Forum Replies Created
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Replies
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Remove your socks and sit on
Remove your socks and sit on a high surface (kitchen worktop should do it). Dangle your feet naturally, just relax your legs and let your feet drop. Viewed from the front (get someone to take a picture of your feet if necessary), what does your stance look like? Personally, the outside of my feet are quite a bit lower than the inside. Viewed from the front, this would give my feet an inverted V shape. This means that when I do anything more than gentle spinning, my foot collapses inwards with the downward force. I use Specialized Body Geometry footbeds and cleat wedges to correct this, and they work well and allow me to crank up the power.There are many variables at work here though, for example my feet don’t sit parallel, so I pedal with my heels turned inwards. You could do with a bike fitting, as suggested above. Whereabouts are you? Someone might be able to suggest one.
I’m not so sure about a great
I’m not so sure about a great deal. From what I can see, it’s a generic far east frame with SRAM Apex, for £1750. Given that I paid £1000 for what looks like a very similar but non-aero frame with SRAM Apex, I’m guessing you’re paying for the carbon bars and the deep section wheels, which may or may not just be typical alloy clinchers with a plastic fairing. In fact, I fail to see how you could get under 7kg (stated weight of 15.4lb) with Apex.If I was buying now, for this sort of cash, I’d go here:
http://road.cc/content/forum/117876-de-ver-cycles-bikebuilder-has-anybody-used-itI realise you might not be near London, but those guys appear to be offering crazy bikes for around £2k. It would easily justify a trip down on the train or whatever.
As an example, £1746 gets you:
Deda Super Scuro RC frameset
Shimano Ultegra 6800 11speed
Mavic Ksyrium Elite S with Conti GP4000s tyres
Deda finishing kit
3T handlebar tapeNow that’s a properly nice bike. Most bikes at this price have naff wheels and are the first thing you upgrade, but Ksyrium Elites are sweet.
Good luck!
I realise there’s the Giro
I realise there’s the Giro Donne, and I think that’s kind of the OPs point – it’s shorter and by contrast the men’s Giro is a national institution, ingrained in the countrys’ and the sports’ culture. Would it be better to try and raise this to GT length/profile and hope everyone in Italy has the stomach to support a 2nd GT, or would it be better to try it in a country that doesn’t have a GT? Based on last month, if they extended the Womens ToB to 3 weeks and included iconic climbs, TTs etc, I think the support would be mental.Try recumbents now, buy a 2nd
Try recumbents now, buy a 2nd hand one, whatever. Get used to it, get fit in that position etc. (Are both of you confident riding solo to acquire this fitness without the tandem?) Then, you’ll probably need to commission a recumbent tandem build (£££) to be complete by, say, end of 2015 at the latest.Are there any european van hire companies that will let you drive one way? I guess not, so how about roping in a third person to drive you over there, then act as a support vehicle? I know this isn’t exactly touring, but that way you can just meet the van and driver at the end of each day, for example, to have your evening meals together, and you’ve got transport in both directions.
Or, DHL (or similar) it. If they can move an entire Formula 1 race’s worth of kit every 2 weeks, they can move a big-ass trike twice in a few months. Admittedly it might not be cheap. You just need an address for it at the other end. Is there a storage facility or something where you could collect it near the start? You’d need to do the reverse at the end, obviously.
Sounds like it could be a great adventure though, and worth the money if you can afford it. Best of luck making it happen!
I would definitely agree with
I would definitely agree with 3 grand tours of other countries. Half the objections to big-time womens racing is the logistics of 2 TdFs, for example, but the fact that the Womens Tour was, geographically speaking, not much more than a tour of East Anglia and (just some of) the home counties, means that you could stretch that to a 3 week race and get crowds all the way, by covering the rest of the UK. Clearly though, it would take some serious organisation and funding to pull this off.A Tour of Scandinavia would be seriously challenging.
For those that know the sport, the idea of dropping the ‘Womens Tour’ bit would appeal – you can be eligible for those 3, or for those 3 – but casual observers would be confused.
I also like that you started with a protest for us to shut up for a minute and hear you out!
movingtarget
Interesting questions. I’ve never had issues with front wheel wobble on fast descents but my husband did with his Masi. On descents in excess of 25 mph the front end would shudder violently to the point where he felt he’d be thrown off the bike. Ultimately the LBS where he bought it discovered a crack on the carbon fork where it went into the head tube. But I doubt that’s what’s going on with your bike as something structural like that shouldn’t change based on your wheelset I would think.In terms of weight distribution, I’ve found that when I’m on a steep (>10% grade) I feel more stable when I’m in the drops because it lowers my center of gravity so I can control the bike better with minute weight shifts, especially in turns, and I go faster because it’s a more aero position. When I’m on the drops it definitely feels more squirrelly to me as I’m pushed around by the wind more and I just feel more tippy. I would assume that the physics of lowering your body shifts your weight balance as it pushes you slightly back on your rear wheel but still maintains enough weight in front so that you don’t get that unbalanced feeling like the front wheel is going to wiggle out from under you. Theoretically, if you shift your weight too far forward there’s not only the risk of end-overing the bars but also having the rear wheel slip out from under you as there’s not enough weight on it (similar to how you can fishtail when standing up on climbs as your weight shifts mainly to the front) Is this similar to what you’ve felt with the wobble?
Here’s also a much more eloquent article with tips from Antonio Cruz about descending position and front/rear body weight positioning http://www.bicycling.com/beginners/bike-skills/descend-rocket%5B/quote%5D
I don’t think it’s the fork on that frameset. I do agree about the position on the bars – I shift to the drops as the speed increases and agree that the handling improves. Previously, I was concentrating on keep my arms relaxed, but perhaps took too much weight off them, leaving the front too light.
It’s weird, because the advice I read re descending is to hang back on the bike and take the weight into my feet and off the saddle slightly, but I find that both of these decrease my stability – of the front and the mid-section of the bike respectively. I find that if I concentrate my weight on the saddle and the bars and keep my feet at the horizontal pedal position, that’s the best I can find so far. Cruz’s article lists all the things my rational self knows, but that I sometimes find difficult to practice. (Or, as Steve Peters might say, my inner chimp keeps getting in the way of the computer!)
[quote=Yorkshie Whippet]Is it the frame characteristics? Planet X Carbon Pros are known for having vague steering at speed. For years I thought it was me or the wheels. I now happily ride the same wheels off my Ridley.
If you look at the physics, centrifugal forces will be higher on a heavier rim and there for the stability on the bike is increase. Think of a flywheel or even spin a wheel in you hand and try to alter it’s angle. Therefore a light rim may wander at speed and any input could result in over compensation and a wobble.
Weight distribution, the idea of shifting weight back I think is to allow the front wheel to follow it’s own track to a point. Also under braking it allows your body to move forward without feeling like you are going over the bars.
Like with most things bikewise, experiment and find what feels right for you. Ultimately, if you have confidence you will go faster.
Well you could have a point about that frame – it’s essentially a generic far-east thing. I bought it from Graham Weigh in Deeside, but as the guy there said, it’s basically the same frame as sold by Dolan, Ribble, Planet-X and a host of others. I suppose I should swap the tyres/tubes from the Bontragers and see how the Mavics feel on the Trek. I have also thought it was me, so I’d be quite happy if it turned out to be the frame!
Windproof gilet? The tales
Windproof gilet? The tales of people shivering so much they think they’re going to lose control at speed on the descents has to be at least as risky as the other hazards.Stretching exercises for the upper body perhaps – I’m thinking about shoulder tension from long periods descending.
Sounds awesome – good luck.
Hmm, 35%, time to make a
Hmm, 35%, time to make a decision on that fitness then!felixcat wrote:Many of my
Many of my favourites have been mentioned here. I can add a few I hope.
Has Penmon been mentioned? The toll road to the lighthouse is free for bikes. The caff is sometimes open on summer weekends. The large letters on the lighthouse “NO PASSAGE TO LANDWARD” amuse, especially when the tide is out.
All the corners of Mon are worth a trip.
Newborough and Llanddwyn Island with its two toy lights and coastguard cottages.
South Stack, with hundreds of steps down to the bridge to the lighthouse island.
Carmel Head where a rough track takes you past two sea marks like giant white skittles.
Llynas Head, tarmac all the way to a light on a peninsular which does not flash, it occults.
Remembering all these rides makes me a bit sad, since I no longer live there, but mainly happy with memories of great days in the saddle.
Is the Queen’s Head in Ty Croes still unchanged since before WWII? With no beer pumps, just taps on the barrels and faded flowery wall paper in the parlour?Crikey, where to even start with this lot? :)) Sounds like you have some great memories of there. I have no idea what an occult lighthouse looks like… I’ll have a look at some maps and work out where all these places are first!
@Slide89 – you weren’t
@Slide89 – you weren’t looking for this lot to help you make a simple decision between just 2 products were you?! :))I like the blingness of riding FFWD or Tune wheels (even if they are wiggle exclusive). Cero are indeed meant to be very good – these plus a new pair of cycling shoes perhaps?!
Wig_Billy wrote:Have you
Have you included a trip down to Llanddona beach in that route? Getting back up from there is quite a challenge. 😉If you fancy doing one big climb then Marchlyn Mawr (the high level reservoir for Dinorwig Power Station/Electric Mountain) is within your range from Beaumaris. There’s an access road above Deiniolen (near Llanberis) which takes you right up to the reservoir (>2,000ft). You can see Beaumaris from up there, as well as most of Anglesey – it’s a great view.
There’s also another ‘summit’ which you get to via a junction half way up the access road. From here you get an impressive view of Llanberis and the mountains (depending of the weather of course).@Neil – is that tiny south-westerly road through pentraeth forest passable on 23c tyres, or do I need to box round it on the B5109?I know that ‘road’. It’s passable, but it’s a challenge. It’s a loose gravel road/track with a few rocky patches along the way. It’s also quite hilly, which doesn’t make the surface any easier. Good fun though.
Cool – I’m assuming that the climb starts at either end of that straight road alongside the beach that’s sort of North-North-West from Llandonna itself. I see the two roads meet halfway up anyway. I could approach the beach from Lon Goch after coming from Penmon. Talking of which, I hadn’t included a trip to the lighthouse – be rude not to visit, I guess.
Marchlyn Mawr might be good for the second day. Is it bad that I thought Dinorwig was in Scotland?!
God bless GPS – I’d get round a course like this without it, but the cue sheet on my top tube and the stopping/faffing about would be endless!
Well when I say I’m not fit,
Well when I say I’m not fit, it’s relative. I don’t have the fitness (or the time, actually) I had last year for a couple of 60+ mile rides with 6000ft each of ascent. 40-ish miles with up to 4000ft would be fine though. I had plotted a route on ridewithgps that includes Penmon, LLandonna, Pentraeth, Mynnyd Bodafon, LLangefni then back to Beaumaris. That’s about 2800ft and could include a bit more ascending, but I’m not sure where I’d find it.That said, while the etape looks ace, once I’ve faffed about with the trip there and back, it will take too much time out of the rest of the (family) day.
Big portions of healthy food.
Big portions of healthy food. Early nights. Take it very easy.Interestingly, I was reading that Cav was recovering from antibiotics on last years’ TdF, and he said it left him feeling weak, so you’re in good company!
Was that the LBS that sold it
Was that the LBS that sold it to you? Because ultimately, under the sale of goods act, products have to be fit for purpose and perform as advised. This obviously gets a bit more complicated if a dodgy dealer just says “not my problem guv, you must have crashed it”. What does the shop that sold it to you have to say? Are they just shrugging their shoulders?Sounds strange. So it’s your
Sounds strange. So it’s your glutes then, but not the whole length of them? I’d be inclined to first book in to see a physio. Explain the problem and ask them to confirm the sequence and proportion in which you muscles are firing. I’d then book somewhere decent for a bike fit and get your position looked at.
