend I’m off on a climbing route and I’ll probably hit 50 on the downhills so I guess I’ll put the helmet on.My mate has spent two weeks in a coma after a helmetless accident but he still won’t wear one so I guess once you’ve really made your mind up there’s no changing.
I was in two minds, but have had four accidents, all my own fault, all involving the front wheel going from under me when there was either ice mud or wet/frozen white lines on the ground. Every time I banged my head, on top of the excuriating road rash and in one case broken wrist, so for me, it’s a case of that would have been a lot worse. I guess in these cases, it happens so fast you can’t stop yourself from hitting the ground once the front wheel slips out, so not sure what else I could have done.
This is in a four year period, all on the road bike. I ride 5,000 miles a year, probably 65/35 road v off road. From my own personal experience, the chances of banging your head are much worse on a road bike than an mtb, although I can’t count the low branches I have scraped under or bits of stone that could have pinged off the helmet.
I’m passionately against compulsory helmet use, but still wear one on every ride I do. The non-cycling public just don’t get it though, they think anyone without a helmet is a fool waiting to be crushed to death.
I don’t know that area
I don’t know that area unfortunately, if you are in or near Dartmoor I’ve done some rides around there, beautiful!
Looking at the map I’d head up and down the coast, lots of nice places to see and stop at.
Now added the B’Twin ultra 900af to the list.quick question – on the Claris group when I’m sprinting I “run out” of gears – I’ve got more power to put down but the gears don’t let me go any further – is there anything to rectify this?
So on your current bike, what chainset and cassette do you have? I think Claris is 8 speed, so the cassette will likely be 11-32 teeth, ie the small cog has 11 teeth and the largest 32. You are probably talking about the 11 when sprinting. I don’t know Claris, it could be a 12-28 or a 13-26. The chainset at the front is probably a compact which is 50/34, so you have 50 teeth on the big ring and 34 on the small, I am guessing again that you are on the big ring when sprinting?
With the wheel out you may be able to see numbers engraved on the cogs on the cassette, or you can just count the teeth. Chainsets usually have a sticker or engraving somewhere on the outer edge of each part.
Newer Shimano groupsets come with a 34 tooth cassette I think, but that is more for climbing; 11-32 and 11-28 are much more common. I don’t know anyone that makes a cassette with a 10 tooth smaller cog. Chainsets tend to be 50-34, 52-36 of 53-39. It sounds to me like you want a 52-36; if you are spinning out/running out of gears then your legs are turning faster than you find comfortable. But this tends to also be limited by your own performance, most people can’t turn a big gear for a long time.
My Propel came with a 52-36 and an 11-28 cassette. I have since changed the cassette to 11-32 as I like to climb hills.
I have a 2016 Propel, carbon
I have a 2016 Propel, carbon with Ultegra, coming up to 20,000 km now. I love it! I do about 100 miles a week, usually a couple of hours to and from work and then a longer ride at weekends. I’ve never found the brakes an issue, in fact I would say they are the best rim brakes I have ever come across. Then again, the brakes aren’t actually Ultegra because they sit behind the forks at the front. Is the one you quote the one at Cyclesense? Looks like the same brakes to me but rebranded Giant Speed Control (!)
I did an Everesting on it a couple of years ago, 330 km and 27 hours, so it isn’t too racy/uncomfortable. You possibly want to try one to be sure though.
I have ridden an older TCR which I found MORE uncomfortable than my Propel, but that was mainly down to the saddle which would give me grief after about 30 minutes.
The only issue with the Propel is it isn’t very winter friendly. If you are planning on riding through the autumn and winter I would think about a second bike to use when the weather is bad. The Propel’s brakes are susceptible to mud and cack getting into them from the roads and they are hard to keep clean/working well. I don’t have a choice, but will do more mtb miles when the weather is bad.
It’s a fantastic time of day.
It’s a fantastic time of day. I love getting to work and passing all the smokers having their last gasper before they start knowing I have done something (I think is) special…
I’m getting an error message
I’m getting an error message on that page…
Is this better?
http://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/cyclists-are-not-hooligans-study/
It reads like the study was conducted on two bridges in Stockholm, where there is a bike lane next to a pedestrian path, and most of the conflicts are between cyclists than cyclists v peds or cyclists v motors. Probably not much use in the anti-Daily Hate stakes…
Definitely go to Evans if you
Definitely go to Evans if you have one nearby. When I was looking two years ago they had the best demo system of any retailer. They stock a wide range of brands too, a lot of local bike shops are dealers for one make only, and even though you can’t go far wrong with any of the big brands, you want some choice. Also a lot of the smaller bike shops only have demo models of the high end, £2.5k and up versions in the range. I had a budget of £1600, and the £2.5k demo bike I rode was by far the best thing I had ever ridden, and very nearly had me justifying the extra spend!
Evans will ask for your details and a deposit, to stop you riding off with whatever you try, but they can get anything they stock from their Gatwick warehouse in a few days, if they don’t have a specific thing in the store. A possible problem is Pinncale is their brand so they may try to convince you that is the only thing worth trying…
Thanks for the feedback all, looks like I should definitely consider the Arkose!And seems like while people like the Whyte Glencoe, it seems to have lots of quirks which seem to be confusing people. I guess I won’t find out until I see it or try it out! And of course waiting for the review on here too!
@ClubSmed
It would be fun to build it myself and really understand how everything works! Getting the frame and all the bits to the closest place would be a pain for me though! Maybe I should speak to my local bike shop, whether they would help me.
Just to confuse things I see that there will be a review of the Boardman ASR 8.9 soon on here which adds another bike to the mix!
I think some Kinesis dealers will build up bikes for you. I looked at an Aithein a few years ago and my local shop had a couple of different build deals depending on how much you wanted to spend on wheels and groupset. This will probably blow our budget though.
jterrier wrote:
I am not quite sure what you are getting at but just bear in mind that it takes a very very fit rider to sustain power through either a 50-11 or 52-11 combo for long periods. If you look at the wear on the average riders cassette, its all in the middle. You maybe spend 3% of your ride in that absolute top gear (50-11 with a compact, for example). So its barely worth having. More usable gearing in terms of front chainrings is 46/32, as you can easily envisage spending a good amount of time turning the 46-11 combo on a nice A road run, and the smaller ring means you can run a tighter block at back (11-28 maybe) which eliminates some of the indelicate shift action getting up to/coming off of a 32 tooth sprocket.Most of what you say is right, but I would argue you don’t have to be THAT fit to spin out a 46-11. It wouldn’t be too steep a downhill or too strong a following wind to run out of gears with that set up. In my opinion, of course!
Another advantage of a front mech is sometimes the chain bounces off either ring, and if you are lucky you can use the mech to get it back on again. Not something you want to make a habit of though.
How do you do that much
How do you do that much riding indoors?! Bloody hell!
Anecdotal story from my experience, different but similar to what you are saying I think. I did a charity ride round Goodwood racetrack a few years ago. It was a great experience, there was a large bunch of people going really hard. I joined in, did my share on the front (I was one of the 4 or 5 that went on the front, unlike the other 20 or so but that’s another story) but after a few laps I was aware of growing discomfort in my pelvic region, which wasn’t getting better. Next time round I pulled into the pits and leant up against one of the garage walls, I was locked into positon on the drops and could not get out of this position. I eventually lurched onto the grass and more or less fell off the bike and lay on my back for 10 minutes, gradually moving my legs and back.
I think I had been so focussed on the effort, and pushed myself so hard, I got this cramp, I can’t think of any other way to describe it. I’ve never had it before or since, but am wary now of whenever I put a big effort in to move around on the bike.
I rarely bother doing any stretches at all, I don’t seem to benefit from them. I will warm up gently for 10 minutes on almost every ride, and try to finish a ride with a cooling down period, but sometimes the moment carries you away.
My road bike has 52/36 and 11
My road bike has 52/36 and 11-32, I use all the gears. If I lived in the Alps I would be tempted to go proper compact at the front but other wise I think you want a big chainset.
I am old school though, until 3 years ago I rode a 53/39 with 12-28. I could get up the Sussex hills with that, but I would be painfully slow and out of the saddle to do it. My friends on compacts would sit and spin and ease away from me.
Don’t know about hire places, sorry. But the riding is ace, and can be busy as you guessed. I rode with two mates near Positano in August a few years ago. Literally 200m after we clipped in we came round a corner to find a bin lorry blocking the road. We managed to squeeze by, but the rest of the traffic couldn’t, so we had 15-20 minutes of blissfully free roads. Be warned, there isn’t much flat so you’re either climbing or descending and chances are it will be hot, so maybe don’t plan your longest/hardest ride. It will probably be an out and back route too, it’s quite hard to find a circular route.Thanks, good to know. Is it just the routes up the hills which are narrow? Is the coastal road better?
I think nearly all the roads are narrow, and yes the surfaces can be horrendous. It’s just a feature of the terrain, there isn’t any room to build wide roads. Another reason to ride early before the sun gets going properly, the roads will be a little quieter.
Don’t know about hire places,
Don’t know about hire places, sorry. But the riding is ace, and can be busy as you guessed. I rode with two mates near Positano in August a few years ago. Literally 200m after we clipped in we came round a corner to find a bin lorry blocking the road. We managed to squeeze by, but the rest of the traffic couldn’t, so we had 15-20 minutes of blissfully free roads. Be warned, there isn’t much flat so you’re either climbing or descending and chances are it will be hot, so maybe don’t plan your longest/hardest ride. It will probably be an out and back route too, it’s quite hard to find a circular route.Last ever bike? 5 grand plus
Last ever bike? 5 grand plus budget? Has to be titanium or a custom build. The bikes you mention are all great, but a bit ubiquitous. I can’t really tell a 1500 quid Synapse from a 5k one, if it was my money I’d want something a bit different, a bit special.
You should also look at Trek Domane and Spesh Roubaix if you’re looking at Synapse and Defy.
Evans are a good retailer for demos, you’ll have to book it and leave your details, but they have a bigger range than most retailers and were happy to let me try several different machines
