Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Have a look at Fairlight – the designer is ex-Genesis. Either of their two bikes will do the job and the Strael was pedalled to a win on the TCR by James Hayden this year. I’ve got a Faran, lovely tourer with huge clearance for racks and guards and will also run 650B wheels.
Bit more bespoke than the Genesis bikes – proportional geometry and assembled in small batches in Eastern Europe. Dom will work out with you which size you need based on a bike fit.
Faran in Tiagra build is £1399 I think.
Thanks that’s really helpful, they look nice bikes and more affordable than the likes of Mason. Watching their video about proportional geometry has got me thinking about why my seat post was always up so high but I always felt stretched out, despite the CdF allegedly having one of the shorter top tubes out there. Maybe I have long legs and short torso!
I was surprised by the sizing they suggested for me. Narrower bars and one size down from usual but now I’m finally dialled in the bike is very comfy. Its also completely and utterly silent, even with full guards fitted, and is perfectly suited to hammering along gravel tracks and what passes for tarmac in my neck of the woods.
A neighbour has a Condor and it is indeed a thing of beauty, but slightly less adaptable than my Faran.
My experience with Fairlight is that they offer a semi-custom service – Dom is incredibly helpful and enthusiastic and you get the feeling they want to make sure you get the right bike for you, not just a question of shifting boxes.
Thanks all,the advice/ suggestions have certainly given me something to consider and rethink my cunning plan.
plan B is looking like bus to Reading from Heathrow. Assemble bike (fix as required) train to Penzance and start pedalling.
FYI. I am flying from Perth Western Australia via Doha with Qatar. I have no set route other than Taunton, Bristol, Worcester, Nottingham, Bradford, East Kilbride and Glasgow to visit friends and rellies. Total estimated time two months starting in May next year.
thanks again for all your comments, concerns and suggestions.
Bernie
That makes a lot of sense. As others have said there’s a big Decathlon about 5 minutes walk from the station. I can also highly recommend Sweeney’s for a meat pie/decent pint if there’s a bit of a wait for your train. Decathlon have in-store mechanics who are usually among the best of the big retailers. Best avoid Halfords. There’s also an Evans Cycles about 10 mins from the station who are pretty good.
Weather should be perfect for cycling in May. Make sure you’ve got a good lock. When I lived in Reading 10 years ago I had three bikes stolen in just over a year.
Have a look at Fairlight –
Have a look at Fairlight – the designer is ex-Genesis. Either of their two bikes will do the job and the Strael was pedalled to a win on the TCR by James Hayden this year. I’ve got a Faran, lovely tourer with huge clearance for racks and guards and will also run 650B wheels.
Bit more bespoke than the Genesis bikes – proportional geometry and assembled in small batches in Eastern Europe. Dom will work out with you which size you need based on a bike fit.
Faran in Tiagra build is £1399 I think.
I use the privateer r with speedplay frogs (sort of spikey spd cleats, that fit into the recess) on my CX bike, which I also use as my commuter and winter roadie. So they mainly see road commuting and (very) occasional CX and winter 50-milers. Happy with them – decent balance between road stiffness and comfort. and they’re pretty tough too. There should be some decent deals on them now.Great info, thanks so much. Sound like the ones for me as the best of all worlds and you sound like you do similar riding to me.
I’m currently using Shimano shoes, the enduro ones 46, I was using 45 when I had Sidi shoes. Are Giro shoes quite a wide fitting? I might just be cheeky and go into a shop and try on then buy online.
More a question of Shimano coming up narrow I think. I’ve always had to go up at least half a size with Shimano shoes. Not sure about the SPD-SLs but they do sell wide-fitting SPD shoes (helpfully have “Wide” written on the tongue). Don’t know if its the whole range but my trusty M088s are wide-fitting.
Hi I’m getting it across both shoulders and neck 80km is the longest ride I’ve done so far, the first 80km there was a lot of hills so was getting lower back ache as well. Week later 80km flatish route just neck & shoulder but not as intese. As strange as it seems any pics of me on the bike are either stoped or slowing to a stop or wrong angle so doubt be much use.Lower back pain often appears on hilly rides. My long route commute home is up hill pretty much all the way and until I sorted my position I’d get back pain on the way home but not on the way in to work.
It could be that you’re braced rigid on the bike – try to make sure you’re riding with soft elbows and also (if you’re new to road bike shifters) that your hands are in the right place on the bars. I’d say they are as hand palsies (tingling, numb fingers) appear within 10-15km.
You could spend hours chasing the right position on your own though – go and have a mid-range bike fit done. You don’t need all the saddle mapping and pedal tracking stuff at this stage, just an assessment of your flexibility which will define the right body angle.
In my experience a small change (+10mm on my stem) made a huge difference to comfort and completely removed my lower back pain and hand numbness. I’d assumed that I was getting the pain because I was too far forward but what was actually happening is that I was braced on the bike and need to reach further forward to free up my core.
Almost certainly setup rather
Almost certainly setup rather than general fitness. Necks are pretty strong so it will be a positional thing, big neck muscles aren’t needed for cycling fitness.
Are you getting it in both shoulders? Side of neck or at the back?
I’m assuming you’re meaning its kicking in at around the 80km point of the ride?
Had a Dirty Disco built up
Had a Dirty Disco built up with SRAM Force, cracking bike for the money. Would definitely get one of their carbon frames if I was in the market for a fast road n+1 to go alongside my tourerHampshire Police have are
Hampshire Police have are spending this week running workshops for elderly drivers, with a view to “ensuring they can keep driving for as long as possible”
Completely the wrong approach.
https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/general/older-drivers-awareness-week/
A friend has a belt-drive
A friend has a belt-drive Cube, loves it. Pretty much zero maintenance and he rides 20 miles a day in all weather.
QRs – grease ’em and snug ’em
QRs – grease ’em and snug ’em (particularly the rear)
If its not that check your cassette lockring is tight
Giant do an upgrade kit for
Giant do an upgrade kit for around £120 – replaces your stem with the hydro resorvoir and includes all hoses and calipers. Potentially an absolute steal at that price
If not take a look at the Yokozuna/Juin Tech R1 hybrids recently reviewed here. Having just gone from mechanical to these the difference is very noticeable and a worthy upgrade. Big advantage is that they’re a direct swap for your mechanicals, will probably take no more than 15 minutes to fit and adjust. Similar price to the Giant system
To go full hydro you’re looking at £300 and a lot of work as you need to replace the levers.
If its comfy, upgrade
If its comfy, upgrade components. Maybe go for electronic shifting plus new wheels? You say its looking tatty – custom paintjob would fix that. http://www.enigmabikes.com/paintworks/
Unless you can find someone
Unless you can find someone to assemble it for free I’d say you’ll be better off buying a complete bike through eBay. Realistically though bikes always consume repair time, particularly if you’re riding regularly through the winter. I’m working on persuading my employer to provide a repair stand and toolset at work as lunch is valuable time that can be used for fettling.
I use oats, peanut butter, a
I use oats, peanut butter, a small amount of golden syrup and one of raisins/choc drops/nuts/dates to prevent boredom.
Just combine all ingredients (can help to warm the peanut butter on the hub to speed up the mixing process) and freeze. Prep them in a baking tray on parchment paper and pre-cut them before freezing. They’ll be slightly sticky so will need to be in a ziplock bag but will last for a long commute, even in summer.
Very cheap ingredients and certainly get me through to lunch without snacking
The frame has all the fixings for the guards, no bodging required. I guess there’s probably room to increase the vertical clearance by pushing the guards slightly further away from the wheels – but they are made of fairly flexible plastic and have plenty of give in them when moved by hand. I reckon its horizontal movement that makes the noise, there isn’t much clearance between the metal rods and the tyres.That’s likely it – guards are freer to move side to side. With my Tortecs though the stays feeding through the eyebolts effectively fix the guards vertically and horizontally as they’re always under tension. There’s very little side to side movement.
