The Tyne and Wear Commuter Thread

anthdci

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Times are bad for us fair weather cyclists this week.

Suck it up and get out there! Shorts and jersey weather this morning, less to get wet!

Captain Slackbladder

anthdci wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Times are bad for us fair weather cyclists this week.

Suck it up and get out there! Shorts and jersey weather this morning, less to get wet!

Wasn't that bad at 06-45 this morning, hardly raining.

What do we all commute on? Why i ask is a new bikes on the agenda. My giant roam is getting on abit and is starting to cost. If i go for repair this time it will be close to £300 spent this year hence i'm tempted by the new option via cycle to work that will keep me going another 3 years. I'm currently using the roadie but want a more all rounder to see me through the winter...

Boardman CX or Specialized Tricross Sport?

markhewitt1978

Boardman CX has a good rep on this forum, but I would go for the carbon fork version.

anthdci

Captain Slackbladder wrote:

What do we all commute on?

Boardman CX or Specialized Tricross Sport?

I ride a 2013 Giant Defy 1, mostly white, with red and black highlights to match my fulcrum wheels.

I had a Tricross (although not the sport) and i thought it was over priced for the spec level you get.

andy9964

Currently using a Synapse I got on the C2W this time last year (2652 miles old).
I'm going to keep it till next year and have a look at CX bikes with 105, hopefully they'll have hydraulic discs by then (I'm sure I read on here somewhere, that the new 105 will be hydro compatible)

deffler

Matte black Boardman Hybrid Pro for me with Marathon Plus

xbnm

4 Bikes to choose from
A giant escape hybrid for the marathon winters and summer tootling.
A Carrera TDF with full guards for cycling up the coast to coast to stanley before they made in nearly all tarmac too much mud back then full gaurds still good for winter.
A BeOne Mistral sport with only a rear mudgard for wetter lookling summer weeks.
A ribble full carbon with the parts from a written off earlier road bike for fun.

Thinking of getting rid of one or two and replacing with something with discs and drops for commuting only.

Tony Mc

Got a Dolan Multi X which is used for commuting marathons plus on in winter and road tyres in summer
Obea Onix full carbon for the weekend and longer rides had it a few years now

y33stu

anthdci wrote:

Sunderland Clarion were running their yearly road race near middleton?
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/107821/Sunderland-Clarion-Road-Race#summary

No don't think it was that. People on mountain bikes and hybrids, as well as road bikes.

y33stu

3 choice for me - old battered carrera virtuoso for the commute, with mudgaurds. Mostly ride a Forme Calver XC Disc on the commute though, and the odd cyclo cross adventure - swap the tyres. Then the Good bike is the Cube Peloton Race, used only on weekends or if its guaranteed to be sunny for a commute, and only if can't face the other two

Long_Time_Lurker

Captain Slackbladder wrote:

What do we all commute on?

A full-sus MTB at the moment. It's relatively new, so I'm still playing on the way to work.
(I'm also lucky that I work in the middle of nowhere with secure parking, so I'm happy to leave it locked up for 7 hours.)

None of this mudguard stuff - I have to take off my shoes before walking through the office, still covered in mud.

Once the route dries out, I'll stick some old Conti Sports Contacts on the Cube and use that exclusively for commuting. God knows when it will dry out though - just when you get a couple of days sunshine, it then rains for a week.

jongooligan

Kinesis Racelite for me. Sturdy enough to handle the rough bits of the C2C track and light enough to use for a training ride on the way home.

Initialised

Long Time Lurker wrote:

Captain Slackbladder wrote:

What do we all commute on?

Once the route dries out, I'll stick some old Conti Sports Contacts on the Cube and use that exclusively for commuting. God knows when it will dry out though - just when you get a couple of days sunshine, it then rains for a week.

I liked running a Conti Sport Contact on the back and a Gatorskin on the front for road duties. It coped all right with the off road bits around here, C2C 7 14 and Hadrians way. I'm currently running a similar setup on my Secteur Disc, 28mm at the back, 23mm up front. When it gets wet and muddy or really cold I switch to a HooDoo (and still have a play on the way to work) it is currently running DF2s for a decent balance of on and off road performance. After yesterday's jaunt up to Chopwell Woods it needs a new front brake.

anthdci

Nice day for riding today. Looking forward to my journey home!

Captain Slackbladder

anthdci wrote:

Nice day for riding today. Looking forward to my journey home!

Aye its cracking....hate being stuck at work though, esp with the weekend looking grim.

jongooligan

Har har. Booked today off ages ago. Just got back from Yorkshire Dales.
Went up Coverdale, down Park Rash to Kettlewell, bimbled about in Wharfedale & Littondale, climbed over to Hawes from Oughtershaw, then over the Buttertubs into Swaledale and back to my car, which I'd left near Richmond.
Beats sitting in an office.

markhewitt1978

Lovely day for cycling yesterday, saw loads of others coming over Bollihope. Then got to the Waskerley way going up through Consett and it was positively stacked out, with numbers you don't normally see outside a sportive.

xbnm

Yeah coast to coast was busy was accused at point of going too fast up the hill to stanley so came off at beamish and stuck to the back roads. Home for sunday lunch and then an afternoon in the beer garden watching the increasingly dark clouds coming over till the thunder and lighting hit at 8 ish. Nearly a perfect sunday.

Initialised

Waskerley Way was pretty busy last Friday, I still managed to grab 2nd place despite taking a call and offering a couple of people help when they looked stuck.

Anyway. I may be starting work in Cobalt Business park shortly.
I live out to the west so my route options are:
15 miles along the river (14-Hadrians Way) then up to Silverlink
Pretty much all off road but long slow and boring with a high chance of glass and dog eggs all over the path
12 miles via Scotswood Road, town and the Coast Road
I don't think I want to ride on the Coast Road like I did back in 2001 as they've knocked it down to 2 lanes.
How good is the path alongside the Coast Road these days?
11 miles through Denton, Kenton and Benton on the A191 - Are traffic lights frequent past Benton?

What do you think of these routes, how is the A191 for cycling between Benton and Silverlink?
Are there any shortcuts I could use?

Madproforg

I've been using this route from Newcastle to Cobalt http://www.strava.com/activities/140712605 after getting off the train - haven't had any issues with

The path alongside the coast doesn't appear to be bad, just weaves in out quite a bit.

Long_Time_Lurker

I use the Coast Road path every day. It's fine.
The only inconvenience is the fact that you have to stop every once in a while for the slips roads.

Initialised

@Madproforg - that looks OK just wondering if its slow because of the route

@LTL - I used to ride the Coast Road and switched to the actual road because the path was slow and all the stops, on the road you can just stick to the main carriageway, but now it's just 2 lane I don't think that's safe anymore.

Anyone use the A191 as I think that's a decent option apart from all the traffic lights.

Madproforg

The slowness is purely down to me - I get there eventually.

Long_Time_Lurker

Have done the A191 a few times.
Quite a few people use it - dont think it's too bad as a route. I use the coast road as I prefer staying off the road as much as I can.
Reckon that the A191 is probably a straighter route as the crow flies so I guess it would be quicker.

Initialised

Thanks, only problem with the A191 route is a big climb right at the start before I've warmed up.

Long_Time_Lurker

Initialised wrote:

Thanks, only problem with the A191 route is a big climb right at the start before I've warmed up.

What's a warm up? I normally ride really slowly swearing under my breath about my knees/back and lungs.
Just be positive - think of the nice downhill freewheel on the way home

markhewitt1978

A big climb right at the start of your ride is the best thing to get you warmed up!

Initialised

On a pleasure ride maybe, my old lunch time ride I never felt warmen up until I'd gotten up the first climb. But when I've gone that way first thing before I usually end up paying for it later with pain in my knees, I guess I'd get used to it or find a stretch to ease it.

Oh, also, speaking of big climbs I KOM'd Tyne to Parkhead today!
Probably my first and only uphill KOM.

markhewitt1978

And a bloody tough one at that! I guess it's probably not only about the uphill grind, but minimising your losses through the thousands of road crossings, gates, pedestrians, dogs and other obstacles to decent progress.

I'm the same with starting out, hence why I struggle to get PR's on uphill segments close to my house. I refer to it as doing a heat cycle, that I need a punchy climb to get my heart rate right up then after I've recovered from that I could do the same climb again much quicker.

y33stu

I'd go via Kenton/Benton.

I work in Washington, and commute from North Gosforth, but once a week head to Tynemouth, so go through town, then jesmond, south gosforth, then benton, shiremoor, north shields. Other than traffic lights, its fine. Its actually longer that way than going down the coast road, but takes less time - I'm on a road bike so don't like the rough surface on the bike path. I could also go via wallsend, but also find that is slower for some reason.

Oh... and in my opinion, anyone who rides ON the coast road (road) has a deathwish. Wouldn't recommend that to anyone. In any circumstances.