Forum Replies Created
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Replies
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With a budget of £3k and a
With a budget of £3k and a 40th birthday coming up…would have to be a titanium something or other. If you upgrade, what are you going to do with the savings? I don’t think an upgrade will give you much of a buzz, but a new bike?! Oh boy…
The only issue with training
The only issue with training in heart rate zones is that some systems use 5 zones, some 6 and some 7. Garmin Connect which I use to plan zones has 6 zones, so when I try to do a threshold effort, it appears on Strava as a tempo effort.
Also on the road it is very hard to stay in a zone – it may be 15 beats per minute for each zone, but it doesn’t take much of a hill to push me into the next zone above, or even a slight downhill means I have to pedal like a bastard to stop my HR falling out the bottom of the zone.
If you can do it on an indoor trainer you’ll have better control over the weather and gradient so stand a better chance of staying in the right zone.
One thing with training is to allow enough recovery. A lot of training programmes will specify a recovery ride, which typically is z2 for an hour maybe two hours. I just cannot stay in that zone on real roads.
– I favour the semi-compact 52/36 with 11-36t combo.Does this exist? A 36 and a 36?
Apart from that, I wouldn’t worry about thru-axles, there are plenty of disc bikes around that don’t have them.
A friend has a Giant Contend as his winter bike, which he really likes. If it was me, I would be looking for ally frame, 28mm tyres min, 105 and disc brakes.
I’ve ridden in the winter on my Propel which has 25 mm tyres, and they don’t grip enough when it is 3 degrees or lower. I broke my wrist one time and it puts the wind up you; if there had been anything else anywhere near me it could have been a horrific accident.
The Propel has a peculiar design of rim brakes that are especially bad with UK winter roads, not helped by the lack of mudguards.
See if you can get the crowds to applaud you – I was applauding them at points, and they went bonkers!
Was that through Esher /Thames Ditton a couple of editions ago? We sure did! We’d been applauding and shouting encouragement at the stream of riders for a couple of hours, so it was great to get a bit back!
Good luck everyone!
Could well have been, but I got such a kick out of it I was doing it all round the course!
Well done Cannon. Reading this makes me want to do it again, so I guess I’ll put myself through the misery of entering the ballot AGAIN.
Probably not. I’m 180 tall
Probably not. I’m 180 tall and only just got Sportful Fiandre no rain XXL bibs on. Wanted to like them, but felt it was just waiting for something to go wrongIf you have done a lot of
If you have done a lot of miles you should probably replace the chain tooThis is the kind of thing I
This is the kind of thing I was thinking of –
See if you can get the crowds
See if you can get the crowds to applaud you – I was applauding them at points, and they went bonkers!
And the thing about riding when tired is a good point, your brain slows down, you probably won’t be able to simple sums like work out how much time you have left to get under a certain time etc. The descent of Leith has a left-hander that can catch people out, you can’t take it flat out if there is anyone else anywhere near you.
It’s really hard to answer
It’s really hard to answer your question. I think if you rarely ride 50 miles you will find 100 miles hard and my advice would be to take it really easy for as long as you can at the start, to stave off the point at which your legs give out on you. This would apply more if you were just trying to do a century by yourself.
However, Ride London is a unique event. The closed roads and the people cheering you on will give you a boost. There will be bunches of 10+ riders passing you all day long, so if you can get in a bunch that are riding at a pace you can sustain, that will massively help you hold a good average.
I did it in the first year, I think under 6 hours, and also the year of the storm, where I averaged 20 mph – maybe because I just wanted to get it finished!
I found the route pretty good, the start all the way through London is brilliant – flying along the three lanes each way roads at about 23 mph with other bikes all around some slower some faster ignoring red lights and going the wrong way round roundabouts with the public cheering you on is an unforgettable experience! I seem to remember struggling with it after Weybridge before Newlands, just a bit suburby before the interesting stuff.
Don’t underestimate Leith, I think it is a reasonable challenge and as others have said narrow enough to make finding room difficult. It is quite long and has steeper parts to make you work. Wimbledon too can hit you hard, a long way in and not close enough to the finish to just breeze up. The last stretch as you get back in to the city with the Embankment and then people banging the boards up the Mall is fantastic too!
Have you thought about eating and drinking? The official food stations at Hampton Court and Newlands were mad-busy when I did it; if you can take enough food and drink to last you until the last third or quarter you’ll probably be better off.
Lastly, if it is hot and sunny that will really hit your ability to go fast for a long time.
Why not treat this year as a learning experience, and then enter next year with more of a plan?I lost the sight in my left
I lost the sight in my left eye years ago, in a firework accident. I don’t notice much difference now; looking over my right shoulder isn’t too bad but when in Italy I do notice it harder to check over my left shoulder.
I haven’t used a mirror, I would think the ones on the helmet would be best? Someone does one you velcro to your wrist which might be worth trying to find?
I always wear glasses of some description now when on the bike; getting something in your (good) eye is a serious thing, way beyond what the two-eyed cyclist would understand!
Are you comparing one ride on
Are you comparing one ride on the Trek with loads of others on the Hoy? Did you have a tail wind when on the Trek? How long is the ride? Is the gearing on the Trek more suited to ascending? Have you added weighty stuff to the Hoy?
So many factors influence a ride, it’s hard to say from what you have said.
Theakstons are great beers.
Theakstons are great beers. Watch the Old Peculier though, it’s strong and will take your legs from you if you are walking, never mind cycling. I used to like XB, great flavour and mid strength…mmm…
Not sure if White Horse Bank is the same as Sutton Bank? Sutton Bank climbs the North Yorks Moors from Thirsk, but it is likely to be very busy. I wouldn’t fancy being half way up it with some idiot in a caravan or truck trying to get past. Once you’re up there though, lots of quiet and quite remote roads.
The two brothers who run the
The two brothers who run the Broleur site did it this weekend, waiting for the write up. It will be here when they publish – http://www.broleur.com/tag/european-granfondos/
I’m thinking about doing it next year, dependent on the Mrs being happy to sit around for a day…
I’d go to your local Evans
I’d go to your local Evans and talk to them initially. When I was looking two years ago, they had the best demo bike system of any retailer. You’ll have to pay a deposit or leave your bank details, and you may have to book a test ride/test rides, but that isn’t hard to arrange, and you can ride anything they sell. If they don’t have it in your shop, they can get it sent up from their warehouse. A lot of local independent shops only have one or two demo bikes, and they tend to be higher end machines – like £3k. I nearly plumped for a bike that was a grand over my budget because it was so much better than anything else I had ever ridden, and a grand is a lot of money to find.
The Genesis gets good reviews, but is known to be heavy. Pinnacle too get good reviews – Evans own brand. I would suggest you want an alu bike with mudguard eyelets and a 105 groupset. I don’t know of many bikes that come with a dynamo hub, although the convenience of them does appeal to me, especially as I do quite a lot of proper night time riding.
Whyte make good bikes designed for UK roads and conditions, like Genesis.
The Allez would be a very sound choice. Always a lot of Allezs parked at the uni where I study! Be very careful where you lock it though, a bike like the Allez is the exact sort that thieves target.I bought my son an Allez from Ebay to try and get him into cycling. It was a great choice, when I rode it I thought it was pretty close to my bike which cost about 6 times as much. I had planned to turn it into a winter hack for my own use, but he decided to take it to Uni. It got nicked, although it had the back up cheapo lock on it at the time. (The expensive decent one I had bought him was left at a mates house after a visit…)
It was easily the nicest bike at his Halls, so it was just a matter of time I think. One of his mates has had 6 cheapo 50 quid specials stolen.
