Finally got my Giant Dash 4 after a delay of 4 weeks 🙄

32 miles on Sunday, commuted to work today. Enjoying it far more than I believed I would, I am ashamed to say 😳

Not in full body Lycra quite yet though.

It wont be long until the lycra gets you…

Whats strange is how unfriendly other roadies can be until you don the uniform then they’re amazingly friendly!

Why ashamed? Just another form of cycling. Great for fitness too.

Whats strange is how unfriendly other roadies can be until you don the uniform then they’re amazingly friendly!

You obviously ride in the wrong places then. 🙄

Enjoying road riding is nothing to be ashamed about! I love road riding/racing and haven’t touched the mtb since March.

Embrace full lyrca, it is good.

DGOAB +1 (have you got your new bling bike yet?!?)

You’ll find it gradually takes over, and before you know it, you’ll not only be wearing full lycra (anything else would seem weird!), but considering:

– spring training camps somewhere sunny (Majorca was ace!)
– learning to find the biggest fast chap in front and stealthy sit on his wheel before nipping past him on the final run having saved your energy
– consider guys with shaved legs to be completely normal!

Have fun 🙂

You’ll find it gradually takes over, and before you know it, you’ll not only be wearing full lycra (anything else would seem weird!)

Couldn’t have said it better myself

have you got your new bling bike yet?!?

Not yet, approx 4-6 weeks. I’ve changed my mind on the use of it to more of a winter road bike with touring being secondary use, and had another bike fit to make sure it was all going to be 100% and to see what worked for me. The fit was interesting as I now feel really upright on the hoods (now spend all my time in chaingangs or races on the drops) which means that I don’t need / want a typical touring bike set up. Should be seeing revised designs this week, its basically the same set up as my race bike but with clearance for 28/30m tyres for touring/35m studded tyres, mounts for mudguards/panniers, discs and longer stays to allow panniers to fit without heel rub on them. Interestingly the frame designer floated the idea of 650 wheels to me. My response was a big NO, but hadn’t ever really thought i was *that* small at 160cm! Just need to come up with a paint design/colour scheme (purple and black) 🙂

Why ashamed? Just another form of cycling. Great for fitness too.

+1

Just bought a Giant TCR Advanced 2, and it’s ace. You’ve got to wear lycra on a road bike (especially if you’re a nice slim female 😛 )

DGOAB – sounds great. Would be good to hear how you get on with disc brakes – I’ve considered them for my tourer as trying to stop with the weight of fully laden panniers can be “interesting”! I also had 650 suggested, as I’m only 150cm, but have stuck with 700 with no problems (and much easier if you ever need to borrow a spare inner tube)

Am now considering a very lightweight bike though, as the bike / rider weight ratio for us smaller females is pretty poor compared to guys.

That’s why I stuck with 700, plus having 700 wheels on my nice bike isn’t an issue and it wasn’t an issue touring for a month either!

My first touring/cx bike had discs and i decided it was a must for any future touring. The bf and I travelled pretty light anyway, but having discs meant I could descend as fast as I wanted without worrying about stopping power when ladden. I was also thankful for discs when descending Pico Veleta in the coldest/wettest/foggest weather ever – we had to stop half way down for hot chocolate to warm up. I was only able to brake properly because I had discs as I couldn’t feel my fingers! Discs were part of the reason I went for a custom build. I’d say go for it if you can.

I had a power to weight test to see if i could make the clubs race squad. It was interesting to compare my results to the bf – not far off the same power to weight ratio but the watts he was putting out were way over what i was! I would actually say its not so much about the bike unless your current one is very heavy – but about training. Before I started getting coached, i was thinking of lighter bike/getting a power meter but have realised the improvements i’ve made so far and PBs I’ve set are down to training properly, good recovery and eating enough. I’d say good wheels would be a better investment – i want some carbon tubs for racing on!

the awkwardness of wearing bib shorts and needing a pee, the smell of assos chamois cream and taking pride in a silent running drivetrain, thats road cycling! 🙂 i would never be without a road bike!

I too have just gone truly dark side, been using a Boardman hybrid (that was very set up for roads) to try and convince myself I was an mtb’er just training on roads, but this week end I picked up my Quintana too and its a revelation, got to get used to the extra carbon stiffness and slightly different riding position using drops, but am really enjoying it so far

I would say the 105 breaks seem pretty powerful alongside the cable discs from the hybrid, but not had to ride it in the wet yet……

and taking pride in a silent running drivetrain

Since using this mine has become even quieter. Excellent lube.