Ready to go.

gerroffandmilkit

Bought myself a B'twin Triban 3 the other week. Stopped myself from taking it out on the road due to wet weather and lack of helmet! (safety first guys!)
Took delivery of a set of SKS Chromoplastics yesterday and my Specialized helmet arrived today from Wiggle and Evans respectively.

Spent the best part of last night fitting the guards. Blody hell, they were awkward at first and not helped by very poor instructions. Was even contemplating sending them back as they just didn't seem to fit properly. Took the hacksaw to the struts and trimmed them to make them fit. Adjusted them and they now fit perfectly, nice and close but without wheel rub! Quality guards.

The Specialized Align was a snip at just short of £30 and matches the bike nicely, being black white and red. Fitted it to my head and it fits just perfect.

Hoping for good weather tomorrow or Sunday to hopefully get out for my first ride. Not planning on going too far yet (too old and unfit for starters) Going to take it easy and build up steady.

Has anyone any experience of the tyres supplied with the Triban3? I suspect they will be budget variety. Will they be ok on wet roads as they look awfully slick, or is this the norm with new road bikes nowadays?

Any last minute tips before take off?

DavidJB

The tread on road tyres doesn't indicate how good they are in the wet. Michelin krylions were great in the wet (slick) where as gatorskins are terrible (some tread).

As for going out in the rain you better get used to it or you'll never get to ride your bike in the country. Although as I found out 2 days ago, never think you know best, I went out in 'autumn kit' and ended up getting hypothermia in the middle of nowhere waiting for my gf to come get me because I was too cold to continue!

Anyway enjoy your ride and welcome to the club!

farrina

gerroffandmilkit wrote:

Spent the best part of last night fitting the guards. Blody hell, they were awkward at first and not helped by very poor instructions. Was even contemplating sending them back as they just didn't seem to fit properly. Took the hacksaw to the struts and trimmed them to make them fit.

Any last minute tips before take off?

It is normal in my experience to need a hacksaw when fitting mudguards

Last minute tip ?

Make sure that you have fitted the plastic safety clips (to which the stays clip) to the front and not the rear wheels (there to avoid a trip over the bars should anything foul the guard)

Regards

Alan

Mikey41

gerroffandmilkit wrote:

Has anyone any experience of the tyres supplied with the Triban3? I suspect they will be budget variety. Will they be ok on wet roads as they look awfully slick, or is this the norm with new road bikes nowadays?

Any last minute tips before take off?

No experience of Triban tyres, sorry, but a slick tyre is the norm for road bikes now. A 23mm tyre inflated to 100psi won't aquaplane until you get to something like 120mph. Just watch out for slippery leaves and oil or diesel on the road and avoid really hard braking. The standard tyres on my Giant would probably be regarded as a bit rubbish, but they are still slicks and have been absolutely fine in the wet.

Plot out a 4 or 5 mile route, that will be enough to start with, keep it reasonably flat so you can get used to the bike and the riding position, try out the different hand positions. Take it nice and easy and enjoy the ride.

gerroffandmilkit

Yep, I've kept the plastic stay ends on for safety. Good idea actually. Surprised how easily they fitted when I'd cut the stays down.

A few good tips guys, many thanks.
Just an easy run, not planning too much exertion to be honest, just wanting to get the feel of the bike, changing up and down the gears etc. Can't wait now.

Philinmerthyr

I'm glad the helmet fitted. If it hadn't , would you have used the hacksaw on your head?

gerroffandmilkit

Philinmerthyr wrote:

I'm glad the helmet fitted. If it hadn't , would you have used the hacksaw on your head?

Don't be daft Phil!!! :roll:

I had the cheese grater primed to go!

FlacVest

Oh! After you've ridden a few times and get to know your bike, take it out on a long, long ride. From my experience, it takes an hour of riding before I can tell what isn't right about the setup.

For instance: I got clipless pedals and shoes. Swapped and rode. Realized the seat was too low.
Second ride, realized the cleats were too far back.
Third ride: realized the saddle was too low.
4th ride: realized the saddle was too low.

And this happened again with the addition of tri-bars; it's trial and error if you don't want a bike fit, but when you get things dialed in (almost finished today ), you'll ride much farther and feel much better.

farrina

gerroffandmilkit wrote:

Yep, I've kept the plastic stay ends on for safety. Good idea actually. Surprised how easily they fitted when I'd cut the stays down.

Just to be clear - I was referring to the plastic clips that bolt onto the frame eyelets on the front forks into which you click the front stays, not the end caps that go over the cut stays.

The clips are a safety device that allows the guard to unclip rather than roll up on the wheel ( and send you skywards) should anything become caught between front guard and tyre. Definitely worth using as I have seen some spectacular crashes without them.

Regards

Alan

tiredofwhiners

gerroffandmilkit wrote:

Will they be ok on wet roads as they look awfully slick, or is this the norm with new road bikes nowadays?

All bike tyres are slicks despite what others may claim. The pressure in racing tyres makes the contact area very very small indeed, and with an average riders weight on top, there's simply no way to aquaplane as some might suggest as there isn't a big fat square of rubber for the ater to get under.

Its more to do with the compound of the tyre and how that increases the contact patch on the road - there's a whole other thread here somewhere about it.

gerroffandmilkit

farrina wrote:

gerroffandmilkit wrote:

Yep, I've kept the plastic stay ends on for safety. Good idea actually. Surprised how easily they fitted when I'd cut the stays down.

Just to be clear - I was referring to the plastic clips that bolt onto the frame eyelets on the front forks into which you click the front stays, not the end caps that go over the cut stays.

Regards

Alan

Yeah, I read about them on the packaging. Was tempted to dispense with them when the guards didn't seem to fit but fitted them when I decided I needed to cut the stays down. Common sense really, saves a trip over the bars!!!