Hey Shibboleth, I just read your note about the DA C24s. I checked them out and I think this could be the wheel for me!

I really don’t think you can go far wrong with them. They’re not the most exotic wheelset on the market, but in terms of getting the job done well, there’s nowt better in that price bracket.

The difference after riding Ultegras and Open Pro handbuilts over winter is amazing, if anyone says they’re not particularly stiff, I’d really have to wonder what they want out of a wheel – they’re plenty stiff enough for an 80kg rider like myself. And they spin up so fast, I have to get used to tapping it up a sprocket before getting out of the saddle.

I’ve said it many times before, but look at what pro teams use – particularly the ones that have to buy their own kit. 80% are on Shimano wheels this year.

After much deliberating, I got DA C24s. In terms of value for weight, there’s nothing else close. The C35s don’t really seem very good value in comparison.

The Mavics look lovely, but I couldn’t justify spending almost twice as much purely for cosmetic reasons.

1350gms for about 600 quid… Spend the leftover on some nice clothing. 🙂

The one I looked at in Wheelbase had Rotor cranks. I wasn’t a big fan of the wheels either – there’s obviously an assumption that you’ll upgrade those or have a set of deep sections for racing… Sadly, that seems to be the case with most ready-built road bikes nowadays.

Very sad indeed… The Crow Road is my favourite book, I’ve read it so many times my copy is falling to pieces.

I shall look forward to savouring his last book…

Had a look at the Focus Izalco Pro recently, cracking spec for the money. You only get a Rotor chainset though – fine if you want to use Q Rings etc, but the chainset is the stand-out item in the 9000 groupset, I think it’s such a shame not to have it!

A couple of lads I ride with have recently gone onto Scott Foils… They don’t like long rides any more… 😉

Personally, with that budget, I’d get the Canyon and then upgrade the frame to a Cervélo in a couple of years…

Looks like I’ll be cancelling my Green Insurance a couple of months early and switching to M&S or AA…

The cheapest I could get single bike cover was with Velosure: £420 for £6000 cover… 😮

Do they offer europe-wide cover Aracer? What value will they insure up to?

…just waiting for AA underwriter to ring me back…

I live in a very exclusive area… 😉

I think my premium was around 300 quid…

Is that a total of £3000 of bikes, or up to £3000 per bike?

There were 2 at £3k, 2 at £2k and a couple at £1500. The premium isn’t ridiculous either, but I don’t know what the bikes add to it as it was my first policy with them.

The cover is very comprehensive too, European travel etc… The usual security stipulations.

nobody seems to insure bikes over £1000 or £1500 (not even the companies others are mentioning) without speaking to them.

Just ring them up, they’re very helpful. They’ll only insure roadbikes with proper man’s gears though, so you might have to lie and say you ride a 53-tooth chainring… 😉

Sorry for slight hijack, but can anyone recommend a single bike insurer?

I’m insured with Green Insurance who I would recommend – they allowed me to list 6 bikes up to about £3-grand on the main policy with no quibble.

But when I asked to add a bike with a replacement value of £6.5k, they told me that not only would they not insure it, but they wanted to withdraw my current cover as I had such a “high risk” item kept in my home!!

So, give Green Insurance a buzz, but if anyone has any suggestions for a decent insurer for one bike, European cover etc, please add your thoughts…

😀

The rubber pads on Look pedals disintegrate after a bit of use, but it doesn’t effect them at all… You only need to change them if the get damage sufficiently to make them sloppy of come unclipped when you pull up.

From Tracey’s Daily Wail article:

But not everyone is working the waxed look, as rugby player, Danny Grewcock proves

Oh the ironing…

Christ I’ve gotta do my balls too!

Never heard of tea-bagging?

I’m strangely inclined to give it a go given that so many seem to! Any tips….veet? blow torch? lawn mower?

As mentioned before, hair clippers on their lowest setting for the, erm, fringe(?) and then a Mac3-type razor dragged gently across the surface seems to work best for the balls, barse and in the groin area.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but working dry seems to get the best result, and if you wrap any, erm, loose skin round your fist first, you get a nice smooth finish without any nicks.

I’m told Veet works well, but timings are critical. And when I say ‘critical’, I really mean critical! I’m told there’s less itchiness when it grows back, but I’ve never suffered from that anyway…

Having returned to the dating game – with some gusto – around 3 years ago, I can honestly say that in my experience, around 90% of women I’ve got to know quite well have been completely smooth.

Anecdotal evidence also suggests it’s more hygienic, more comfortable, and makes them feel ‘sexier’. And it means they’re more likely to get the lingering attentions of a man “lapping away like a thirsty dog at a puddle”.

I have a regular buzz round with an electric clipper – a 2mm stubble is less prickly but far more comfortable than the old retro-cock look.

And yes, the vast majority of ladies go for the completely shaven look now (thankfully) so it would seem rude to expect them to tolerate a face-full of wiry knob-‘fro.

That Brian Yeagle vid is ace, especially as he looks like someone’s daft uncle that’s borrowed their bike…

I find Webbie to be polite, kind to children and animals, patient with old people and a very gentle lover… 😉

I’m “The Face” of a holiday park in the north west of England. So I’m on prime time TV adverts several times a day between January and April every year. I have been recognised…

I also get a text message EVERY SINGLE TIME the advert screens from various casual acquaintances saying “Just seen you ont’ telly!”

I also got pulled over by the cops with a drunk R2-D2 actor, Kenny Baker, standing in the passenger footwell of my car, clinging on to the dashboard.

And Christine Hamilton sexually assaulted me… (well, pinched my bum).

I’ve got the Assos sJ.13 luftSchutz Shell Jacket which is a brilliant piece of kit.

Looks a bit “gimpish” but it’s incredibly warm for a thin shell, packs to the size of a packet of peanuts and it’s freakishly breathable. It gets a thin layer of salt on the surface of the fabric after rides where sweat has evaporated.

It has really nice stretchy panels too, and mesh area for added breathability. It’s not supposed to be 100% waterproof but I’ve not noticed any water ingress in heavy rain..

What frame size are you riding? Have you thought about going up a size?
Seat tube angle is largely irrelevant – it’s the top-tube length that matters.

I really don’t get how people can be so picky about things like a one degree change in seat angle. Can anyone really tell?! How much is placebo?!

+1… In fact +1 for all that! Some people think that over-analysing and stressing over minute changes somehow makes them better cyclists.

I ride a Giant TCR M/L (supposedly a 53.5cm), a Cervélo R5 56cm and a Dolan Prefissio 60cm. They’re all COMPLETELY different sizes, but if you line them up side-by-side, the contact points are all within 10mm of each other.

That 10mm is generally forgotten by the end of my road… 😉

Posh Cervelo road bike
Not quite as posh Giant road bike for crits
Dolan winter road bike
Flat bar Roadrat
Soul
Blur
Rigid single speed
Hack/lend-to-people hardtail
Hack/lend-to-people roadbike

So that makes 9… I did have 11, sold one but no idea what happened to the other…

You sure? The first one I looked up was Magnus Backstedt, who – at 6’4″ – is a whisker shorter than me. I’m sure there are plenty more.

A) Viner are a specialist custom frame manufacturer, so it’s in their interest to say they could custom-build a frame for an “atypical” rider.

B) If he’d ridden for a team that rode Cannondale for example, they would just have given him a 60cm frame off the shelf. Or a 63 if that wasn’t big enough.

C) 6’4″ isn’t unusually big.

First upgrade will be carbon bars..

To be honest, that would be my last upgrade (unless you don’t like the profile)… You’ll spot barely any discernible difference. The Giant ‘own brand’ bars and stem are perfectly adequate.

My advice would be to upgrade the shifters to minimum 105 and sell the Tiagra ones on ebay.

I’d also keep your eyes open for some 105 or Ultegra calipers – those Tektros are heavy as hell in comparison… They work fine though.

It seems rather strange that Pro-Tour teams can hand a load of off-the-peg framesets to a team of riders, covering every body-shape from wispy little climbers to big, powerful sprinters via lanky time-trialists and brick shithouse rouleurs and they can all get a perfect fit with little more than a few stem-lengths and bar profiles.

My seat position is with the saddle as far back as possible on a 20mm layback post with a 72deg seat angle.

Why?

Well, yes, we seem to be agreeing that geometry comes first and foremost, yes? If it’s not going to fit perfectly or your weight is in the wrong place or the handling isn’t right then it’s a no-go, right?

Geometry for the purpose. The geometry for the person is dictated by all those variable bits – saddle height, stem length, bar height/width etc.

It sounds like you’re trying to make the wrong sized frame fit you.

Well, for a start that’s entirely untrue if you’re at the ends of conventional sizing ranges. There are a lot of frames out there that simply can’t be made to fit me.

Why? What unique requirements do you have?

there’s no sense in buying touring geometry for exciting handling or TT geometry for audax riding.

🙄 Which is exactly why I said buy the right bike for your intended use.

Because tube profile has the biggest influence on stiffness.

If frame stiffness is high on your list of requirements, then there is no other option apart from carbon. Unless you don’t mind getting a battering, in which case buy a cheap alloy frame.

To the OP, if I was shopping in your budget at the moment, I’d have a look at Onix Bikes[/url]. They’re local to me, developed in conjunction with Rob Hayles and they have a fleet of demo bikes available. The RH Pro is a belting frame…

Cracking frame for the money, it’ll be a good platform to upgrade in future…

Geometry first, tube profiles second, material third.

I’d have to disagree with that completely. Sure, pick the geometry that suits your intended use, but at long as the size is correct, any frame can be made to fit any rider.

Custom build is a complete con. There’s no “fixed” riding position for any one rider – my position adapts throughout the season – so there’s absolutely no point paying a premium for someone to build a bespoke frame other than snob value.

And why on earth would you let tube profiles dictate your choice?

Yes, carbon is lightweight, stiff as all hell and can make a lovely frame but the ride can be harsh also.

I’d go for a really nice custom steel frame any day of the week and regardless of budget. Just love the way it rides, that zip and spring you get from a steel ride.

This sounds like someone that’s read a lot of reviews but not actually ridden many bikes.

Carbon can be built to feel like ANY frame material, but they generally build them to have huge lateral rigidity as well as a degree of vertical compliance for comfort.

The best carbon frames get it just about spot on, and, having ridden a few, I really think we’re almost at the pinnacle of frame manufacture. All that’s left now is to develop the aero concept of frames like the S2 or Venge and combine them with the low weight of frames like the R5 or Supersix Evo.

Giant are making big inroads with the Propel, there will be a few more in next couple of years…

I paid roughly Extensor budget and got a Cervélo R5 VWD. There are deals to be had and some really nice carbon frames to choose from in that price bracket.

Personally, I’d always choose the most advanced and best performing material for a frame, so steel and ti wouldn’t even be on the shortlist.

Well set up 105 is flawless and a joy to use. I have bikes with 105, Ultegra and Dura Ace 9000. The 105 performs comparably, the only major difference being the weight.

I rode the 105-equipped bike yesterday after a strip/rebuild and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Only Ultegra.

I doubt it’s beyond the wit of man to assemble an 11-25 cassette and hence be able (in theory) to burn off that big man with a non-compact in your chain gang and have a better range of climbing gears available too…

Of course roadies are thick, so most of them don’t think of this sort of thing…

11-25 is readily available. And roadies often use them – I do. 12-25 gives nicer gaps between ratios but I don’t mind the odd big gap in favour of that higher top end.

I think you’ll find that roadies are far better informed than your obviously limited experience has led you to believe. 🙄

I think the problem here is that most people on STW go to road bikes after a lifetime on mountain bikes. I rode and raced road bikes from my teens before starting riding mtbs in my mid twenties.

Riding up hills isn’t supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to hurt. Putting a gear on that allows you to crawl up whilst spinning a really high cadence isn’t really in the spirit of riding bikes for fitness and speed.

Most of my local climbs – Pennines tend to ramp up towards the top, a feature of glacial hills. There are often 25% and steeper sections, but they’re relatively short, so you get used to grunting up them.

Technique, speed and determination are all that’s required. However, you could just put a triple and an mtb casette on, then you don’t need any of those things. 😉

I know that climb! it’s got a handrail on the right hand side for pedestrians! You wouldn’t really want to choose your gears based on 300 yards of tarmac that you might only ride every once in a while.

I can get up it on 39/25, but it’s a grunt rather than a spin… And if it’s wet, back wheel slip would be a problem.

Even pro’s have to get off and push every once in a while, as was demonstrated in the Tirreno-Adriatico this week…

Click for Gallery

I think this would constitute “unreasonable behaviour”.

I suspect they met him in a bar and thought it would be novel to attempt a slightly different take on the ubiquitous celebrity pics everyone uses on facebook. Such whacky dudes…

It’s clearly 2 different “dudes”. They’re both wearing different clothes.