Cycling

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Wasn’t going to even attempt this today especially side on 🙄

Edited 2 October 2019 by Mark 'expert' Lawrenson

[syston_fox]

Yeah the rain and reduced daylight hours are killing my cycling just as it's fully gotten started. 

 

Had the target of doing 500 miles in the calendar year and was only on about 50 by June so bought a roadbike to motivate myself and make it more enjoyable than my old hybrid..... smashed the 500 miles over the summer and totalled over 200 miles in September alone. Love looking back on Strava at the improvement in times over various sections and the increased speed on my commute. When I first tried it on the road bike, it was around 24 minutes but I managed to break the 20 minute mark a couple of weeks back so was over the moon with that.

 

Has anyone had much experience with turbo trainers as tempted to get one for the winter months and sign up to Zwift to make sure I keep at it? 

[The Fox Covert]

20 hours ago, syston_fox said:

Yeah the rain and reduced daylight hours are killing my cycling just as it's fully gotten started. 

Had the target of doing 500 miles in the calendar year and was only on about 50 by June so bought a roadbike to motivate myself and make it more enjoyable than my old hybrid..... smashed the 500 miles over the summer and totalled over 200 miles in September alone. Love looking back on Strava at the improvement in times over various sections and the increased speed on my commute. When I first tried it on the road bike, it was around 24 minutes but I managed to break the 20 minute mark a couple of weeks back so was over the moon with that.

 

Has anyone had much experience with turbo trainers as tempted to get one for the winter months and sign up to Zwift to make sure I keep at it? 

I have been using Strava for a year now and it is a great motivator to get you out on the road.

I had a serious back injury after a fall about 10 weeks ago and have spent most of the time since then in a back brace. A suffocating corset-like device but completely necessary. 

A couple of weeks after I returned home from hospital I started using Strava again for gentle walking. About 3/4 of an hour to start with.

My times quickly tumbled and although I still have to wear the brace for part of the day I can now walk 10 miles without discomfort or significant after effects.

Cycling was always going to come back in during the later stages of my recovery, as it puts a lot of stress on the lower back.

I got a trainer for the first time this week. As I expected it is another step to recovery, as it gets you using 'cycling muscles' without the jolting motion of cycling along a badly maintained road, which I think would cause too much strain on my partly-healed back.

This injury has ruined my summer but I can see that I will be using the trainer regularly during the winter months.

 

One thing with Strava, if you set your activities to be visible to everybody, you should never start your workout from your home. I have several bikes, a Ridley gravel bike, a Raleigh fast road bike, an Olmo (now in progress of restoration) and a Condor (sadly in bits). I should hate to come back one day to find my shed completely empty!!! I used to start cycle workouts from the local plod shop until the constabulary decided to close it down! 

[Bayfox]

Bit of a promotion bump on this thread.

 

My 10 year old daughter has decided as part of her current home school PE to cycle 100 miles in the month of April and raise money for MIND at the same time.

 

I'm cycling with her every mile of the way and tracking it on strava for her. She has so far smashed her initial target of £100z but we would love to keep her motivated by keeping that total moving.

 

If anyone can donate just a pound.

 

Here's the link 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/meganjackson16

 

This way the money goes direct to the charity via just giving.

 

if anyone can help mental health in this current time is probably going to be an even bigger issue.

 

For the record she is now 5 days in and has managed 25 miles (we had a rest day yesterday due to her mum's birthday) so she is well on target to meet her goal.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[Bayfox]

Another bump.

 

My daughter has now managed just over 60 miles in 12 cycles, well on target.

 

She has managed to smash her initial target of £100 and currently stands on £340 and has been invited on Radio Leicester this morning to talk about her efforts.

 

Hopefully she gets on live at around 10.45

[Bayfox]

Thanks to @Ian Norman Droid and anyone else who may have donated.

 

My daughter finished her 100 miles today, with 1 ride to spare. 100.6 in total. 

 

She has raised a fantastic £625 so far. 

 

And shes got me back in the cycling groove as well I've managed over 200 miles myself this month, with over 100 solo miles coming in the last week.

[SystonFox]

Well into my cycling again. Having two kids makes it hard to do longer cycles nowadays but I’ve done 20 tonight after 20 yesterday. Will try another 20 in before end of the week possibly a 40 on Sunday? 
the weather conditions were fantastic tonight.

 

 

 

currently riding a boardman comp pro 2014 and constantly debating about upgrading to something like a giant defy advance pro. I’d like full carbon and 105 set up as a minimum

[Bayfox]

7 hours ago, SystonFox said:

Well into my cycling again. Having two kids makes it hard to do longer cycles nowadays but I’ve done 20 tonight after 20 yesterday. Will try another 20 in before end of the week possibly a 40 on Sunday? 
the weather conditions were fantastic tonight.

 

 

 

currently riding a boardman comp pro 2014 and constantly debating about upgrading to something like a giant defy advance pro. I’d like full carbon and 105 set up as a minimum

If you are buying a defy pro, shouldn't you be getting ultegra at minimum as standard. Infact sure rutland cycles sell them with etap on.

 

I can't afford the pro, but having been out on my mates defy, I'm deffo looking at going Carbon, feels so much nicer climbing. Tempted to upstage to Di2 as soon as I buy it tho so thats good bye to a other grand on top.

[foxile5]

Looking long and hard at doing the full national route 6 - London to Lakes. 

 

Anyone know anything about this route? Or done similar? 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Not been on a bike for years but got an old cheapo basic thing in the garage so took it out for a spin.

Did 19k on Monday ... the seat, even with a gel cover, is very uncomfortable.

If I can enjoy the seating I don't mind getting out and doing some distance.

A friend suggested going to Rutland Bikes by Fosse Park to get a new seat ... is that the best solution ?

[foxile5]

26 minutes ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Not been on a bike for years but got an old cheapo basic thing in the garage so took it out for a spin.

Did 19k on Monday ... the seat, even with a gel cover, is very uncomfortable.

If I can enjoy the seating I don't mind getting out and doing some distance.

A friend suggested going to Rutland Bikes by Fosse Park to get a new seat ... is that the best solution ?

Honestly, the arse pain dies down after a while. Gel covers and padded shorts will help. 

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

Looking for a road bike on a budget of upto about £500 - any recommendations? I've read that Decathlon's budget road bikes are about the best value but if anyone has any other tips I'd appreciate it

 

Currently riding a Voodoo Aizan which I loved when I bought 6 years ago but I've put about 7,000 miles on the thing and everything on it is creaky and unpleasant now

 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

Bought a cheapo bike seat today (£19) and it made a massive improvement.

The guy in the shop said I'm riding a bike that's way too small for me. "It looks like you've borrowed your child's bike."

On the plus side, he did inform me I have 18 gears on it rather than the six I thought I had.

Turns out I'm utterly clueless about this stuff as well as everything else.

[goose2010]

8 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

Bought a cheapo bike seat today (£19) and it made a massive improvement.

The guy in the shop said I'm riding a bike that's way too small for me. "It looks like you've borrowed your child's bike."

On the plus side, he did inform me I have 18 gears on it rather than the six I thought I had.

Turns out I'm utterly clueless about this stuff as well as everything else.

Try adjusting the seat if poss to bringing forward or back just a couple of mm can sometimes make all the difference. 

 

And Rutland cycles are a great local chain I got my ebike from them. 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

7 minutes ago, goose2010 said:

Try adjusting the seat if poss to bringing forward or back just a couple of mm can sometimes make all the difference. 

 

And Rutland cycles are a great local chain I got my ebike from them. 

They are really good, I bought a Giant hybrid from them for my commute to work a number of years ago and it’s still going strong. 

[UpTheLeagueFox]

2 hours ago, goose2010 said:

Try adjusting the seat if poss to bringing forward or back just a couple of mm can sometimes make all the difference. 

And Rutland cycles are a great local chain I got my ebike from them. 

 

2 hours ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

They are really good, I bought a Giant hybrid from them for my commute to work a number of years ago and it’s still going strong. 

Top bloke called Mark helped me out there yesterday, the one at Fosse Park.

Will definitely buy from them if I decide to get a proper bike.

Terrific service and advice.

[goose2010]

3 hours ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

 

Top bloke called Mark helped me out there yesterday, the one at Fosse Park.

Will definitely buy from them if I decide to get a proper bike.

Terrific service and advice.

Yeah great at sales as well, they talked me in to spending far too much on my bike but it's definitely worth it! 

 

 

Edited 12 June 2020 by goose2010

[PAULCFC]

Evans are good,got the Kapur 3 and Cobalt 4 on cycle scheme.Can't fault the service and bikes.

[UpTheLeagueFox]

1 hour ago, goose2010 said:

Yeah great at sales as well, they talked me in to spending far too much on my bike but it's definitely worth it! 

 

1 hour ago, PAULCFC said:

Evans are good,got the Kapur 3 and Cobalt 4 on cycle scheme.Can't fault the service and bikes.

No idea how much I would spend on a bike.

What I can afford and what I can justify spending on something which might gather dust in the garage are two different things...

[goose2010]

1 hour ago, PAULCFC said:

Evans are good,got the Kapur 3 and Cobalt 4 on cycle scheme.Can't fault the service and bikes.

Used to always use Evans but won't these days as it's owned by Mike Ashley now 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Quietly going about my cycle commute to work this morning, I turned onto aylestone Rd to be met by a load of bollards, now I wasn’t quite sure what they are there for so I chose to cycle on the road instead of the cycle lane, a fair decision I thought considering there was only a little traffic. The only car that was behind me decided to pap me and the driver gestured for me to get off the road. To which he got a gesture back from me.

Was he concerned about my welfare? Or that it cost him a millisecond on the empty road.

People are just so impatient.

[Nick]

On 12/06/2020 at 17:55, UpTheLeagueFox said:

 

No idea how much I would spend on a bike.

What I can afford and what I can justify spending on something which might gather dust in the garage are two different things...

If you spend a small amount of money on a crap bike you won’t ride it. When you do it’ll be a chore - a bit like the difference between looking forward to the drive home in your Porsche rather than facing the journey in a Bedford Rascal...

 

I wouldn’t spend less than a grand on a bike and even with that money I’d buy second hand!

[Rusko187]

On 12/06/2020 at 17:55, UpTheLeagueFox said:

 

No idea how much I would spend on a bike.

What I can afford and what I can justify spending on something which might gather dust in the garage are two different things...

I picked up a Giant Contend AR1 at the start of lockdown from Rutland Cycles and it was bang on. 

 

Ideally you're looking to take this seriously, don't go too cheap and get a bad groupset (gears, cranks, levers etc... this link should tell you basics on groupsets to help you make a decision https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/road-bike-groupsets-everything-you-need-to-know/). Go in with a budget in mind and if you're unsure whether the bike is good, I'm sure the old foxes faithful will be able to guide you on it.

 

On a side note, picked up a Wahoo Kickr... it is bloody amazing, done a few Zwift runs to keep fitness up in the week as I'm not getting the opportunity to get out and now I've got a taste for Sprint runs 

 

[Ollie93]

2 hours ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

Quietly going about my cycle commute to work this morning, I turned onto aylestone Rd to be met by a load of bollards, now I wasn’t quite sure what they are there for so I chose to cycle on the road instead of the cycle lane, a fair decision I thought considering there was only a little traffic. The only car that was behind me decided to pap me and the driver gestured for me to get off the road. To which he got a gesture back from me.

Was he concerned about my welfare? Or that it cost him a millisecond on the empty road.

People are just so impatient.

The cycle wands are going down as part of the Covid-19 social distancing measures taken by the council. We aim to get around 5000 of them down in the coming weeks.

[Bayfox]

8 hours ago, Swan Lesta said:

If you spend a small amount of money on a crap bike you won’t ride it. When you do it’ll be a chore - a bit like the difference between looking forward to the drive home in your Porsche rather than facing the journey in a Bedford Rascal...

 

I wouldn’t spend less than a grand on a bike and even with that money I’d buy second hand!

This isn't far wrong. I spent about 800 on mine under 3 years ago. Gaint Contend SL. Ali frame. Actually got no idea what group set is on it, brought it cuz it was about the 1st model with disk brakes.

 

I did about 200 miles on it in 2 years, I've done about 600 or so in the last few months, I know still not mega mileage, but trying to get out at least twice a week. Done a few 30 mile rides.

 

But as I said above, having tested my mates defy, I want a carbon bike and seeing his propel, way to hardcore for me, I love the idea of SRAM etap or Di2.

 

It's opened my eyes to how much more I'd want to get out and would enjoy the rides if I had something I was really proud of.

 

Just a shame there's no stock

 

So roll on 2021 and having saved a few more notes I may be able to afford something. For now its sticking to 20-30 miles each ride and hauling the ali frame along with me