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Books, not bombs
I remember reading a Josie Dew book Travels in a strange state. She said the roads very very long and very straight and went on for days 
The Cycling Chat Thread
- Thread starter ChrisFilter
- Start date
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
This one: Litespeed Pisgah titanium mountain bike medium/large mens | eBay
The white front fork on a titanium frame is ugly as sin, although apparently a good one. I’ll probably want to replace it with a black one eventually. Also might get a ti seatpost to match, like on my road bike.
I finally found my spare pedal box yesterday so was able to take it out for a cruise round the streets and a bit of bumpy grass riding. All seems very smooth. Will take it over the bridge to the various trails on the weekend.
Cid
Proper break this time
Ha, you do not want to change that fork in a hurry. Decent condition Fox forks with QR and non-tapered aren't that easy to find these days. Looks great... might be a bit sketchy on fast downhills, and that era of bike is definitely skinny tires pumped to high pressure... So you might want to think about wider tires with less in them if possible (previous owner may have done this). But definitely nice.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
What Cid said, don't change that fork, apart from anything else the only new 26" qr axle 1 1/8" straight steerer forks you can get now are much cheaper (heavier, wear out quickly etc). That's a good fork. If it were going to be mine I would probably put a shorter stem and a wide riser bar on it to counteract the early 2000s cross country geometry a bit. But nice bike.
Dogsauce
I’ve got Skol but I’m not a Scholar
I had a good chat with the owner when I picked it up, and he said that his son had reckoned it could do with wider bars to be more ‘current’, I can see the benefit of that but will stick with it as it is at the moment.
I took it out for a couple of laps on one of the local purpose-built trails this afternoon. Enjoyed it, but desperately need to get some better pedals as I don’t feel very secure on the ones I put on - they‘re SPDs with a plastic clip-on rectangular platform on one side to convert to flats, which isn’t very grippy. I actually had my old SPD commute trainers on but didn’t seem to be able to clip in (managed it at home trying it out but couldn’t replicate when riding). Not sure I want to be clipped in on the trails yet but would be OK for the ride there. Decent platforms aren’t a lot of money so I just need to get some ordered.
I also found my wrists/palms were aching just from the pressure on the bars, which might just be down to me being new to it and holding on too tightly! Had my road gloves on which don’t have a lot of padding and are fucked anyway.
I had the odd bit of slippage in places, there was a very light drizzle and the course is very stony so just sliding on wet rocks, but the occasional unexpected movement is likely just part of the experience. The back tyre is less knobbly than the front, more like a gravel bike tyre, I would have thought you wanted more grip at the rear?
This is the course, less than a mile from our flat:
There‘s some more circuits in Ashton Court over the road from there too, the main one is four miles long. Kind of spoilt for it living here, one of the reasons I decided I should give this a go.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Re achy writs, just rest your hands on the bars rather than gripping them, you'll grip harder when it gets gnarly, but generally just rest them. Make sure the position of the brake levers is comfy for you, if the position is wrong you bend your wrists. Padded gloves don't make much difference and stop you feeling the bike quite so well, so really aren't the answer.
Do you want clip on pedals or flats? I can't get on with clip-ons on MTBs, use spikey flats such as DMR Vaults + 5-10 shoes and they stick like glue (5-10's, the Freeriders have softer and therefore more grippy soles than the trail shoes, but the trail shoes dry out much more quickly, and are mostly sticky enough...)
Looks like nice trails you have near you.
Do you want clip on pedals or flats? I can't get on with clip-ons on MTBs, use spikey flats such as DMR Vaults + 5-10 shoes and they stick like glue (5-10's, the Freeriders have softer and therefore more grippy soles than the trail shoes, but the trail shoes dry out much more quickly, and are mostly sticky enough...)
Looks like nice trails you have near you.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
Re slipping on wet rocks Dogsauce try running a lower tyre pressure. It depends on your weight and riding style how low you can get away with without getting pinch punctures but lower pressure really makes a huge difference to your grip mountain biking. I am little and don't do big hits and can get away with 20psi and inner tubes but Mr W is bigger and rides gnarlier stuff so his are usually about 35psi for off-road.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Managed to get the trek domane 3
in order. Should come next week. Excited for my first proper/modern road bike!
in order. Should come next week. Excited for my first proper/modern road bike!
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Achy wrists 2. Try adjusting your seating position and/or brake levers. If brake leavers too high they will cause your wrists to ache. Try and adjust your position and brake levers so that your arms and hands are straightish as opposed to your hands being bent upwards
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Did the 67 mile Dartmoor Classic on Sunday. My mate's GPS shows him doing half a mile more than me. He gets it as a Gran Fondo and I don't 
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
Got this on Thursday, been out to play on it a couple of times. Verrrry different (better?) ride than the old one. Need to sort my seating position a bit before I go any long rides but very smooth in gears and riding on the hoods isn’t as weird as I thought it’s be.
(one at the front obviously)
Attachments
Cid
Proper break this time
Got this on Thursday, been out to play on it a couple of times. Verrrry different (better?) ride than the old one. Need to sort my seating position a bit before I go any long rides but very smooth in gears and riding on the hoods isn’t as weird as I thought it’s be.
(one at the front obviously)
Bike fit fine tuning is always an absolute sod. It would help if there were objective standards, research etc. But there aren't. Cliche is that 12 bike fitters will have 13 opinions. You can get some of the basics from YouTube. This is just what I've picked up, and is likely completely wrong.
You probably want to start with your seat dead on horizontal - level to the ground (use a spirit level if you've got one). In terms of seat height, at maximum extension your knees should still be a bit bent. Better to err on the side of too low than too high (too low you might get some odd muscle pains and feel like you're not delivering power efficiently, too high can fuck your knees). Seat height and angle are quite good starting points, just because they are a bit more obvious if you get them wrong. Seat height is probably the first thing to get right as - rather obviously - it changes the overall position of the seat significantly. Angle is a little more tricky and will interact with front to back.
Seat front to back is next on the list I think. As it doesn't actually require changing anything. You shouldn't feel like you're slipping forward. Oh and foot position. I forget what this is, I ride cleats and forget what guidance I used. Approximately ball of foot iirc, though I used some measuring method. Stem length and stem height are really more fine-tuning ride characteristics and can probably be left for now.
Seat choice is worth thinking about if you get persistent numbness/soreness. Generally you should be on your sit bones, but these vary quite a lot between individuals (and genders).
And of course congrats on new wheels.
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beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
The quick and dirty method I was taught, in the order to do it:
Saddle - Flat. Height should be set by putting your heel on the pedal and having your leg fully extended. This will then mean you have the slight bend in your knee when your foot is in the usual pedalling position.
Fore/aft saddle position - knee over the pedal spindle when the crank arm is horizontal.
Bars/Stem - bars should obscure your view of the front wheel hub when you’re in the drops
Worked for me anyway
Saddle - Flat. Height should be set by putting your heel on the pedal and having your leg fully extended. This will then mean you have the slight bend in your knee when your foot is in the usual pedalling position.
Fore/aft saddle position - knee over the pedal spindle when the crank arm is horizontal.
Bars/Stem - bars should obscure your view of the front wheel hub when you’re in the drops
Worked for me anyway
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I thought that seat height was ball of the foot on the pedal and just able to fully extend the leg by pushing the heel down behind the pedal
I spoke to some bike shop people recently, and they thought that mid foot should be over the pedal spindle, apparently allows the use of more glute muscles while pedalling, it seems to be working for me, they did point out that it might need a lower saddle than the way I was riding, just realised that will change the advice above
I spoke to some bike shop people recently, and they thought that mid foot should be over the pedal spindle, apparently allows the use of more glute muscles while pedalling, it seems to be working for me, they did point out that it might need a lower saddle than the way I was riding, just realised that will change the advice above
Cid
Proper break this time
I thought that seat height was ball of the foot on the pedal and just able to fully extend the leg by pushing the heel down behind the pedal
I spoke to some bike shop people recently, and they thought that mid foot should be over the pedal spindle, apparently allows the use of more glute muscles while pedalling, it seems to be working for me, they did point out that it might need a lower saddle than the way I was riding, just realised that will change the advice above
There are different ways of getting there, but none of them are perfect, and there's a bit of a tendency for them to encourage having your saddle too high.
Yeah, I'm getting my foot terminology muddled, ball is too far forward. I guess I have mine set to the front of the midfoot. Obviously with cleats you have a limited range of positions you can actually use, and it's also quite dependent on rider physiology.
Both of those bike fitters seem pretty good... Neither have their own youtube channels, but both turn up regularly on those youtube channels. I've obviously forgotten a fair bit of what they cover. Neil has a sort of quick and dirty home bike fit guide:
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Absolute scenes
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
If only they’d kept further apart from each other
Cid
Proper break this time
a_chap
When the world came apart, where were you?
When I took part in Race around The Netherlands the weather was foul - windy, cold, windy, wet, and windy. But mainly windy.
The race in the above video is over a 9km section of the dyke I've highlighted in yellow.
The blue line is the course we had to take. 250km of constant headwinds.
Frequently in 1st gear simply to keep moving at all. Two fucking miserable days of it.
The race in the above video is over a 9km section of the dyke I've highlighted in yellow.
The blue line is the course we had to take. 250km of constant headwinds.
Frequently in 1st gear simply to keep moving at all. Two fucking miserable days of it.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
You should have started at the other end and had the wind at your back
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Cid
Proper break this time
All we are is a brief voice screaming in the endless darkness.
iamwithnail
Well-Known Member
7000 calories is a lot of cake.
weepiper
I fix the machines that fight climate change
There's a Chinese takeaway with his name on it when he gets in (he's still on the train from Glasgow)
