The Cycling / Bicycles Thread

[Crisp_Rapper]

I'm primarily a road cyclist, both in the sense that my main activity nowadays is commuting to and from work and in the sense that I prefer road cycling to mountain biking in general.

you sick phuck!
nah, road riding is good for fitness if a little boring when your life isn't being threatened by piss poor drivers or you're going 60mph downhill.

anyway, i'm strictly off road. i kinda ride everything though, from long hard rides in the dales to short sharp tech fest blasts around our purpose built bike mangler of a trail at stainburn just north of leeds. the trail is a double black, so not for fannies

sunday before that i was at orb training in netherton, a super secret set of trails near wakey.

[Commander Marklar]

Show off

There's an area in Wargrave that's marked off limits to cyclists as it's... steep, very steep. But I've seen people like you go down it at about 50mph, easily. Next time I'm around there, I'll grab a picture

[Crisp_Rapper]

i don't feature in those photos, especially the last few... that drop is a good 15' down to the landing. it's truly terrifying looking at it from the top (or even the bottom). i've only done the baby brother, a baby at 7'. i've been informed it's like dropping off a kerb but with a little bit more 'hanging in the air'.

as long as your landing is angled properly you can drop a serious way without even using the full travel on your bike. god bless physics.

[recipher]

Are you in a club Jashin?

I used to ride around your way (Cat+Fiddle) when I lived in Leek. My in-laws are there, so if I'm down there for more than a couple of days, I bring my bike and train in the Peak. I've not been up the C+F for a while.

I'll be doing more training down there over the next year or so since I'm going to be riding a lot more as I try to get good enough to complete Ironman. Where I am is hilly but the Peak District is a lot more serious and a few weeks of riding round there gets you much stronger.

[Tirian]

l cycle to work every day, but only from Shoreditch Park to Tottenham Court Road (about 15-20mins along Regent's Canal and then through the London Cycle Network route to Gower St.

Pic of my bike is attached

.. well, almost .. mine has a back carrier and dynamo lights too. And I swear my saddle doesn't go that high. My other bike is battering ram of a mountain bike that I bought second hand from the outdoor centre that my sister worked at. Decent enough though - it currently lives in Stoke, in my girlfriend's back yard, so that I can use it somewhere where there's actually hills ...

As such, definitely looking for good cycle rides in the Stoke-on-Trent area - sounds like you might be able to point us in the right direction, Jashin?

Last time I was up we cycled from Stoke out to Congleton, along the cycle path from Stoke and then along disused railway track from Biddulph. Stopped for a pint or two at the Church Arms and pootled back. We don't have a car at the moment, so it has to be places that we can either cycle to from Stoke, or get to and from by train.

We're keen cyclists, but by no means hardcore (I was the cyclist in a tri team for the London Triathlon .. which I did on my mountain bike, in 1 hr 27min and was extremely pleased ... and sore, so that might give you some idea of my maximum capacity! My g/f commutes by bike from Stoke to Keele every day, so that's her level.

How long does your ride take, Marklar? 22 miles is a fair old stretch!! I'm moving to Stratford soon, so my commute is about to up its ante. But I'm hoping that if I keep to the towpaths as much as possible I can keep it to 30-35 mins. We'll see.

Tirian

[Eps]

There's loads of off-road cycle paths around manchester too, where abouts do you live and work? There's probably a cycle path not too far away.

Think you got the wrong end of the stick mate: I moved from Mancs to Florida. I used to go up and down the Fallowfield Loop all the time, as it was nice and convenient for my house, and if you went all the way to Sale one way and then all the way past Abbey Hey the other it was a nice ride!

Also, to respond to Crisp: Living in Florida means that I'm not bored at all, because when I'm not exceeding the speed limit downhill, I'm dicing with death by sharing the road with American drivers

Got over 40 today for the first time on this bike, again on the big downhill stretch between my house and work; funny how it only seems 'nippy' now, vs. years ago when I first went over 30mph on a bike and was cacking my pants

[Rossco]

I need to get a computer on my bike so I can start getting top speeds too, 40 seems outrageous!

[Supergoal]

Brought back some memories, I used to ride when I was a young nipper from Chester to Helsby hill and back. I didn't bring enough water with me once so me and a mate had to knock on some poor folks door somwhere in Helsby asking if we could fill up our water bottles! Those were the days.

[Eps]

I need to get a computer on my bike so I can start getting top speeds too, 40 seems outrageous!

It does -- and it is on the flat (unless you're Lance Armstrong on a bucketful of dru.. I mean, motivation ). But downhill it's a different matter. Long, steepish downhill stretches of road will get you above 30 no problem, assuming you're not just coasting (and sometimes even then).

[Crisp_Rapper]

Got over 40 today for the first time on this bike, again on the big downhill stretch between my house and work; funny how it only seems 'nippy' now, vs. years ago when I first went over 30mph on a bike and was cacking my pants

only just got to 40mph on a road bike? try it off road, wheels off the ground more than on it, scrabbling for traction on corners... i both hate it and love it.

also about a year ago (for some reason) i rode to one of the forests i ride at with a mate, on the way back down the hill on the road we blitzed some roadies at about 40mph on this long stretch of hill outside otley. that took some serious aerodynamic adjustment considering the gearing on my bike only allows for about 27mph flat out spinning like a loon. 8) they didn't look happy

[Jashin]

Nah, anything to make you MTB's feel better about yourselves

[Nijo]

only just got to 40mph on a road bike? try it off road, wheels off the ground more than on it, scrabbling for traction on corners... i both hate it and love it.

Yeah, one of my favourite crashes involves an off-road downhill at 40mph. The downhill is locally called 'The Ski-Jump', for obvious reasons.

I won't bore you with the details, but I came out of it unscathed (except for a broken helmet). The other guy's bike was trashed though.

[spagmasterswift]

I need to get a computer on my bike so I can start getting top speeds too, 40 seems outrageous!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e6pYBW0gB9A

[TheForce]

at the moment I have an Cannondale F800 with a lefty front suspension and shimano brake discs.



I MTB for over 8 years now, and now MTB season has begon again , so there are many organised MTB tours (about 50km) every weekend ! I totally love it.
We have some fine woods in the area I live in.
we plan to go once a year for a long weekend to Austria/Germany or Belgium for some biking in the mountains.

[Crisp_Rapper]

i knew you had good taste Force. i desire a cannondale like that bad boy, something silly light.

one day............. *dreams*