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[HTupolev]

No idea, and how those can both be 16" is beyond me.

Any time someone lists wheel size as some number in inches, you can expect it to be a total mess.

26" is a particularly remarkable case. Usually people are referring to 559, but there are at least five different BSDs that have been referred to as 26 inches over the years.

I really wish everything was advertised and sold according to BSD. A 2.1" 26er tire should just be 559-53. A "700x25c" tire should be 622-25. And so on. Sometimes they do label things like that, and it's a 15th competing standard that I can believe in.

 

[Psychotext]

Bleh, it's depressing when you REALLY go for it on a trainer and find that you're no-where near your PRs. I must have been stupid strong earlier in the year before I got my injuries; because I can't come close to my burst power numbers at the moment.

On completely the other side of the equation... if any of you guys use veloviewer (it's awesome btw), have a look at your exploration max square on the activities page.

http://blog.veloviewer.com/veloviewer-explorer-score-and-max-square/

Here's mine at the moment, but I have a good chance of getting an even bigger square in mid Wales...

 

[Mascot]

Bleh, it's depressing when you REALLY go for it on a trainer and find that you're no-where near your PRs. I must have been stupid strong earlier in the year before I got my injuries; because I can't come close to my burst power numbers at the moment.

It's old age catching up with you mate.

Either that or too much wanking.

 

[Psychotext]

Psh... too much wanking, too little wanking. Just can't seem to strike a balance. =/

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

This write up is pretty much solidifying my want for Kona Big Honzo DL -- http://www.bikepacking.com/bikes/kona-big-honzo-dl/

 

[Psychotext]

Looks like a solid bikepacking bike.

 

[Ace Harding]

I'm getting my first bike as an adult for Christmas this year. Budget is $1,000.

I will ride it on roads and trails, and while I'd love to do downhill MB at some point I think I'd be better served with a hybrid since it will probably be 50/50 roads and trails.

I live in the Philly area. Some decent hills in Fairmount Park, but no super big mountains or anything. Trails would mostly be Forbidden Drive and some of the smaller trails in Valley Green for those familiar with the area. There are long paved trails in the area I'd like to use for longer rides as well.

Any suggestions?

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

I'm getting my first bike as an adult for Christmas this year. Budget is $1,000.

I will ride it on roads and trails, and while I'd love to do downhill MB at some point I think I'd be better served with a hybrid since it will probably be 50/50 roads and trails.

I live in the Philly area. Some decent hills in Fairmount Park, but no super big mountains or anything. Trails would mostly be Forbidden Drive and some of the smaller trails in Valley Green for those familiar with the area. There are long paved trails in the area I'd like to use for longer rides as well.

Any suggestions?

Get a randoneur/cross bike

There's some affordable options out there, but it depends on what you can get your hands on. Have you looked up to see what stores are in your area and what they carry?

 

[HTupolev]

I'm getting my first bike as an adult for Christmas this year. Budget is $1,000.

I will ride it on roads and trails, and while I'd love to do downhill MB at some point I think I'd be better served with a hybrid since it will probably be 50/50 roads and trails.

I live in the Philly area. Some decent hills in Fairmount Park, but no super big mountains or anything. Trails would mostly be Forbidden Drive and some of the smaller trails in Valley Green for those familiar with the area. There are long paved trails in the area I'd like to use for longer rides as well.

Any suggestions?

If the trails are mostly "good" in the sense of not consisting of constant giant rocks and tree roots and crazy twisty descents and such, consider a drop-bar bicycle that has clearance for very wide tires. Many things that fall into the "allroad" or "gravel grinder" genres are this; some randonneuring bikes are also basically the same thing, as are some cyclocross bikes (although be careful, many cyclocross bikes are specifically designed for UCI CX racing and have annoying idiosyncrasies like high bottom brackets and single bottle cage mounts and such). These kinds of bikes are very versatile, and throwing road tires on them allows them to perform basically like a dedicated road bike.
(Taking a vintage rigid-fork mountain bike and converting it to drop handlebars is a classic way of accomplishing basically the same thing.)

A hybrid would work, although most entry-level hybrids are heavy and overbuilt, and much too upright for my tastes.

 

[2002whitegt]

Congrats with the new new bike, fellow mudplugger. I hope you're not hanging it from a dropper in that pic?

Thanks!

Nope wouldn't do that!

I did just finish installing a Crank Brother Highline dropper on it just now, and of course, it's raining tonight, so the trails might to be wet to ride this weekend....

 

[Psychotext]

Just did probably my last but one big ride this year. 73 miles (mostly on pretty good quality cycle paths), fasted.

Feel much more tired than I usually would after that sort of exertion, but I did do an incredibly hard trainer session last night.

Good to see quite a few cyclists out.

 

[Mascot]

Just did probably my last but one big ride this year. 73 miles (mostly on pretty good quality cycle paths), fasted.

Feel much more tired than I usually would after that sort of exertion, but I did do an incredibly hard trainer session last night.

Good to see quite a few cyclists out.

Nice. I'm still struggling at the moment with this weird chest/stomach muscle problem. It's spasmed three times in the past week, all while reaching for the kettle first thing in the morning. It's like getting an electric shock followed by a day of immobilisation then a further couple of days of what feels like pulled muscle recovery. I'm thinking it's a trapped nerve or something. Apart from the pain and inconvenience I'm missing all this unseasonably good biking weather which is rare for this time of year.

 

[Psychotext]

That's properly shit. =/

Unrelated, I'm getting reasonably wound up about all the "don't eat Christmas food over Christmas" articles showing up on the cycling blogs etc. Given how neurotic many cyclists can be about their weight / food generally, maybe lay off it a bit and let people relax for a week? It's ridiculous, one article showed you ways to substitute traditional Christmas food for low calorie versions. Might as well just ride under a truck.

 

[jakonovski]

Someone put it well -- don't look at what you eat during Christmas, look at what you eat during the other 51 weeks.

 

[Mascot]

I'm getting reasonably wound up about all the "don't eat Christmas food over Christmas" articles showing up on the cycling blogs etc. Given how neurotic many cyclists can be about their weight / food generally, maybe lay off it a bit and let people relax for a week? It's ridiculous, one article showed you ways to substitute traditional Christmas food for low calorie versions. Might as well just ride under a truck.

Someone put it well -- don't look at what you eat during Christmas, look at what you eat during the other 51 weeks.

I fucking love junk food, but the philosophy I follow all year is never to buy it, but never turn it down if it's offered. This time of year is therefore heavenly, as there always seem to be a box of mince pies or an open tin of Quality Street within reaching distance. I normally aim to gain around a stone over Christmas.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

My philosophy is I ride my bike so I can better enjoy these foods. I'm more mindful of not over indulging, but the whole 'you can't eat this!' gets really tiresome in the internet diet craze.

 

[Psychotext]

My philosophy is I ride my bike so I can better enjoy these foods.

That's one of the reasons my bike is coming to the cottage this holiday.

Edit - Related, I think I need to take a new bottom bracket with me. Mine is making some horrible noises.

 

[Stinkles]

I have an $800 fitness credit from work.

I want a front suspension MTB for simple trail and cinder track riding. I won't be doing any serious mountain biking, but I do want to be able to get into softer terrain and more importantly, have enough traction and gearing to get up loose hills.


I'm currently looking at 2016 sale bikes from Trek, GT and Fuji. Anyone got any reccomendations on what to get (or avoid!)?


I am absolutely not going over that budget since this thing will get like, six days of use per year.


(USA, btw)

 

[jakonovski]

If you can find the old version of this or something similar for 800, get it. Plus sized tyres for easy riding, no suspension to maintain.

http://www.marinbikes.com/us/bikes/description/2017-pine-mountain

 

[Mascot]

Been trying to work out why I was getting a 'retro' vibe from that bike and of course - it's the silver rims. That's quite unusual these days (although tan sidewalls will be big in 2017, so you never know..).

 

[jakonovski]

I'm a sidewall hipster.

 

[Darth Pinche]

Snowy ride on Tiger mountain this weekend

 

[Mascot]

Snowy ride on Tiger mountain this weekend

Man, that looks like hard work!

 

[Darth Pinche]

Most of the trail up is under the trees, so it was not too bad. Plus there is a narrow path in the center of the snow that was compacted, so I was surprised by how much traction I was getting. Tubeless, beefy tires (2.35 on wide rims) helped too!

 

[Mascot]

What's the bike?

 

[Stinkles]

Ah, tru dat. I can see it now on PC. Couldn't tell on mobile. Phew - crisis averted.

Man, I'm fucking glad I went out early this morning. It's bastard pissing down now, which was not forecast. The dawn light hitting the side of the bridge was lovely.

GODDAMN

If you can find the old version of this or something similar for 800, get it. Plus sized tyres for easy riding, no suspension to maintain.

http://www.marinbikes.com/us/bikes/description/2017-pine-mountain

I like this. Super old school. But I think I want front forks. Not even for a rational reason. However Marin has some nice front fork hardtails as well.

 

[broony]

Hi

I started riding my bike to work last year in an effort to get fit, just 5 miles each way and was really hard work to start with. As a result I've dropped 2 and a bit stone and started really enjoying cycling.

I have two young kids, and both me and my partner work so time is very limited. Apart from my commutes, I am usually able to get one proper ride in a week.

I want to keep improving, and to give myself a goal I have signed up for a sportive next June which is 104 miles with just under 8000 feet of climbing. https://www.strava.com/routes/578555?hl=en-GB

At the minute I am doing around 60 miles with 2000 feet of climbing on my weekly ride with about 30-40 miles commuting a week. I bought a smart turbo and have been doing some of zwift's training sessions and dropping some commutes to work. What do others think of these as a way to train? Is there any comparison to 'real' riding?

As the days get longer I will be doing more outdoor rides around some of the sections of the course, but for now am I wasting my time concentrating on the trainer?

 

[Psychotext]

I wouldn't be even close to the rider (fitness wise) I am today if it wasn't for the time spent on the trainer. However, the key is structured training rather than just randomly doing "stuff"... so you'll need to be following a plan for best results, which I believe Zwift has a few of.

Also, welcome.

Edit - That route isn't fucking around. Will definitely be a decent test.

 

[broony]

I wouldn't be even close to the rider (fitness wise) I am today if it wasn't for the time spent on the trainer. However, the key is structured training rather than just randomly doing "stuff"... so you'll need to be following a plan for best results, which I believe Zwift has a few of.

Also, welcome.

Edit - That route isn't fucking around. Will definitely be a decent test.

Cheers. Yeah it's pretty daunting. But yeah structure is something I need to do. At the minute I'm mostly doing FTP intervals. They have a few workouts for climbing gains.

I've looked at a few 'how to cycle 100 miles' training plans so probably going to follow one of them, but cover some of the climbs from the event.

 

[Darth Pinche]

What's the bike?

It is a Diamondback Release 1. It is an amazing bike, especially for the deal I got. I just added my own 1X stuff and dropper post.

 

[Mascot]

It is a Diamondback Release 1. It is an amazing bike, especially for the deal I got. I just added my own 1X stuff and dropper post.

Coolio. You can't beat those good deal feels.

 

[HTupolev]

But I think I want front forks.

I recommend a single fork. A frame typically needs at least one headtube per fork, and most bicycles only come with one headtube. But I definitely agree that you want more than zero forks, as bike frame geometry typically isn't well-optimized for unicycle applications.

 

[Addnan]

Flat pedallers can you recommend a flat pedal to me for the commute. I like riding clipless but becomes a chore carrying extra shoes. There just seems to be a lot out there. Cheaper the better really.

 

[frontieruk]

I recommend a single fork. A frame typically needs at least one headtube per fork, and most bicycles only come with one headtube. But I definitely agree that you want more than zero forks, as bike frame geometry typically isn't well-optimized for unicycle applications.

I think the internet is broken I wanted a picture of master chief on a unicycle, but it doesn't exist according to Google...

So here's Darth Vader

 

[Mascot]

I recommend a single fork. A frame typically needs at least one headtube per fork, and most bicycles only come with one headtube. But I definitely agree that you want more than zero forks, as bike frame geometry typically isn't well-optimized for unicycle applications.

A pair of trousers does come in useful when it's cold though.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Cheers. Yeah it's pretty daunting. But yeah structure is something I need to do. At the minute I'm mostly doing FTP intervals. They have a few workouts for climbing gains.

I've looked at a few 'how to cycle 100 miles' training plans so probably going to follow one of them, but cover some of the climbs from the event.

You don't need a plan for riding 100 miles. Just get out and ride your bike. It's pretty easy to jump from 50-60 to 100 (I did 70 to 130 last year). It almost always comes down to food and hydration above everything else.

So use your weekends to figure out what your body likes and doesn't like. Asking what people like to eat/drink will almost always result in 100 different answers so it's best to experiment. Myself, and I think Psycho too, enjoy the Feed Zone Portables cookbook. They're easy to make recipes that can make more than enough servings for 100 mile bike ride.

Remember though that just because it's be 30 miles and you need to eat doesn't mean to sit down for a burger and fries. It's always better to slowly eat over the distance (again this is up to you on time, but I try to eat every hour) than to inhale 600 calories at random points. Your body can only digest so much food in a given hour and if you give it more than that you'll get bloating or worse, the runs.

Oh yeah, hydration. Some people swear by water, others swear by sports drinks (not gatorade!) like Scratch or Nuun. Again, figure out the balance your body likes.

 

[Psychotext]

That's not a standard century ride he's got planned there... that's a nasty, lumpy bitch of a century ride. I wouldn't want to jump straight into it.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

That's not a standard century ride he's got planned there... that's a nasty, hilly bitch of a century ride.

Point still stands when it comes to endurance. Just get out and ride them hills then, low and slow

 

[Psychotext]

For sure, if your base fitness is there then you'll get through it, no doubt.

But who wants to just "get through it". FUCKING CRUSH IT.

 

[Mascot]

Enjoy your bike. Fitness will be an almost unnoticeable by-product.

Unless you ride a Jimmybike, of course. Those things pretty much pedal themselves.

 

[teepo]

8000ft in a century? i would only recommend that route to an experienced rider

the good news is he has until june to train!

 

[Psychotext]

Enjoy your bike.

Those words together in a sentence... gibberish!

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Enjoy your bike. Fitness will be an almost unnoticeable by-product.

Unless you ride a Jimmybike, of course. Those things pretty much pedal themselves.

Hey, these jimmy legs are helping on the trails so TAKE THAT

 

[jakonovski]

Those words together in a sentence... gibberish!

He did add that bit about loving his rolling resistance, so maybe his inner masochist is slowly awakening.

 

[broony]

You don't need a plan for riding 100 miles. Just get out and ride your bike. It's pretty easy to jump from 50-60 to 100 (I did 70 to 130 last year). It almost always comes down to food and hydration above everything else.

So use your weekends to figure out what your body likes and doesn't like. Asking what people like to eat/drink will almost always result in 100 different answers so it's best to experiment. Myself, and I think Psycho too, enjoy the Feed Zone Portables cookbook. They're easy to make recipes that can make more than enough servings for 100 mile bike ride.

Remember though that just because it's be 30 miles and you need to eat doesn't mean to sit down for a burger and fries. It's always better to slowly eat over the distance (again this is up to you on time, but I try to eat every hour) than to inhale 600 calories at random points. Your body can only digest so much food in a given hour and if you give it more than that you'll get bloating or worse, the runs.

Oh yeah, hydration. Some people swear by water, others swear by sports drinks (not gatorade!) like Scratch or Nuun. Again, figure out the balance your body likes.

Yeah I'm taking nutrition and hydration more seriously, and yeah I'm experimenting with different stuff to see what works. Gels and power bars have had no ill effect so far. Will look into the cookbook.

For sure, if your base fitness is there then you'll get through it, no doubt.

But who wants to just "get through it". FUCKING CRUSH IT.

That's what I'm thinking. Maybe not crush it but at least be able to enjoy it somewhat.

8000ft in a century? i would only recommend that route to an experienced rider

the good news is he has until june to train!

Yeah, been training a bit but it's time to get serious I think so I don't kill myself.

 

[HTupolev]

Flat pedallers can you recommend a flat pedal to me for the commute. I like riding clipless but becomes a chore carrying extra shoes. There just seems to be a lot out there. Cheaper the better really.

Get one of the ones that uses set screws to grip your soles. They'll make you bleed if your skin comes into even gentle contact with the pedal, but they work great.

Or, use a clipless pedal which supports recessed-cleat MTB shoes (like SPD) and find a shoe you're comfortable wearing all day.

 

[Psychotext]

I'd just grab some Wellgos that you like the look of. Cheap as chips and generally reliable.

http://en.wellgopedal.com/products.php

 

[Mascot]

Bah-fucking-humbug.

Been banned from the bike for a few weeks on doctor's orders. Seems I've got some nerve damage in my right foot (which is weird, because it's my left ankle that has fucked ligaments) so need to rest it completely over Christmas. At least it'll give my pulled stomach/chest muscle time to fully recover, but I did have some good trips planned over the Christmas break (Swinley, Afan, Cwmcarn, FoD).

Merry fucking Christmas!

 

[Psychotext]

Very strange. As soon as I saw your post I was expecting it to be the chest. I feel for you, as I know how frustrating injuries are for sure.

Don't get too fat bro!

 

[Mascot]

Very strange. As soon as I saw your post I was expecting it to be the chest. I feel for you, as I know how frustrating injuries are for sure.

Don't get too fat bro!

I'm planning on pigging out big styleeee over the next couple of weeks, but will be hitting the cross trainer and the rowing machine as much as possible. The doctor actually told me to beast the cross trainer if I could manage it. It's only cycling I'm banned from. He also suggested I might need new bike shoes, so I might have to retire The Indestructibles.