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How was your cycle commute?

I don't want rattley shitty mudguards on my fast bike. Too many bad memories. I rarely encounter other cyclists going my way on my commute so there isn't really a need, if it rains there's always a bit of card by the bins at work that I can stick beneath the spring bit on the pannier rack and it keeps it off my arse (I was going to remove the pannier but it's proven too useful for this lately). Overshoes keep the feet dry.

Taking it steady this morning because the air is a soup of toxic fumes from the stuff thick/selfish people put on their bonfires. Trying to not line my lungs too much with vaporised plastic sofas, fridge freezers and so on.
 
Does anyone have any good recommendations for glasses? I normally use Aldi ones which are fine until they fall apart. Of the two pairs I bought last year one has snapped at the front and I left the other in another office, so I'm currently riding with safety specs from work which aren't particularly comfortable.

Don't want to spend too much as I'll inevitably leave them on a train at some point, but what's good for say under £20? There's loads of cheap ones on ebay but I'm clueless as to whether they'd be durable/comfortable. Polarising would be good.
 
Onket said:
Cold today. Probably the coldest morning so far this Autumn/Winter.
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Definitely was here. Swear I saw some ice at one point.

I've been looking at long-sleeved base layers on the internet at work, short sleeves aren't enough this week. Had to add a thin jumper layer this morning.
 
Coldest yet, yep.

I've been in a long-sleeved base for a few days, this morning was the first where I've not felt the need to pull up the sleeves. Left my overshoes behind as was in a mad rush, so my toes got cold :( Hoping the forecasted rain doesn't happen till after my ride home...
 
Dogsauce said:
Does anyone have any good recommendations for glasses? I normally use Aldi ones which are fine until they fall apart. Of the two pairs I bought last year one has snapped at the front and I left the other in another office, so I'm currently riding with safety specs from work which aren't particularly comfortable.

Don't want to spend too much as I'll inevitably leave them on a train at some point, but what's good for say under £20? There's loads of cheap ones on ebay but I'm clueless as to whether they'd be durable/comfortable. Polarising would be good.
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Do you wear special glasses for your bike? I just wear my normal ones, but they do get wet and blurry.
 
hmmm. Currently hugging a hot water bottle in preparation for long cycle to college. At least it's sunny. I'm dreading the forecasted rain later though. Urgh. I miss summer.
 
Orang Utan said:
Do you wear special glasses for your bike? I just wear my normal ones, but they do get wet and blurry.
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I don't wear normal glasses, but have sunglasses for riding as otherwise my eyes dry out really badly, which is made worse by the side effects of one of my medications.

I'm tempted just to buy about five of the different £2-£3 pairs off ebay and see what works best, this'll also give me a couple of years worth of spares/replacements.
 
Fuck commuting on wimpy 10 speed chain. Just managed the heady figure of 1340 miles commuting and its borked. Cassette is fine but due to the finicky nature of weedy chain that would need swapping out too. £75 to go less than 1400 miles. Can't go with fixed as the early doors assault on Col De Palais Crystale kills knees. My response is to switch to the 'onze vitesses' solidity of a 1986 Peugeot Triathlon with a chain as thick as a baby's arm costing £4 on CRC. Details and heroic stories to follow.
 
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Sigmund Fraud said:
Fuck commuting on wimpy 10 speed chain. Just managed the heady figure of 1340 miles commuting and its borked. Cassette is fine but due to the finicky nature of weedy chain that would need swapping out too. £75 to go less than 1400 miles. Can't go with fixed as the early doors assault on Cold De Palais Crystale kills knees. My response is to switch to the 'onze vitesses' solidity of a 1986 Peugeot Triathlon with a chain as thick as a baby's arm costing £4 on CRC. Details and heroic stories to follow.
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What brand was it? KMC X10s seem to last forever.
 
DownwardDog said:
What brand was it? KMC X10s seem to last forever.
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It was a SRAM PC1070 I bought in an emergency from swinging east London bicycle charcuterie 'Look Mum no Friends' as an emergency measure when I broke a chain in town of a Sunday. I've had 3k miles out of a wipperman connex stainless before but essentially I am killing my 10sp Campag drivetrain to commute when I should be using something more agricultural like Shimano HG40 which is both meaty and disposably cheap.
 
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It was threatening to be properly grim but actually the rain stopped before I left the garage. Lots of surface water but there's little traffic this early so easy to go around.
 
I've managed a pathetic 10km all week :(

Not really the sort of preparation for the 200km I'm doing tomorrow. And the weather forecast is for heavy rain all day. :( :(
 
I've recently discovered arm warmers. Why didn't I know about these wonderful things earlier!!

I always leave the house feeling cold so that after 10 mins I'm a comfortable temperature. I hate getting too hot.

Arm warmers are great - I just wear them with a t-shirt and leggings, and so there is plenty of ventilation around the upper arm and neck area.
 
It was quite hot this morning - 31 deg when I finished my 140km at 8am. Drafted some tough guy in an OPQS maillot and PR'ed 7 Strava segments.
 
DownwardDog said:
It was quite hot this morning - 31 deg when I finished my 140km at 8am.
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Lucky bugger.

It pissed down all morning and by the time I finished (8pm) is was a balmy 4 Centigrade :(

The bike is filthy :( Shall spend today shampooing it and polishing it :cool:
 
It was clear when I left the house this morning, and clear when I got to the high point, but I had to go through some reasonably thick fog between. Luckily I was off road for that bit.
 
My bendy framed, no-brifter, non indexed gear 1986 steel racer made the usual 45 minute morning commute in..45 minutes. In the process it offered a palatial ride on 25's that showed its 7005 alloy stablemate as the industrial strength scaffold pole of a bounceabout that it is. And it was a deal more stylish and was way more fun. Retrobiking is the future.
 
Saturday cycling home from work - omg - it was like a monsoon. I felt like i was cycling underwater. It wasn't that cold but I was SO drenched by the time I got home I couldn't stop shaking even in a hot bath. Are there actually any waterproofs that are really waterproof?! Other than ones that cost riddiculous amounts of money?
 
Yes, but they're expensive (unless you get ones that aren't breathable, which defeats the object as you sweat like crazy).
 
I've got non-breathable waterproof trousers and they're fine as long as you don't exert yourself too much.
 
I have full orange goretex kit from work, but it's a bit cumbersome for cycling. There have been days when it's been necessary (usually when I've not studied the forecast and ridden in to the office in dry weather kit). Jacket is a bit long in the tooth, so does leak in a bit.
 
I got my waterproofs from Sports Direct. They seem fairly breathable and they are fully waterproof. They are not very sexy though but I love taking them off and, ta da! normal dry clothes underneath.
 
Where I live it is almost tropical: any wetness is just annoying, so best to wear as least as possible to avoid dampness on the way home.
 
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