Almost winter bike time? :(

[thiscocks]

stongle said:

Yep, a lot of that..

Winter / commuter at the front, race bike at the rear.



WRT to mud guards, yes as a courtesy measure for club rides but otherwise why bother? I'm harder than Rule 5 preferring to break out my Hagakure (or maybe Ghostdog) - "There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."

;-)

cos even when its just light rain you get legs and arse soaked and covered in st. Its like saying 'why not drive a caterham all year round'. The clip on ones are better than nothing but are useless for group rides. You might as well pour a couple of pints of water and mud over every rider in the group befor you start.

[Soop Dogg]

I remember mid 80's when I was cycling for the RAF, I turned up at the house of Hugh Porter to see if I could ride out with him and if he could give me some pointers. (I think he won the world professional pursuit championship about 5 times, so he doesn't need to be told to MTFU!) I guess back then I was an OKGO kind of lad - you know, ready to take on the world and one day I'd be a pro etc etc. (Oh the naivety of youth!)

My bike was sat in his driveway. It had been snowing and it was way after dark. The first thing he said when he looked around his door and saw my (winter) bike?

"Get some mudguards on that mate! You can't be riding around for hours in the cold and wet getting soaked or you'll get ill at this time of year."

In winter, look after number one. You need to be getting in plenty of miles to build up endurance in the winter, and yes - you will get wet. But you should at least try to stay drier for longer. That way, you're much more likely to get the distance done and be able to go out and do it all again tomorrow!

[thiscocks]

^yep

[okgo]

So that kind of sounds like a tradition thing then like your description of what winter training should be. There are a few older types in our club that insist your winter bike needs to have a dynamo, weigh 14kg etc etc, and when questioned on the logic as to why that is, the answers are lacking in any substance to be honest, you can fit guards to any bike now, so that isn't a worry as mentioned.

Living where we do where the weather is actually quite st most of the year it makes little odds. What happens if you wanted to go out for a ride today and got caught in a shower, would you have rued your choice not to bring the 'winter' bike?

Just so you know, I have no delusions of being a pro, and I'm not particularly young. So please change the record.

Edited by okgo on Friday 19th September 16:07

[Dammit]

I love your use of "tradition" as a pejorative. Let me guess, SRAM?

Anyway, this is all a bit pointless - those that don't want to throw a bucket of muddy water in their club-mates faces will fit proper mudguards, those that do, won't.

[okgo]

For anyone wanting to use their existing bike, as said I've used these with great effect on a couple of different bikes

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sks-race-blade-clip-on-mud...

[Dammit]

Have you sat in the wheel of someone using them when it's raining?

Mud-bukkake time.

[okgo]

Yep, they come down a long way, work pretty well IMO. Looks like 250 people on wiggle agree?

[Dammit]

If you're happy, and you can find other people willing to ride with you then I'm sure they're fine.

Good enough, by the very definition.

[Deerfoot]

While we're on the subject of mudguards, are the Crud Roadracer 2 guards any good?

[okgo]

Deerfoot said:

While we're on the subject of mudguards, are the Crud Roadracer 2 guards any good?

Now I must say these are not very good.

I fitted a set, one ride, I went over some cobbles and before I knew it the front guard had been chewed to bits by the spokes. And this wasn't the Muur, it was Kingston town center

[Soop Dogg]

okgo said:

So that kind of sounds like a tradition thing then like your description of what winter training should be. There are a few older types in our club that insist your winter bike needs to have a dynamo, weigh 14kg etc etc, and when questioned on the logic as to why that is, the answers are lacking in any substance to be honest, you can fit guards to any bike now, so that isn't a worry as mentioned.

Living where we do where the weather is actually quite st most of the year it makes little odds. What happens if you wanted to go out for a ride today and got caught in a shower, would you have rued your choice not to bring the 'winter' bike?

Just so you know, I have no delusions of being a pro, and I'm not particularly young. So please change the record.

Edited by okgo on Friday 19th September 16:07

I don't think I've said anywhere here that I disagree with your point of view on winter training.

On the contrary, I am all for mudguards in the winter and I also reckon that RaceBlades are pretty good at keeping water off me. (I have two sets of them hanging in the garage.)

I didn't say it in my post, but I was talking about 30 years ago. Bikes back then were almost all steel, be that 753 or 531 etc. If you think Colnago Master, you'll remember that they had a fair bit of chrome on them. So did my bike. Chrome and salt don't really agree with each other and salt can win that battle if just left for one night on chrome. Brakes etc also had parts that were chrome plated. (I'm thinking abouth the quick release lever on something like 1970's Campag Super Record brakes) For this reason, I always had a winter bike - which was as close to my race bike as I could get, but with less exotic equipment. I was always of the opinion that you can't race like a thoroughbred if you train like a cart horse! My coaches down the years always rode with mudguards through the winter.

Sorry about the 'taking on the world'/'wanting to be a pro' bit - it's just how you come across on here sometimes. I don't really mind it too much, it just makes me smile and I was having a bit of a friendly dig at your expense. I don't even know you so I have no idea how fast you may or may not really be. Don't take it too seriously, eh?

[Deerfoot]

okgo said:

Deerfoot said:

While we're on the subject of mudguards, are the Crud Roadracer 2 guards any good?

Now I must say these are not very good.

I fitted a set, one ride, I went over some cobbles and before I knew it the front guard had been chewed to bits by the spokes. And this wasn't the Muur, it was Kingston town center

Ah, many thanks for this. I'll look elsewhere.

[gazza285]

I can't understand why anybody would go out on wet roads at any time of the year without mudguards, it's not just about not getting wet, the clue is in the name.

All that crap off the roads isn't just going up your back and being sprayed up in your face, it's getting thrown all over your bike as well, especially your drivetrain. I'll stick with full length guards on my all-year wet weather bike and keep the shiny bike for the sun shine.

[Grandfondo]

The best mudguards for a racing bike are SKS race blade longs which are far far better than the SKS racebkades.
They are quick release but have a more permanent fixing at the brakes and the wheels!
At my club mudguards are compulsory for winter club rides.

[TheFungle]

gazza285 said:

I can't understand why anybody would go out on wet roads at any time of the year without mudguards, it's not just about not getting wet, the clue is in the name.

All that crap off the roads isn't just going up your back and being sprayed up in your face, it's getting thrown all over your bike as well, especially your drivetrain. I'll stick with full length guards on my all-year wet weather bike and keep the shiny bike for the sun shine.

+1

Although I've got very good winter kit having the guards on the bike makes a massive difference. Plenty of winter days when it's not raining but the roads are still soaking; this is when guards come into their own and I don't fancy being sat behind my mate with road st being sprayed up.

[Barchettaman]

+1

Raceblade Longboards are very good indeed:



Standard raceblades, however, are a complete ballache and a waste of time and money.

[Deerfoot]

Barchettaman said:

+1

Raceblade Longboards are very good indeed:



Standard raceblades, however, are a complete ballache and a waste of time and money.

Hmm, I'd prefer the rear guard to reach down past the front mech for a bit of extra protection, can anybody recommend any other guards?

[Barchettaman]

Yep, the only downer. The front mech gets a drenching of GT85 after a wet ride!

[scherzkeks]

Soop Dogg said:

I don't think I've said anywhere here that I disagree with your point of view on winter training.

On the contrary, I am all for mudguards in the winter and I also reckon that RaceBlades are pretty good at keeping water off me. (I have two sets of them hanging in the garage.)

I didn't say it in my post, but I was talking about 30 years ago. Bikes back then were almost all steel, be that 753 or 531 etc. If you think Colnago Master, you'll remember that they had a fair bit of chrome on them. So did my bike. Chrome and salt don't really agree with each other and salt can win that battle if just left for one night on chrome. Brakes etc also had parts that were chrome plated. (I'm thinking abouth the quick release lever on something like 1970's Campag Super Record brakes) For this reason, I always had a winter bike - which was as close to my race bike as I could get, but with less exotic equipment. I was always of the opinion that you can't race like a thoroughbred if you train like a cart horse! My coaches down the years always rode with mudguards through the winter.

Sorry about the 'taking on the world'/'wanting to be a pro' bit - it's just how you come across on here sometimes. I don't really mind it too much, it just makes me smile and I was having a bit of a friendly dig at your expense. I don't even know you so I have no idea how fast you may or may not really be. Don't take it too seriously, eh?

I've commuted on an old early-80s Colnago super for about 10 years. Almost never wash it during the winter and have had no issues with pitting chrome. I also confess to using race blade guards (quite successfully, I might add). For what its worth...