girv73 STOP posting on here and build your bike

girv73

whyamihere wrote:

Leftover bits are most likely for reflectors. They're not particularly important anyway...

By the way, if you PM me your address I can send you a few end caps, I've got thousands of the things.

Ah of course.

Thanks for the offer, but when the eBay man comes I'll have thousands of the things too

girv73

whyamihere wrote:

Leftover bits are most likely for reflectors. They're not particularly important anyway...

By the way, if you PM me your address I can send you a few end caps, I've got thousands of the things.

Ah of course.

Thanks for the offer, but when the eBay man comes I'll have thousands of the things too

girv73

itboffin wrote:

Larger pictures please and perhaps one with you grinning next to the stead, post first road ride

I got out for a test ride this morning at last! I'd planned a 20 mile loop around the local hills (to test both the bike and me), but it wasn't to happen It started off OK, despite the stormy snow squall that came in, and I made it down to Chain Reaction's warehouse in Doagh without too much trouble.



Sorry, couldn't get one of me and the bike together - there was no-one else around Also, apologies for the MTB mudguard thing on the back, it was all I had.

The snow had stopped at this point and I was feeling good and all set to continue on, but half a mile up the road the Puncture Fairy visited



I got the tyre off and the new tube installed no problem, but after 30 minutes struggle still couldn't get it reinflated as there seemed to be something wrong with my pump - stupidly I'd never tried it on a Presta valve before. Called it quits and called in the car rescue service in the end

Still, on the ride down the bike was working well and was surprisingly comfortable. I'm well pleased with my new wheels and I'm looking forward to next weekend when I can try again. Maybe with some puncture proofing this time!

always_tyred

That must have been a hell of a puncture. It flipped your bike over and threw the back wheel right off.

itboffin

Pain in the arse.

itboffin

Don't do anything crazy like installing armoured tyres and tubes.

girv73

Always Tyred wrote:

That must have been a hell of a puncture. It flipped your bike over and threw the back wheel right off.

Do you think maybe I had too much pressure in the tyre?

itboffin wrote:

Don't do anything crazy like installing armoured tyres and tubes.

I was thinking of getting some of that Slime tyre liner stuff. Would it be bad?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Slime ... 360009044/

itboffin

I put slime in my mountain bike and it made the wheels wobble until up to speed and never really offered much more protection (bloody thorns), in the end i've found using the right tyres for the bike/terrain with high pressure, conti's on the hybrid, mtb, tourer and michelin on the cross, single speed & road bike.

I've just bought a job lot of ultra light tubes 74g made of nothing but tissue paper and a wish am i asking for trouble or what.

Tips for a new convert to road bikes is look at where your wheels are heading avoid riding in puddles, pot holes or to near the curbs, all places where small sharp things lurk.

It's sort of weird in reverse, when I get back on the MTB I find myself avoiding obstacles, duh!

I stupidly attempted to roll through a large puddle to clean the muck of my bike only to find a massive hidden pothole, that was a close one that could have ended in pain, lesson learnt.

itboffin

girv73 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

That must have been a hell of a puncture. It flipped your bike over and threw the back wheel right off.

Do you think maybe I had too much pressure in the tyre?

itboffin wrote:

Don't do anything crazy like installing armoured tyres and tubes.

I was thinking of getting some of that Slime tyre liner stuff. Would it be bad?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Slime ... 360009044/

If i'm not mistaken you have 23-622 tyres, you won't be able to fit slime rim liners, if you really want to you could buy a can and fill the tubes, weebles wobble and they DO fall down

girv73

Maybe I'll just get some better tyres :roll:

And not ride in puddles - though it was difficult to avoid it today

Feltup

Great to see you got out on the bike but what a pain of a first ride. I run my 23's at 100 on the front and 110 on the rear for normal dryish conditions, slightly less if wet. All good points by itboffin but also I think you need to be lucky as well!

So did you feel the float of riding a nice light road bike? The ability to dance up hills (short ones anyway ) You have just got to love the feeling!

Better luck for the next ride.

biondino

Dude, you got one puncture. Wait until the tyres have proved themselves to be crappy before you change them.

girv73

Ah never worry biondino, it's just the irrational "must ... have ... upgrades" fire that burns inside me. I'm sure the stock tyres are fine, but I'm equally sure aftermarket ones would be better.

itboffin

Very true wait until you must upgrade, although....! I'm so impressed with the Michelin on my single speed that I swapped out an almost new set of Bontragers for the same, I keep being amazed a how tough and grippy they are which is a godsend in the current weather.

girv73

Finally got out for a proper ride on Sunday morning - 23 miles around the hills where I live.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=3914

23 miles, 1200ft of climbing. I sure was glad I had the triple! Some of those hills are vicious, and I was grinding away in the bottom two gears for long stretches. My average speed was only 11mph - probably a combination of the hill climb crawls, stopping to check my map a lot (I still got lost, saved only by my phone GPS) and the very windy conditions. The legs were also pretty tired from a hard Saturday's DIY and an equally hard week on the work commute; time for a bit of a rest week, I think.

It was damn cold in the hills too. I didn't have enough layers on and my toes in particular were like ice when I got back home. I was seriously worried about a couple of them as they were a funny shade of dark purple for a while afterwards. Srsly.

Thankfully, the Puncture Fairy stayed in bed this week. Given the conditions, I don't blame her.

The BeOne felt good on the road. Compared to a mountain bike, I find I need to be much more careful and precise with my balance and it feels strange on out of the saddle efforts. There is a definite feeling of efficient power transfer to the back end and it feels easy to make progress on the flat without the heavy off-road chassis and tyres to drag around. The Shimano 105 drivetrain worked well, shifting both rings without much complaint even uphill and under power. The gearing is noticeably higher and I didn't get out of the middle ring, though I suspect I could on a flatter course.

I got head down on the drops for a while too and was surprised at just how much aerodynamic difference it made! It was fairly comfortable, but the little visor on my helmet made steering in this position mainly a case of using The Force. I suppose that is normal though, but I certainly wouldn't fancy it for commuting through town.

I do still need to tweak the positioning a bit I think - saddle up and back a touch, rotate the bars up a bit maybe - but I survived the two hours in the saddle without more than the expected discomfort. Oh, and the frozen toes.

Despite the initial leg tiredness, weather and terrain, I felt surprisingly OK completing the distance. I'll rest up this week and try a flatter, coastal course this weekend to see how I feel just churning away the miles, instead of the power/coast cycle of hilly routes. Still, this ride has given me some much needed confidence to definitely attempt at least one 100k sportive later this year!

Roll on the weekend

Feltup

girv73 wrote:

Finally got out for a proper ride on Sunday morning - 23 miles around the hills where I live.
http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=3914

23 miles, 1200ft of climbing. I sure was glad I had the triple! Some of those hills are vicious, and I was grinding away in the bottom two gears for long stretches. My average speed was only 11mph - probably a combination of the hill climb crawls, stopping to check my map a lot (I still got lost, saved only by my phone GPS) and the very windy conditions. The legs were also pretty tired from a hard Saturday's DIY and an equally hard week on the work commute; time for a bit of a rest week, I think.

It was damn cold in the hills too. I didn't have enough layers on and my toes in particular were like ice when I got back home. I was seriously worried about a couple of them as they were a funny shade of dark purple for a while afterwards. Srsly.

I had this on the weekend too. I went out fixed on my Tricross and decided as it was my first time riding fixed I should hit the off road trails of Swinley Forest near Bracknell as part of my 50 mile circuit. In hindsight this was a bad idea as I ended up with very wet feet having ground to a halt in the middle of a bog. Over the course of the next 30 miles my feet gradually disappeared only to reappear when I jumped in the shower. AYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I said HOLY SHIT quite loud too as my GF heard me in the front room. My toes had turned such a deep purple that they almost appeared black. I am no medic but that can't be good!

I have now bought some Trek neoprene overshoes and hopefully can say goodbye to frostbitten toes.

I would def recommend over shoes to save your feet. Nice one on the altitude gain, that is a fair amount over that distance.