[peted76]

..here’s a snapshot

..here’s a snapshot

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Argh damn I wish that had

Argh damn I wish that had allowed a larger image to upload..  the text is outstanding.

[peted76]

Here’s a real life graph to

Here’s a real life graph to back it up.

 

[peted76]

Tubeless is a different way

Tubeless is a different way of thinking from tubes. I get asked all the time “how easy it is to put a tube in at the roadside” by people thinking about trying tubeless. The point being, you shouldn’t need to take the tyre off! 

 

I’m an advocate of tubeless, being an early road adopter it’s been a faff no doubt, I seem to have made all the mistakes, but the know how is now out there in the public domain, as is better sealant, and if you follow the ‘structions and do it right from the start, it becomes less of a faff than running tubes. There’s lots of pro’s and con’s from both sides, but the big selling point is simply that for 95% of the time which you’d have previously had to stop on the side of the road to change a tube, you won’t have to with tubeless, can continue your ride and will harldy know about it, plus no ‘sudden sniper shot blow outs’ to worry about either. 

[peted76]

That Whyte bike looks great.

That Whyte bike looks great. 13kgs to start with (ish). 

You’d loose 1/2 a kilo from changing the tyres out (720grams each!)

God knows how much the wheels weight but I bet they there’s another 3/4 of a kilo to easily be lost there.

12kg bike for the sake of £300 upgrades.

Looks great, I might actually be tempted to get one for my mrs, that’d suit her really well. 

 

[peted76]

You can find your FTHR

You can find your FTHR without a PM.. which is a good marker for measuring your efforts.

A power meter isn’t the be and end all of bike training although certainly nice to have one, I quote someone cleverer than I.. “A power meter is like a speedometer in a car telling us how fast we are going, whereas a heart-rate monitor is more akin to a rev counter telling us how hard we are working.”

If you really want to know your FTP, then get yourself down a gym and sit on a wattbike. But without a PM to measure against, then it’s a pretty meaningless metric.

[peted76]

You’ve got a point!

You’ve got a point!

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ClubSmed wrote:

Yorkshire wallet wrote:

Bit unfair to say the rider caused the accident when in fact the poor road surface did. His actions afterwards aren’t really defendable though.

So if a car were to mow down a cyclist because they hit a pothole it is not the motorists fault?

Anyone who uses the roads needs to be aware of the conditions and react appropriately, that’s just basic road sense!

^ THIS ^ always.

The main reason I’m not mad on doing loads of sportifs this year is that having ridden the tour of cambs for the past couple of years, it’s put me right off. 1st year in the sport category – it was carnage with people with zero roadcraft being dangerous causing crashes, but I had a good ride, just did more shouting and pushing that I’d have liked to have done etc… 2nd year in the race category to get away from so many plebs, and it was worse in a different way, huge peloton of no less than 100 riders virtually the whole way round, pushing, shouting, aggressive, waving their quite insubstatial cocks around, for me it was an accident waiting to happen (and quite a few did happen), I’m happy and confident riding in a group, but in such a large group whilst trying to concentrate and having to deal with so many egos for 80miles, it’s sort of sucked the fun out of the ride, the rest of the day is/was great, but to pay £70/£80, that ride is too much headwork for me. You can pay £15 to enter a crit to ride fast and there’s a lot less chance you’ll get injured!

[peted76]

Given that you’d received the

Given that you’d received the email about the recall and for whatever reason not acted on it. I’m of the mind that they acted in the right manner by informing you.

However I’m on your side about the service, just in the same manner a car is dealt with, as the supplier here should have been an asterix against your model/serial number of your bike with any recalls to watch out for. They supplied a faulty product upon sale, the onus should be on them to be aware of this if the product ever came back to them for servicing, upgrading or amendment. 

However I am slightly torn on this, I do not beleive that it is reasonable for anyone to check a hanger ‘type’ under most circumstances, check for alignment maybe, but it’s a pretty innocuous part, like a bolt or a screw in the most part. 

Do I think it’s worthy of compensation.. no, becuase you had recieved the email and not acted upon it, and you’ve had two and a half years of happy cycling since. However on the flip side, Evans would have been ‘compensated’ for the recall by Pinnicale at the time of the recall, ergo, they should really ‘morally’ do what it takes to make you happy and push that cost on to their supplier. If I were them I’d give you a top of the range service FOC as a goodwill gesture. 

I’m sure some would be more militant in this situation. But this is my rather confused opinion.

 

[peted76]

I like the idea of it, it’s

I like the idea of it, it’s ‘almost’ transparent, however I can only budget or make a descion based on the numbers in front of me, it feels a bit like a gamble to sign up with you… I’ve just been quoted up to £65 per month.. which is sounds like double what I’d usually pay, but with a ‘chance’ I could pay zero (unlikely)… you need to publish an historical model to base this new model on.

[peted76]

And to add in some balance to

And to add in some balance to the hordes of deliveroo teenagers and self important fair weather city cyclists….. for us non city commuters, this time of year is about making sure our ‘beginner’ and ‘social’ rides are helping those fair weather cyclists be aware of safe and responsible riding. On the beginner rides, my club shows how to do basic bike checks and running road saftey/group ride sessions also. 

We may not always ride by the ‘rules’, but we do our best to know our club members are aware of them.

Beyond utility riding, it’s another reason to join a well established local club. 

[peted76]

You’ll lose 1.4-1.5kgs on

You’ll lose 1.4-1.5kgs on that upgrade with the new wheels. 

You’ll notice differences in a number of ways..  1) braking.. disc may not be ‘needed’ but it sure is nice to be able to brake with on the hoods rather than on the drops. 2) You may not feel any better when you are go uphills but your times will be faster… 3) it’s easier to hold speed on the flats with those 50mm wheels 4)  acceleration, you’ll notice it’s easier to catch peoples wheels out of corners and from standing starts.  

Of course this is all relative, the more you weight the less the 1.5kg’s or the aero wheels will matter, being fair, it’s all marginal anyway, better legs will win over better bikes always, however these differences are there, regardless of what any naysayer may come along and say, I’ve noticed all of them at some point or another. 

Plus you’ll get that shiny new bike feeling, which is worth a couple of mph as well 🙂 Make sure you go tubeless as well, especially if you’re on discs, it’s more of a faff getting wheels in and out with through axles.

[peted76]

The Cube is a more relaxed

The Cube is a more relaxed sportif bike and the TCR has race geometry, so over longer distances you might be more comfortable on the cube. 

There’s not much difference in weight between them either by the looks, 8.1 for the TCR and 8.3 for the Attain.. 

The giant wheels are tubeless ready, the fulcrums I don’t think are tubeless.

Six of one and half a dozen of another.. you’ll be pleased with either bike I’m sure.

The TCR is a cracking bike and I’d personally go for that one, there’s not much in it but I’d imagine you’ll have more upgrade potential with the TCR frame. They are much of a muchness regarding specification, Ultegra is nice, but you get non series brakes on the cube, looks like full 105 on the giant. 

[peted76]

Your cassette looks worn to

Your cassette looks worn to me, best to change it with the chain. 

Ref: chain length, 25 to 28 shouldn’t make a difference, here’s a calculator for that kind of thing..  http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/chain_length/chainlengthcalc.html

[peted76]

You won’t go wrong with any

You won’t go wrong with any of these bikes, but the TCR at £1100 does seem like a sure bet.

I’m bias though as I’m on my second TCR one now. I believe they come with tubeless sealant and valves as well as an added bonus. 

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