Beginners Guide to Cycle Commuting

TomJ

Marco_Panettone wrote: »

That's the same route planner as lcc.org.uk uses too.

Not surprised; it was developed by the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, so it's only natural it's London counterpart would adopt it.

Incidentally, you might want to fix the link in your post; it reads right, but clicking it takes you to some Christian mission.

Guesthouse

Like the advice on never passing long vehicles - very sound.

My work is at the top of the hill, the only way I can go is up, there's not even any way I can make it flat without having to go up another steep hill. Still, I've got it down to a 10 minute record for 3.3 miles at 5am on my road bike.

seanhodges

I got so sick of punctures (always in the rain) that I decided to try puncture-proof tyres. After a couple of failures (I don't recommend any kind of inserts - one *gave* me a puncture!), I found the clear winner;
<<Schwalbe Marathon Plus>>
These are so good you can ride over broken glass and drawing pins unscathed. I have been using them for five years and I have gone from a puncture every three months, to ZERO punctures ever.

Also, I was annoyed with brake pads wearing out and cable snapping. With the last bike I bought I solved that problem by getting a model with hydraulically-operated disk brakes.

With general maintenance at home, I simply never get breakdowns now, and my life is much improved.

Veganpower

Hi Nev,

That's a good post, Thanks. I've been inspired by Harley Johnstone, AKA Durianrider, to get into cycling for both fitness and transport. I've been ummming and arrrrring over what bike to buy.

I almost went for this because the great reviews Giant get and the fact it's almost half price. I can't post a link but it was a Giant TCR SL1 2013 for £999 was £1,749 on the rutland website.

Anyway, I thought better of it since it's such a big investment (and I'm told not to use a bike like that in wet weather!!!). I'm planning to get myself a carrera zelos for £269 but I'm holding out for a Halfords 10% off deal.

Does anyone know where I can get a Garmin 310xt below £150 (obviously as cheap as possible).

I'm planning on documenting my cycling journey, among other journeys!!!, on youtube. I'm carrying a little extra weight so I should amuse a few onlookers, lol. When I have some decent content I'll post a link.


Regards
Craig

moneysweet

I just wanna sat it is a sweet thread.

Weird_Nev

Glad people are still getting value out of this. I'm going to try and get around to doing a video on fixing a puncture, and adjusting brakes. I now have 720p capability, and hopefully a new laptop that will make editing videos in higher quality a bit easier and less time consuming!

Does anyone have any more suggestions or things they'd like to learn about?

dotdash79

Quick question, I live 30 miles away from work and my plan is for most days to ride to the nearest train station then ride to work from the nearest train station at work.

However some days I'm thinking of part riding/ part train in or home. I'm looking at doing 10 or 15 miles. I know the best thing would be to get clip less pedals for these distances but the rest of the time I will be wearing trainers and won't be able to use the pedals?

What are my options? do I need to carry two sets of pedals and a spanner? Or carry my trainers in my bike and have some bike shoes? or is there a system that I can use to clip in or just use trainers.

Marco_Panettone

dotdash79 wrote: »

Quick question, I live 30 miles away from work and my plan is for most days to ride to the nearest train station then ride to work from the nearest train station at work.

However some days I'm thinking of part riding/ part train in or home. I'm looking at doing 10 or 15 miles. I know the best thing would be to get clip less pedals for these distances but the rest of the time I will be wearing trainers and won't be able to use the pedals?

What are my options? do I need to carry two sets of pedals and a spanner? Or carry my trainers in my bike and have some bike shoes? or is there a system that I can use to clip in or just use trainers.

You can get 2-sided pedals. 1 side clips into your shoes (when you're riding in them), the other is a normal flat pedal so you can wear any shoes you like.


I'm a bit confused by the question, tbh. Is this 'rest of the time' when you'll be wearing trainers part of the same journey, or just at other times (like going to the shops)?

dotdash79

This will be other days when I won't be doing more than a few miles on the bike.

Johnmcl7

You don't have to wear clipless pedals to cover that distance or far more, it's a hotly debated topic but it generally comes down to how you like the feel of the clipless pedals. Some people prefer the feel of being connected to the bike, others do not so you just need to see for yourself. If you're wanting to change to them for large improvements in speed and performance you may be disappointed.

I'm not keen on clipless pedals myself mainly because I don't find the feel any better than flats and I find them worse for longer cycles as I find they hurt my knee/foot. I've covered longer cycles on my bikes with flat pedals so planning on changing my road bike back to flats so I can adjust my foot position as I want while cycling. I feel the performance benefits are overrated as I wasn't seeing any improvement in speed or endurance, the latter was actually worse.

However plenty of people much prefer clipless and don't like flats at all which is fair enough, you need to see for yourself.

John