Info on Cycle Chat that changed your cycling.

[mickle]

Uh. Nope. Nothing.

Though I have had some preconceived notions reinforced.

Which was nice.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Uh. Nope. Nothing.

Though I have had some preconceived notions reinforced.

Which was nice.

That reminds me - the mickle method - I never even bothered cleaning my chain before coming on here, a bit of 3 in 1 every couple of years if it was lucky

 

[Crackle]

I also moved to clipped pedals from toestraps.

Foolishly I tried a Brooks after being advised I wouldn't look back if I did. No one mentioned not being able to sit down either. It brought back early memories of cheap plastic saddles that came with Raleighs.

 

[JoeyB]

Discovering The Fridays.

Beat me to it! Just wish I could get out more often

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Thanks for the mention @Pat "5mph"

For me, the reports from everyone in Your Ride Today gave encouragement to go and ride more often and further afield, then came the first metric and imperial centuries (in 2013) followed by the metric century a month challenge (2014) and the imperial century a month challenge this year.

I've also improved my cycle maintenance skills a fair bit in that time ( @mickle) and have joined the ranks of those loving spiked tyres for winter rides (icy mornings no longer mean a day off the bike )

 

[NorthernDave]

Advice from several regulars in various threads about getting the bike set up right. Made the world of difference when I first got the road bike as I was really struggling with it.
And all the posts in the 'Your ride today' thread that continue to inspire me to get out there.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I have just learned never to listen to @fossyant's advice about cycling on ice.

 

[Bollo]

I've learned that petty name calling achieves nothing. Especially when dealing with nobbers.

 

[rich p]

I used to be a decent human being till I discovered the beer thread and then it all went downhill

 

[Berk on a Bike]

Before discovering CC I would never stop during a ride to take photos of fields and stuff.

 

[Accy cyclist]

For me it has to be primary and secondary cycling positions information

 

[Jayaly]

• I learned that I had a right to be there, rather than getting up onto the pavement every time a car arrived behind me because I thought I was in the way and had no business holding them up.

• Then there was learning that you could buy tyres that didn't puncture when they so much as looked at something sharp. Revelation, that one. My previous attempt at commuting died after three punctures in two weeks.

• Then I learned that bikes actually needed maintenance and things like chain cleaning. That was a shocker. My poor bike. I have been responsible for years, nay decades, of cycle neglect and brutality.

• I learned that all bikes are not the same, and that my poor offspring's slow learning to cycle and later disinterest in cycling might have quite a lot to do with the supermarket BSOs he was toiling around on. I read some recommendations for better quality budget bikes and the joy on his face as he test rode his first proper bike will stay with me for a while. After his first ride uphill to get home from school on it, he said, "Is this what cycling is supposed to be like?" The smallest one is now tearing up the cycle path on the best balance bike I could afford and has to be prised off it.

• And finally I learned that n+1 is a thing, and that I absolutely cannot be blamed for wanting something light and fun to keep the Dutch bike company in the shed. It's lonely in there. Bikes are not meant to be alone. It might even be cruel.

 

[John the Monkey]

I also moved to clipped pedals from toestraps.

Foolishly I tried a Brooks after being advised I wouldn't look back if I did. No one mentioned not being able to sit down either. It brought back early memories of cheap plastic saddles that came with Raleighs.

...a Brooks that I then bought, finding it to be;

• Splendid
• Comfortable
• Better for hanging a Carradice from than anything else

so the forum changed my cycling in at least that way too...

 

[Crackle]

...a Brooks that I then bought, finding it to be;

• Splendid
• Comfortable
• Better for hanging a Carradice from than anything else

so the forum changed my cycling in at least that way too...

One man's misfortune is another's gain, they say.

 

[martint235]

Being educated in how to clean a bike by @ianrauk about 5 years ago although the major change didn't come until about a year later when I figured out how to block out the noise of his voice.......

A chance conversation with @arallsopp in the middle of the night in the middle of nowehere in 2010/11ish. A precis of which is "Long distance cycling isn't so much about fitness and stamina, it's about eating and sleeping enough". I then rode 240 miles with him, Teef, Davywalnuts and redjedi. All as a precursor to LEL in 2013.

I'm returning to normal slowly.