Tips/critique for a new rider
Discussion
okgo said:
At risk of pointing you back to my first post — people that do the same thing each ride get good at…. Yes you guessed it, that same thing 
Some hard. Some slow. Some long. Some with all 3. Some rest. You’ll get better doing that.
Good advice. I'll do an alternative route tomorrow that I do far less often. It is not very hilly which should mean I can do a nice fast ride.Some hard. Some slow. Some long. Some with all 3. Some rest. You’ll get better doing that.
I'm assuming cable, chain and cassette wear only applies to older bikes that have done a fair mileage? I bought my £400 Argos carbon special in 2014 but have probably only done 500 miles on it since then, and sometimes get a bit of gear slippage. I am due to ride the Bealach Na Ba in Applecross at the end of July and want to make sure it's shifting perfectly. Comfortable servicing my own bike as do it on my MTBs, but wonder what the best course of action is to give me the best chance of making the ride.
okgo said:
At risk of pointing you back to my first post — people that do the same thing each ride get good at…. Yes you guessed it, that same thing
Some hard. Some slow. Some long. Some with all 3. Some rest. You’ll get better doing that.
Build up a portfolio of routes and vary them day by day. Go round in the other direction (sometimes painful depending on the hills)Some hard. Some slow. Some long. Some with all 3. Some rest. You’ll get better doing that.
I generally go out for about an hour at lunchtime during the week (get a break from the computer and some fresh air) and have a number of routes from 18-25km and with 100-250m of climbing. The longer routes don't necessarily have more climbing, one of the shorter ones is the toughest. I don't generally follow the same route two days running, or even twice in a week. I do have the advantage of living on the edge of Cannock Chase and going that way means more climbing, going the other way means it is a little flatter.
SpunkyGlory said:
I'm assuming cable, chain and cassette wear only applies to older bikes that have done a fair mileage? I bought my £400 Argos carbon special in 2014 but have probably only done 500 miles on it since then, and sometimes get a bit of gear slippage. I am due to ride the Bealach Na Ba in Applecross at the end of July and want to make sure it's shifting perfectly. Comfortable servicing my own bike as do it on my MTBs, but wonder what the best course of action is to give me the best chance of making the ride.
After only 500 miles, I would guess it's more likely to be cable stretch than chain wear - if you are not sure a chain measurement tool is about a tenner. If you change your chain regularly then your cassette will last longer. As a chain stretches it does not sit in the valleys between the teeth but instead rides up the side of the teeth on the cassette, causing a sharks tooth effect as it wears. There are many on here who do that in 2-3 weeks and won't change their chain monthly. I get through about 2 a year, ride 500+ miles in a dry month and dunk the chain in an ultrasonic bath whenever it starts to get too 'gritty' internally.My guess would be that it is simply cable stretch, or a 'virtual' stretch where the plastic cable ends on the outers have settled in, causing the effect of a longer inner - if that makes sense? Half a turn on the adjuster, and a clean and lube might be all that it needs.
It would be looking at tyres and brake pads though - ten year old rubber now...check for cracking in the sidewalls of the tyres and the pads might need changing. They're cheap enough. I would give it a wash and have a good look at what needs replacing. Nothing worse than crumbling bar tape coming off in your hands half way round the course.
Edited by Julietbravo on Friday 1st July 14:38
SpunkyGlory said:
I'm assuming cable, chain and cassette wear only applies to older bikes that have done a fair mileage? I bought my £400 Argos carbon special in 2014 but have probably only done 500 miles on it since then, and sometimes get a bit of gear slippage. I am due to ride the Bealach Na Ba in Applecross at the end of July and want to make sure it's shifting perfectly. Comfortable servicing my own bike as do it on my MTBs, but wonder what the best course of action is to give me the best chance of making the ride.
Chains? On my road bike the last couple of changes were one that lasted 1405 miles between October 2020 and March 2021, then one that lasted 1896 miles between March and August 2021, and another at 1458 miles from August to December 2021. Cassettes have lasted 2000 (May to Oct 2020), 3604 (Oct 20 to Sep 21), and 1155 miles (Sep to Dec 21). This is all from Strava (the 'My Gear' page) where I actually enter component changes to keep track of things on various bikes. I definitely took my eye off the ball with the last chain though - by 350 miles it was showing between .5% and .75% worn on the chain checker tool which was far too short a life in my opinion. But I've ditched the wet lube and gone back to the Squirt brand wax lube again.I probably don't deserve nice bikes though. Too many times I'm out in rural Dorset, Wiltshire, or Hampshire and I'll take my fancy carbon road bike off on a detour down a byway or bridleway in search of an obscure "VeloViewer tile" or just to see where it goes. Can't help myself really, I've got the attention span of a...
...look! Squirrel!!!
Sorry, where was I...?
SpunkyGlory said:
I'm assuming cable, chain and cassette wear only applies to older bikes that have done a fair mileage? I bought my £400 Argos carbon special in 2014 but have probably only done 500 miles on it since then, and sometimes get a bit of gear slippage. I am due to ride the Bealach Na Ba in Applecross at the end of July and want to make sure it's shifting perfectly. Comfortable servicing my own bike as do it on my MTBs, but wonder what the best course of action is to give me the best chance of making the ride.
To echo what others have said... it's likely that the cables have "settled in" rather than the chain stretching, just use some youtube videos and adjust them, and they should stay settled for a while now. I would change 8 year old tyres, inners and outers.
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
lrdisco said:
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
Come on, let's go on a 200 mile ride. You wear denim or whatever it is. I'll wear nice comfy lycra, with chamois cream.Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
Only one of us will need, in the spirit of Wimbledon, new balls please.
lrdisco said:
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
1. It is by FAR the most comfortable attire to road a road bike in, nobody cares what anyone looks like.Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
2. It looks pretty normal with lycra, but yes, probably no need if not getting massages each day...
3. I've never heard anyone say this.
4. Do ride 2 abreast in all situations where it is suitable, it is far safer for you and reduces idiotic overtakes.
5. Not sure what sort of s
t that is, but ignore it.okgo said:
lrdisco said:
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
1. It is by FAR the most comfortable attire to road a road bike in, nobody cares what anyone looks like.Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
2. It looks pretty normal with lycra, but yes, probably no need if not getting massages each day...
3. I've never heard anyone say this.
4. Do ride 2 abreast in all situations where it is suitable, it is far safer for you and reduces idiotic overtakes.
5. Not sure what sort of s
t that is, but ignore it.t. Your so much more likely to break than a car. Honestly you really think your less likely to break than 1.5 tons of steel?okgo said:
If you have the time go and ride 50-60 miles on a Sunday. 30 mins more doesn’t make a long ride really. You’ll see real adaptions from being able to stick a 3 hour ride in on a Sunday if you can.
Tbf I should have said "my" long ride rather than a long ride as in it is the longest variation of my route. But yeah I appreciate 30mins more than Friday and 20mins more than my normal route isn't that much longer.I will have to do a big one. Perhaps, for now, I'll just go round the same route twice in a row.
I'm boring I know!
lrdisco said:
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
I ride on my own and to your last point I would like to think I am pretty cautious. I am wanting to get into shape for my wedding and coming off/having an accident is no good to me for many reasons!Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
It's funny actually, I nicked a little Garmin computer thing off the missus's bike which she no longer uses. I used it twice then stopped as I found knowing my average speed - and then knowing if I was on for a PB or not - I was taking some risks that I shouldn't. I'm back to riding with my phone in a bag and no idea of my time until I finish. I prefer it that way.
Not sure if it is classed as lycra (it's not skin-tight) but I do wear proper cycling gear.
deeen said:
To the OP, well done on your progress! Have you looked into social rides with local cycling clubs, etc?
Thanks. I haven't really considered that at all to be honest. It's not that I'm not interested in it as such, just that I haven't even given it any thought. Is it something you'd recommend? What do you get out of it?Hey everyone! New game idea. It's called... "Out yourself as an idiot on a random thread in no more than six lines"...
I think it needs a snappier title, but the concept is sound.
Now should we put the troll in a keep-net, or just gut it right away?
lrdisco said:
Don’t wear Lycra. There’s no need and you will look like nob.
Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
Excellent first submission fella! Don’t wear cycling team gear. See above.
Don’t shave your legs. See above and completely ridiculous.
Don’t ride with others and claim your in the peloton. Your not.
Don’t ride 2/3/4 abreast. You’ll be a nob if you do.
Remember you will break far easier than a car. So give way. It may not be the law but it’s common sense.
I think it needs a snappier title, but the concept is sound.
Now should we put the troll in a keep-net, or just gut it right away?
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff