My advice to those taking up or resuming road cycling

[mjr]

That was a party political broadcast by the spandex orthodoxy party. Other types of cycling in ordinary clothes and group rides starting at 10am, 11am or even 7pm are available.

I’m not top to toe, lean Castilli man, I’m somewhat overweight polyester- with Lycra string of sausages on wheels man. Ordinary clothes fine for tootling around in moderate conditions, but more than 60-90 minutes of reasonably strenuous riding and you’re likely to get uncomfortable.

Only if your "ordinary clothes" have obvious problems for any active lifestyle, such as chunky abrasive seams (often a problem on denim) and bad water-retention problems (often a problem on denim). If you pick them sensibly (for example: M+S cycling chinos, easy-care walking shirt and so on), it's easy to ride comfortably all day and still look good enough to walk into most restaurants (although a quick wash is probably a good idea after hot days or hard riding for non-visible reasons...)

If your Lycra gets wet, you’ll dry off - wet denim can be a health hazard.

Whereas dry Lycra can be a health hazard too - some people are basically allergic to some of its ingredients - and you don't have to look far for the injuries caused by some of your other clothing recommendations like cycling shoes and pedal bondage.

I've no problem with someone having an opinion - it's just that most of the opinions in the opening post are widely available elsewhere, not entirely correct and in themselves deter a lot of people from taking up the excellent activity of group cycling. How about you live and let live instead of preaching One True Way (or even The Best Way)?

[landsurfer]

That was a party political broadcast by the spandex orthodoxy party. Other types of cycling in ordinary clothes and group rides starting at 10am, 11am or even 7pm are available.

+1

[NUKe]

I think the heat is getting to some of you,

I thought David's Post was quite well written although I don't agree with it all, as little piece to those restarting and come on asking the questions he's probably got it about right.

[horizon]

I think the heat is getting to some of you,

I thought David's Post was quite well written although I don't agree with it all, as little piece to those restarting and come on asking the questions he's probably got it about right.

+1 Not my style of riding but probably spot on for a lot of people. The comments should steer people in the right direction if needs be.

[hondated]

Looks like a fair enough post to me, with some worthwhile suggestions, not all of which will everyone will necessarily agree with.
Poo-poohing him merely for having an opinion seems a tad churlish

To the OP - good for you !

Agree but you have to remember he/ her is not part of the Forum clique

[tatanab]

I think that some of these well meaning posts can put people off.

Talk about padded shorts, cycling shoes, mobile phones for route tracking. This contrasts with my early cycling years where I had all steel equipment, cut down trousers for shorts and normal shoes for riding. I rode for a couple of years with CTC groups and spent my first couple of years racing before I could afford or was given better. I know that makes me a dinosaur, but you do not need much when starting. About 30 years ago I met a bunch from Northern Ireland who obviously had little money and all the time joked about their inverted snobbery with buying cheap second hand equipment and clothes from charity shops. It did not hinder them from enjoying their touring and racing.

[Oldjohnw]

My tuppenceworth:

I have no problems with Garmin or whatever but it isn't essential to cycling. It is also a further several hundred quid, as is specialist clothing etc.

[David9694]

I have in mind a number of variants of the imaginary enquirer - one of these is a bit Mr Toad - he, and it almost certainly is a he, has got some money to burn and wants to go straight in at the deep end - to get a really whizzy bike and a load of whizzy kit. Launches himself unprepared on a 60 mile ride And ends up falling flat on his face, or he gets a mechanical he doesn’t know how to deal with, or cold, or sunburnt, or wet, or sore, or over-tired, or lost, or hungry, or knee or back pain.

My own typical bike spec runs along these lines: Reynolds Steel (quite happy with vintage) or alu frame, endurance/Audax geometry, Open Pro/shimano wheels, 25s or 28s according to the season, SPD pedals, 105 level brakes and 10s gears, but with down tube shifters, mudguards, not fussy about finishing kit - silver for preference. But can I buy one that comes reasonably close, or do I have to build it myself? (Don’t worry, I love doing it.) Will our newbie live within striking distance or Bridgwater or Harrogate? Ideally there’d be a Spa or an SJS on every street corner. I think something along those lines would be a nice bike for someone new to cycling : he/she’s got a tonne of other choices all vying for his / her £££, of course.

One actual enquirer I had in mind, was asking about power meters and Wahoo (what’s that?) - I suspected they might be recovering from an injury, hence the desire for these things to track progress. I don’t know about power meters either - they look expensive. “I get a loss less knackered on this hill than I used to” is near enough for me.

Our newbie, whether Toad like or not, needs to ease in gently - e.g. if their new bike comes with SPD only pedals, maybe swap to plain or dual-sided to begin with. I wouldn’t want them rushing into three bolt. If the indexed gears go crazy after a fortnight, that’s normal, and easily fixed.

You are starting to see some cycling gear in the outdoor shops; it would be nice if a High Street place like Marks did a range of normal to cycle kit. In the increasing absence of cycling retailers outside big towns, it’s a matter of making it accessible to people. Women have got this sewn-up at the moment as the legging and gym wear is near universal! I’ve never heard of allergies to materials, man made or natural - the point with denim is that in heavy rain it in effect changes its state mid-wear and worst case can suck every ounce of heat and morale out of you.

I like a pootle at 5 pm at this time of year: everyone and their Volvo around me is in, having their tea/ watching Neighbours. 9 am on a Saturday, they’re all in a hurry to get somewhere terribly important never mind blind bends and blind summits, or the fact that I’ve got a load of nettles and brambles inches away and in general, my continued existence - these count for nothing - simply MGIF.

[David9694]

Is that disguised spam for some bikes? Who's it for, the blurb?

Poster! Explain your motives and we can consider whether to believe them or not.

Cugel

No, no connection to any particular make or vendor. Put yourself in the shoes of a non-cycling person, who’s got the idea of getting into it- perhaps they’ve seen a local sportive go past, watched the TdF, or hired a bike at a country park. Where, or to whom do they go for sensible up to date advice to help them get started? Maybe this forum? A bike shop? A magazine shelf? I don’t think there’s consistently a good book in the shops, like Richard’s Bicycle Book that gives a survey of the main markets and an idea of what to look for, what to avoid, and also advice on avoiding the riding pitfalls listed earlier.

[Cugel]

Is that disguised spam for some bikes? Who's it for, the blurb?

Poster! Explain your motives and we can consider whether to believe them or not.

Cugel

No, no connection to any particular make or vendor. Put yourself in the shoes of a non-cycling person, who’s got the idea of getting into it- perhaps they’ve seen a local sportive go past, watched the TdF, or hired a bike at a country park. Where, or to whom do they go for sensible up to date advice to help them get started? Maybe this forum? A bike shop? A magazine shelf? I don’t think there’s consistently a good book in the shops, like Richard’s Bicycle Book that gives a survey of the main markets and an idea of what to look for, what to avoid, and also advice on avoiding the riding pitfalls listed earlier.

Being highly imaginative, I imagined myself one as you describe, putting aside my memories of 60 years of cycling through all sorts of technical and marketing weather. Would your piece be of use?

Well, first I'd have to find it. Not likely in this teeny corner of the interweb.

Secondly, I'd have to grasp many arcane terms and their meanings. Not really possible during a read of one post.

Thirdly, I'd wonder why your post rather than the zillion other data sources would be best.

In short, I feel the post was probably more about expressing your thoughts to yourself and those who agree with you. A lot of forum posts (in most forums) are like that. I know mine are.

Cugel

PS I like the Brucey approach: respond to specific questions with lists of considerations and context-data about those specifics, from a very large experience-based knowledge. ""I like this" posts are not as useful as that, really.

[horizon]

It was quite interesting comparing one's own approach with what the OP was suggesting and noting the differences. I think the OP got it about right in speaking for many new entrants to cycling. No, they probably won't hear it, but it's a nice reflection on how cycling is seen and experienced by new or potential cyclists.