Cycling UK Forum

"Finally I realised I was in the wrong place as I caught sight of shaved legs"

I always thought the bare legs on 'competitive' cyclists was less because they shaved them and more because they hadn't gone through puberty because they always seem to have the slender physique of a 14 year old boy without an upper body muscle in sight

Took my bike out for the weekend for the first time in bad weather although it was great fun slpashing mud everywhere it now looks a bit of a mess so i'm going to spend an hour or so cleaning it tomorrow but not sure what the do's and don'ts are.

- What do I need to clean it? I've got a bucket and a wallpaper brush to clean the frame down with and a bit of old rag. Should I be spraying anything special on it or will hot water and a bit of soap do?

- How should I clean the chain and cogs and do I need to do anything special? i.e. i've been told that WD-40 is a strict no-no for the chain so what should I use instead?

I've got a shopping list so far of:

- Bucket
- Rag
- Chamois Leather
- Towel
- Degreaser
- Chain Lube
- Soft Brush For Frame
- Stiffer Brush For Cogs/Chain

The only real way to tackle hills is to just keep doing them.

I've only been cycling in anger for just under three months and I still struggle on hills a lot more than other cyclists around me seem to but have found the following.

- Cycling more miles on flat ground doesn't necessarily make you better at hills. I tackled a hill near me early on and struggled so avoided it for ages. During that time I went from 5 mile rides up to 30 mile rides and thought to myself 'Great, I should be able to do that hill much easier now'... I was wrong, it was still just as hard. I only got better at it when I forced myself to do that hill every week.

- I struggled in two regards on the hill. One was that I ran out of puff and the other was that my legs just run out of strength. I now don't struggle as much with the leg strength but still run out of puff. Conclusion? It's easier to build up leg muscles than it is cardio ability!

- Being a bit of a lump at just shy of 17 stone I can blame my complete inabuility to do hills on that while taking comfort at the ridiculous speeds I can manage downhill thanks to my weight

The main change i've made to tackling hills is that when I first started I would see a hill coming so wouold conserve energy when approaching it and go into a lower gear in preparation. Now I do the complete opposite, as soon as I know a hill is coming I pick the pace up so I can hit it as fast as possible and resist the temptation to drop gear immediately.

I've found this means that instead of labouring all the way up the hill I can now make it most of the way up just on the momentum i've already built up so it's less of a struggle.

Mick F wrote:Do away with the cycle tracks/paths, or at least don't build any more, and spend the dosh on cycle training.

The only problem with spending the money on cycle training is that, invariably, it's not the cyclists who actually need the training.

If they could spend the money on traning motorists about cycling it would be even better spent!

I picked up some Sonixx X-Fit Wireless Earphones a few weeks ago and have to say that i'm VERY impressed with them.

I usually watch TV shows on my tablet on the commute to work and was getting annoyed because using wireless headphones when you're crammed in like sardines invariably results in someone getting their bag or arm tangled in the wire as they get off the train and yanking the tablet out of my hands.

Bought those to try them out and they are brilliant, highly recommended.

I've got two and have to say it's not a problem i've had.

That said, both of them do feel 'different' when I mount them in the holder. My first one slides in and out quite nicely while still being very secure but the other one is quite difficult to push in and out and I have had one or two accidental resets when putting it in but i'd say it's happened less than 2% of the time.

Most shops sell spare cradles for them so it may be worth trying a different cradle?

Up to £100 million of funding is apparently available according to the story below.

Funny thing is the picture they use to highlight the story because I would hope the first budget sign off is to remove the cut down lamp post smack bang in the middle of the cycling lane!

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1 ... nvestment/

FWIW, i'd only cycle through Ilford with an armed bodyguard at most times of the day

cycleruk wrote:The thing that really riles me is the lorry that's doing 1 MPH faster than the lorry it's overtaking.
All the cars are now bunched into the outside lane while the lorry takes 15 minutes to overtake.

The problem here is the lorry that is being overtaken.

Although all lorries are technically supposed to be limited to the same speed there's big discrepancies based on trailer weight, how fine tuned the limiter is etc.

Basically, if the lorry behind you is faster and attempts to pass you then you should slow donw and let it get past... Not try to keep at max speed forcing him into an overtaking maneuver that takes 5 miles to complete!

Very few HGV drivers seem to do this nowadays though and prefer to refuse to slow down and let the faster vehicle pass.

Have you checked the price of that bike direct from Giant or at your local Giant store?

If you have a look here you may find it easier to find a store near you and buy it direct from them and they'll fit it for you.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/dea ... variant=uk

You're going to be very hard pressed to get a decent bike for anything less than £300 unless you buy second hand.

It may be a stretch but my advice is that you're better off not buying a bike and waiting until you can stretch to that Giant because if you buy anything too cheap you'll just be paying for a shoddy bike with shoddy components that will just end up costing you more to maintain in the long run.

The saying 'Buy cheap, pay twice' springs to mind.

The Cannondale Synapse Tiagra is selling for around £1200.

My uncle let me have a spin on his the other week and if I had the money and hadn't just bought a new Giant Defy I would buy it in a heartbeat!

On that note, i'm very happy with my Giant Defy and they have compsoite versions of the Defy in your price range which are also pretty good.

For that sort of budget you'll be hard pushed to pick up a decent new bike. Most of the ones in that range will be poorly made mass produced jobbies.

First thing you'll need to decide on is what type of bike you need. Based on your criteria it sounds like either a Tourer, Hybrid or City Bike.

Something like the Giant Roam 4 may be just within your budget(it's RRP is £359 but as we're coming to the end of the season you may be able to get it knocked down to £300), but that leaves you with no funds for essentials like pump, puncture kit, bike lock, panniers, etc.

Much better would be to try and pick up a second hand one with panniers included.

My advice would be to go in a couple of shops, get a feel for what sort of bike you're looking for and post the names of bikes that meet your criteria then people will be able to recommend similar, slightly older models you can try to get hold of second hand.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ox ... e-23626666

Will be interesting to see what sort of punishment he gets for the lesser 'Careless Driving' offence.

Disc would be better and you should get them in your price range.

al_yrpal wrote:Any mtb can be transformed by fitting smooth tyres.

Definitely.

Before I got my Road Bike I put some smooth's on my MTB and the difference it made off road was VERY noticeable.