Silly commuting racing

il_principe

linsen wrote:

I want to treat myself to some proper road shoes but then I get to thinking about what cleats and therefore pedals and I lose courage and give up again.

Please will someone just boss me about and tell me what to get? I have never had trouble clipping in and I'm very confident on a bike, so I am confident I woudl get used to anything.

Rode HOTA in crappy MTB SPD shoes and I was fine, but just like when I raised my saddle a little, I know that small changes can make big differences

Specialized BG road shoes and Speedplay Light Action pedals.

Done.

don_don

DiggingDeeper wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Saw a courier this morning with plastic bags over his feet/under his shoes. Have you also tried old sport socks over the shoes, but underneath overshoes?

The plastic bag idea ran through my mind during the convesation with soaking cold roadie chap at the time.

I have a pair of old, but virtually unused, Gore-tex socks that I bought for mtb'ing some years ago. They are not very stretchy and would fit up to a size 8. They are also olive green coloured and about ankle height. They do work and are reasonably comfy, but I have winter boots now.

If anyone wants to try them out, PM me and I'll post them to you for nowt.

itboffin

Just watched two Audi's wheel spinning eventually they stopped and reversed back down the road - doh!

I think I'll walk my bike to the main road

linsen

jashburnham wrote:

linsen wrote:

I want to treat myself to some proper road shoes but then I get to thinking about what cleats and therefore pedals and I lose courage and give up again.

Please will someone just boss me about and tell me what to get? I have never had trouble clipping in and I'm very confident on a bike, so I am confident I woudl get used to anything.

Rode HOTA in crappy MTB SPD shoes and I was fine, but just like when I raised my saddle a little, I know that small changes can make big differences

Specialized BG road shoes and Speedplay Light Action pedals.

Done.

Hmm I have been toying with the idea of speedplays
Do they do those shoes for girls?

Christophe3967

linsen wrote:

jashburnham wrote:

linsen wrote:

I want to treat myself to some proper road shoes but then I get to thinking about what cleats and therefore pedals and I lose courage and give up again.

Please will someone just boss me about and tell me what to get? I have never had trouble clipping in and I'm very confident on a bike, so I am confident I woudl get used to anything.

Rode HOTA in crappy MTB SPD shoes and I was fine, but just like when I raised my saddle a little, I know that small changes can make big differences

Specialized BG road shoes and Speedplay Light Action pedals.

Done.

Hmm I have been toying with the idea of speedplays
Do they do those shoes for girls?

People either love em or hate em. The concept is great but they can be high maintenance. SPD-SLs seem to be the safest option, in that few people really moan about them. Its a bit like saddles really. :?

Christophe3967

jedster wrote:

ah yes, soggy feet.

Last night I was doning the provincial leg of my commute, in the dark, in driving rain. There's a section of road that is prone to standing water. As the road was clear (of traffic not water!) I moved to the middle (taking advantage of the camber) and stood on my pedals at 3 and 9 oclock (I see another fixie drawback here!). The damn puddle was nearly up to my bottom bracket. Just had enough speed to get me through it.

My winter footwear is shimano MTB boots (neoprene/goretex) and I was wearing roubaix bib tights. Even so my calves got an icy shower and I realised, as the water ran down into my boots, that I forgot to pull the bottom of the tights OVER the neoprene cuffs.

Guess what happened this morning?

er, yeah, doh!

J

I use the same combination of shoes and tights (not outside the boot) with seal skinz socks plus heavyduty neoprene overshoes, and haven't had wet or cold feet once commuting this winter. Wish I could say the same for weekend rides on the road bike, but can't get thick socks on with my road shoes - maybe I should put SPD pedals on that bike too...

Clever Pun

lost_in_thought wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I have come to the conclusion that overshoes are never really waterproof.

I found a pair of old overshoes, that waterproof trouser fabric, come all the way up to my knees, pretty serious things.

My shoes were still wet when I got home last night. Not as wet as they were when I got to work yesterday, I grant you, but wet nonetheless.

Get winter shoes... dooo eeett

*assumes rubbish arnie accent*

Eef i could find zem I vould!

http://www.sbrsports.com/1011/378-250195

Woop! Those are the MTB ones, right? And the Fahrenheit ones are the road ones?

yes, look at the sole... loads of studs/blades = mtb

lost_in_thought

Clever Pun wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Clever Pun wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I have come to the conclusion that overshoes are never really waterproof.

I found a pair of old overshoes, that waterproof trouser fabric, come all the way up to my knees, pretty serious things.

My shoes were still wet when I got home last night. Not as wet as they were when I got to work yesterday, I grant you, but wet nonetheless.

Get winter shoes... dooo eeett

*assumes rubbish arnie accent*

Eef i could find zem I vould!

http://www.sbrsports.com/1011/378-250195

Woop! Those are the MTB ones, right? And the Fahrenheit ones are the road ones?

yes, look at the sole... loads of studs/blades = mtb

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

greg66_tri_v2.0

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

il_principe

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

Odd, yes and you will be shunned, shunned I tells you.

It would be a bit like combining a bespoke suit with trainers form George@Asda...

itboffin

Love the comparision Jash

Soooo back to me!

I've just returned from my first ride since HOTA - 82 mins of pain, oh how quickly my fitness levels vaporise, yet another sign of ageing.

Still I'm back on the bike yay!

lost_in_thought

jashburnham wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

Odd, yes and you will be shunned, shunned I tells you.

It would be a bit like combining a bespoke suit with trainers form George@Asda...

But the boots look exactly the same except for the sole, and if I get MTB ones I won't be able to use them on the viner anyway as I don't really want to put SPDs on it. And if I get road ones I won't be able to use them on the bowery as it has SPDs on it.

Blast. I think I might need to standardise my pedal systems.

il_principe

It'll be cheaper to get 1 set of road shoes and pedals for the Viner and leave the Bowery as it is... I have MTB shoes for commuting, Road ones for the Roadie and overshoes for the winter/rain.

flattythehurdler

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

I have spd's on my fully pimped BMC.

flattythehurdler

I just look slow

il_principe

flattythehurdler wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

I have spd's on my fully pimped BMC.

It's not fully pimped then is it! :shock:

iain_j

When I got my 2nd bike I thought rather than buy new pedals and shoes, just buy a pedal spanner and swap them over - much cheaper, and I can't use both at the same time can I? Quickly got fed up of doing that so bought a second set of pedals/shoes.

cjcp

iain_j wrote:

When I got my 2nd bike I thought rather than buy new pedals and shoes, just buy a pedal spanner and swap them over - much cheaper, and I can't use both at the same time can I? Quickly got fed up of doing that so bought a second set of pedals/shoes.

Am still doing that. And with the saddle too. :oops:

greg66_tri_v2.0

jashburnham wrote:

flattythehurdler wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Hmmmmmmm... do I want MTB ones or road ones... the road ones don't have the threads for SPDs... which is what I use... but I am planning to get some not-SPDs soon... and the MTB ones don't have the road 3-hole threads...

Road.

You will look <bites tongue, sucks teeth, looks out of window> odd, shall we settle on, wearing mountain bike shoes when riding your Campy-Record 11 carbon draped Viner.

I have spd's on my fully pimped BMC.

It's not fully pimped then is it! :shock:

Nail. Head.

iain_j

cjcp wrote:

iain_j wrote:

When I got my 2nd bike I thought rather than buy new pedals and shoes, just buy a pedal spanner and swap them over - much cheaper, and I can't use both at the same time can I? Quickly got fed up of doing that so bought a second set of pedals/shoes.

Am still doing that. And with the saddle too. :oops:

It was the "oh bugger" moments on Monday mornings when I realised my commuter was pedal-less that persuaded me. Likewise on early Sunday mornings going out on the tourer, usually to go and catch a train, usually with not much time to spare

iain_j

So, no-one commuted tonight? :P

lost_in_thought

Ooooh ooh me me I did! I also went to the gym and cooked myself a decent dinner rather than having pancakes again.

Quite good, was only overtaken by one person, and managed to overtake 2 myself... although one was an MTB and one was a hybrid... Traffic was utterly horrendous though, I was so glad not to be in a car like I have been the past few weeks!

And there are more potholes appearing by the day... :shock:

itboffin

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ooooh ooh me me I did! I also went to the gym

Easing back into it then

lost_in_thought

itboffin wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

Ooooh ooh me me I did! I also went to the gym

Easing back into it then

Yes!

I only did 10 minutes on the cross trainer and 15 on the spin-bike-thing... not allowed to use rowing machines yet, no running for up to 6 months... :shock:

Christophe3967

lost_in_thought wrote:

And there are more potholes appearing by the day... :shock:

Potholes, perhaps better described as craters. Parts of the road network in London are disintegrating so quickly that that they will soon be like farm tracks. God knows what Oxford Street is like now, but the streets around Southwark are flippin dangerous.

And when they do resurface e.g. along the embankment, they put nice shiny red lines down so we can all fall off. :twisted:

End of rant.

linsen

I finally have something to contribute here as I rode to work for the first time in 2 weeks.

And I overtook someone.

By the time I got to Winchester I was in a dense fog. When I got to work I realised that it was my glasses that had fogged up, not so much the whole city.......

It's still bleeding cold though :?

I'm going to pop in to the LBS here on the way home and get them to change over my pedals for me (finally proper road pedals for a proper road bike) - I tried for a while last night but then frankly couldn't be ar$ed to put my back into it - and also don't have a 15mm spanner, and also couldn't remember which one to turn which way

Christophe3967

It was reasonably cold this morning (just above zero) and parts of the Uxbridge Raod looked as though they might not have been gritted, but no wind and for the first time for months I had the sun on my face - well for the last 10 minutes of my journey. Not long to wait now... summer's almost here. 8)

lost_in_thought

Christophe3967 wrote:

It was reasonably cold this morning (just above zero) and parts of the Uxbridge Raod looked as though they might not have been gritted, but no wind and for the first time for months I had the sun on my face - well for the last 10 minutes of my journey. Not long to wait now... summer's almost here. 8)

Hmmmmm, another uxbridge road commuter! What sort of time? I need to make sure I'm not there.... or if you see a girl on a squeaky, horrid blue road bike going at about 3mph, say hello as you zoom past!

It was lovely this morning, even at 3mph. I even wore sunglasses with dark frames! And I overtook 4 people... 2 hoodies on MTBs, one older chap on a genesis hybrid, and a lady on one of those backwards trikes with the enormous box at the front. Go me!

HSK is like the house of fun, got there and a lady had obviously thought she'd make it across the intersection before the fire engine got there, and thought wrong, and a burst water main has turned Old Court Place, where I work, into a river.

A river that will no doubt freeze later...

iain_j

Well...... I set my alarm early to go the long way to avoid the ridiculous traffic jams I've been stuck in lately - and then re-set it for my normal time, went back to sleep, and got caught in a traffic jam twice as long as yesterday's :?

Nearly came a cropper as I came round the roundabout at the start of the road where the jams have been. Looking in 5 directions at once, as you do, I failed to notice the queue was backed up onto the roundabout itself and nearly ran into the back of it :shock: My brakes are good but I wish they didn't make so much noise.

il_principe

GGRRRRRRRRRR ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHH GGGRRRRRRRRRRR

So there I am last night, on the Edgware road, training calls for 20 mins of high effort, so I'm 10 mins in when the damn chain jumps off the rear cog and gets jammed between the freewheel and the dropout. I get the bike upside down on the pavement only to realise that I've got no rubber gloves with me, so spanner out, track nuts loosened and chain remounted, gloves liberally covered in grease. Readjusted chain tension so it's nice and tight, remount and I'm off, training session ruined.

This AM, bundling down Kilburn High Road, 5 mins in to the 20 min high effort session, scalps flying left, right and centre, when the same bloody thing happens. Cue more grease and more swearing.

I cannot understand what is going wrong here, chain tension is fine and it would appear to take a huge amount of effort to jump the chain off the rear cog, i tried getting it back on without loosening the tracknuts and there was no way I could do it. So what is happening? Is the rear cog worn? It doesn't look worn. I think I'm going to invest in a White Industries 16T frewheel, rather than the el cheapo Shimano one. Perhaps that will help.

I thought that the combo of 50 and 16T plus balls out sprinting might be something to do with it, but lets face it, I'm no Chris Hoy and his chain doesn't bloody jump off.

Plus grease all over my new Oakleys, lovely Chelsea top and my Castelli gloves. Can't believe I forgot to replace the rubber gloves - this is exactly the reason I like to carry the damn things in the first place.

So fcuking cross this ATM, not helped by asinine colleagues @ work. :evil:

Rant over.