Any road cyclists or triathletes out there?

I'm 6 ft 5 and I ride a Specialized rockhopper comp 2013. It's got an XL 21 inch frame with 29 inch wheels. Makes on and off road very easy.
 
I use a smartphone GPS app to track all my rides. You can also fit bike computers to your ride that use wheel and crank sensors to measure speed/ cadence/ power output etc
 
dan_b said:
I use a smartphone GPS app to track all my rides. You can also fit bike computers to your ride that use wheel and crank sensors to measure speed/ cadence/ power output etc
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan; I’ll look into the GPS and smart phone option. I’m a cyclist, and despite cycling more miles than I drive I don’t consider myself a cyclist. This is because I ride cyclocross on road for the sole purpose of staying fit. Riding off road bikes on road has taught me a thing or two about making them go faster, I’ve had to experiment to enable me to keep up with road bikes ridden by others. This is my generalised approach with a few related comments:

1. Generate the power; get the geometry of your bike right for you. As you get fitter and more experienced the ideal geometry will change (a good reason to start with a cheap bike).

2. Maintain power, get the gear ratios right for you and your rides to enable you to do this and get some nicely shifting gears; Shimano 105 does the job for me (dura ace must be mind blowing)

3. Transfer power efficiently to the bike, get some clip in pedals and cycle shoes (but don't race in them until you are confident)

4. Don’t waste the power, get the right tyres, wear the right cloths, pack bearings with the right grease, set the brakes correctly and keep everything clean and lubricated

5. Trim weight to increase acceleration and hill climbing capability. I’ve not gone there as the roads are too rough where I live.

I hope things go well on Saturday. Phil
 
Hi Phil
I have Endomondo, it's very good. There are plenty of other activity trackers out there too. Strava is used a lot by cyclists.

1. I've had this bike for a year so have fiddled with the fit a lot. Recently changed the stem to a slightly shorter one, and fitted it lower down to get me more aero, has definitely helped.
2. I have three cassettes - a 12-32 for hill climbing (will be using it on the Hathersage Hilly Triathlon in 4 weeks time), a 11-25 which I've been using as the regular gearset and an 11-28 which I have bought but haven't used. Dura Ace is incredible though, the quality of shifting is beyond compare :)
3. I have a major mental block about clipless pedals after my arm-break last year. Broke my humerus in 5 places. Still not mentally ready to try them again, so am using old-fashioned toe-clips for now, which I am comfortable with using. The Dura Ace crank is ridiculously stiff too
4. I have carbon 50mm aero tubular wheels, with some Tufo S3 tubulars tyres, running 120psi - they run really nicely. Agree, no flapping t-shirts either!
5. Bike weighs bang on 7kg all up. I've lost 12kg in weight this year. Weight is the enemy!

Cheers!

Dan
 
I've just weighed my cross bike; 10kg all up. Add to that increased rolling resistance from chunkier tyres and, while I'll never be an athlete like yourself Dan, I think a road bike may be coming my way soon:)
 
Well I did it! Got totally drenched in the monsoon that hit Oxford yesterday at precisely 10am, and guess when my start time was! Made the cycling stage extremely treacherous, but all added to the fun.
750m swim, 20k bike and a 6k run all in.
Swim 00:15:28, T1 00:05.01, Bike 00:40:32, T2 00:01.49, Run 00:28:37, Total 01:31:26. Came 522 out of 1950 men who raced the same distance yesterday, Well pleased!
Knackered today mind!
 
Did another triathlon yesterday, up near Sheffield. The rather well-named "Hathersage Hilly". The cycle route went up the Froggatt Pass, and the run route went, well, straight up the side of the hill. It was really, really tough, but came in in a respectable top 1/3 of the field at the end. Great fun though, and I saw at least 2 Sheffield-based A2s. The roads in Sheffield are just dreadful aren't they - hit an enormous pothole which shook the whole car at one point! Also saw a nice black BMW i3. Really cool-looking car in the carbon. Would look good with my carbon road bike on the roof I'm sure!
 
Well, in the end, I did 4 triathlons and 1 duathlon last year, so decided to keep going and plan to do at least 5 again this year!
Anyone else here giving a tri a go in 2015?
 
Thought you guys might like to see this shot - I got some new bike lights - essential for riding (although you do see some numpties riding without any lights at all, barely!), but these are designed to give good side visibility too, as well as being bright enough to act as daylight running lights for a bike, which I think is a good idea.

The indoor shot was taken in total darkness. The outdoor shot is at 11pm outside my house with the regular street sodium lights casting a glow over the road.

I backed these on Kickstarter, they're called Orfos Flares if anyone's interested.

20150422_230858 (Custom).jpg20150422_231030 (Custom).jpg
 
I use a set of Smart 1W LED lights, which are definitely 'be seen' lights rather than 'see' lights, and I use them 'cause they work well and a set of batteries normally lasts an entire winter commuting 3 or 4 times a week for 20mins each way. How long are the batteries lasting on these? They do look mighty impressive - how do you rate them, and where did you actually buy them from?
The Halfords 360 ProViz reflective rear jacket is also very good, but it doesn't breathe so you you do get a bit sweaty if you're going for it...
Russ
 
I backed it on Kickstarter, but they're now available on sale from the makers here http://www.orfos.bike/

Battery life is really rather good. I've used them on full power as a DRL a couple of times and they are definitely visible even in daylight. I've used them on the lower setting at dusk as well and it's then that you get the feeling of being bathed in an all-round glow, it's quite sci-fi!

Mind you, the most sci-fi bike lights I've seen yet are these - Revolights - I saw one of these in real life in London a little while ago and it looked like something from Tron! https://youtu.be/T5pbpGwgmcw

I recently saw a front bike light that also had a rear-facing white light as well - the idea being that it shines back on the rider so that the rider is actually illuminated. Works even better if the rider is wearing a hi-viz reflective layer of some sort!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top