Forum Replies Created
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Ribble appear to be heavy for
Ribble appear to be heavy for carbon bikes do they not?fluffed wrote:
Sault, Malaucene & Bedoin all have many bike hire shops/places to stay, and as nearby is pretty flat apart from the Mt, it doesn’t really matter too much where your base is. I was based in Sault for my trip fwiw, but had my own bike. Also, I think Ventouxveloux do their tours from somwhere north of Malaucene.
Hilarious! I live in the Vaucluse, Ventoux in my back yard. Ventoux is obviously the big one, but an average non Ventoux ride I climb 1000ft per 10 miles over the full route, typical ride 50 miles 5000ft eg any 2 of col de murs, col de trois terms, col de Lagarde, col de line, no flatter than Ventoux, only shorter, and hit you one after another. Certainly not flat compared to UK conditions. This ain’t Fenlands, or even Scotland!Best base is Bedoin. Loads of bike rental in Bedoin. From there you can do the two hardest routes up Ventoux, plus Gorge de la Nesque. Sault rout is easy, unless like myself, you climb close to 1000m before you get to Sault, (over that “pretty flat” country!) In terms of scenery, the monts de vaucluse to the south are arguably more interesting than Ventoux, which is relatively featureless, and definitely worth a look. La Nesque is easy, but interesting.
Simon E wrote:
Go to 28mm if you can – they’re more comfy and quicker than 23 or 25mm.
Maybe, but Bierman has been a bit naughty in the way he has presented his results, so let’s not get carried away. His conclusion stating that a bigger tyre will give lower rolling resistance at the same pressure is not helpful because (a) you wouldn’t do that, and (b) if you did, you wouldn’t get that extra comfort you are looking for. Typically 28mm would run at 15-20% lower pressure (you all know the charts), and if you feed that back into Bierman’s own graph, then the difference in rolling resistance is a gnats whisker, and this is without taking aero into account (by his own admission)Similarly his statement that at lower pressures the gap is wider is misleading for the same reason.
Of course this doesn’t mean 28 for 25 isn’t a good swap, and most of us would still be happy with more comfort, for little loss in speed, which is probably what you’d get. I swapped my wife’s bike from 23 to 28 and she is very happy, but certainly not faster!
Well done! I hope you enjoy
Well done! I hope you enjoy it.But in the real world people do sometimes not use enough revs, have a clutch that is not perfect, or a car with a food operated parking break (which can be a pain on hill starts) or a modem automatic, which do roll back a few inches.Yeah, sometimes you need to know when to give up on an argument.
Foot operated parking brakes are common on American cars, but only ever with an auto box, and automatics do not roll backwards unless there is a fault, or the car is in neutral. No car which behaved as you suggest would pass its construction and use cert.
(aside from which, the OP describes the driver holding the car on the clutch – a practice which I loath as all it does is shorten clutch life just for the sake of laziness – so auto boxes don’t even enter the debate)
OTOH most amateur cyclists are significantly overweight,Quite a generalisation. Maybe true if you classify commuters as amateur cyclists, but that’s not what the OP is talking about. In my circle, cyclists are well below average weight.
Like the OP, I worry about my weight. At a shade under 6ft, from the age of 19 to my mid 50’s my weight increased from 12st4 to 12st 8 in old money – average for my height. I then took up cycling and dropped to my current 10 st 7, which the medical books say is too light. This has mainly come from my midriff, but I have also lost upper body strength. With Strava telling me I am burning 2000 calories a couple of times per week, that’s one day’s average extra calorie intake I need each time I take the bike out the garage. I can’t drink enough beer or eat enough pasta to make that up. I find it mindboggling that the pros can make up 8,000 calories per day! Equally mindboggling that any cyclist can be overweight.
steviep wrote:
Struggling to find any of previous yr bikes in my size ( XL ). The search continuesEh????
Lets start with the Cube Attain SL disc (hydraulic + 105) I mentioned previously. This is available in all sizes (I am assuming by XL you mean 60cm?) from Hargroves £999 or Chain Reaction £1069.
But now you’ve told me you’re a big lad, I can do much much better for you. The Focus Cayo, now discontinued, had a very highly regarded (fast and comfortable) race geometry carbon frame and nice tidy internal cables. Plenty of reviews available on line. This is the real deal, being a proper carbon race frame, whereas the others we have discussed are butted alu. Pair this with a 105 groupset (your Giant is Tiagra), hydraulic discs, and just for you, a 60cm frame. OK, so its a discontinued 2016 model, but light years ahead of the other bikes we’ve discussed here! One only, reduced from £1999 to £999.99 at triuk.com.
Your OP asked what we would do. That’s what I would do!
(Edit: Having now read a couple of those reviews, the only negative to this specific configuration seems to be that the discs are slightly noisy due to having 3rd party rotors fitted. £20 should get you a set of proper Shimano rotors)
…… Could I suggest for
…… Could I suggest for example, the Cube Attain Sl disc. On sale through a number of retailers within your budget, and in addition to hydraulics discs, comes with a 105 groupset?steviep wrote:
Thanks for your reply. Do you have any other suggestions for bike with hydraulic disc brakes for around 1k.
Just remember ‘ti’s the season of discounts, with retailers trying to offload those outdated 2018 colour schemes, to make way for 2019 colour schemes. At this time of year you should be looking to get 25% off the bike of your choice. So with circa £1k to spend, start looking at bikes with a list price up to £1400, and prepare to negotiate.Lots of sense talked above,
Lots of sense talked above, carbon frames are robust unless point loads are applied. But be careful on kerbs with those 25mm tyres at 80 psi! After many years of mtb I switched to road a few years back, and second time out tried to take a kerb at an oblique angle which the mtb wouldn’t have even noticed. The result was painful, for me and the bike.Two very different bikes,
Two very different bikes, with very different purposes. You don’t actually say what kind of cycling you enjoy, apart from flat!
I have an Addict race Ultegra, love it to bits, and would only swap for another one. But I live in France, cycle up mountains every trip, and climbing is my thing. Note that the pro’s use addicts for climbing and cobbles cos they’re comfy, and foils for time trials. Are you looking to get the last second off your times, or just enjoy the cycling.
Di? I used to scoff, but I do seem to spend a lot of time trying to optimise my ultegra mech for smooth changes and quiet running. I think next time I would go Di.
The disc brake mob will be along in a minute to tell you you will die if you buy rims. Again, a lot comes down to what kind of riding you are doing. I have noticed over the years in a number of sports I’ve been involved in that Brits always go for this year’s latest gadget in the vain hope that it will improve their performance. Same with cycling! Here in France, most of the really nice bikes I see are still rims. Despite the scare stories I have never seen melting rims and exploding tyres on the Ventoux descent.
I guess I’m saying I would go Addict, Di, and could take or leave the disks.There is a lot to be said for
There is a lot to be said for a year old bike, if the deal is right. There is also a lot to be said for riding a bike bought, and set up from new, for you. Personally, for a 2000 mile bike I would want at least 30% off list. Especially as there are some nicely specced new galliums in dealers with 15% off list. At £5.7k, I would buy new, and sleep happily with known history and full warranty.
You don’t say what your
You don’t say what your commute involves, but the more upright seating position you get from a gravel or endurance bike makes it easier to maintain good all round visibility.Decent mudguards (eg PDK) don’t need mounting studs, just make sure the frame has clearance.
As another commenter said, decent rim brakes are adequate for commuting, unless you ride like an idiot.
I would probably leave space in the budget for a spare set of wheels, nothing fancy, but having the ability to easily swap between 25mm slicks for effortless summer riding, and 32mm treads for rainy commutes is an advantage.
All I said was that it is comparable to other road users. road users.Its not comparable. Group cyclists have the option to break into smaller groups to make it easier for others (share), whereas the farmers and caravaners you quote have fewer options. You yourself used the word “wilful” with regard to some group cyclists (despite earlier saying we cyclists all share and its everbody else’s fault).
Also, sharing the road is not an issue for cyclists, it’s drivers that can’t share.Yeah, right, its always somebody else’s fault. Admittedly failure to share the road when cycling usually comes down to inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists. I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling in France over the Summer, even sometimes struggling on my bike, let alone the car, to get past the tourist brigades swanning around gaggle astern.
I have come across the occasional group of cyclists who do genuinely hold up traffic with no regard for others, ignoring the rules on letting others pass, but very few and far between, and no worse that the problems I have had with caravans and tractors over the bank holiday and much less common. Huge club outings of 20+ in the Cotswolds are normally what I find, where it would be much better for them to break down in to smaller groups of 10-12 to make passing possible, but as I say, they are far less common that other forms of slow moving traffic. Generally what is meant by “share the road” is “cyclists get off the road. I hate having to slow for a second and pass safely when driving to work” not “I find huge chain gangs on the odd sunny Sunday annoying”
Now you are being mischievous. When G (and you refrence was about him) referred to sharing the road, he meant just that, not that one party should “get off the road”. As for the farmers working the bank holiday while you were on a day out? You certainly have little tolerance for your fellow road users.
