Cycling UK Forum

Didn't you find the lanyard hitch on the eTrex?

Its the two holes at the bottom end.

Judging the amount of CHO to eat before a bike ride is tricky for the newbie.

It is dependent upon the cyclist's capability ( Watts for 1 hour ) and the Watts demand of the ride ahead.

The greater the cyclist's capability and the lower the demand of the trip, the less CHO the rider needs to eat beforehand.

A seasoned Audax rider who was a TT racer, with a 60 minute 300 Watts, will be using approx. 25% of that capability to ride a 200 km Audax, so the cyclist might eat 25% of the physics calculated CHO.
On the other hand, a newbie cyclist who can keep up 150 Watts in the 1 hour test, will be utilising 50% of his capability on the same ride, so will be encouraged to eat 50% of the physics calculated CHO for the ride.
Really newbie riders would not be advised to attempt a 200 km Audax without any idea of what they could sustain for 60 minutes on an ergometer.
If they do attempt the ride, they would be wise to eat 100% of the physics calculated CHO.

"So, getting more energy a few miles after starting out - is that 2nd wind ?"

No.
That is your vascular and pulmonary systems dilating in response to some exercise.

"2nd Wind" is the release of adrenaline in response to sustained exercise. This condition can be fuelled with simple sugars such as glucose.

When you get endorphins and any sensations in your legs disappear, that's 'flying on wings'. Putting sugars in your stomach now is like 'tipping the nitro can'.

The major reason for a hill to be fearsome.
The bicycle has not got the appropriate gearing.

The minor reasons:-
Wheelies. Balance.

Did you clock the driver?

Was she in her eighties and wearing a tiara?

In the AUK world, some members who have retired from work ride a 200km DIY or 200km calendar ride on a weekly basis.

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/how-mu ... 280/012014

From the horse's mouth. 2011 vintage.

Have to wait for 2014 figures next year.

In the AUK world, no-one gets any credit until they have got an Eddington Number of 125.

Some guys get this done in three and a half years.

Mick F wrote:Eddington Numbers are nothing to do with PBs.
Time and speed don't enter into the calculation. Just distance alone, so you can take as long as you wish.

I have done 79 bicycle rides over 80miles. This has taken my whole life to do, and Sunday will take me to 80 times.

I wasn't referencing you.

Eddington numbers are an interesting sideline to a life's cycling.

Riding a bike fast to beat a 'best' speed on public roads is not a good idea.
Just wanted to throw that in as a cautionary note.

Don’t, don’t, don’t start the “PB” escapade.

You will eventually start taking risks to beat your best time or speed, and end up wedged under a truck’s tyre.

Mick F wrote:There's more to pricing than just manufacturing costs, wholesale, and retail.

Retail price is set by what the public is prepared to pay.

I agree with that, Mick.

A bloke selling replica world cup shirts in Birmingham’s market had Brazil shirts at £3, but couldn’t get his hands on Germany shirts. They are still at £70 in the high street stores

If you want to gauge the price of bicycles, take a look back at the price of the Halfords Apollo ‘Fire chief’.
It has been on sale for over twenty years, and hasn’t changed much in that time. It is a 12” wheel S/S for 4 yr old boys as a starter bike.

In 1996, I paid £29.99. It is now £69.99.
That’s 4.8% per annum.

The average rate of inflation over that period is 2.15%. The bike went up over double the rate of inflation, so the claim is true.

PS.

My Halfords Apollo 5 speed Hi-Ten in 1972 was £29.99.


Maybe this is where he’s getting confused.

Critchlow’s law of bicycle pricing.

“A bicycle rises in price by 15% per annum.”

In 2014, it is now £10,625.

Vantage wrote:

Ayesha wrote:A 531 race bike for less than £200 in 1985 ???

The man's in cloud cuckoo land.

The frame alone might have been £199.99.

My dad bought a 531 framed RX100 equipped Peugeot race bike in 1986 for iirc £600.
I have to wonder at the profit margins on bikes given that my Vantage had an rrp of £599 when I bought it. It cost me £404.
Surely the bike retailers aren't going to sell these things at a loss? So how much did it cost to actually make my bike I wonder? Not a lot is my guess.
Like everything else in this world now, products are made to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. We're a long way from the idealist world that Star Treks Gene Roddenberry imagined. Selfishness rules in this world.

My Peugeot PX10LE 531 in 1975 was £384.99.

When a newspaper reporter makes a blunder as catastrophic as this, are the other claims in the article believable?

As a price comparison, in 1940, the Claude Butler Tour d'Angleterre full 531 race bike was £17.17.00 and a pint of bitter was 8d. 1/535th of the cost.

Today, a decent race bike is about £3000. A pint of bitter in a London pub is £3. 1/1000th of the cost.

So yes. Bikes have increased in price nearly twice as much as a pint of bitter.