Aren't Bicycles Great.

Richard53

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Unfortunately not recommended for wet riding without mudguards as that tends to ruin the leather, so I have a C17 on my carbon road bike instead.

Mudguards best, but if not a good treatment of the underneath of the saddle with Proofide or neatsfoot oil will keep the worst off. Allow to dry naturally and re-treat afterwards.


I totally agree about gel saddles. I must have spent hundreds over the years trying to find something that would not be agony after a few miles. A B17 might not be the most obviously comfy at first sight, but my last one was like an armchair after a few hundred miles. I'm breaking in a new one right now.


I should call this the 'paradox of saddles' - the comfier they look in the shop, the less comfy they will be on the road, in exact inverse proportion.

brat

I bought this saddle a couple of years ago because I was suffering with a numb perineal area.

It's firm but I find it very comfortable. I haven't swapped it over to my Canyon yet, the colour is wrong , but the Canyon seat (also Selle Italia but cheaper) has a decent cut out and is also reasonably comfortable.

I think the secret with saddles is to persevere and not, as others have said, get drawn into the idea that gel is best. If you want padding, get decent padding in your shorts. I don't know why this works better than a padded saddle, but it really does.

Johnmcl7

I have all the standard saddles with my bikes as I've never changed them however for a ride of any distance I always wear padded shorts which I find make a huge difference. I had to be convinced to try them as I didn't want the lycra look but it was pointed out that I could wear them under anything and wow, I couldn't believe the difference they made.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Pinnacle Dolomite 6 last week but no sign of it at all and it seems to be out of stock now This bike on ebay has caught my eye:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOARDMAN-CXR-9-8-CYCLOCROSS-BIKE-SHIMANO-ULTEGRA-6800-DISC-BRAKE-11-SPEED-CARBON-/152015679807?hash=item2364d7313f:g:7QAAAOSwr7ZW5w9S

I like the new Boardmand CXR and this is a reasonable price (they've dropped the price) but the sensible part in my head says avoid it as there's possibly further damage from those scrapes. Unfortunately it's too far away to take it for a test ride, I was curious on people's thoughts?

John

OneLeggedPig

I live quite a way from work. For my commute I ride a few miles to a train station in another town- it gives me some cycling and it means I can get a cheaper season ticket. I lock up and get on the train to Manchester.

Next month we are moving a bit nearer- and it means that if I extend my cycling by a few minutes, I can get to a station further along the line (and actually in Greater Manchester), which will save me just over £500 a year on my season ticket!

I definitely want to be able to cycle all the way to work in the future, for whatever job I have next. I'm willing to do up to an hour each way.

Johnmcl7

I've been struggling with mountain biking since I did a tough endurance event in January which was hard going anyway and a crash killed my confidence which I've struggled to get back. The longer days definitely feel good as most of the ride was carried out without lights and for the first time since January, I managed a steep rooty descent where you have to let the bike roll and can't take it slowly.



The new road bike finally arrived so got it unpacked and set up for a ride this evening:





As you'd expect, the finishing kit is a bit cheap although mostly can be replaced. Amusingly after the discussions above, I want to change the seat which I haven't done on any of the other bikes despite being cheaper bikes in many cases but this one is rock solid even with padding. I've started trying to look at saddles and there's such a bewildering array I've no idea what I want and it's not something you can easily try out either.

On the plus side the Shimano hydraulic discs and 105 bits feel great, shifting is much smoother than the Tiagra shifters (which admittedly always seemed fine at the time) and the feeling of control with the brakes at speed is much better.

John

MABLE

I bought a Carrera sulcate cycle about 1 month ago and at first brilliant. Then I found the chain started coming off. The last time I was about 4 miles from home and wheeled it to the nearest Halfords about the same distance. They have discovered that two of the teeth on the crank shaft are slightly bent hence the reason for the problem. They said they are factory made and the fault was there from the beginning. So its lovely weather outside and my cycle is sat in Halfords awaiting for the new part.

Ballard

I really enjoy cycling for leisure but I stick to around 20 miles a journey nowadays. I may try to extend that a little over the coming months but I think that my days of 40-60 miles are a thing of the past.

I've never driven a car and doubt that I ever will but I find that most car drivers are more respectful of cyclists than they used to be. I tend not to drive during rush hour which probably helps.

Two things do bug be... Firstly the state of some roads near me. There are two areas that are particularly bad. One where I have to cycle literally in the middle of the road to avoid potholes. This is a busy and fairly fast section so isn't comfortable for me. The second area is on a different road not far from the first. The whole width of that road is so bad that I have no choice but to slow down and brace myself. Between the two is a sign proudly proclaiming that they were an Olympic authority in 2012. How about caring about cyclists now?

The other thing that annoys me about cyclists is driving in the dark wearing black and no lights. I dare say that this has been covered in the previous 16 pages but it's just idiotic. This is a relatively small number but it really does wind me up. Give yourself a chance!!!

Retrogamer

Last time i proper used my mountain bike was in August when i was at a trail centre (Glentress)

Since then it's been sitting in the shed mostly. Took it out recently and noticed the brakes were terrible. Lots of noise and no bite.

Removed the pads and was faced with this.
These are resin pads and only had around 40 or so miles on them



Not sure if the pads got contaminated with something or have just failed because of my weight and how hard i was pushing them in the wet when last properly used.

Removed the disc, sanded it and refitted and tried new "upraded" pads and all is good.
Looks like i've perhaps managed to save the old pads as well from above. This is them after a little sanding.

Ballard

I was in Tasmania last December and there's a company who drive you up Mount Wellington and cycle down with you. It's mostly on the road and a lot of fun but by golly it's steep in places. It's well organised and they stop the group regularly with the vehicle following the group.

I don't know exactly what happened but on one section my chain came off and jammed against the back wheel. The bike jumped around all over the place and the smell of burning was intense. I'd probably been going about 30mph at the time so it was pretty hairy.

The vehicle caught up with me and swapped the bike within a couple of minutes and I continued without further incident.

Retrogamer

Just as well that never happened in a corner.

I remember when i was younger going at over 40mph down a very steep tarmac hill near my house on my old Halfords built Appolo mountain bike. Shorts & T shirt, no gloves or helmet etc.

Now i'd be paranoid doing that speed even with protective gear on as although i trust myself random failures on the bike can happen at any time.