[VecchioJo]

Pauldmorgan wrote:

I looked at the roadlink but was put off by it saying “Shimano only” (I’m on SRAM) – anyone tried it with SRAM? I guess at £20 it’s worth a punt to save a bit of weight and money.

 

“The RoadLink™ RD adaper installs in minutes, is optimized around Shimano ten- or eleven-speed road derailleurs and shifters, but works well with SRAM and Campy too”

[VecchioJo]

have you seen the Wolf Tooth

have you seen the Wolf Tooth Roadlink, it might be a cheap and simple answer to your situation as it allows your existing road mech to work with large cassettes 

[VecchioJo]

there’s a few round here on

there’s a few round here on the South Downs, although loose stone over hardpacked dirt might be a more apt, if longwinded description

 

that said, i’m not sure i’ve ever been up an actual mountain on my Mountainbike, but when someone says the word i know exactly what they mean without having to read a page long explanation about what they are, much like the way the catch-all genre descriptive term ‘Gravel Bike’ is used nowadays

[VecchioJo]

Praxis do a Pro Compact
Praxis do a Pro Compact 110BCD – 52/36 chainring set, available from [url=http://shop.upgradebikes.co.uk/default.aspx]Upgrade Bikes[/url]

[VecchioJo]

Cyclist wrote:Get my coaching

Cyclist wrote:

Get my coaching awards before years end.
Beat all of last years sportive times. I have re-entered them.
Get at least one sportive in a month
Ride Ventoux (booked)
Make sure I am in Yorkshire for you know when.
Lose 5kg currently 77kg
Don’t chase cars that cut me up.

i’m going to be harsh here and say these sound more like resolutions than trying anything new

*getting a coaching awards is laudable and allowed
*bettering a sportive time and entering more sportives isn’t anything new, it’s just getting faster and doing another sportive
*unless you’ve been to Yorkshire before that’s nothing new, if you rephrased that as “watch a Tour stage start” maybe
*losing weight, again commendable, but as you’ll have been your target weight at some time before that can’t count
*unless you chase _every single car_ that cuts you up then, no, it’s nothing new, just controlling your temper

yes, all of these a better, more rounded cyclist, but not in the way defined, sorry

[VecchioJo]

drfabulous0 wrote:After some

drfabulous0 wrote:

After some thought I could only think of two bike related activities which I’ve never tried, riding one of those tiny miniature velodrome thingies and Cyclo ball, I’m game for both and anything else different anyone can suggest, but i will have done most of them because I’m obsessed.

maybe you could do something that’s not about You then; help organise a race, or if that’s too hard just marshal on the day, teach a child to ride, volunteer at a co-op style bike project, fix it up an old bike and give it to someone who needs one

give up your time to help cycling in general rather than take, you may have done all of these already of course, i’m just thinking out loud, improvement is a broad church

[VecchioJo]

i have been remiss with
i have been remiss with keeping tabs on this apologies, and my own attempt has been scuppered, ironically by travelling too much and breaking the Wildcard Foreign Country Rule 🙂

January: Surrey
February: Wiltshire
March: West Yorkshire
April: Dorset
June: Gloucestershire
July: France
August: Lancashire
September: France
October: Italy
November: Hampshire
December: Kent

congratulations to Blackhound and themanfromicon for seeing it through, i hope pedalling to every corner of the country was worth all the effort

[VecchioJo]

there’s plenty of evidence
there’s plenty of evidence out there that they are prone to incredibly poor bearing life and also catastrophic failure including axles suddenly snapping
the design of the pedal means the springs can also eat into the soles of your shoes if you don’t use a protective plate under the cleat

however there are those that love them for their light weight and mud clearing abilities and say bearing issues aren’t a problem if you look after them

it’s the one bike component i advise people to avoid

[VecchioJo]

see a sports physio –
see a sports physio – seconded, internet diagnoses and cures are worthless

it could be all manner of things, if you can see a physio that understands cyclists and can look at you on a bike that will help

i had a painful left knee that turned out to be nothing to do with the knee, some shoe inserts and some stretching sorted it

[VecchioJo]

seconded
and don’t get
seconded

and don’t get over-excited at the start and tire yourself out unnecessarily, and rather than chase people down use them to your advantage by drafting them (don’t forget to take your turn at the front though) or chatting to them (if they want to be chatted to that is), both will make the miles go past quicker and easier

[VecchioJo]

i’ve been up Gay Street a few
i’ve been up Gay Street a few times, but who hasn’t?

[VecchioJo]

shave
[url=http://road.cc/content/blog/4029-shave]shave[/url]

[VecchioJo]

Vladimir Karpets
and it’s a
Vladimir Karpets

and it’s a retail career when his pro contract ends

[VecchioJo]

i’m typing this whilst
i’m typing this whilst listening to music and don’t just stand there let’s get to it, strike a pose, there’s nothing to it’s not a problem, my brain is perfectly able to cope with a few things at once without being distracted

[VecchioJo]

i listen to music all the
i listen to music all the time, have done for the last 25+ years, i’ve never noticed how much more dangerous the roads are when i plug myself in, i rely on my eyes a lot more than my ears whether i’m listening to music or not, it can be hard to hear a car with 20mph wind in your ears

do those who say listening to music on a bike is dangerous and distracting also not turn the radio on in the car and then wind the windows down, or do they use their eyes to see what’s going on?

all the accidents (some involving hospital visits and surgery) i’ve had have been while i’ve not been listening to music, just to add that to the anecdotal mix

[Author]

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