davidtaylforth that obscures hub thing might work if your back is in the right sort of shape, ie in a straight line from the hip to the neck. Get long, get low and get used to it.

davidtaylforth I used to think I was freakish with long legs and short arms. Over the last few years the reach on my bikes has got longer and longer and it’s so much better for handling, aerodynamics and comfort.

OK after being an arsehole about it I do really like the colour. Congrats, new bikes are great.

and please don’t put an inline post on instead that’s just as bad. 🙂

Your stem is too short.

Wheels and groupset please.

I ran mine as 34:18 went back to gears after 6 months.

Ambrosio Excellence, 32h front and back, Ultegra 6700 hubs £293 from Wheelsmith.co.uk

The wheels I got from him are amazing, far better than any other handbuilts, perfect tension, have stayed perfectly true after many races and training miles.

Racing CX in Brighton on sunday.

Never ever give up.

These used to be uncommon

This is ’boutique’

Errrr… I’ve had a pair for a few years, they’re reliable and good looking, but they’re not very grippy and they’re certainly not that strong.

Long pins installed? Mine are almost too grippy with Vans. I’ve had mine for 5 years and they are like new.

I liked the Shimano DX ones. Mega grippy, strong and good looking.

Red feels hardly any different to Rival.

However I’d put the rival on the cross bike and the red on the other bike just so you have two decent groupsets. I’ve got rival on my cross bike with cantis and it’s fine. Force was the standout groupset. Exactly the same as Red in everything other than a few grams.

flightdeck came out in 1999 if I remember right.

I had a custom frame built for me this year. It’s a road bike but it was an experience I would repeat again.

Most important thing is to talk to the builder and make sure what they think gels with your experiences. If you have a bike that fits you well then dealing with people at distance is not an issue. My frame came from the USA and all comms were email and phone.

Craft

Oh and mudguards make all the difference too. There is one ‘part’ that gets cold and I’ve not found a solution for that yet.

iwluap I find them to be good, you get wet but stay warm. Windchill is what gets me most of the time so everything I wear is windstopper of some sort for the winter commute.

I have two pairs of padless tights that I wear over my normal bib shorts. The ones I wore today are made by craft and have windproof panels, fleece lining and reflective stuff on the legs. Toasty.

Without wishing to be rude, how can that pic be "the crest of a horrible steep climb."?
I can clearly see in the background that there are no hills for many miles

The place itself is on the top of a hill the picture is fcing toward London which is flat.

It's a difficult place to race. I'm not much of a climber.

@oldgit, it's Redbridge AKA Hoghill. I think that guy was assesing the gap the break had got on us. That's the crest of a horrible steep climb.

I wear team kit when on my road bike

The one in the magazine this month was seriously good looking.

I'd like to ride Mancherster or Newport. Only indoor I've done is Calshot and it's tighter than a gnat's chuff. I ride at Herne Hill sometimes.

I see you are in London. I've had a lot of success seeing a chap called Michael from Kentish Town Physiotherapy Group. He's a cyclist and gave me some good stretches/exercises, did some deep tissue work and some acupuncture like thing that stimulates the muscles at trigger points to get them to relax.

Bloody painful but I'm functional for the first time in years.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MdfQRV6a-lU/Sq6qQS5LmCI/AAAAAAAACqw/sVZy8HAFc80/s320/ant_lockyer_1024.jpg

This one wasn't too slow.

a: No idea
b: Not at all

I shave my legs. I do it because it looks better to me when I'm wearing lycra on my road bike 🙂

I also put vaseline on them so they shine.

I have no shame.

@titusrider, gotchya

There'll be no trolling from me, I'm just a fella who rides bikes.

I have no idea what ro,mada,fred is so I'll jsut laugh nervously pretending to get the joke 🙂

and I work in IT

Ah I think I may be of use to this forum then. I'm crap at spelling, my grammar is terrible and I often use the wrong phrase.

oh and you're a racist!

Yeah my name is really Ant not Any 🙂

Thanks for the welcome.