Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[araapatlio]

Didn't quite make it the 200km week as I would have hoped but I do have something better to celebrate and that is reaching the 1,000 mile mark since I started three months ago

Good stuff!

That means you've ridden further than from Land's End to John O'Groats

 

[araapatlio]

As a total newbie - what is the deal with spokes? Are broken spokes something I should be worried about?

 

[SWSteve]

@MaxInc it seems odd how many issues you are having with spokes, it reminds me of @Nigelnaturist's issues earlier in the year. I've looked at upgrading the wheels on mine, but I think I'll wait until I've had the bike a year

 

[Phoenix Lincs]

@Mo1959 I think it hit home yesterday went to o/h's sisters bbq and the people who we hadn't seen for around 6 months thought she had a new fella!!!!! i kid you not.

I hope they weren't rude about her 'previous' fella! Lol

 

[sleaver]

A week a ago my legs were crying out for a rest and due to work and other commitments this week, they got just that. So with fresh legs I went out for a 70k loop this morning.

I took my bike for the 6 week service at Evans and tyres pumped up properly do seem to help. I had been taking them to 110psi as per the tyre but I could still squeeze them a bit. Evans pumped them up and they are like concrete. On the flat I was quite easily spinning in a higher gear than normal but I still struggle when the road starts to go upwards. I just knocks all the stuffing out of my legs.

I did get one of these though (the roads were dirty after yesterdays rain )



http://app.strava.com/activities/70418910

Just noticed, first time under 3 hours for 70k+

 

[stevey]

I hope they weren't rude about her 'previous' fella! Lol

Yeah he was fat and lazy.....

 

[SpokeyDokey]

A week a ago my legs were crying out for a rest and due to work and other commitments this week, they got just that. So with fresh legs I went out for a 70k loop this morning.

I took my bike for the 6 week service at Evans and tyres pumped up properly do seem to help. I had been taking them to 110psi as per the tyre but I could still squeeze them a bit. Evans pumped them up and they are like concrete. On the flat I was quite easily spinning in a higher gear than normal but I still struggle when the road starts to go upwards. I just knocks all the stuffing out of my legs.

I did get one of these though (the roads were dirty after yesterdays rain )

View attachment 26865

http://app.strava.com/activities/70418910

Just noticed, first time under 3 hours for 70k+

Good effort.

Watch the tyres aren't so hard they lose a bit of grip.

 

[AndyPeace]

I think on here there used to a cycle chat jersey that travelled around the country being passed from rider to rider. Would be good if us beginners got something being passed around the country, register it on Strava and see what mileage we can build up for it? Only rule I can think of is you can only do one ride with it and then you must pass it on at the end of it. If it was something small it could be posted through the next persons letter box if a meet up couldn't be arranged.

There are plenty of us on here that we should be able to include all, whether they want to do a few miles or a lot.

There is one of the cycle chat jersey's that you speak of, currently residing in Hertfordshire. It would be a 200 mile loop for me, which is possibly a tad beyond my current fitness anyone more local consider kidnapping it? I like the thought of setting up it's own Strava account and this would make it easy for newcomers to track it down and meet up with this forum's community.
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/the-great-cyclechat-jersey-relay-discussion.6962/post-2570418

 

[SpokeyDokey]

As a total newbie - what is the deal with spokes? Are broken spokes something I should be worried about?

Some wheels suffer spoke failure due to poor build, poor materials, rough roads, riders too heavy (in relation to spoke count) for the wheels etc.

Low spoke counts are de rigueur for racing cyclists. Less weight = more speed although the effect for many cyclists may not make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

In my eyes at least, less spokes looks quite nice on a bike. Shallow? Definitely!

A low spoke count may not be suitable for everyone eg a heavier rider crashing around on pot holed surfaces may well have more spoke failures riding a low spoke count wheel than a high spoke count wheel. Conversely, if you weigh 8 stone after your Christmas dinner and ride billiard smooth surfaces you will probably get away with very low spoke count wheels and be unlucky to get spoke failures.

***

Not really high on the list of things to worry about though.

 

[MaxInc]

As a total newbie - what is the deal with spokes? Are broken spokes something I should be worried about?

Not necessarily, @SpokeyDokey explained it very well. In my case I think is more a case of rubbish build quality for this particular set. The Shimano RS10 have very mixed reviews, they are budget wheels and while some heavier riders swear by them, others are plagued with snapping spokes for no apparent reason. I weight 13.5 stones at the moment and I don't think I am stressing these wheels enough to justify 2 broken spokes in two weeks, especially for a wheel this new.

There are some more disadvantages to low spoke count wheels. One is the higher tension in each spoke which makes them more vulnerable but also in the event that one spoke breaks, the tension from the opposite spokes will buckle the wheel severely making it unrideable. This is less of an issue with higher spoke count wheels. The other downside is that they tend to use specialised spokes which LBS don't stock and are quite expensive and difficult to source. I payed £12 for 2 spokes and 2 nipples for these wheels and LBS will charge another £10 to fit one. They took one week to arrive. That's £32 for 2 broken spokes which becomes interesting when you consider the price of a brand new font + rear RS10 wheels is about £95.

I have a BTwin Triban spare rear wheel which has 32 spokes compared to Shimano's 20. The bare wheel weighs only 80 grams more than the RS10 and it costs only £34. It also uses normal, easy to replace 50p spokes.

 

[MOI]

Went out for a bit of a bibble of only 13 miles, but this consisted of dirt tracks, gravel, hills all on a single speed also I had the added company of my son who only picked up his Sirrus on Friday after not cycling for nearly 2 years. Bad points, don't ride gravel/dirt tracks with 23mm wheels on a SS, my son blew up (God bless him he thought it would be easy to do 20 miles) the hills got him, Good points, breaking the speed limit through Crosby but with cars right up our backsides. Still he got a good workout (he needs to lose weight) and we're going out for a quick hour on the flat later.

 

[sleaver]

Does any one's front brake lever feel a lot softer than the back? Before Evans did the 6 week service, mine were about the same, however now, the front feels a lot softer and requires a lot more pressure to achieve the same braking. At one point today, it didn't feel like the front brake was doing anything.

Is that normal or do I need to do a bit of tinkering?

 

[fivepence]

Cracking day for cycling so a few loops round the city with a few stops along the way to chat , Not quite cracked a descent for KOM but getting closer. First time over 50 miles also. Day off tomorrow for recovery

http://app.strava.com/activities/70462004

 

[Leescfc79]

A week a ago my legs were crying out for a rest and due to work and other commitments this week, they got just that. So with fresh legs I went out for a 70k loop this morning.

How did you find it after a week off? I've done exactly the same due to work & family stuff plus the fact I've just been so tired and lacking energy I haven't been on the bike since last Sunday, off work tomorrow so should get out but worried I would've lost some of the progress I've made recently.

 

[SWSteve]

Does any one's front brake lever feel a lot softer than the back? Before Evans did the 6 week service, mine were about the same, however now, the front feels a lot softer and requires a lot more pressure to achieve the same braking. At one point today, it didn't feel like the front brake was doing anything.

Is that normal or do I need to do a bit of tinkering?

you've done the quick release back up right?