Different things work with different people, if your riding 3 times a week, a gel an hour can get quite expensive! I do use gels, but only for the longer distance rides, or extra hilly ones. I dont tend to use them as instructed, rather they supplement anything else I'm using (Haribo / bananas / flapjacks are all excellent during a ride, especially banana's as they are such a slow release energy giver). At times gels do seem to do the business though, I normally have one 5 minutes before a big hill.
If you do start getting into gels, they can be messy and a bit of a faff with the sticky rubbish left over, you can get around all that by using Salomon Gel Packs.
Review -
http://runbikerace.com/2012/07/19/salomon-hydrapak-soft-flasks/
Available here (larger ones available too) -
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...6_e3OaKbASuLGDn2HuXTy9RoWqPw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
You just get it out, bite on the end, drink a bit, then store it back in your pocket. A small one (linked above) will hold 3 High 5 Gels, and top it off with a small amount of water.
Trust me, they are a godsend.
I'm not sure what Shimano Claris is, as that seems to be the dominant level of parts on that bike. Also, 10.5kg is heavier than the new Tribans by a whole kg iirc, same price too.
Dude, 145 miles can never be classified as a DNF. DEFINITELY not in this thread! Impressive ride, and the climbing you did was immense too.
@SatNavSaysStraightOn - Hope your Op went well, and you have a speedy recovery.
My last ride out this week before the French Revolution. Aimed for 50 miles, but just fell short as I planned to do another lap, but the skies looked a bit miserable, and true enough the heavens opened 6 miles from home.
Most of the ride was done in hot and humid temperatures.
I finally installed the slime inner tubes, along with my new tyres (Michelin Pro4 Endurance) which are the same type as my blue ones, but they are the top level for anti P-Fairy visits. I wanted to try and do everything I could to mitigate the chance of a repeat of Huntingdon (2 punctures in the opening 6 miles, and a knackered tyre).
Also installed some new brake pads (Kool Stop Dura2) so with the mileage, and the weather turning was a pretty good run out to see how they performed, as well as bedding them in.
I found the Michelin Endurance definitely had less rolling speed than the service course, but the ride felt a lot less bumpy, so a fair trade off. What pleased me the most was 'endurance' tyres typically have less grip on wet surfaces according to reviews Ive read (drains, road markings etc) but I found the Michelins were very smooth and solid over all surfaces I went over, even while cornering, I even took the S-bend hill in RP much quicker than I have done recently.
The brake pads seemed to stop my bike at least twice as fast as the previous Kool Stops, I don't know if that was the upgrade from Dura to Dura 2 or maybe simply as they were new?
Oh, and I got some new trainers too, which seemed to grip my ludicrous MTB pedals fine, with no rubbing at all.
So am pretty much set, France will either be one of the best cycling trips I have had, or a complete disaster...but I have the kit to cope!
View attachment 47282
http://app.strava.com/activities/151531452
Hope everyone is well and happy
