Excuse the hijack, but how do you find out when the Aldi cycling gear goes on sale? Interested in trying the winter gloves – I normally ride gloveless but it’s starting to get a bit nippy for that.

150mm on mine too. Kevin (one of the TBC owners) ran 160mm on his and said it was fine.

What’s wrong with black?

Planet X ones sound perfect. I have them, 6’5″ fit no bother.

These ones? Do you mind me asking what build you are and what size you went for? Pleased with them otherwise?

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Mudguards are very much on the list – the Raceblade Longs and Crud Road Races are the two I’m looking at. I assume I’d be okay fitting either to my bike (a Canyon Roadlite)?

I’m going to go into town and try on some tights and overshoes this weekend, but having just looked at Wiggle, some of the DHB stuff looks good and very reasonably priced: neoprene overshoes[/url], and unpadded roubaix tights[/url]. I also see that Castelli do Nanoflex tights[/url], but the DHB’s are much cheaper and I’ve been very impressed with the pair of their Aeron bibshorts I bought earlier this year, so I might give them a try.

I like the Pro (now branded as Shimano) neoprene overshoes – I’ve had 3 winters out of my pair and they’re still perfect.

These ones?

Tights-wise – I tend to use padded as if it’s cold enough to need 2 layers, it’s not going to be warm enough to strip down to shorts!

That makes sense. I guess I’m just thinking that if I buy padded, I’d have to buy two pairs, as I usually ride 5-6 days a week and don’t like to wear shorts more than twice without washing them. Whereas I already have three pairs of bibshorts, so if I bought padless I could get away with washing the shorts regularly and then the tights once a week?

I like the Endura Elite bibtights. They have waterproof seat and shins to keep the worst of any spray off.

Sounds good, but I can’t seem to find them. Evans stock the Thermolite, the Equipe and the Stealthlite?

A few other questions I’ve just thought of:

1) Bib tight – feet loops or no feet loops?
2) Overshoes – zip or no zip?

Oh, and a REALLY stupid question: I assume the tights should go over the overshoes, so that the water doesn’t end up just running down your leg and into your shoes? If so, how would that work with feet loops?

Good luck with that – The document you get has more get-outs than a rabbit warren.

Yeah, I’d heard that.

My only concern with not getting a surveyor is that the property has been extended and there is a reasonably large crack in the wall of the first floor bedroom in the new bit. We’ve been told that it’s already been surveyed by the sellers, and that it’s settlement, rather than subsidence, but I think I’d feel better having it checked out myself. Or it that something a builder could do too?

Am I missing something Al? Your link recommends 105/125psi for a 100kg rider…

I weigh 78kg and my bike weighs about 9kg, so a total weight of 87kg. With a weight distribution of 40:60 and with 25mm tyres, that recommends pressures of about 65/100psi. 65psi in the front? That can’t be right, can it?

Looked absolutely horrendous. Basso and one of the Belkin riders both abandoned with hypothermia.

Interesting, shouldn’t he be 100% focused on his racing career. Weird.

I assume he’ll just be providing the investment, rather than managing the team. Don’t suppose that’s any different to the various investments that wealthy sports stars typically have.

If he starts turning out as a domestique, that would be a different matter! :-)

Good lad. I’ve always liked Alonso.

Nice Colnago too…

Dunno what logo the clothes have on, but a mate has got some shoes and gets the pee taken for buying them from Morrisons – very similar logo

I have some Avenge shoes for my road bike and got the exact same reaction. Lovely shoes though.

Gutted for him. A heroic ride.

You’re assuming (as i would) that they were hot. Lovely girls, but they were sponsored by a local dog food company

I almost choked on my tea reading that! :D

Wow, that does seem pretty cheap. Has anyone bought a pair? Decent enough quality?

Okay, dropping Nibali so I could afford both Henao and Betancur might have been a mistake. Can’t believe they’re both effectively out after the first proper stage.

Movistar look very, very impressive so far.

It’s incredible what they can do with Chocolate substitute these days.

I do hear Athena shifts pretty sweetly.

Very nice. Which Ksyriums are those, the SLR?

R-SYS SLRs, aren’t they?

That bike is STUNNING. The silver of the DA does stand out against all the black (Ultegra or a Campag groupset might blend in a bit better), but I can’t even imagine how nice that would be to ride. Beautiful. :-)

EDIT: Did you consider the C59 disc?

Sore/saw. Important to get it right when dealing with your balls.

Although getting it wrong would inevitably lead to the other anyway. :D

ashfanman……cheers mate, that is the one.
I thought it was in the uk……bugger

Nope. Doesn’t stop me from playing around with it every so often. I was messing around one time and came up with a $10,000+ Ibis Mojo. I got an email from a sales rep the next day saying to just let them know if I wanted to go ahead with it! :D

Wrench Science[/url]? Based in the US though…

I didn’t complain – I was going faster than the speed limit and didn’t have an excuse.

The annoying thing was, I was sitting behind a slow-moving car with the full intention of just staying there, but the guy stuck his hand out the window and waved me past. I thought “oh, that was nice of him” and hit the afterburners. Less than 20 seconds later, I’m talking to an officer. I even wonder if the driver saw them and did it deliberately.

Still, lesson learned and all that.

I got pulled over today by the police for speeding on my bike. They clocked me on a speed gun. No fine or anything, but took my details and apparently I’ll get a written warning.

As has already been said, it depends what you’re riding for.

If you’re racing and find yourself getting dropped on climbs, you’ll probably need to lose some weight. This will probably mean scaling back on the weights and changing your diet, so I guess it depends on which you want to prioritise – weights or cycling. But it is pretty easy to lose weight with regular training on the road. I started road riding this summer and lost lots of weight at the start. I do 100-140 miles per week and went from 13st 10 to 12st 4 in a little over a month – and I’m 6’5, so I was already pretty skinny!

But if you’re just riding for fun, and you’re currently having fun on your rides, carry on! :-)

Really enjoyed that. I know I’ll never do an IM myself – I’m just too weak a swimmer – but it’s really inspiring seeing the level of determination needed to complete an event like that. I know it must be frustrating to have not hit your target time, but just finishing an IM is hugely impressive achievement in itself – well done! :)

new position can do that even if it’s ‘better’

Yeah, I’m anticipating that it will take a while to get used to. I’ll give it a few hundred miles and then if my back is still hurting I’ll look at it again.

don’t make the mistake i made by keep going up & up until it’s too high!

I won’t, but I do think it still a tiny bit too low. Will experiment tomorrow and see how I get on.

Just got back from my first ride with the new position. Massive improvement. My back still started hurting a bit around the hour mark, but generally things were miles better. I felt both less cramped and less stretched.

As a nice bonus, I was also considerably faster. I felt I had a lot more power and hit 68 kph on one section that I’d never managed to get above 60 kph before.

I think I probably still need to raise the saddle another 10-15mm, so I’ll try that tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your help – it’s really made a big difference! :)

Dave Grohl does talk sense…

I interviewed him once. Didn’t even think to ask him about bike fit. Opportunity missed.

You might want to raise it even more then that – basically so that when you’re on the saddle you straighten both legs fully at the bottom of the pedal stroke with your heels on the pedal. That’s roughly where you want it.

Just tried it and they’re dead straight, so hopefully things are more-or-less how they should be now. If only I had actually sorted this out before the bloody race… :(

Still, I really, really can’t wait to get out on it now – see what I’ve been missing! :mrgreen:

Well. Just raised the saddle about 3-4cm. Much, much better.

I can already feel the difference with my back. Feels like the higher position has rolled my hips forward (not sure if that’s physiologically possible, but that’s what it feels like), meaning my back is now flat, rather than hunched. It also brought my knee directly over the pedal axle without even altering the saddle position on the rails.

What a numpty. :oops:

Great, that’s really helpful. I’m going to have a play around with it now.

Once that’s sorted you can move on to fine tuning the saddle back and forth (knee should be over the pedal axle).

Presumably that’s with the cranks level?

The bench mark in timetrialling is to go under (the hour )You will always remember your first sub hour 25.

Wow, that is quick. Not sure I’ll ever get that fast, but I guess it’s something to work towards. And sorting out my horrible riding position has to be worth a minute or two! :)

Anything over 1hr15 (20mph) is a nice start for a 25. But if you’re new to testing – try a 10 first.

The one I already did at the triathlon was a 25 – I just wanted to know what’s a reasonable time as I honestly have no idea. I did it in 71 mins, which I was pretty pleased with, but also slightly frustrated as I know I could definitely have gone faster if my back wasn’t hurting.

Thanks all. Really appreciate the help.

I certainly wasn’t trying to replicate any pro position or anything like that. I just really wasn’t sure how a road bike should feel, as I’d literally never ridden one before, so stuck with what I had. I knew the saddle was too low, but really had no idea what my position was like until I saw this photo. It didn’t look right so I thought I’d get some advice on here!

I do struggle with lower back flexibility generally, but I’ll raise my saddle tomorrow and make a conscious effort to make sure I’m bending at the hips, rather than at my lower back. Hopefully that will improve matters.

In response to the other questions, the bike is a 62 and the stem is 120mm. I’m 6’6, which is why the bike doesn’t look mahoosive.

Anyway, I’ll head out for an hour tomorrow with a higher saddle and report back.

Oh, and I was just wondering, what would constitute a reasonable time for a first stab at a 25 mile TT?

The torrential rain this morning washed buckets of rancid sweat from the pads in my helmet into my mouth. Tasted foul.

This.

Was out in the thunder storm the other day, and quite enjoying myself, until the rain started soaking up the sweat from my helmet and running into my mouth. Salty and really quite unpleasant.

But, in principle: Yes, I enjoy riding in the (warm) rain. :)

In a nod towards the green jersey Sagan’s effectively got that wrapped up hasn’t he barring a bad crash etc, but surely it can’t be too far away until its mathematically impossible for anyone else to take it?

Yes, but I’m pretty sure you have to finish the tour to win a jersey, so if he crashes and has to retire, he can’t win it – even if nobody betters the points total he had when he retired.

Assuming that doesn’t happen, I’d say he’s already won it – I can’t see anyone catching him. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprise if he just extends his margin.

Wow. What a stage.

A quite brilliant ride by Saxo Tinkoff. I have to admit I had written off Contador after the first mountains stages, but that has blown things wide open.

Great to see Cav winning again too. Did really well to get in that break and there was only ever going to be one winner at the end.

Baby steps…

Who wants to get on the phone to HTC, Highroad, and Columbia?

I don’t really care what colours they do it under – just so long as Cav ends up with a properly functioning train so his talents don’t continue to be squandered.

It’s so frustrating watching Cannondale, Lotto Belisol and Argos Shimano forming well-drilled trains while Cav struggles to find a wheel. :(

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/renshaw-to-ride-for-omega-pharma-quick-step-in-2014 – Best. News. Ever.

Whaaaaaaaat? Amazing!

But it’s not the best news ever. The best would be that Bernie is also coming across… :wink:

(I would ask for Goss too, but I don’t want to be greedy. :mrgreen: )

JimstersJinkers pull an Evans and disappear off the top, to be replaced with Grannys Rings by Chris Johnson at the top of the Fantasy league.

Score. Took a bit of a gamble putting all my eggs in the Froome-Porte-Sagan-Cav basket (not exactly a huge gamble, you might say), but seems to be paying off so far. Top three teams almost identical – should be close. (Certainly closer than my convincing victory in the STW Giro league, at least. 8) )

As for today, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sky dominate again. Froome just looks untouchable – he could be 2+ mins up on his nearest (non-Sky) rival by the rest day.

I’m 6’5 and ride a 62.

Why don’t you see if you can get a longer test ride from your LBS or even hire a road bike for a day?