The Cycling Chat Thread

[Edie]

I’m a tentative newbie on the thread! Here is my trusty steed, the skip-rescued 1970s Dawes silver shadow



Im up to between 20-30 miles for my long rides. At a stately 10.5mph and pushing up hills on occasion.

I’ve lots to learn but I’ve been finding fellow cyclists very friendly! Today when I hit a traffic queue on a country road I was, by coincidence, with another (proper fully-clad lycra’d) cyclist. I asked him what he did in this situation and he said unless he can see a very clear way through he just waited in line. So we both did and had a chin wag. He was on a 60 miler! Then we set off on he was gone

 

[a_chap]

He was on a 60 miler!

You'll soon think nothing of doing 60 miles, Edie

 

[Edie]

You'll soon think nothing of doing 60 miles, Edie

Do you still cycle in winter or is it absolutely grim?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

It’s grim but oddly satisfying.

 

[Edie]

It’s grim but oddly satisfying.

I expect I’ll shirk it. It’s one thing to go out peddling in Gods own country on a glorious summers evening, and another to battle through the drizzle with your hands dropping off with the cold.

I live in Yorkshire so I’ve struck cycling gold right? How does everyone else’s patch compare

edit: also, is there one tip or one gadget that I really need? Cos I have nowt but a bike, helmet and a little lock rn.

 

[Cid]

I expect I’ll shirk it. It’s one thing to go out peddling in Gods own country on a glorious summers evening, and another to battle through the drizzle with your hands dropping off with the cold.

I live in Yorkshire so I’ve struck cycling gold right? How does everyone else’s patch compare

edit: also, is there one tip or one gadget that I really need? Cos I have nowt but a bike, helmet and a little lock rn.

Not too shabby where I am:



Still just about South Yorkshire I think. Dark Peak.

Puncture fixing is probably most important set of things you can have/learn. I don’t bother with puncture repair, just carry a couple of spare inner tubes, tyre levers and a small pump. Track pump at home. These Park tool tyre levers are the best.

Oh and, reviewing my pic, lights. You'll need them as it gets darker, but arguably you should have them on at all times.

 

[weepiper]

A few recent ones from my patch:







And, because this is Scotland,

 

[a_chap]

Do you still cycle in winter or is it absolutely grim?

Cold/wet weather isn't confined to winter and sunny/dry weather isn't confined to summer. So Winter cycling can be grim but it can be wonderful sometimes too.

I remember riding overnight from Leeds up to Newcastle upon Tyne (seemed like a good idea at the time) when the weather supposed to be dry and mild. Unfortunately the arse-end of a hurricane passed over the UK as I started to ride back the next day and I spent the next twelve hours or so riding into driving rain

Riding in dry weather is definitely preferable

 

[nick]

edit: also, is there one tip or one gadget that I really need? Cos I have nowt but a bike, helmet and a little lock rn.

padded shorts. / gloves

 

[BigTom]

I expect I’ll shirk it. It’s one thing to go out peddling in Gods own country on a glorious summers evening, and another to battle through the drizzle with your hands dropping off with the cold.

I live in Yorkshire so I’ve struck cycling gold right? How does everyone else’s patch compare

edit: also, is there one tip or one gadget that I really need? Cos I have nowt but a bike, helmet and a little lock rn.

water bottle and holder on the bike?
If you are carrying anything, having a pannier rack/bag, saddle bag or front basket/bag is generally much more comfortable than carrying stuff in a backpack in my opinion.

do you have basic maintenance kit for cleaning and oiling your chain, and a proper track pump (for at home) to keep your tyres at the right pressure?

 

[David Clapson]

I reckon a really good mirror is essential. But nobody agrees with me. The Mirrycle mirror is my fave.

 

[Edie]

water bottle and holder on the bike?
If you are carrying anything, having a pannier rack/bag, saddle bag or front basket/bag is generally much more comfortable than carrying stuff in a backpack in my opinion.

do you have basic maintenance kit for cleaning and oiling your chain, and a proper track pump (for at home) to keep your tyres at the right pressure?

I don’t have any of those things, although it’s on my to do list to buy spare inner tubes and learn to change a tyre.

I’m going to put my bike in for a service every year (like a car?) so I’m hoping they’ll do the chain thing. It sometimes comes off, and gets mega jammed (so hard I have to use two hands and get filthy pulling it out). I dunno why, it’s when it kinda doesn’t change gear properly.

I don’t ever change the left hand gears (the ones that operate the two front cogs by the pedals) as a) I don’t know how or when and b) the chain comes off. I have a fear of being miles away from home and not being able to un-jam the chain. So I just use the right hand gears, that operate the back five cogs. This seems to be enough anyway!

I also need to look up what you’re pressure they should be (I didn’t know there was a value, I thought you just pumped them up), and buy a pump.

 

[Edie]

I reckon a really good mirror is essential. But nobody agrees with me. The Mirrycle mirror is my fave.

My neighbour agrees with you. She cycles to work. That was the first thing she recommended!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Not using the smaller front chainring is why you’re pushing up hills…

Sounds like it just needs a bit of a service to sort the limit screws on your gears. Get that sorted and things will get easier.

 

[BigTom]

I don’t have any of those things, although it’s on my to do list to buy spare inner tubes and learn to change a tyre.

I’m going to put my bike in for a service every year (like a car?) so I’m hoping they’ll do the chain thing. It sometimes comes off, and gets mega jammed (so hard I have to use two hands and get filthy pulling it out). I dunno why, it’s when it kinda doesn’t change gear properly.

I don’t ever change the left hand gears (the ones that operate the two front cogs by the pedals) as a) I don’t know how or when and b) the chain comes off. I have a fear of being miles away from home and not being able to un-jam the chain. So I just use the right hand gears, that operate the back five cogs. This seems to be enough anyway!

Definitely get a water bottle and cage -these just attach onto the frame, all you need is an allen key to put in the bolts. It's really easy to just reach down to the frame and grab a drink whilst you are riding and you must be carrying some water on ten mile rides I'd have thought.
Also 100% get a track pump - something that looks like this - which has a pressure gauge on it, and make sure you keep your tyres pumped up to the proper pressure range. It'll give you a range on the side of the tyre and you should keep it within this range. what the PSI is depends on the tyre so you need to look. As a rule of thumb, if you squeeze the tyre then it should be hard like an apple, not soft like an orange. If your tyres are under pressure and you pump them up, you probably won't believe how much easier it is to cycle. It makes a massive, massive difference.
The Joe Blow one I've linked to is a good pump but you might find cheaper ones that are just as good, I don't really have the experience to recommend a specific one.

With the chain, you should be cleaning and oiling it yourself, weekly or monthly depending on how much you use the bike. This will help to keep the bike working smoothly between services and reduce the amount of wear and tear so you don't have to replace parts so often. I'll be honest here and say even as a daily commuter I rarely did this, let alone monthly but it's something you definitely should do and I know my failure to do so has cost me money through needing to replace chains/cogs that wouldn't have worn so quickly if I'd actually maintained my bike.

You need a rag of some kind to clean the chain, a can of GT85 to remove any rust and protect against water ingress and some "dry" chain lube/oil to put on the chain - if you start riding in the winter/rain then you will want "wet" chain lube/oil to use instead.
There will definitely be youtube videos that can show you how to do this, along with how to change a punctured inner tube but I would also suggest doing a search for some basic cycle maintenance courses, as many councils offer these and you might prefer to have someone teach you rather than learning from a youtube video.

For the issues with your gears not switching smoothly or going into the right places you want a service really - this is most likely just an adjustment that needs doing (called "indexing gears") which you can do yourself with a screwdriver if you want to try to learn from youtube videos. Personally I have been taught how to do this and suck at it and decided long ago to just hand my bike over to a pro to get it right.

You are fine to just use the back gears if that's all you need but a service will get the front gears working and help you get up hills

 

[David Clapson]

My neighbour agrees with you. She cycles to work. That was the first thing she recommended!

Also recommended by the world's most travelled cyclist, Heinz Stücke. He reckons a mirror is much more important than a helmet.

Once you've tried a decent mirror it's a nightmare trying to do without it.

 

[Edie]

Definitely get a water bottle and cage -these just attach onto the frame, all you need is an allen key to put in the bolts. It's really easy to just reach down to the frame and grab a drink whilst you are riding and you must be carrying some water on ten mile rides I'd have thought.
Also 100% get a track pump - something that looks like this - which has a pressure gauge on it, and make sure you keep your tyres pumped up to the proper pressure range. It'll give you a range on the side of the tyre and you should keep it within this range. what the PSI is depends on the tyre so you need to look. As a rule of thumb, if you squeeze the tyre then it should be hard like an apple, not soft like an orange. If your tyres are under pressure and you pump them up, you probably won't believe how much easier it is to cycle. It makes a massive, massive difference.
The Joe Blow one I've linked to is a good pump but you might find cheaper ones that are just as good, I don't really have the experience to recommend a specific one.

With the chain, you should be cleaning and oiling it yourself, weekly or monthly depending on how much you use the bike. This will help to keep the bike working smoothly between services and reduce the amount of wear and tear so you don't have to replace parts so often. I'll be honest here and say even as a daily commuter I rarely did this, let alone monthly but it's something you definitely should do and I know my failure to do so has cost me money through needing to replace chains/cogs that wouldn't have worn so quickly if I'd actually maintained my bike.

You need a rag of some kind to clean the chain, a can of GT85 to remove any rust and protect against water ingress and some "dry" chain lube/oil to put on the chain - if you start riding in the winter/rain then you will want "wet" chain lube/oil to use instead.
There will definitely be youtube videos that can show you how to do this, along with how to change a punctured inner tube but I would also suggest doing a search for some basic cycle maintenance courses, as many councils offer these and you might prefer to have someone teach you rather than learning from a youtube video.

For the issues with your gears not switching smoothly or going into the right places you want a service really - this is most likely just an adjustment that needs doing (called "indexing gears") which you can do yourself with a screwdriver if you want to try to learn from youtube videos. Personally I have been taught how to do this and suck at it and decided long ago to just hand my bike over to a pro to get it right.

You are fine to just use the back gears if that's all you need but a service will get the front gears working and help you get up hills

Thank you. Through no fault of yours, I find all that a bit intimidating. But I’ll take one thing at a time. Changing a flat tyre seems number 1 on the list. I’ll get the bike serviced as recommended too x

 

[David Clapson]

An alternative to buying a small pump for journeys plus a track pump for home is to buy a Topeak Turbo Morph TURBO MORPH® DIGITAL It works like a track pump but only weighs 300 grams. There are several versions of it but they're all very similar. A £27 one is as good as a £69 one.

 

[weepiper]

Thank you. Through no fault of yours, I find all that a bit intimidating. But I’ll take one thing at a time. Changing a flat tyre seems number 1 on the list. I’ll get the bike serviced as recommended too x

Don't worry Eeds. Tbh I wouldn't bother with a lot of complicated chain cleaning - buy a bottle of light chain oil from a bike shop, stand the bike against a wall where you can turn the pedals backwards, drop some oil on the inside of the chain links (so onto the bottom bit of chain) as you pedal it backwards for one whole revolution of the chain til you get back to the bit where you started. Grab the bit of chain where you were oiling it with an old rag and pedal backwards again through the rag to wipe the worst off. That's all you need to do really to keep it running fairly happily.

A track pump and keeping your tyres hard will make it much easier to ride.

 

[Winot]

Don't worry Eeds. Tbh I wouldn't bother with a lot of complicated chain cleaning - buy a bottle of light chain oil from a bike shop, stand the bike against a wall where you can turn the pedals backwards, drop some oil on the inside of the chain links (so onto the bottom bit of chain) as you pedal it backwards for one whole revolution of the chain til you get back to the bit where you started. Grab the bit of chain where you were oiling it with an old rag and pedal backwards again through the rag to wipe the worst off. That's all you need to do really to keep it running fairly happily.

A track pump and keeping your tyres hard will make it much easier to ride.

Excellent - my lazy version of servicing has been signed off my an expert

 

[DownwardDog]

For the issues with your gears not switching smoothly or going into the right places you want a service really - this is most likely just an adjustment that needs doing (called "indexing gears") which you can do yourself with a screwdriver if you want to try to learn from youtube videos. Personally I have been taught how to do this and suck at it and decided long ago to just hand my bike over to a pro to get it right.

Those aren't indexed gears. That bike has friction shifters.

I take my Giro Aether off to you, Edie. You've come a long way on sub-optimal equipment but don't spend a penny on that bike. Throw it in the woods and buy a new one.

 

[Cid]

I reckon a really good mirror is essential. But nobody agrees with me. The Mirrycle mirror is my fave.

Wait... On your bike, on which the wheels alone cost £2100, you have a mirror?

I think even on a motorbike I relied on shoulder checks far more than mirrors.

 

[Edie]

Those aren't indexed gears. That bike has friction shifters.

I take my Giro Aether off to you, Edie. You've come a long way on sub-optimal equipment but don't spend a penny on that bike. Throw it in the woods and buy a new one.

Thank you! I’ve bought those tyre levers you recommended actually! I’ve said to myself that if I actually get into cycling properly ie for more than one summer, I’ll consider doing the cycle to work scheme to buy a new bike. At the moment I couldn’t afford a new one (and car might imminently die as it’s approaching 15 years old).

Do you cycle in Australia at all? It doesn’t strike me as an easy place to ride due to the heat.

 

[DownwardDog]

Fuck mirrors. You might as well have tassles on the end of the handlebars.

 

[a_chap]

You've come a long way on sub-optimal equipment but don't spend a penny on that bike. Throw it in the woods and buy a new one.

No.

That bike ("sub-optimal", bollocks) is perfectly capable of riding any distance Edie cares to ask of it. The idea that all you need is a new bike is cycling-industry propaganda.

Keep the bike, Edie and buy new bits for it as necessary. If/when the bicycling bug bites then you will be more experienced and have a much better idea of what you wants.

 

[DownwardDog]

Thank you! I’ve bought those tyre levers you recommended actually! I’ve said to myself that if I actually get into cycling properly ie for more than one summer, I’ll consider doing the cycle to work scheme to buy a new bike. At the moment I couldn’t afford a new one (and car might imminently die as it’s approaching 15 years old).

Do you cycle in Australia at all? It doesn’t strike me as an easy place to ride due to the heat.

Yeah, I do about 10-12,000km a year. More lately as we haven't been travelling abroad.

A trip to the bakery from January...

 

[Cid]

Edie you don't strike me as someone who has an enormous amount of spare time for the watching of youtube... But there should be some decent videos out there aimed at beginners. Pretty sure GCN has done some (their tech channel probably also has intro maintenance, though they often get things a bit wrong), and Francis Cade. Sometimes just helps to have things in video format.

 

[DownwardDog]

No.

Yes.

Old bikes are junk and that Dawes wasn't that great when it was new 30 years ago.

It's very good that Edie is getting a taste of the fierce doctrinal schisms that divide all cyclists.

 

[Cid]

I'm with DD, life's too short for shit bikes. Not to say you need to spend a fortune or anything, but fuck downtube shifters (especially friction), fuck old, poorly serviced components and above all, fuck shit brakes.

N.b Obviously even a cheap good bike is quite expensive, and it's clearly worth getting the most out of what you've got. Help you learn what to look out for buying second hand as much as anything.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I reckon a really good mirror is essential. But nobody agrees with me. The Mirrycle mirror is my fave.

Need to pick one of these up at some point. Of I road cycled more it'd be a must have