shlammed

iTrader: (8)

remember as you ride and gain the core strength, you can easily lower the bars and stay comfortable. when you do that, re-check your seat height too because you will likely need to raise it a bit at the same time. if your in pain on the bike, stop and find out why. sore bum syndrome because your not used to it is expected a bit but it should not be really painful and there shouldn't be any real numbness if setup properly.

if your sitting totally upright your going to go a little faster the lower you can be comfortable with, but I find when I get lower and over the front, the bike pushes a lot better through corners.

Mazdaspeeder

I only have 3 spacers on mine, they are all pretty large. I think I'll wait till I get 100-200 miles on the bike and see how I feel. My bottom is not sore, just the riding position is what I'm still getting used to. I could probably angle my seat forward a hair, but its not bad considering I don't use gel padded shorts or anything.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

Get the Cannondale Si top-cap thingy, required no top spacer. lol @ fused vertebrae.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

****, there is a huge sale on Santa Cruz Tall Boys from last year, $3000 a pop and I have no dollars, and not meter on my CX bike. What is the point in living?

18psi

iTrader: (76)

helmet acquired
shorts acquired
shirt acquired
spare tubes acquired
air pump acquired

I'm gonna do a longer ride today

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

N/A all the way

18psi

iTrader: (76)

only 12.7 miles today, way too hot (106F)

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Return pump, buy CO2 cartridges and dispenser. You can buy a lot of CO2 for the cost of a decent pump, and the CO2 is infinitely faster and easier to use on the side of the road. I carry one spare tube, two CO2s, one dispenser, glueless patch kit and alcohol wipes. If I blow through all of it and still have a flat tire, it's not my day, and it's time to call for a ride home.

Add $15-20 in mixed bills, a photocopy of your ID and health insurance card, 1-2 plastic tire levers, and a small multitool (I carry Lezyne's SV7), and you have a good compact spares kit. The cash doubles as a tire boot, the alcohol wipes serve to prep the tube for the patch and clean your hands off afterwards.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Oh I have 2 c02 cartridges for the side of the road. The pump is for use at home.
Got the levers and multitool too, guess all I'm missing is the alcohol.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Super serious question:
1. tire boot? not sure what this is for a bike or how you'd physically use paper currency to help repair a sliced inner tube on the side of the road, when you also have a spare tube and sticky patches.

Alcohol pad is a good idea, I need to add that to my bag.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

I got 4 more strava top 10's on my Friday ride (5 total), which makes me ecstatic cause I was only trying to beat PR's on two of them and it was an 'easy' ride cause I had a swim clinic the next day (I do not swim well). All of these segments include a decent climb for this area. The segments that are just muli-mile straights I'm still mid pack on the leaderboard.

The only thing I'm doing different from last year is standing while climbing while holding the drop bars. Up until a month ago or so, I never used the drops or stood while biking. I was/am more of a spin it out while seated & on the hoods type rider. But interestingly enough, just the relatively few miles I've spent in the drops I'm already comfortable with them and feel I am ready to remove some spacers from below the stem. I love this bike stuff.


So I celebrated by shaving my legs. My wife realized that last night and she doesn't seem happy about it. haha.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

Shaved legs? Oh man you're about to get so much faster

I think I'm gonna bring mine in to LBS soon and get the gears inspected/adjusted. It's been mosly fine but every now and then has trouble getting into the highest gear, takes a second to finally get in. I watched vids on adjusting, and adjusted, and it's still kind of inconsistent. If that doesn't help, I guess I'll start keeping my eyes open for a good setup, like Ultegra or Dura-Ace

Also I realized with how insanely hot it is during the day, I really prefer to ride at night. Which sucks for various reasons, but mainly because I need lights ASAP.

Went to wally world and got some, but they don't fit? My bar/stem too thick.

shlammed

iTrader: (8)

walmart lights suck. return them.
they barely are enough to let people know you exist, if it even does that.


I bought my dad this for Christmas:
Lezyne Micro Drive 400XL-Strip Pair Light Set | Chain Reaction Cycles
Its a really nice kit and is pretty bright, enough so that its bright enough to ride in the dark. I don't really get out in those hours with a baby at home, so I haven't invested for myself yet.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

Tire boot is to limp home when the tire itself (not tube) gets sliced. Often the sidewall.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

You bought bicycle accessories at Wal-Mart, you don't get to laugh at our awesome shaved legs.

Seriously though, return those lights and get something decent. I'm using a Fly6 as a rear light (for its camera) but if I weren't, I really like the Blackburn Flea 2.0 because it's very light, USB rechargable, and doesn't have a bulky profile. Headlight versions are available for the Fly6 (called the Fly12) and the Flea. Both are available on Amazon and maybe LBS/REI.

Fly6: https://cycliq.com/products/fly6?
Flea: http://www.blackburndesign.com/flea-...l#.V1WknfkrJdg

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I will return them for sure, but just so we're clear: this is a seriously powerful aluminum multi-LED light for the front that is really bright and a really bright LED rear light, not some dinky plastic piece of junk ( I saw those there too, this is not that).

Thanks for the links tho, I'll be checking those out.

Mazdaspeeder

So I went to the shop with my bike and got the fitment checked out properly this time. Everything in the seat was good, we got the height and fore/aft set perfectly, and they checked out some angles as I was pedaling. The reach was a bit long so they threw on a 90mm stem for me to try for a few days with a 10 degree rise vs the 7 degree in the stock one too. It does feel better. They told me that they're getting a shipment of stuff in the next few days and to come back and let them know how I like it. Still feels a LITTLE long, but that's just compared to my MTB I think. He did check my back angle as well and said it was good with the 90mm (not with the 100mm) and my elbows aren't locked out. I might try an 80mm also when I get back there, but 90 definitely made life better.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

This is just my opinion, but 80mm stems are for when the bike is too big for you and should basically never be used. Sizing the stem down that far makes the bike extremely twitchy. 100mm is as short as I would ever want to go. If you need to go shorter, you need to reduce the bar reach, not the stem length. If you are still not short enough, you need to reduce the reach (measured from bottom bracket to headtube). If you go down a size in frame to reduce the reach, but the bars are now too low, the bike doesn't fit you. If your bike shop scoffs at any of this, it's because they don't sell a model of bike with a stack/reach short enough for you.

The two most important numbers for bike fit are stack (height as measured from bottom bracket center to top of headtube) and reach (length as measured from bottom bracket center to top of head tube). Because your seat height and position in relation to the bottom bracket are dictated by average knee angle during the pedal stroke, the only way to size the bike correctly is to alter the position of the handlebars in relation to the bottom bracket. Stack/reach numbers vary dramatically between brands. Some bikes are super long and low (Canyon and Specialized Allez Sprints). In general, most race bikes will have less stack height, which requires more core strength and more flexibility than many new riders have. "Sportive" bikes like the C'dale Synapse or Spesh Roubaix bring the head tube up without making the top tube longer, which makes the bike a little less aerodynamic but far more comfortable to ride. Most cyclocross bikes do the same thing.

Some bikes simply do not fit some people. I have a short torso, so I need a lot of stack height and a comparatively short reach. I started on a 56cm CAAD10 (560 stack, 395 reach) which always felt a little too long for me. Swapped that for a 54cm Cervelo S3 (555/378) that was a little too low. I now ride a 56cm Stigmata (582/388) combined with a slightly shorter (7mm) compact handlebar which fits me flawlessly. Lots of road bikes do not fit me, which is why I rode a Cervelo for a while (big stack height and short reach) before jumping to a Cyclocross bike. 80mm stems are an indication that the bike you are riding does not fit you.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Patch for the tube, tire boot for the tire. If you get a big slice in a tire, the tube will try to push out through it. A folded dollar-bill provides a little support in the area and prevents this until you can get home and get the tire replaced. In my case, it's especially important, since if I do puncture my road tubeless setup, it's not likely to be a small hole.

Mazdaspeeder

Sav, you sound like you know your stuff, but I'm going to let my body decide tonight. Going to try an 80mm stem on it and see what changes. I did not notice any adverse effects with the 90mm, in fact I hit 50mph on a downhill with utmost stability. I googled around and saw many people who use one bike and then have a longer 100-110mm stem and/or bars and then an 80-90mm comfort setup for the same bike. They said this twitchyness becomes apparent when the wheelbase is already short? My bike has a 993mm wheelbase, almost identical to the Sportif. The more racy Roubaix has a 975mm wheelbase. One guy here (80mm stem on a 58cm frame / fitting yourself on a bike) had a really bad effect, but most others who run short stems did not. It doesn't make sense to me to get a whole new bike if 10-20mm of adjustment is all that's needed. I still believe some of my awkwardness is from being used to being on an MTB. I'll see how I like the 80mm, but the 90 was definitely an improvement.