London to Brighton *Roll Call*

[adrian29uk]

Well done. I will doing the London to Brighton next year.

It does make me laugh when you have Lance Armstrong lookalikes on the road. I do a lot of cyling but I am certainly not ready to get lycrad up, I would feel like a prat especially with a Time Trail helmet on as well.

How embarrasing to be wearing the king of the mountains jersey and walking up the beacon.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

392 people injured, and one person had a heart attack.

You'd think the British Heart Foundation would want to step in and advise people that cycling can be dangerous.

 

[Stat Brother]

You do need to remember all cycling clothing, is there for a reason.
Personally I feel like 'The Only Gay, In The Village', in my kit but I would be in agony without my bib shorts, a sweaty mess without a decent base layer, and pocketless without a jersey.

But I'd never wear King of the Mountains, (not without losing 3 stone, anyway).
And I'd never wear a TT helmet, unless........., and so it goes on.

 

[Best Foot Forward]

You'd think the British Heart Foundation would want to step in and advise people that cycling can be dangerous.

Yeah.....but then think of the sponsorship money!!

 

[adrian29uk]

You do need to remember all cycling clothing, is there for a reason.
Personally I feel like 'The Only Gay, In The Village', in my kit but I would be in agony without my bib shorts, a sweaty mess without a decent base layer, and pocketless without a jersey.

But I'd never wear King of the Mountains, (not without losing 3 stone, anyway).
And I'd never wear a TT helmet, unless........., and so it goes on.

I know the equipment is there for a reason. Tell me the truth, wearing all the gear does it help you? Clips on the pedals, do you see any benefit?

 

[lost in london]

7 hours for me

Left at 9.30, and was riding with some people who I had to teach how to use gears which slowed us down a fair bit. Great day though and made it up the beacon just fine. Was surprised how many fit looking people were walking, I think it's probably a mental thing, I grew up going up firle beacon and bo-peep and I guess you get used to making your way up steepish road hills.

 

[Stat Brother]

I know the equipment is there for a reason. Tell me the truth, wearing all the gear does it help you? Clips on the pedals, do you see any benefit?

I guess it depends on your definition of 'help'.
Wearing the same pair of boots as Ronaldo ain't gonna turn a chubby 38 year old into a world beater, but they they will help more than ballet shoes!.

Clipless pedals, definately, they make a huge difference to how you ride/pedal.
My pedal system, shoes, cleats and pedals cost £150. (quite expensive) But they are now 18 months old and have 2k of miles done, with no sign of aging.

Decent/padded shorts, if your planning to put some miles in (50+ every few days).

Best wear a helmet if you are planning loads of road miles, although the jury is still out on this, for some.

You can get into the mind set of shaving grams off here and there, (not to mention £££'s) but as I said, for a 38 years chubby bloke, I could just cut down on beer. There's no sign of that happening any time soon.

 

[Best Foot Forward]

I guess it depends on your definition of 'help'.
Wearing the same pair of boots as Ronaldo ain't gonna turn a chubby 38 year old into a world beater, but they they will help more than ballet shoes!.

Clipless pedals, definately, they make a huge difference to how you ride/pedal.
My pedal system, shoes, cleats and pedals cost £150. (quite expensive) But they are now 18 months old and have 2k of miles done, with no sign of aging.

Decent/padded shorts, if your planning to put some miles in (50+ every few days).

Best wear a helmet if you are planning loads of road miles, although the jury is still out on this, for some.

You can get into the mind set of shaving grams off here and there, (not to mention £££'s) but as I said, for a 38 years chubby bloke, I could just cut down on beer. There's no sign of that happening any time soon.

Totally agree on the padded shorts, especially on the longer trips.

The clipless pedals obviously take a little more getting used to. My wife saw someone get on their bike at the start yesterday, who must have only just purchased their clipless pedals......as they fell off in comedy fashion still attached to the bike!!

 

[lost in london]

Totally agree on the padded shorts, especially on the longer trips.

The clipless pedals obviously take a little more getting used to. My wife saw someone get on their bike at the start yesterday, who must have only just purchased their clipless pedals......as they fell off in comedy fashion still attached to the bike!!

I very nearly did the same at some traffic lights, forgot I had a packed pannier on only one side and just managed to get my foot out and down in time, caused much amusement to people aroung me.

The shoes that go with the clip in pedals for road cycling anyway are generally very stiff, less flex = more efficiency, you also get the extra benefit of pulling the pedals up rather than only pushing them down, it's probably tiny tiny percentages, but over a ride of a few hours makes a difference.

I felt so sorry for people on Halfords full suspension bikes; they're comically heavy, and in every pedal half the energy probably went to moving the suspension up and down rather than driving the bike forwards.

Stiff soles, a light bike, pumped up skinny tyres, a good cycling action and knowing how to use gears efficiently all add up to make a massive difference.

 

[REDLAND]

Stiff soles, a light bike, pumped up skinny tyres, a good cycling action and knowing how to use gears efficiently all add up to make a massive difference.

that certainly does help, though theres no substitute for being fit

I did the ride on a 6.7inch full suss mountain bike (Giant Reign X) with 2.3 inch tyres with approx 24psi in each tyre.. I did the beacon on my middle chain ring passing many lycra clad roadies pushing their super light expensive road bikes up ..

 

[Stat Brother]

that certainly does help, though theres no substitute for being fit

I did the ride on a 6.7inch full suss mountain bike (Giant Reign X) with 2.3 inch tyres with approx 24psi in each tyre.. I did the beacon on my middle chain ring passing many lycra clad roadies pushing their super light expensive road bikes up ..

Corking, 24 psi, that's so funny, would be like riding the rims on my bike.