Forum Replies Created
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Replies
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If the frame is just
If the frame is just lacquered rather than painted black, or even sometimes a thin matt paint finish, then you will see the surface joins and weave in the carbon cloth, plus sometimes marks from the mould release agent.I have had such marks on a Trek Fuel Ex carbon, On-one 456 and HongFu FM66 which were all matt / raw finishes and its not a defect – that’s what carbon fibre looks like unless they put a cosmetic layer of carbon on top.
A gloss paint finish like on my KTM, doesn’t show the carbon beneath or any of the joins.
You could return the bike for another, but with that sort of finish would likely get one similar or possibly worse.
Ignore the white scuffs on my Trek here, and you can see a dark line along the length of the top tube, like on yours:
Also, a few marks on the FM066 (just visible along the edges of the downtube):
Shimano only update groupsets
Shimano only update groupsets every 2 or 3 years don’t they. If it says 6800, it will be no different to any other 6800.Halfords have a Carrera TdF
Halfords have a Carrera TdF road bike on offer at £250 at the moment, Its supposedly half price, but anyway, it doesn’t look bad with Shimano Sora (or maybe Claris) groupset.I wouldn’t buy secondhand gears cos you just don’t know how much wear they’ve had. So that would exclude complete secondhand bikes for me.
You might manage a self build for £250 but you probably won’t source all the bits for winter – waiting for the right bits and the right price.
Planet-X sometimes sell SAAB frames at £50 – £100 for a starter.
They’re £280 now aren’t
They’re £280 now aren’t they?2nd hand Triban then?
Always seemed to me that second hand road bikes were bad value at sub-£500. Some people wanting £100+ for 20 year old bikes with down tube shifters. Or still £200 for a Carrerra that was £300 new….. or maybe its the number of people that look on ebay that keeps prices a bit unrealistically steep.
I don’t see any issues with a
I don’t see any issues with a Decathlon Triban not being strong enough. Maybe the wheels or other components would only last a season, but if you want a “proper” winter bike then you might want to look at a singlespeed / fixie??? Wheels and drive train get manked up and worn out by winter so there’s a balance between cheap and durable. And its probably at the cheaper end of the scale.However, all the cheap(ish) bikes I’ve ever bought for winter bikes have felt like dogs compared to my best bikes, so I’ve ditched the concept of a winter bike from my collection and just run the bikes I enjoy riding. That includes a singlespeed, but it is still a bit numb compared to the race bikes.
You won’t get any of those on
You won’t get any of those on cyclescheme unless you can top up the £1k limit…It doesn’t really matter if a
It doesn’t really matter if a turbo gives an accurate power output, more that the readings are reliable/repeatable so that you can monitor improvement.It’ll never be like riding on the road, and a decent flywheel won’t alleviate the main ‘problem’ which is boredom.
Trainerroad and/or Sufferfest make turbo sessions more entertaining.
Is the Lemond one where you take the wheel out and use sprockets on the turbo? That seems more faff than a regular one if so.
What about some rollers? They’re fairly entertaining cos you need to concentrate to balance. And ones with resistance still give a good workout.
I fell off the mtb and
I fell off the mtb and scraped my knee recently. Used some of that spray on plaster it stuck good and proper, and including the hairs all around. It hurts pulling that stuff off where its not required! So I could understand there might be some benefit in this instance.Most of the guys do it on the road club, but just cos I don’t I wouldn’t say its a sign not to follow my wheel. I’d judge who’s wheel to follow by seeing what hand signals and warnings about the road surface and traffic I get from them when following in a bunch; rather than who’s got shaved legs and who hasn’t. Some of the guys who turn up on cross bikes with mis-matched kit are actually the most reliable and safe wheels to follow – image can be very deceptive.
I can almost understand it from a crash perspective and for massages but if you’re not racing or getting massaged then I do wonder why you’d bother. Pale pastey shaved legs look even worse than pale pastey hairy legs.
On a crit or a time trial
On a crit or a time trial you’ll need something much bigger than 39/18. I run 44/17 over a 12 mile commute even that’s a bit “spinny” on the flat.You can obviously work out the speed you will generate at a particular rpm.
I think Sheldon Brown’s website may even have a calculator.
I’ve read that some people
I’ve read that some people just race crits on singlespeed. Nothing to say you have to have gearsAhhhhh…..
TBH that sounds a
Ahhhhh…..TBH that sounds a bit more sensible. I got two results in relatively slow paced races so then 3rd cat with the fast lads where I’m still off the pace a bit.
S_Lim – did you not get the
S_Lim – did you not get the points to move up to 3rd cat? A win (10points)and a top ten (1 point minimum) could or would nearly be enough for 3rd cat (12 points) surely?4th cat road races are often
4th cat road races are often 3rd/4th cat combined and from what I’ve seen on the BC website, usually between about 30 and 60 miles. Seems about right to me – anything shorter just becomes a sprint like a crit. Closed circuit crits are usually between 25 – 45 mins.Seemed to me that at the start of the season, loads of people start in 4th cat who are way over and above the ability for 4th cat. They either quickly move up to 3rd cat, or because they’ve just bought a day license and don’t get BC points, they just stay in 4th cat – almost like hustlers 😉
4th cat to me seemed way more serious than any other sporting race or event I’ve ever done. (duathlons, 10k’s, mtb enduros etc)
I actually did my first crit before I did the chaingang with my local club. I had done a few regular club runs though and read up lots and lots on amateur racing, and knew the importance of holding my line etc. I took a “watching brief” in the first race and promptly got jettisoned off the back of the bunch and lapped. You need to get to the pointy end, fitness or no fitness.
Flipping heck Tiffin…. I
Flipping heck Tiffin…. I got two second places in 4th cat crits and the average speed wasn’t much more than 36.5km/h. So I’m now 3rd cat but am way off anywhere near competitive with the majority of 3rd cat riders.24mph average solo???? I can only just about manage 19mph moving avg on my own on the open road – which can’t be much different to soloing on a race surely.
How have you not got the points from those races to move up to 3rd cat? Or did you not have a race license?
If the weight limit is 89kg,
If the weight limit is 89kg, then they will have taken account of a factor of safety. I doubt even that anyone on the 89kg boundary would need to weigh themself religiously before each ride in case they were carrying a bit too much lard that day. At 89kg Kinesis will be fairly sure they won’t see any frame failures / or so few that there is no need to worry about it. You’d probably get away with slightly heavier even, depending how you ride.You don’t need to then factor in your own weight reduction below the 89kg!
