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Also, try the Roubaix. It
Also, try the Roubaix. It seems to make sense and has great reviews but one forum post I read the guy said he couldn’t get used to it, the feeling of the ride freaked him out.When I was looking 2 years
When I was looking 2 years ago, Evans were the best retailer. A lot of bike shops have expensive demo bikes, the cheapest starting at over 2k. My budget was about 1.5, so the only Giant I could demo was a 2.5k Propel. It was amazing, and I almost stumped up for it, but I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and phoned the shop to rein my spending in to my original budget. But Evans let you demo anything they sell, from a £500 budget bike to a 5k dream machine (for a deposit and id and a booking)
With your budget I would consider a titanium bike. Enigma and Kinesis would get me excited. Consider how much use you want to get out of it at this time of year, winter roads and conditions will mean you spend more keeping it running. Mudguards are dull but if it’s your only bike they make sense.
In your original post, the Defy would make more sense to me for your needs than the racier TCR. The BMC Gran Fondo is more like the Defy, the Time Machine more TCR. A friend has an older TCR which I ride now and then, great bike but it has a saddle I just can’t stand ; 10 minutes on that is like 3 hard hours on my saddle. Bear that in mind when testing!Was in the same boat as you a
Was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago; my first crash was at about 18 mph I just slid along the deck and then got up. The second was at about 2 mph trying to turn across a road, went down hard on both wrists and broke one. I won’t risk the road bike if it is 3 degrees or less now, 5-6 weeks off is no fun, never mind anything else that could have gone wrong. I blather on to all my roadie mates who have all ignored me, and now one of them has gone down and broken his arm.
I ride MTB as well as road anyway, so just increase the number of rides on that. Down on the south coast there aren’t THAT many days when it is 3 degrees or under, so not a huge issue but I like riding over the Downs anyway. My MTB has 2 inch knobblies, which aren’t great off road but I’ve yet to have any kind of issue on road with them. Like someone else posted, don’t wear your best road gear on your mtb, it will get covered in mud and shite and look old and grubby very quickly.
I haven’t ridden “up north” but I know there are loads of trails around Peaslake and Pitch Hill. There’s the Downslink from Guildford which would get you close to the South Downs at Steyning, but the ‘link is quite dull once you have ridden it a couple of times.
I now prefer it when it is -3 to +3, the trails make a great sound when you ride over them and you don’t have to worry about how deep that muddy puddle is, or what might be at the bottom of it.
I also think I get a better work out off road; the bike is heavier and takes a lot more effort to keep moving. Average speeds are pitiful but you have to forget about that.
I also run, as others have said your heart rate will be higher and you can get a good work out in half an hour. I probably take 15 minutes to get ready before a bike ride in winter and 10 to get un-ready after, so it is much easier to get a work out if you only have a short time frame. Afterr the first 5 or so runs, it gets a bit easier and you can start to enjoy some aspects of it.
I don’t think it’s either,
I don’t think it’s either, although I do agree with the ideas your research guys expressed about not giving it for every ride, and to give it for something unusual, whether it’s a hard ride, or a pb up a nasty hill. I know myself if the forecast is for a windy day, I ‘ll plan a route to try and take advantage of it in certain places (segments) and try to take it easy before I get there. So, getting a pb or string of them may not indicate that I have ridden that hard. Although the ones that matter to me are longer, and you can’t just let the wind blow you along to get a good time.
So gift or bribe? It’s recognition of effort. I don’t race though so might have a different approach to it than othersI don’t think you said how
I don’t think you said how wide the tyres were on your crosser?
You did say there is a steep hill up the North Downs (not Pebble Hill is it?!). I would have a look at your segment times up this hill, I would expect this is where you are getting the most benefit from the cx bike, assuming it is significantly lighter than the mtb. If you have a lot of stop/start traffic, then that will really nullify the higher cruising speed you would expect on the cx bike.
I only have a road bike and an MTB, most of my mates have all three types. When we do off road routes, they sometimes use their cx bikes, and I really find I struggle to keep up with them, unless I have picked the route and gone for an evil amount of muddy hard climbs (!) As far as I am concerned, a cx bike should be faster than an MTB on mainly paved roads. It should also take considerably less effort to ride at the same speed as an MTB.
The examples you posted showed 0.7 mph average speed increase, 5% is not to be sniffed at in an hour.
I agree with all the posts so
I agree with all the posts so far, particularly drivers giving more room and taking more care to pass properly. I think it’s because they are less certain how much room they have to play with, and less confident nothing is coming the other way.
Definitely have two lights front and rear, you never know when a charge is going to die on you or some other issue can occur. Plus have one constant and one flashing, there are studies that show some people see one type better than the other.
Out in the country, I find flashing/strobing front lights harder to ride with, I usually turn the flashing one off, but under street lights I would probably have both flashing.
The one thing I find with night rides is 2 hours is about enough. Apart from charge issues, I’m just not able to go on for hours and hours.
My suggestion: eat nothing beforehand, just have warm water.Take a couple of things to eat with you – flapjack, malt loaf cut into slices/chunks, fig roll or whatever you like to nibble. If you get peckish after an hour or so then have one.
After doing this for a while you may feel you can go longer before needing to eat. It shouldn’t be too long before you can easily ride for 2 hours at a medium pace without needing any food.
+1. I used to be totally useless in the morning before breakfast, I couldn’t function or even think about functioning without at least a bowl of cornflakes. I now frequently go out early and can ride for up to 2 and a half hours without eating. I always take small snacks with me like Simon says above, and will tuck in to them any time after an hour depending on how far I am going or how I feel on the day.
I’d try doing different things, try fasting some times, try some of the other suggestions.
I believe a fasted ride is only properly beneficial if you stay in z1 or z2. Apparently if you go into z3, your metabolism cranks up a notch and you’re not just digesting stored fat. I find it VERY hard on the road to stay under z3, a small hill or turn into the wind and you’re up out of z2.
Usually, animals have names,
Usually, animals have names, it’s always “Ah poor Billy badger” when I see another dead one by the side of the road. (Don’t think I have ever seen a live one, sadly).
Rabbits are always “Skwewy wabbit” in the Elmer Fudd style.
I love seeing horses, especially when they are having a mad moment and charging round their fields, just because they can.
Songs seem to come and stay for a while. The Pistols Problems is a favourite at the mo, lots of really juicy sound bites to snarl in your head.
In my experience living in
In my experience living in the south of England, there is nothing like a long mountain climb. Whether it’s the Alps, Pyrenees or any other proper mountains, you just can’t physically prepare for a 60-120 minute climb that has NO relief. You may be able to sit on a machine in the gym or your trainer for that long, but add in the high temps of summer too.
Apart from the physical side, I think a lot of the information you need is on the internet. The previous poster says Strava is useless for routes, but the heatmap function will show you popular rides in your chosen area.
The Col Collective website is a good one for iconic climbs, mainly in Europe but a couple in America. Once you start looking it’s overwhelming!
I wasn’t that interested in
I wasn’t that interested in the event before I knew the cost. The route doesn’t have much appeal and ok closed roads are fantastic, but the price is just too much. People moan about the cost of Ridelondon, but at least there you get truly iconic landmarks, and the last bit from Embankment on is just epic. £120 would get you into one of the big European events and cover your meals, if not accomadation and fuel whilst away.
For me, it was attempt #2 at
For me, it was attempt #2 at the Blockhaus climb in central Italy. I wrote it up on Pistonheads –
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1457483
Start at Evans cycles if
Start at Evans cycles if there is one near you. They have the best demo bike policy of any retailer I found when I was looking 18 months ago. You have to give them your bank and contact details, and you will have to book it with them, but you can pretty much ride anything they have in, and they can get other things they sell from their warehouse with a couple of days notice. I had at lest an hour on two different bikes, helped me rule both out of my shortlist.
Lots of shops have demo fleets, but they tend to be the £2.5k to £3k version, not sure how similar they are to the lower end ones as wheels, groupset and probably the manufacture method (carbon lay up) will be different. I rode a £2.k Giant which was absolutely out of this world, and signed up for it, only to get cold feet at how much out of budget it was and what the wife would do to me if she found out.
I’d go for carbon, I’d never ridden carbon before so it was an itch I wanted to scratch. Although the CAAD 12 gets great reviews…
I decided not to go with discs, 18 months ago if you went for discs you definitely missed out elsewhere. I think you should be able to get Ultegra, and almost all will be 11 speed.
I bought a Giant Propel for £1650, which I loved then and love now, 10,000 km later. The current model has a more reserved paint job, which would put me off now. To my eyes it looked better than anything else I could have bought at the time, and arguably still does now. My decision came down to looks and colour as much as anything else, within £100 most bikes have very similar specs.
I’ve seen an ad somewhere for a 2015 Scott with Dura Ace, down from £3.5k to £1.8k. Lot of bike for the money, if you don’t mind it being “old”.
I personally don’t think cx
I personally don’t think cx bikes (particularly the tyres) are tough enough for the South Downs Way. A friend entered a Wiggle ride that supposedly was perfect for cx bikes (mix of roads, lanes and some SDW) and had to abandon on the SDW section after shredding his tyres. Possibly he could have been ok with tougher tyres, not sure what he had at the time. This was around Bury/Cocking area. The terrain is a mix of grassy paths, proper bumpy fields where the cows have been standing around in the rain, really bumpy/flinty sections, wooded sections where you also have tree routes to cope with…you need some suspension really, especially if you’re out for a couple of hours. And if it has been raining, it can be boggy too.
It’s also tough, you’re never far from a 300m climb and I doubt a 7 year old would like that! I’ve been looking for an “easy” way up to the top of the Downs for years, haven’t found it yet.
There is the Downs Link, from Shoreham up to Guidlford, which I think is brilliant for younger riders, only one real hill up near Guidlford, no cars but close to villages and pubs in case you get into difficulties, or need a refreshment stop. I think you can take kids round Tilgate Park near Crawley? This also extends south beyond the M23 and is more suitable for proper mountain biking.
You can also go along the coast east and west from Shoreham and not have much road riding to do. Cuckmere Haven hires bikes, and it is beautiful there. There are trails in Stanmer Park just north of Brighton (again, there will be hills) Houghton Forest west of Amberley. I could go on!
I think you’re bang on about
I think you’re bang on about the cx type bike for the riding you describe. If it can take 25 – 32 mm tyres, brilliant, and also mudguards. You’ll have a machine suitable for all year round riding then.
Second hand is always worth a look, there are plenty of people who splash out on new bikes and decide it isn’t for them.
Nice cheers!Have a dangerous driver to report from yesterday, was a G4S van (MX41 LCS) carrying prisoners I think. Actually tried to run me off the road when the other lane was clear ahead. Did it slow too, definitely intentional. Need to think who to report it to, prison service, G4S, etc. No point going to the poice, no video evidence, just a waste of their time.
I think you have to report it to the police and G4S. I got run off the road near Wembley about 20 years ago, and the police told me they would go and have a word with the driver. I had no video evidence or witness statements, and it isn’t much, but I felt much better for it. Hopefully the driver learned his lesson.
