does anyone ride a road bike?

Anonymous

i find that due to the place i live i am am pretty much only road riding these days. it was always just to keep bike fit and get some miles in my legs but now i find i am actually enjoying it!!

the gorgeous weather and nice quiet roads have made riding my roadie an absolute pleasure and im finding excuses to go for a road ride for fun and not just to keep my legs ticking over.

just so no-one thinks im a proper roadie, i wear flat shoes and pedals and wear baggy clothes whilst riding my allez.

PhilSm

sheepsteeth wrote:

just so no-one thinks im a proper roadie, i wear flat shoes and pedals and wear baggy clothes whilst riding my allez.

Mmmm - you say that now, but it sounds to me like you're just a short hop away from breaking out the lycra and taking the ladyshave to your pins.....



I've often wondered about life on the other side - keep us posted with how you get on!

Phil.

nwmlarge

i'm starting to get into it with my hybrid specialized.
i need to get a roadie lid but then again my dh full face stops people recognising me lol

.blitz

I've got a Giant TCR2 and mrs.blitz has a Coppi K591 something or other. We just potter around the local country lanes and stop off at the pubs (no 'special' clothing required )

If I go out on my own I enjoy a spot of tractor baiting now and again.

The Northern Monkey

Yep I'm really enjoying the roadie.
Did 17.7 miles last night and wanted to jsut keep going!

Main reason I got the roadie is because I can't guarantee that I can get transport/money/mates to go mountainbiking every weekend... the roadie means I can now ride every day after work, imporve my fitness and hopefully improve my MTB endurance at the same time

For the record, I wear endura singletrack 3/4's, rugby shirts, my camelbak and my MTB spd's
I did have a loooonnnnggggggg look at some skinz compression lycra shorts though but I doubt i'll be weaing a jersey anytime soon... would feel a rite tit!

Just joined a 300miles in 30days challenge on mapmyride too

King Donut

Yep and I love it. More out of necessity as the commute is in to city centre. But also local loops if time is short. Will always prefer to get off the black stuff though.

As for clothes I think it's the one thing that will always set us apart from proper roadies. I wear baggies whatever I'm riding simply because they're comfotable, practical and I much prefer the look of em (especially when off the bike). The amount of people I see commuting in full lycra gear... does it really make that much difference on a 5-10 mile commute through slow moving traffic?

KnightofCydonia

I think I offended a guy today. Went flying past him as he'd just come from a steep hill at a junction and I'd been coming on a nice slight slope. After about 30 seconds he flew past me, muttered something and within 2 minutes was out of sight.

Cheshley

Yup, I have a Scott S30 road bike but with flat bars instead of drops and I wear all my usual MTB gear when I'm out on it, baggy shorts, SPD's and peaked helmet...
Been out and covered 32 miles on quiet country roads in the sun this morning and really enjoyed it

salsarider79

The next step after shaving the pins, is putting drop bars on your MTB "Cos I find it more comfortable". Then you start to clean your MTB, then it's a rapid desent into madness. The lycra becomes a part of you, you a part of it. Soon you will be wearing lycra underneath your work clothes, telling everyone how good it feels. Then hiding pieces of lycra about the house as you can't be without a bit of lycra in your life.
After that, you'll come home one day and your whole family will be waiting in the front room. "Please give it up!" Someone will say through their tears, (Possibly even your partner, but you may not even know them by then) "We just want you back!".
Then you'll have to decide wether to go for a ride or not.

You have been warned. Cycling is drug.

Steve_b77

I had a Specialized Allez last summer and rode it wearing MTB SPD's, not exactly tight jerseys but I did go for the lycra shorts as they are way more comfortable and don't flap in the wind.

Managed to get my average speed up to 19mph within a few weeks of regualr 25mile rides, really enjoyed it.

Sold the biek 'cos I wasn't using it in March this year, wish I'd kept it now and as an imminent move to London Village is resulting in me buying another one - probably a flat barred version this time for the commute.

MrChuck

What do you baggies wearers wear under your baggies? If it's regular shreddies isn't that a bit uncomfortable for 30 mile + rides?

As for people weraing them for the commute- it may not be necessary, but if you happen to own some for your non-commuting riding and you'd be getting changed anyway, then why not?

chorscroft

I have been known to cycle around on a very fancy top spec cannondale with full dura ace and almost look like I was having fun...

Got a lend of a friends's awesomely quick road bike and it was pretty good but only when there's no traffic. Give me a mountain bike and a nice bit of singletrack any day of the week.

Cheshley

MrChuck wrote:

What do you baggies wearers wear under your baggies? If it's regular shreddies isn't that a bit uncomfortable for 30 mile + rides?

As for people weraing them for the commute- it may not be necessary, but if you happen to own some for your non-commuting riding and you'd be getting changed anyway, then why not?

The same padded undies that I wear for MTB. I'm not commuting, just out for a ride now and again, but probably more often now cos the Spesh needs a new front wheel....

adb1006

sheepsteeth wrote:

i find that due to the place i live i am am pretty much only road riding these days. it was always just to keep bike fit and get some miles in my legs but now i find i am actually enjoying it!!

the gorgeous weather and nice quiet roads have made riding my roadie an absolute pleasure and im finding excuses to go for a road ride for fun and not just to keep my legs ticking over.

just so no-one thinks im a proper roadie, i wear flat shoes and pedals and wear baggy clothes whilst riding my allez.

GAY

King Donut

MrChuck wrote:

What do you baggies wearers wear under your baggies? If it's regular shreddies isn't that a bit uncomfortable for 30 mile + rides?

Normal underkaks work fine for me. Or none. Must admit it can start to get painful by end of the week. But by Monday I've forgotten about it and start again. I never seem to get pain on mtb.

MrChuck wrote:

As for people weraing them for the commute- it may not be necessary, but if you happen to own some for your non-commuting riding and you'd be getting changed anyway, then why not?

Yeah good point, I did think of that after - I already own baggies so wear them when on road which is the same thing. I just think lycra looks silly so would only wear it if absolutely necessary. But each to their own of course!

MrChuck

King Donut wrote:

Normal underkaks work fine for me.

You're a better man than me then!

King Donut

MrChuck wrote:

King Donut wrote:

Normal underkaks work fine for me.

You're a better man than me then!

Maybe I've just got smaller balls?

I ordered some padded tights by accident last winter and can honestly say i find them less comfortable than the unpadded. Out of habit I spend a lot of time out of the saddle and the padding just seems to get in the way.

dav1

I have a carrera virtuoso that i use for commuting and training in the mornings. Love getting out on it, its just so easy to rack up the miles for some extra fitness work and I really notice it when im on the MTB at the weekend.

Did the norich 100 on it a few weeks back, will definatly enter more events like it as well

MTB will always be my passion but the road bike compliments my riding perfectly.

Surf-Matt

As of Saturday, yes - this little beastie:

mongoosed

I do a bit of road cycling aswell on a fausto coppi road bike,on with the ipod and away.

lastwords

I recently replaced my old ammaco rigid mtb with a road bike for going to work and back but have found i enjoy riding it that much i have been doing some extra training session on the road

Northwind

I've got the use of a Revolution Courier Race- the old 700c 8-speed model- and I use it quite often to commute, I'm building myself a fairly nice specced hybrid out of an ancient steel rigid mtb though. But neither are a proper "road bike", they're commuters, plus the occasional short fast road thrash when I want a quick ride fix but can't be bothered with the mtb. I don't have the roadie gene, I quite like to really sprint on tarmac but it just bores me over more than 20 minutes or so. That's what engines are for!

myopic

I was a roadie for over 20 years beforre I made the investment and discovered the joys of off-road. I do more miles on the road bike than off road, but that's a fewer longer trips, usually about 35-50 miles than my more frequent off-road runs (4-12 miles). Coming from the dark side, I wore my road gear off road :oops: , (yes lycra) for some years, but now I have invested in some decent off-road gear I keep the tight stuff in a bottom drawer for the road.
I do wear my MTB shoes on the road bike though as I have the same Shimano 520s on both bikes

passout

I'm a convert to the roadie way - love it as much as MTBing now.

delcol

me to :oops: :oops: :oops:

i have a roadie for the commute a scott speedster fb...

i wouldn't use anything else for my commute it's perfect,.. and it's till undefeated in the urban commute race. :P

i wear normal shorts or tarcksuite pants in winter and a base layer. and i wear my lake mtb shoes and 520 spds.

Cheshley

delcol wrote:

me to :oops: :oops: :oops:

i have a roadie for the commute a scott speedster fb...

i wouldn't use anything else for my commute it's perfect,.. and it's till undefeated in the urban commute race. :P

i wear normal shorts or tarcksuite pants in winter and a base layer. and i wear my lake mtb shoes and 520 spds.

Gotta love the FB scotts, you got the S30 or S60?

Raymondavalon

I have a converted riigid Diamondback I use for blacktop trips and yes I do enjoy road riding too.
My mate and I over quite a bit of blacktop, we do cycleways and last weekend cycled over the old Severn bridge to Chepstow, it was great.

To be honest I am contemplating a road bike now, but I cannot foresee myself doing the clingy clothes thing.. I'll be quite happy with my Enduras and tee shirts when I get my road bike

delcol

i can never remember i ride it every day :oops: ,

its a 06 one it was the cheap one i'm sure it's a sb60.

Flenser

I've got a Falcon Oxford in the garage that I got off of Freecycle but I've not got round to riding it yet.

Does that count?

gaz047

use mine quite a bit, mainly for the commute to work, but also try and get out on it once a week.
if you've got a road bike aswell as an mtb, you could try one of the merida weekends (sportif on the sat, mtb marathon on the sun, quality weekend )

ExeterSimon

I'm going to buck the trend here...I tried it last summer on a secondhand Cannondale CAAD9. Started with 15 milers before edging up to 40 milers over the 'summer' months

Despite living in Devon and having miles of quiet lanes to explore I was bored sh!tless.

So back to glorious singletrack and a new HT this year.