I can bring my unique "cyclocross" bike. But I might want to bring the bike with the bling mudguards seeing as they took me 6 hours of sweat, tears and swearing to install (and still need more work done!)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
Hello and request for Advice
(80 posts)- Started 10 years ago by StepRam
- Latest reply from StepRam
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Posted 10 years ago #
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Thank you once again for everyones input, Sorry it has taken me a few days to reply, its been a busy weekend!
wingpig says "Definitely get at least 32mm. I 'manage' on 23mm but only because nowt fatter fits my frame." Is 32 not quite Wide for a road / cyclocross? Or is that the whole idea?
WC I like your thinking comfort is going to be an issue, certainly to begin with, I am envisioning getting off this bike and walking like John Wayne for a few weeks. Speaking of which seats? is there any merit in some supper fancy seat?
Re the Tyre size and mud guards, Is this going to have a negative effect on speed and manoeuvrability?
I like the Puncture protection of the Schwalbe Marathons but they seam to be mainly slick / semi slick, no small Nobelles?
Out of curiosity, how do the Schwabe Snow tyres with studs work on the road? May look at these again in the winter. I put winter Tyres on the car this year and what a difference!
The Larger than needed mud guards sound like a plan but again my question is aerodynamics and speed?
So what is a PY, Sounds like a nice meet up which would be awesome as it would be good to meet some of you and get some more advice. I am tempted to hire a bike for a few days / a week to give it a go and see how I get on. It may also help me think about what is important! I keep going on about a Lightweight, Fast Aerodynamic bike, so much so you would think I was in training for next years Tour De France. Then I talk about carry 25KG of kit!
My Shopping list so far then:
Cyclocross Bike (make and Model to be determined), look at Specialized 'Tricross' range,
Schwalbe Marathon Tyres with 23,25 or 32mm rims
FULL size mud guards as large as the frame will take to allow for thicker wheels and tyres in the winter
Ortlieb panniers
35/50 Compact Crank
£50ish helmet
Disk Breaks
waterproofs
MTB shoes & MTB cleats & peddels
Some lycra, look @ Rapha, VulpineAs for the Canon / Nikon chat that's just not a can of worms In think we should open hear there are photo forums out there with all our troll wars over that issue!
Thanks again for all the advice.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Schwalbe marathon plus tyres very grippy without nobbly bits, but I think they only go down to 28mm. I have these on my commuting bike which is a tricross originally specialized but really all the components are what spesh should have put on the bike in the first place (fortunately they do now). Croix de Fer from Genesis the other popular cyclocross style of what are really souped up touring bikes that let you go off road. The WAter of Leith path is a bit muddy in winter for 28mm tyres. Mudguards essential, panniers And rack my preference. Saddles depend on your bahoochie. Some on here swear by brooks saddles, the Croix de fer has a brooks copy. Others do not find the saddle comfy, it is hard leather which somewhAt counterintuitively is better for longer distance than soft rubber (obviously also heavier) if brooks work for your butt then will be only saddle you ever need.
PY is a cafe Peter's Yard that sells very expensive coffee but is well placed for groups of cyclists who live near the meadows or work near there.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Posted 10 years ago #
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Camera
allebong thanks for pointing me to http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=10554&page=1 finally had a good read. So I have herd your point about the mirror action before and one of my friends who shoots Nikon made this point recently when he say me do hand held manual focus macro with my 50mm f1.4 and cheep un-powered macro extension tubes. The suggestion was that this would be much harder if not impossible on a nikon!
Back to the point I think that the Pannier inserts will provide some cushioning to minor blows and may eradicate the smallest of vibrations I don't think it will do much to help with the killer vibrations as there will not me enough give in the material. So the inserts and probably about the same as the wrap it in cloths option. To remove the killer vibrations and knocks you would need something like a counterbalanced stead cam set up. So I think I'm back to either carrying it on my back or deciding if the camera and lenses can take the knocks!
As a side I already own http://store.lowepro.com/shoulder-bags/pro-messenger-200-aw which is a great bag and carries everything, but very heavy and I dont think it would be great for the bike.
And this http://www.crumpler.eu/index.cfm?seite=photo&sprache=EN&productID=7913 which is an awsome day bag and might be ideal, for the bike on a dry day. (it is water proof, just)!
I think the Crumpler in the Pannier might be a good move. Its just that question of long term vibration damage to the camera kit!
Laptop
I that a HP ProBook 5330, I've upgraded to a 2tb 7200 Disk, as I needed the Space, No space in the laptop for a second disk. Will be upgrading the Laptop again soon. Would like to look at an Air and run It with three boot options. As Everything on the Laptop is fully cloud sync'ed the HD loss would be a pain in the ass but nothing more, So I think, I'll take the risk with it in the Panniers. But as pointed out as long as the Laptop is fully shutdown it should be ok.
When I have had to preform surgery on HD's to recover data nine times out of ten the Read- Head was not parked!! Its hard to say if this is always users not shutting down fully but I would guess that most of the time this is the issue.
However this dose leave the possibility that some drives failures have been failing to park the Read-Head off the disk and the disk then taking a knock.
Summery
So Laptop in Panniers, Camera in light bag on back that will fit inside Pannier when needed and means I am only carrying two Panniers in to a clients office, rather than three bags!
Hope that all makes sense.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Is 32 not quite Wide for a road / cyclocross?
30 or 32 would be the standard for actual cyclocross events, although a lot of people aren't buying and riding their CX bikes competitively!
Posted 10 years ago # -
"PY is a cafe Peter's Yard that sells very expensive coffee but is well placed for groups of cyclists who live near the meadows or work near there."
True. and certainly the main reason i manage to go is proximity to work. But it is also on Edinburgh's most used bike path, so en route for many other bike commuters.
Posted 10 years ago # -
PY's (black) coffee isn't much to write home about, but the Cinnamon Buns and Swedish cakes and treats...
Drool!
Posted 10 years ago # -
The other forum post (linked above) suggests 26th I have another engagement at 9 that day but am hoping to change that.....
Black coffee is what I drink, so long as it is strong and not burnt or stewed I'll cope :)
Re tyre width the cyclocross bikes I saw in the shops all seamed to have near road tyre thickness as standard?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Stepram I'd wager most "cyclocross" bikes are not sold with cyclocross in mind but more as road-bikes cum cycle-path bikes cum commuters.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Coming late to this one. Have been away.
+1 for CX bike for your intended use. I have a "Revolution Cross" - it's EBC (Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op)'s own brand. Great value but as others have said, try and push the budget for a version with Disc brakes instead of cantis. I have an eternal struggle getting the cantis to be even half as good as the centre-pull calipers on my 34-yr-old road bike.
Tyres - Knobbles will just slow you down and will cause it to feel less sure-footed when cornering on any hard surface. Only get them if you're planning on spending any significant time riding on actual mud. Do splash out on something with decent p***ture protection as there's nothing more dispiriting when commuting than having to stop and change a tube at the side of the road every week or so.
Pedals/shoes - Mountain bike type SPDs with the recessed cleats all the way.
Clothes - If you're going more than 3 or 4 miles you're probably going to want to get changed when you get to the office anyway so you may as well get something that maximises your cycling comfort. If you don't fancy turning up at work in full lycra then there's some great "baggy" shorts with padded liners available. Best I've tried so far are Endura Humvees.
As for your top half I'm a big fan of the "vintage cycle jersey" Ebay search. Plenty of bright and visible without being "hi-viz" shirts for less than a tenner. (Plenty of flippin' 'orrible 80s/90s crazy-patterned garish monstrosities to scroll though too but that's part of the fun). The longer and more incomprehensible the German, Flemish or French name of the 2nd or 3rd string domestic trade team in question the better. Maybe that's just me! Give it a couple of weeks for the weather to return to normal and this point will be moot in any case.
Saddle - I loves my Brookses but this is probably the most personal part of the equation.
Posted 10 years ago # -
+1 for Marathon pluses rather than knobblies.
Biggest mistake I made when I went back to cycling was buying a bike with knobbly tyres. Second biggest was not changing them.
Marathon Pluses and Marathon Winters are fab.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I run normal Marathons on my trailer-draggin' MTB and daily CX, both of which are so far untroubled by the fairy whose name I shall not utter here despite running over all the exciting surface contents of city roads.
I will tentatively suggest that the Plus isn't worth the extra weight, cost and infamous difficulty of installation.
Posted 10 years ago # -
suppose the other type of bike type are the hybrids
plenty of light(ish) flat bar machines around with varying specs depending on preferencePosted 10 years ago # -
I tried 32mm tyres and Mavic CXP 33s (very narrow time-trial type rims) on an EBC steel framed road bike. The combination of heavy tyres and light rims caused speed wobbles. So make sure you get a bike with wheel rims that are meant to take wider tyres.
+1 for the PY semlor buns.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Cantis are OK. They will encourage a sense of caution. I ride Marthon Plus 28s and find them comfy enough and not at all slow. Maybe slow to accelerate but once they're moving they feel like a big flywheel.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Hi StepRam, Nice to meet you this morning. Here are a few links to Cotic, which you saw this morning:
Also on sale last years model on sale Also see the X page on the right Complete bike special offer: £750, saving 150 on the standard weekday price. Ignore the bit about lack of rack lugs as you saw, on my bike, you can just add P clips.
The Roadrat which is designed as a city bike, and has flat bars instead of Drop handlebars. This bike comes with standard gears or a geared hub.
Also Uberuces bike, the Croix De Fer and the lower spec?? CDF
Dave C
EDIT: note that the standard >X< comes with Tektro cantilever brakes and Steel forks, as the Carbon forks and Disk brakes are an option. All prices are on the website though.
Posted 10 years ago # -
DaveC thanks for that, I really appreciate the time and advice yourself and the others have given me. I'm going to go on a tour of some bike shops this weekend (being a bit more informed now and will hopefully come away with a few options to run past you all and then I'm just going to do it!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Curve ball....
http://www.whytebikes.com/2013/section.php?xSec=43&xPage=1
I have the Charing Cross which I use solely for commuting all year round. Great bike, really comfy, would highly recommend...
Posted 10 years ago # -
+1 for Genesis Croix de Fer, Schwalbe Marathons, mudguards, Ortlieb panniers, Rohan civvies.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Curvier ball... go for a singlespeed/fixed crosser.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Straight ball. Full suspension Apollo MTB, cycle in football kit and sports socks, pop all your stuff in a small rucksack or hang it from handlebars in Farmfoods bags.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Choice of 5 at Bike Trax
Plus a few tourers - inc. a white Galaxy ('ladies')
Posted 10 years ago # -
*eyes narrow* It's on.
BMX, ride on the pavement wearing shorts that expose no less than 2/3 of your underpants and a T-shirt with a motif relating to cannibis. Headwear is either a shell helmet(with further cannabis decals) or a baseball cap that under no circumstances will shield your eyes from the sun.
-sensible edit. Crikey, we completely forgot about hub gears, didn't we? The cherry red one there is the Day One Alfine, which is a similar beast to my Croix, except that it's got an 8-speed internal hub gear at the back. They're largely binary in their maintenance; either they need nothing but the chain cleaned and the tension twiddled or they're completely knackered and have to be returned to the nearest certified mechanic. For 99% of the time, it's the former, come rain, shine or sleet.
Posted 10 years ago # -
and then of course theres the 2nd hand market
I know its not for all but I saw this the other day while looking at things I cant affordPosted 10 years ago # -
hay, Baldcyclist that's a nice Curve ball but i was hoping to keep the whole thing under £1k, ortlibs, racks and mcb cleats and shoes all in for less than £1k I thought / hoped that was a good budget? I could push it but that would require some domestic negotiations!
What is "Rohan civvies"
Everything else on that list looks good.
Uberuce & kaputnik your on your own there, however i think all your missing is the bottle of buckie in the bottle holder and a see you jimmy hat!
chdot, thanks I nipped in earlier but all the staff here busy and I had somewhere else to be.... priving seamed a little steep? Going to do some price research....
custard Thanks I have messaged the seller, any tips on what to look for in a used bike like this?
Posted 10 years ago # -
I doubt you're a 56cm - DaveC and I are both shorter than you and we fit 58.
Buuuuuut, as gembo pointed out, your first bike is going to be the wrong one.
I think of buying from the LBS as insurance. If you buy online or from a large anonymous bricks'n'mortar chain, it will be cheaper, but they can afford to give you rubbish customer service because their (semi)Unique Selling Point is the low prices and they know that will bring in the punters regardless of bad press.
Local Bike Shops' USP is their excellent customer service - it has to be, because it ain't the prices - so if anything goes wrong, they will move heaven and earth to fix it, so that you will give glowing reports to your friends, using your mouth and words.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Uberuce Good points, I think I need to try some bikes and get a better idea of the right size for me. My plan is to do some shopping around try a few and decide on 1 or 2 models, then get the best Internet prices and use that to haggle with a local shop. I agree with all the comments made about a local bike shop and I am prepared to pay a little more for that service but I want to make sure I still get a good price, if not the cheapest!
Posted 10 years ago # -
I've found that Marathon tyres (not the plus) tend to crack at the sidewalls, well before the tread is worn.
Anyone else noticed the same?
Apart from that, they're a good tyre. And before anyone asks, yes I do keep them properly inflated - 80psi.
Posted 10 years ago # -
*goes and checks his Marathon 32* Nope. Got them in September '11 and they're looking peachy.
Posted 10 years ago #
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