Well it did say at the top of the page...

[midliferider]

Having lived for many years on the Suffolk/Essex border I can state your knowledge of geography is sadly lacking!

OK, they are not mountains or go on for miles, but there are plenty of hills to make you breathe heavy!

Thank you for that information.
It is very helpful as I am thinking of doing a tour in Norfolk/ Suffolk area in the summer.

 

[compo]

Thank you for that information.
It is very helpful as I am thinking of doing a tour in Norfolk/ Suffolk area in the summer.

There is plenty of good touring country. It is a regular thing in the spring/summer to see large groups of Dutch people on their big sit up and beg bikes laden down with camping gear. They all seem to enjoy it. I guess they come off the boat at Harwich and tour the area.

 

[cardiac case]

The best thing about cycling in East Anglia is the weather. We are the area with the least rainfall in the country.
Having spent a wonderful week (a few years ago) on a motor bike in the Yorkshire Dales my memories are of
avoiding the frequent showers. If you can see the top of the hill it's going to rain, etc etc.

Talking of hills, the ones that get me are the long slopes. With a short steep hill there's still oxygen in the blood.
The drawn out climbs just sap what little energy I have and replace it with pain.

Cheers,
Paul G

 

[buggi]

Yes of course they will breed, that's where the term Hybrid comes from. However inbreeding can cause lots of problems so best to just adopt another bike instead.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Talking of hills, the ones that get me are the long slopes. With a short steep hill there's still oxygen in the blood.
The drawn out climbs just sap what little energy I have and replace it with pain.

Cheers,
Paul G

Yep, with short sharp hills you can suffer a little oxygen debt to get over them and I agree, the longer drags are harder to manage. You need to re-learn how to ride these!
Firstly, pace and expectation is everything. Learn to relax (especially the upper body) and sit back on the saddle, sit up with arms apart to maximise your breathing. Select a comfortable gear early as the climb starts and find a nice relaxed rhythm and stay really relaxed, just focus on gently winding the bike up the hill. It doesn't matter how long it takes.
So what if you have to stop, or even walk? It happens!
You'll find however that with practice it becomes easier, you'll never become a hill-whippet but a bigger range of hills soon become manageable. Just listen to your heart to make sure you're not overdoing it.

 

[Saluki]

Seriously? What is wrong with the Giant? It has 20 gears, 12-28 cassette, giving a minimum gear ratio of 1.2.
I thought it is good enough to handle an average hill.
But I would not have bought it myself.

Get the Defy to a good LBS that does bike fits, go with the bike or the LBS won't know who to fit the bike too, that could sort your back pain out. Hills are a pain in the bum but I go up hills (on my Defy 2 which I love) using the bar tops, not the hoods and definitely not the drops. After bike fit (and SPDs) hills got a lot easier but having been out of action since mid October, for one reason or another, hills are a nightmare again. The only way to get better is to ride up them.

Try to think of hills as just borrowing all your energy, after which you get a nice rest whizzing down the other side screaming like a girl going 'whooo hooo'. East Anglia seems to have less in the way of big hills but a lot of long old drags which go on for ever and ever.

Failing that, a nice sofa, a bit of mood lighting and some Barry White could be worth a go.

 

[cardiac case]

Well, just to update, I've put the Defy on Gumtree.

Paul G

 

[vickster]

Could try selling on here too

 

[cardiac case]

Could try selling on here too

Good idea.
Thanks.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

maybe you could consider a tourer or cyclo cross bike for a more back friendly geometry but still opportunity to get down out of the wind better (less stress on the heart?)than you could on a flat bar/hybrid road bike and likely to have a triple chainring up front with the possibility of a proper granny ring on the back too that will make for a very comfortable roll up the hills. Edinburgh Bikes do both types for a reasonable price tag.

Another option may be a roadified MTB or 29er, but your posting here suggests you're more minded towards the road and a bike built better to that purpose.

 

[cardiac case]

maybe you could consider a tourer or cyclo cross bike for a more back friendly geometry but still opportunity to get down out of the wind better (less stress on the heart?)than you could on a flat bar/hybrid road bike and likely to have a triple chainring up front with the possibility of a proper granny ring on the back too that will make for a very comfortable roll up the hills. Edinburgh Bikes do both types for a reasonable price tag.

Another option may be a roadified MTB or 29er, but your posting here suggests you're more minded towards the road and a bike built better to that purpose.

Hi.
As I have limited knowledge of types of bike (e.g. 29er ?) perhaps it's better if I say what I wish the bike to do and then
let the more experienced suggest what I should buy.

Down the pub, 3 miles. As we both work from our home workshops, a communal tea break at my sons, 6 miles.
Into town to pick up an odd item or perhaps post something, 16 miles round trip. All road stuff.
I also like at weekends (weather permitting) ex railway paths. "The Flitch Way", Braintree to Stansted airport for example.
I'm booked in for the Norwich BHF on June 1st, 25 mile route.

The bike I use most is a Trek 700 (see pic) that now has a smaller seat, trigger gear change, and mudguards.
It's also fitted with 32mm almost slick tyres that run very well on tarmac.
It's 21 gears, but it's steel, so heavy.

A chap in my village suggested a Cannondale Quick, the one with calliper brakes. ???

Sell the Defy, then worry on what to buy I suppose.

Cheers, & HNY
Paul G

 

[compo]

I regularly ride the Fitch Way on a Trek hybrid with 28mm tyres, although for the winter I have fitted 32mm's. I also ride through to Sudbury from Melford (or the other way) along the railway track via Rodbridge. I had a mate up in Pentlow I would go and see, long old drag up from Foxearth. Unless you are wanting to get into faster road riding I would have thought a decent hybrid would fit your bill. Not withstanding the above I do mostly road riding and most of it on my Trek. I have a road bike but hardly ever use it, although I have done Harlow to Sudbury on it, via the Fitch Way, a couple of times without issue.

 

[steveindenmark]

Sadly, no.....but what you need is another bike

The problem here is that with every other bike you buy, you will find something wrong with it. By the way the bikes are right, it is your body that is wrong. I had the same problems.

Bike 1---I didnt like the seat

Bike 2 -----I didnt like the pedals

Bike 3... The crank was not right

Bike 4....... The chain slipped

Bike 5... the wheels were not slick enough

After a lot of thought, and money I decided to build my own bike. It is the one I use most. It is so good I built one of of steel for winter and a go fast alu one for the summer. Maybe you should save your money and go down the route I followed.

What do you think?



Steve

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Hi.
As I have limited knowledge of types of bike (e.g. 29er ?) perhaps it's better if I say what I wish the bike to do and then
let the more experienced suggest what I should buy.

Down the pub, 3 miles. As we both work from our home workshops, a communal tea break at my sons, 6 miles.
Into town to pick up an odd item or perhaps post something, 16 miles round trip. All road stuff.
I also like at weekends (weather permitting) ex railway paths. "The Flitch Way", Braintree to Stansted airport for example.
I'm booked in for the Norwich BHF on June 1st, 25 mile route.

The bike I use most is a Trek 700 (see pic) that now has a smaller seat, trigger gear change, and mudguards.
It's also fitted with 32mm almost slick tyres that run very well on tarmac.
It's 21 gears, but it's steel, so heavy.

A chap in my village suggested a Cannondale Quick, the one with calliper brakes. ???

Sell the Defy, then worry on what to buy I suppose.

Cheers, & HNY
Paul G

29er basically a mountain bike with slightly larger 29 inch wheels than the usual 26, They're pretty much the same 700c diameter as your Defy but able to take the wider tyres such as you have on your 700 for a less jarring ride. I had an older than yours Trek 700 model and liked it a lot as a messing about bike, a quite nippy all rounder for its weight and rugged nature, but sadly some thieving toerag took a liking to it too when my son was using it for work.

It does sound as if you don't really need a mountain bike for the type of riding you describe here; but there's nothing wrong with them; and you could sell both of your bikes and buy a new much lighter mountain bike and make it road friendly as you've done with the Trek and not be out of the ordinary at all - the problem here is that the majority tend to offer suspension and by the sound of it you don't need that, front or rear. Assuming you keep the trek & want something else more designed for road and light trail, then either a hybrid (the cannondale quick range: http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/browse?keywordFilter=hybrid bike&bGOmainKeyword=Search) or cyclo cross (CX) (e.g. http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-cross-13) would eat up the road miles better and be perfectly happy on your weekend rides, they are also designed to take mudguards & a rear rack in a way the Giant isn't really.
The CX obviously gives more hand positions and the opportunity of a lower more aerodynamic riding position in bad weather straight out of the box but bar ends on a hybrid would give you similar options to change grip and stretch out a little bit more - back permitting. Both types are going to have gearing more akin to your Trek (3x7+) than the Giant (2x8ish) which will make the hills easier and put your heart rate up less. Again from my own experience I'd suggest the CX over the hybrid as I find I can assume a more natural and stable; weight forward; uphill position on a bike with drops and feel more in control riding on the hoods than I do pulling uphill on a flat/hybrid bar.

Your best bet is to take a bit of time in a few decent bike shops throwing your leg over different styles of bike to see which one grabs you best. You could take the Giant in and chat about adjusting your position on it from a comfort point of view (although racing road bike geometry does stretch you out more than any other) and whether it might be viable to put a triple chainring on the front to give you a wider range of gears without breaking the bank. Tho (stuck record ) if you get £400 for the Defy you could buy a Revolution Cross 13 new with change to spare to accessorise it in their current sale.

 

[cardiac case]

I regularly ride the Fitch Way on a Trek hybrid with 28mm tyres, although for the winter I have fitted 32mm's. I also ride through to Sudbury from Melford (or the other way) along the railway track via Rodbridge. I had a mate up in Pentlow I would go and see, long old drag up from Foxearth. Unless you are wanting to get into faster road riding I would have thought a decent hybrid would fit your bill. Not withstanding the above I do mostly road riding and most of it on my Trek. I have a road bike but hardly ever use it, although I have done Harlow to Sudbury on it, via the Fitch Way, a couple of times without issue.

Sounds like you know my area as well as I do Compo. I too use that railway track to ride into Sudbury.
No doubt you also are familiar with the tower.
The word on the street says that when it was built they had the drawing upside down. It was supposed to be a well.

Interesting that you say you have done The Flitch Way on a road bike.

Cheers,
Paul G