Newbie Road user

[craig kennedy]

Hey all.
Sort of a newbie here. Purchased my road bike, 2 and a half years ago. Alot has changed since then. stopped smoking, and more recently my car died, beyond reasonable repair.
So, I am now more inspired to cycle to work and back daily (a mere 11 mile round trip with hills) and to further push myself registered for the London to Brighton in Sep 6th this year.
I have clip on shoes, helmet, correct clothing, gloves, tool kit, gas canisters, computer etc etc. All done on the very cheap.
I just went to Wilko and purchased another bottle holder (£2) so will have 2 of those, and need to get 2 small bottles (have one large one at the moment)

What I need now is advice, posture etc. I am not a member of our local club (San Fairy Ann) because I do not believe paying them £25 per year benefits me at all. I am confident enough to cycle on roads, at speed (so far maxed at 32mph) but need help with correct posture for max efficiency and comfort. My shoulders seem to hurt.

I am 6'2" tall, have my seat up at near max height, handlebars are same as they were when I got them.
Thanks in advance and sorry if I missed anything.

 

[Doobiesis]

Only advice is give is get fitted professionally for your road bike. It cuts a lot of niggles out and means you'll get optimum performance on your rides. Which always pushes you to best your own achievements.

More importantly though - just enjoy it!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

All mine is done on the cheap, well apart from the running gear, I had a wilko bottle holder it broke within about 3 miles, don't know if they improved them, I would carry as much fluid as you can in the warm weather, unless you plan to stop at a shop. As for the L-B ride just ride as much as you can, though I believe there are one or two hills towards the end of it.

 

[xxDarkRiderxx]

Only advice is give is get fitted professionally for your road bike.

I agree with @Doobiesis although I have never had a bike fit I hear that they are definitely worth it. The only advice I would give is try and relax the shoulders. I suffer with them also when I realised that I was actually holding the handlebars to tight. London to Brighton is a great ride but getting very popular year on year. I don't do it anymore because there are just to many riders, but great for raising money for charity's. Google Ditchling Beacon so you are not suprised at the end of the ride with the steepness and length of the climb after you have 45+ miles in your legs.

. I am not a member of our local club (San Fairy Ann) because I do not believe paying them £25 per year benefits me at all.

Why not join a club it is great for social riding. I found after years of cycling on my own it became very boring, but if you have friends who local and like cycling it's not a problem.

 

[doog]

Only advice is give is get fitted professionally for your road bike. It cuts a lot of niggles out and means you'll get optimum performance on your rides. Which always pushes you to best your own achievements.

More importantly though - just enjoy it!

I disagree about a professional fitting . The OP sounds like he's on a budget, he can get himself sorted without paying someone to do it.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I have never had a bike fit, and I ride pretty well 267 miles this week, overall avg is slow due to the ride last Sunday, but usually between 15-16mph. on a non to light a road bike.

 

[Markymark]

I reckon you can 90% bike fit yourself with YouTube guides.

 

[cyberknight]

I disagree about a professional fitting . The OP sounds like he's on a budget, he can get himself sorted without paying someone to do it.

http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp

 

[craig kennedy]

he he its nice to see people responding. Thanks all. Yes am on a very tight or should I say wife budget :-). The Wilko bottle holders, may not be the bets they are cast metal and see to hold up ok, and I have 2 fitted now (still have to find cheap smaller sized bottles)

I have read that the saddle should be flat at the rear where the butt sits, flat level, where mine is the stock one its not level, arches in the middle and the sides go down. I have the padded shorts but my arse bone still hurts.

Regards the L2B there are 2 of them (I recently found) the one everyone does I think was last weekend (friend of mine did it, and came off, dislocating his shoulder) and then there is the one on the 6th of Sept that I am doing (cost £40 which the wife does not know about) and has around 4-6k max riders so I am hopefull it wont be too bad.

I will say doing things on the cheap is not an easy thing, I could very easily spend a fortune, but then I cant. negatives found are the little multi tools, get a cheap one and you do indeed get a useless thing that wont last long at all (as found today adjusting my seat), foot pump, also crap if cheap.

I have the computer, and to be honest dont even know if it is set up right, when it says 10mph I could be doing 2 or could be doing 15, I dont really know, I followed the instructions, but it too was a cheap Wilko one, lol, later I will get a better one.

I have found an ebay shop that sells proper sunglasses for cycling that come with prescription lenses that only cost £25 so Ill give those a go, and I am confident Muddyfox cheap shoes are not the best, but they are cheap.

I do love cycling, looking forward to going out tomorow.

 

[cyberknight]

Aldi have tool kits + clothing tommorow ,
Pumps , its a tricky one for road bikes you really need a track pump to get tyres up to a decent pressure but they are hard to carry on your bike
I could recommend a topeak road morph as a pump you can frame mount and will get your tyres up to where you need but you would need to look at it as an investment .
Dont put yourself down with buying cheap, ride and buy what you can as long as you enjoy it and you get faster and fitter then thats all that matters, unless your very lucky there will always be someone with a lighter / nicer bike no matter what you pay .I get bike envy on club runs but at the end of the day as long as your bike works then most of your speed will be the engine aka the rider that makes it a fast bike.
Does your employer have a cycle to work scheme ?
It is a way to get a bike + bits where you spread out the cost over a year with tax breaks off the amount so you can get a good bike and kit without having to find it all at once as its a salary sacrifice so it comes directly out of your wages.
Do you have a smart phone ?
You can get apps that can act as a gps bike computer if you do .

 

[craig kennedy]

I will pop into Aldi tomorow, I looked at a pump but in the end decided to carry the little gas canisters instead, they do a fantastic job of re-inflating the tyre, takes seconds and will do up to 100 psi, they are not cheap, £10 gets you 8 canisters, but for things like the charity run or just to have as an emergency its a good deal easier than a pump.

I need to get a replacement pump for home but thats no big deal. no cycle to work thing here, I live in Maidstone, Kent. yup have the Z3, so its waterproof as well, looking to find a suitable cradle, they are pretty expensive though

 

[cyberknight]

C02 pumps are fast but a false economy and you still need to carry a pump unless you plan to carry a cartload of cannisters as you can never tell how many flats you might get , dont bank on the odd one , i once had 3 in the space of a couple of miles .
My standard ride kit .
mini pump
c02 inflator
2 tubes
instant patches
multi tool with chain breaker
quick link for chain
tyre levers
zip tie

On top of that i have a track pump at home to keep on top of tyre pressure as the mini pump is definitely a get you home tool .

 

[Nigelnaturist]

If you can justify the cost (about £22) get some Continental Gatorskins, the reason I say this is it almost does away with flats, my front has covered 12,000 miles without a flat, the rear had two pinch punctures, (where the tube gets squeezed against the rim of the wheel when you hit some hard like a bad pot hole or stone), the last took a chunk of rubber out of the tyre and still did a few hunded miles, the replacement has done 5,500 miles without issue, I also believe Vittoria Rubino have similar properties but are much cheap at £9.50 at the moment. I know £22 is a lot but 11,000 miles without a puncture sure pays for itself, I was buying tubes quite often the number of punctures I was getting, patches glue ect.
The tool kit from Aldi is usable, I ot one from Lidl some 7 or 8 years ago and still using tools out of it.

 

[cyberknight]

If you can justify the cost (about £22) get some Continental Gatorskins, the reason I say this is it almost does away with flats, my front has covered 12,000 miles without a flat, the rear had two pinch punctures, (where the tube gets squeezed against the rim of the wheel when you hit some hard like a bad pot hole or stone), the last took a chunk of rubber out of the tyre and still did a few hunded miles, the replacement has done 5,500 miles without issue, I also believe Vittoria Rubino have similar properties but are much cheap at £9.50 at the moment. I know £22 is a lot but 11,000 miles without a puncture sure pays for itself, I was buying tubes quite often the number of punctures I was getting, patches glue ect.
The tool kit from Aldi is usable, I ot one from Lidl some 7 or 8 years ago and still using tools out of it.

See my post above about 3 in a couple of miles with gators , no tyre is perfect and it depends on the roads , unless you have solid tyres you can get a puncture.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

See my post above about 3 in a couple of miles with gators , no tyre is perfect and it depends on the roads , unless you have solid tyres you can get a puncture.

I never said it was, however you didn't say what tyre you were running, but from the three I have had, not once has the actual tyre been punctured, even though a fair chunk of rear tyre got ripped off, as I said in 12,000 miles, but I have had punctures, which I also quoted. The first and last 100yards or so, I cover a lane covered in all manner of debris from thorns to broken glass, so plenty of opportunity to pick up something non to nice. I get through wheels quicker than tyres, this is the third front wheel this tyre has been on.