My First Commute As A Roadie.

gb155

Was bloody amazing, Go read about it here:

http://gazzasblogs.blogspot.com/2009/08 ... oadie.html

Right must take a detour one morning to that there London to play with the big boys (and you Dave)

cjcp

8)

Kieran_Burns

Bloody hell mate how fast are you???? :shock:

gb155

cjcp wrote:

8)

Who would have ever thought I would have ended up here after just 13 months eh mate ?

Not me for sure.

gb155

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Bloody hell mate how fast are you???? :shock:

Like a speeding rocket Until I come to a hill :oops:

cjcp

gb155 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

8)

Who would have ever thought I would have ended up here after just 13 months eh mate ?

Not me for sure.

It's a stupendous effort, fella.

gb155

cjcp wrote:

gb155 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

8)

Who would have ever thought I would have ended up here after just 13 months eh mate ?

Not me for sure.

It's a stupendous effort, fella.

Thanks Man

UndercoverElephant

What are those weird, huge things on the end of the crank arms?

BTW, I did my first Roadie commute yesterday too, what a joy , shame the key broke off in my new lock so I had to get a lift home

biondino

"The narrower 23/25mm tyres have a higher rolling resistance than 32mm tyres so at low speeds they're actually harder work than a 32mm tyre."

That's not true, right? Although we've been told that hysteresis (was it?) resistance is higher in tyres at higher pressure, you also have less of it in contact with the ground, so I'd have thought there's still less rolling resistance. But what do I know :shock:

roger_merriman

biondino wrote:

"The narrower 23/25mm tyres have a higher rolling resistance than 32mm tyres so at low speeds they're actually harder work than a 32mm tyre."

That's not true, right? Although we've been told that hysteresis (was it?) resistance is higher in tyres at higher pressure, you also have less of it in contact with the ground, so I'd have thought there's still less rolling resistance. But what do I know :shock:

if all was equal yes it think it's suposed to be so, but it's not equal far from it, 32mm tires tend to be bombproof touring/commute tires than supple light high pressure tires.

most fast tires stop at 25mm so your choices are 20-25mm

SpaceBadger

Excellent work, must feel great to be the alpha male scalper type rather than scalpee

You are mightily fast though, I struggle to get above 27 mph even when really giving it loads :oops: , is this because I am on a (ssssh) hybrid? Sorry, not meaning to hijack your thread, but when 30mph+ speeds are spoken of I always wonder if I cannot reach that cos I am feeble or whether my current bike is holding me back!

jjojjas

Just read your blog. Thats possibly one of the most inspirational things Iv'e seen in a long while.
respect where it's due.

Jas

biondino

SpaceBadger wrote:

Excellent work, must feel great to be the alpha male scalper type rather than scalpee

You are mightily fast though, I struggle to get above 27 mph even when really giving it loads :oops: , is this because I am on a (ssssh) hybrid? Sorry, not meaning to hijack your thread, but when 30mph+ speeds are spoken of I always wonder if I cannot reach that cos I am feeble or whether my current bike is holding me back!

In my case, I tend to ride at a fairly hard pace unless traffic etc is holding me back, so I don't really have much in the way of energy reserves, and what I do have I don't want to waste on one big burst. I mean, if you said you'd give me £20 if I could get up to 30mph on the flat in the next 20 seconds, I'm sure I could do it, but without any obvious reward my tired body doesn't see the point.

gabriel959

A few things:

Lose those pedals - they are attrocious - buy some clipless pedals!
Get some proper tyres - no truck tyres allowed!
Reflectors on wheels - oh my god?!?!!?

Unless you are cycling at night time I would be inclined to lose the front and rear reflectors as well.

Wheels - with your weight you are going to be needing new wheels soon I would have thought. Keep your tyres pumped!

cjcp

gabriel959 wrote:

Reflectors on wheels - oh my god?!?!!?

Unless you are cycling at night time I would be inclined to lose the front and rear reflectors as well.

I had some last year until I managed to break them. I loved them! Thought they looked really cool in my own little cardigan-and-slippers way.

In my own mind, it added to the scalpee's pain: there's an exchange of looks ending with one from me saying, "That's right, sunshine; someone with wheel reflectors has just taken you down."

prawny

I've got my reflectors on my wheels still, it's a commuter - every little helps.

Kieran_Burns

and I've just removed mine - I've got reflective tyres and mudguards and the wheel ones just used to nark me off.

prawny

My bike is black with black rims and black spokes :? I really didn't think this through.

gb155

biondino wrote:

"The narrower 23/25mm tyres have a higher rolling resistance than 32mm tyres so at low speeds they're actually harder work than a 32mm tyre."

That's not true, right? Although we've been told that hysteresis (was it?) resistance is higher in tyres at higher pressure, you also have less of it in contact with the ground, so I'd have thought there's still less rolling resistance. But what do I know :shock:

IT makes little/ No Sense to me in all fairness

gb155

SpaceBadger wrote:

Excellent work, must feel great to be the alpha male scalper type rather than scalpee

You are mightily fast though, I struggle to get above 27 mph even when really giving it loads :oops: , is this because I am on a (ssssh) hybrid? Sorry, not meaning to hijack your thread, but when 30mph+ speeds are spoken of I always wonder if I cannot reach that cos I am feeble or whether my current bike is holding me back!

I foce myself to to go fast even when there is no need, I ride on the edge of what I can do, whenever I see anyone else, I push myself beyond

gb155

jjojjas wrote:

Just read your blog. Thats possibly one of the most inspirational things Iv'e seen in a long while.
respect where it's due.

Jas

Thanks Man

gb155

gabriel959 wrote:

A few things:

Lose those pedals - they are attrocious - buy some clipless pedals!
Get some proper tyres - no truck tyres allowed!
Reflectors on wheels - oh my god?!?!!?

Unless you are cycling at night time I would be inclined to lose the front and rear reflectors as well.

Wheels - with your weight you are going to be needing new wheels soon I would have thought. Keep your tyres pumped!

Agreed on Pedals, I got em thrown in for free, Struggling to find shoes in my size that dont cost a stoopid amount tho

Agreed on tyres will stick 28's on it for now then work my way down

Reflectors add to the humiliation factor, fat boy passing someone with wheel
Reflectors could ruin someones whole day

How long do you think those wheels will last ?

gb155

cjcp wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

Reflectors on wheels - oh my god?!?!!?

Unless you are cycling at night time I would be inclined to lose the front and rear reflectors as well.

I had some last year until I managed to break them. I loved them! Thought they looked really cool in my own little cardigan-and-slippers way.

In my own mind, it added to the scalpee's pain: there's an exchange of looks ending with one from me saying, "That's right, sunshine; someone with wheel reflectors has just taken you down."

Agreed 110%