The Birdman
New member
The big bike race is coming to Sussex on 13th September does anyone know the route and timings it the British version of the Tour de France. Are you going to watch it!
Sure you're right, looking forward to first outing Sunday ... Mrs says I should ride it back from Edenbridge but defo going in back of car
Ease up Bold let the poor fella enjoy his bike before you get the stopwatch and milometer out.That would be a nice ride, what is it, about 50miles? do it on the bike!
The big bike race is coming to Sussex on 13th September does anyone know the route and timings it the British version of the Tour de France. Are you going to watch it!
[MENTION=23986]Glanders[/MENTION] will pi$$ it at about 3am, once he's built up a head of steam on lap 78.Just following British tt champs on Twitter.
Bottrill has been bossing things domestically and Wiggins puts 2 and a half minutes into him on the first lap!
Dowsett a minute down as well!
Geek help required please.
Thinking of getting an upgrade so I can pass my Battaglin onto teenage 1066 and use it as a winter hack at times too. Quite like the idea of going carbon but keen to stay with a Campag groupset. Budget in the region of £600 to £800 at a massive push so was hoping to get a good secondhand job that would retail at about £1,000 - £1,300. Could possibly see what's available on a cycle to work scheme too, but it seems to be nearly all Shimano at that price range.
With that in mind I've been and road tested a 2013 Ribble Evopro full carbon. Centaur groupset throughout and fulcrum racing 5 wheels. The bike looked lovely to my eyes as it's understated black but with a clear coat that lets the carbon weave show. Could see it didn't have much mileage on it as was in very good nick. Not sure if I was expecting it to just glide along when I got on but instantly it seemed to feel laboured and sluggish as I pedaled away on it. Once I got going though it felt nice and the shifting was very smooth (certainly compared to my old centaur). It has gatorskins on it but surely the rolling resistance of those alone wouldn't make it feel sluggish, would it?
Perhaps I'm just expecting too much of carbon and perhaps underestimating my old Battaglin? Anyway, I've left it to think about overnight before getting back to him. I'm torn as there's so much I like about the bike but something just doesn't quite feel right to me. Everything seems to run true and can't see anything wrong with the bike at all. I sort of feel that if it doesn't feel 100% right then I should just leave it as I'm in no rush and I quite enjoy the endless research and chase anyway and something's bound to come up eventually, just that it's unusual to find something so local with a spec that I'm after.
Any thoughts please?
If you have doubts, it's a lot of money to spend. Road test a few more bikes, and don't close your mind off to Shimano - my 105 group set is brilliant (and the Sora on my winter bike isn't noticeably worse).
It should not feel sluggish, it should ride itself. I would not buy it - you will always be wondering if it was the wrong decision. Gatorskins don't slow you down much, even 28s.
Good luck sleeping tonight!
Did my longest ever 'flag to flag' ride this morning. Much flatter than normal, so I've never done so much peddling before. Didn't finish either bottle. Used (probably not properly) the Garminge2's route upload facility which bailed me out a few times as I went well into unknown territory. Sat up a few times and took in some lovely views. 3/4 of the way in, I had to work a bit harder. 4/5 in and I was blowing a bit. Somehow did a PR close to home coming in. Surprised and pleased to see a 16mph average at the end. Funny how I struggled last week.
It sounds like you were expecting too much, coupled with your current steed being better than you think.
Even though you're not in the market, lbs' don't know that.
Over the next few weeks take 3 very different brands out for a spin, with different group sets.
You'll have a better opinion and a better nights sleep after that.
Fair do's.Thanks SB. Sound advice I'm sure but to be honest I can't see me trawling around lbs' as I;d need to travel a bit to make it worth my while.
Glad to hear you got a sale on the Colnago.
Pleased to get up the final hill home without the cramps fully kicking in, even though I did get a few twinges at one point. All in all a fairly nice ride, but a long way from being my most enjoyable.
Fair do's.
We all always say the same.
'Try as many bikes as you can'.
I was thinking about your 'problem' earlier.
The best I could come up with was if you weren't in your kit, perhaps the bike just didn't quite fit, or the tyres were under inflated.
Failing that all I had left was that it was an absolute carbon (no pun intended) copy of your current bike, making the only difference it being a touch lighter, pretty hard to spot for us.