jonny360

Were you the other tog I spoke with at the end with Mr Swarbrick?

Do you also have these photos elsewhere as I don’t do my@rsebook and the link doesn’t work

Gary_M – Member

yep, but at least it sees a lot of miles.

mmm so do my road bikes but they don’t look as manky as that

Seat pack, light fitted upside down on seat post, manky white tape, tyre/wheel logos not lined up, stem spacers, water bottle doesn’t match, someone knows how to make a good bike look shit

FTFY

And +1

molgrips, njee

I don’t know if Nick was relating that to one specific TT but I can tell you that this isn’t some interweb BS willy waving.

Feel free to read his write up about his trip to the wind tunnel HERE and have a gander at his results HERE

In the few years he’s taken TTing seriously, he’s picked up local course records and consistently bangs out 30mph rides.

A friend who’s taken the tech and training very seriously over the past few years with fantastic results, has actually stopped using them.

Quote

“Just recently I was talking to Dr Wind Tunnel – aka Simon Smart who is a first class engineer and seems to know loads about everything related to bicycle manufacture etc. and he suggested that I should switch back to round rings and I would notice and improvement…. which seemed odd.

Anyway I did and I have. I’ve swapped my 55T Q-Ring for a 56T Dura ace round ring and have found another 15-20Watts – at least from Sunday’s races at BBH. So I think that for riding hilly courses then elliptical rings work well but for TT’s I’m not so sure that there’s that much in it. So many of the best riders are using conventional chainrings.”

He did think they might suit MTBs but hadn’t tried them. I also think a lot of it will depend on your pedalling style as well

atlaz – Member

Strava occasionally shits itself but only because of people’s crappy GPS tracks. I know several dead flat cat 2 or cat 3 climbs.

I’ll say

I discovered I have a ’24%’ gradient on one of my regular commutes.

2% possibly? 🙄

If you look here – http://www.explorebritain.info/woodland-east-sussex-sheffield-forest-tq4226/osmap you’ll see that there isn’t much in the way of bridleways in the area.

I have a 25 mile MTB commute loop in which I’ve tried to link up as many (legal) paths together but as you can see from this Garmin trace, it’s rather convoluted and has a lot of road in it.

I’ve not been to Sheffield Forest so don’t know what you could expect.

You could try Tilgate Forest in Crawley (either side of the M23 as shown in my track) but there’s not a lot there.

P.S Rewski, can you email me please?

There’s burgger all official / decent off road riding in Mid Sussex and whilst I don’t know how far west Ashdown Forest officially extends, I wouldn’t chance an investigatory ride.

Deers Leap Park next door to the Scientology European HQ is the nearest logical place but I don’t know what the current state of play is there.

It will be muddy though!

Cheers fellas

I wasn’t fazed by any of the course other than as Gee points out, trying to do it at more than (my) snails pace. You could have got into a good old state if you’d bolxed up some of the descents / bombholes but isn’t that what adrenalin is for?

weeksy – Member

Well i think we’ve reached a point of completion.

Went to AW cycles… sat on some bikes, GOD they’re LOVELY looking…

Did a wee test ride…

**** me, i hate **** road bikes. God they’re bloody awful things to sit on and ride.

Road bike is 100% off the list.

Ha Ha Ha like it. 😆

I am with DavidT on this but hey it’s your life and money.

molgrips

Now if you’re looking at 40mm or deeper rims then yes I can see the logic however I wouldn’t personally road race a set.

Why?

I know plenty of people who’ve trashed decent CF rims in road races. A recent one would be one Sean Yates esq who got taken out in a recent RR at Goodwood.

His younger brother Conall has also had ‘fun’ in a crash this year.

For the record I have Corima Aeros and Easton EA90 TT wheels for the TT wagon.

Slightly OT question

I’ve no point of reference on this colour coding of trails based upon (technical) difficulty.

Did any of Sunday’s trails have a grading and if so what were they? – I’m just curious as what to expect of any future trail centre trips.

I went to Afan back in 05 but don’t recall it being colour coded?

Cheers

Empirically, I’ve never noticed any real difference with slightly ‘aero’ rims.

I brought a set of Campag Zondas back in 03 for my TT bike before going CF tubs. Said Zondas are now on my winter bike, mainly because I wrecked a Vento rim on a drain cover, and had two Aksium hubs fail.

Now if you’re looking at 40mm or deeper rims then yes I can see the logic however I wouldn’t personally road race a set.

Stick with what you know works

I’ve flicked through this thread and based upon what you’ve said and the most likely top tube length (56 – 57cm), I think that Bianchi will be OK size wise.

Ignore 0.5′ frame angle differences and 170, 172.5 or 175 crank lengths because quite frankly, I’d be stunned if you actually noticed the subtle differences.

Once you have a road bike (hopefully that Bianchi) you will fettle with the seat height, stem length, bar height and possibly even bar width. You do need to get these right as you spend most of your time in just a couple of positions, unlike a MTB where you’re constantly stopping, hucking over obstacles, over the back wheel on a descent etc etc

I’m 5′ 10″ with a slightly short torso for my height. Here are my road bike dimensions for comparison

Best road bike – 545mm TT, 74′ seat tube angle
TT bike – 547mm TT, 77′ seat angle
Winter bike – 560mm TT, 73′ seat angle
‘Hack’ road bike – 540mm TT, 72.5′ seat angle

All have different length seat posts and stems etc yet (shockingly :wink:) they all fit.

My main data store is a RAID 5 ReadyNas Ultra 6. Defo overkill for a few docs and music streaming but I’ve got a few TB of raw photos on it so need the space and reliability.

Also have a Duo which is painfully slow with file copies, probably because the disks are mirrored.

Not had any issues with Squeezebox on either device.

Gee

you clearly have a rubber skeleton and like riding too much, judging by your Strava feed 😆 8)

^^^^^ so effing wrong 😆

When the first big round of scaremongering / slapping the plebs down started in 2008, we took perverse delight in wondering why UK security was so locked down compared to the Egyptians, who allowed at least one person on our flight with a massive thick carved walking stick. – You’d have needed to tape 4 pool cues together to get a similar size weapon.

Not actually had a problem with the Yank’s TSA staff but it’s very obvious that they’ve employed some people who just about managed to sign their own name.

So as my first proper solo MTB event since 1997 I can safely say I wasn’t tough enough!

Tried to keep up with my mate on the first lap but gave up after 15 mins and instead tried to concentrate on not falling off too much (limited success) and not getting in too many people’s way (fair to middling effort).

Wimped out on many of the climbs and also decided to have a chat with my photographist colleague Mr Swarbrick on my final lap.

Glad to have made the trip and it was a good eye opener for the importance of practising singletrack, plus riding your (MTB) bike on a regular basis; – two things I singularly lack!

Cheers to ACU et al 8)

P.S big props to the sado masochist on the rigid single speed. I was shot to bits on my CF hardtail with gears!

Ignoring the sartorial aspect to this thread, airport security around the world is full of stunted individuals who failed to get a proper security job and are on some twatty little power trip.

Consequently there is no consistency in their approach but the higher ups have to support the knuckle dragger’s decisions for fear of loosing face. Logic and common sense are three words in a dictionary somewhere as far as these people are concerned.

BurnBob
Best option is to dig holes(should be easy due to rain) then use stuff called Postcrete which is specifically for posts. Very simple to use. Dig hole, post in, fill hole with water then pour bag of stuff in. Will be solid with 5-10 minutes. Fiver a bag or so. Put at least a quarter of post in the ground, fence posts, rails and slats are all standard sizes, use screws rather than nails.

This works but you also need to think about the post rotting after a few years. – Form the postcrete into a dome/slope up to each post so that water will run away from the base of the post.

Might also be painting or preserving the base of the post at the same time.

Oh and if you have any trees or large shrubs in the area, you WILL find a root in the wrong place. ‘Mutts’ are good for cutting through such things and post hole diggers can make life easier as well. More info

BTTT

29″? Err yeah I’m running four road bikes with the aforementioned 29″ / 700c wheels.

26? Just brought a 3rd MTB. Really couldn’t see the logic of not being able to swap wheels around

Did Winch to Devils Dyke last year as a ‘ride’ and passed a fair few BHFers. You should find others to ride along with but it won’t be anything like the L2B day ride.

If I do it again I won’t be able to get to the start until gone 7:30 so probably wouldn’t see you.

pants – Member

Getting with the times, now have a Facebook page!

Are You Tough Enough that is.

AYTE

I don’t do my@rsebook but did I see a reference to one Webber, M of Aylesbury participating?

If so, we’ll need to make sure he doesn’t have another crash as I don’t want Teflonso winning the F1.

I have a set of the factory Hope / DT4.2s. Don’t have the figures in front of me but they’re noticeably heavier (and slower) than the two Roval and Easton sets I have.

After the wheels, we’re talking crankset, bars, stem seatpost and saddle.

Not had a prob with my Park cable cutters. However my Bahco cutters have started playing silly burggers as of late. Probably need sharpening.

Just to counter the ‘no hot spots’ comments, I’ve often suffered with hot spots in my road shoes over the years and that’s been with Carnac, Northwave, Gaerne, and a couple of other brands I can’t remember atm.

The key thing here is a good fitting shoe and as someone with v broad feet, this isn’t always easy to resolve with cycling shoes.

Never had an issue with MTB shoes (Shimano, Nike and Spesh) on long (6 hour + rides) but I but that down to the constant stop start of MTBing.

I’ve been using Look pedals since the late 80’s and the larger cleat does mean a broader contact area. The latest composite Keo pedals are a hell of a lot lighter than the previous generation and don’t squeak either.

Park Tools[/url]

Spooky as Carlos put some new pics up yesterday!

Last page

Cool, though do we get our money back if it is in any way muddy? 😉 😆

I’ve been wearing Transitions prescription lenses for years but never wear glasses when road biking.

I’ve been toying with a set of Oakley Flaks as well but can’t get over the £200ish cost of the lenses which does take the pinkle somewhat.

thestabiliser

Cheers Guys

Ian, i think you overestimate my chances but will try and do your advice justice.

After yeas of MTB hirsuitness I’m going to have to shave my legs, aren’t I?

Eye of the tiger….GRRRRR….after this caramel shortbread, like.

Not at all.

Had some folk in the office do a relay event last year at Dorney Lake (Olympic rowing venue) which is so flat you can see the curve of the earth. I offered to go out for a bike training pootle thinking the cyclist would do the 40K in a gentle 1:20. Turns out he took just over 2 hours for the 25 miles………

Oh and don’t shave your legs, especially if you’re a bit hairy elsewhere, – it’ll look even more wrong!

Sorry to hear that and as others have said, document everything and get on to some legal types.

I’m not condoning the driver’s actions but unfortunately these things do happen (been there, done that). I am surprised he admitted liability at the scene and I’ll put money on it he’ll change his tune when the paperwork starts coming in.

Definitely worth checking you’re 100% OK on the medical front. A work mate was taken out last year and he’s still having shoulder issues.

cp

GPS’s know where you are to within a few metres. They know what time zone you’re in.

Indeed but I still have to change the timezone on my 705 whenever it goes abroad.

I have a 705 and downloaded the free USGS topo maps for New England for when we go skiing.

Put these on another card and they work fine. Dunno about the 800 but you might need to manually change the time zone?

Really must try openstreetmaps for the UK instead of the old topo data my Garmin has.

If you’re talking about the Spesh Shiv I posted up a while back,

Carlos hasn’t posted any more updates.

I haven’t done a triathlon in 15 years but can still remember the importance of getting the swim successfully out of the way.

I detest swimming with a passion but made the effort to get to the pool 2 or 3 times a week in the run up to the events. Assuming it’s a pool swim they’re generally a bit of a bun fight following others in lanes. – Don’t fret over this and just concentrate on what you’re doing.

Now, speaking as a photographer who’s shot loads of triathlons, do yourself a favour and DON’T ride a MTB, especially if you have a helmet peak. – Nothing screams noob on a tractor quite as much as this!

Most of my local tri’s are on quite testing courses, being either hilly or on narrow country roads, or both. – Find out what the route is and have a couple of practice runs.

If you can find a local bike club who are running evening 10 mile TT’s they’re definitely worth a go, just to set a benchmark on.

It’s also worth practising transitions from bike to run, just to get the different muscle groups used to the effort. Convenience says do an X mile loop from home on your bike and then quickly change into running shoes and go out again for 2 – 4K

don simon – Member

hyphen?

+ 1

Now if I’d been really clever / stupid, I should have entered the ACU 25 on P881/25, and then popped up afterwards.

Keep us posted with weather updates s’il vous plait

Out of the choices, I’d go with Eastbourne for geographical convenience.

The A27 and A22 aren’t particularly decent roads out of Ebo but are much better than the A259 through Bexhill.

I’m not sure I can think of anything worse than a BnB in Newhaven 😉 but if you’ve got a MTB with you, you have Friston Forest E of Seaford, Stanmer park in Brighton and the South Downs Way practically on your doorstep.

Scaled

If you want even more laid back Turkey, try a Gulet cruise. They’re so laid back they’re beyond horizontal 8).

However Turkey isn’t cheap these days.