Re: Any bike recommendations?

David said:

I usually go through a pair of Mavic T520 or A719 wheelset a year.
These are professionally built and are bloody expensive, but I ride in
all weather conditions.

Try KoolStop salmon-colored pads. The hard compound extends rim life
significantly.

David said:

James,

Quoted message said:

The main reason I don't want a tourer is because I had one before - a
Dawes Mirage - and it was nothing but a dissapointment. Replaced the
brakes, gears and wheels a fair few times, but nothing would make it
right. OK, maybe the problem was terrible mechanics which never kept
the chain on the spogs, later indexed gears which never worked
properly, and maybe the whole thing was the wrong size for me anyway
(I got it second hand).

Dawes do make great touring bikes and I had seen quite of few people
touring with them, mainly on the Galaxy model.

In a later post to this thread, I did mention that in fairness, it's
not neccessarily to do with Dawes - and by "mechanics" I meant the
people I paid to work on the bike, mostly local. Dawes has an
excellent reputation, some people I know swear by them.

Quoted message said:

Brakes, gears and wheels are consumable items and are subject to wear
and tear. You don't expect them to last forever do you? Unless
ofcourse, you don't ride your bike.

Naturally, I don't expect them to last forever. But I would have
liked them to at least work properly from startoff, and not require a
complete change every 18 months. I'd have been happier with wheels
that lasted more than a couple of weeks too - but, I was a much
younger and more furious rider back then.

Quoted message said:

I usually go through a pair of Mavic T520 or A719 wheelset a year.
These are professionally built and are bloody expensive, but I ride in
all weather conditions.
I go through a cogset every 6 months, but I'm now using the 3 chain
system where I am hoping to prolong cog wear to a year. Cogs are the
LX/XT kind which is not cheap either.
I am now on my 3rd rear derailleur, because I had worn down the pivots
on the other 2.

If you are buying a second hand bike, especially a touring kind, be
extremely weary of the things I said above. Otherwise, you'll going to
inherit problems the previous owner do not want to address.

If you're wearing them out, you're using them up - and have got every
penny's worth of value out of them by the sound of it (assuming you
oil the chain once in a while!🙂

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But I love a good, hard blast periodically, and like a dabble every
now and then when I see another biker up for it. Even on the mountain
bike, it makes for a good race for short distances, but the racers
always leave me behind and those fun competitions and the personal
lift from seeing an impressive speedo/times does mean a lot to me, sad
though I may be to have to admit it.

There are 4 main conditions that can slow you down.

Typically, the rider's body accounts for up 65% of the aero drag that
makes you feel slower, while the bike's aerodynamics accounts for 20%,
10% for wheels and 5% for rolling resistance all within your comfort
level ofcourse!
Weight is not a significant condition to any strong rider,unless you
are a 150 watts rider.

Surely all this depends on the speed, wind and type of road surface
and tyre/road resistance? After all, steady wind resistance will be a
direct function of your velocity compared with it, friction will be a
function of the speed, and induced wind resistance (as a result of
your motion) is a function of the square of your speed.

All this means wind resistance is of course important, and more so as
you go faster, but accelaration is primarily a function of mass.
Certainly, one's own mass is considerable compared with the bike, but
if the bike's mass is 13% of my 140lbs bodyweight instead of 35%, that
will definitely show. The same way a fat man cannot whisk his bulk
around in quite the agile manner of a man 20-odd percent lighter.

A mate has just bought a fancy MB with disk brakes. Disk brakes! I
ask you! I'm suprised it doesn't have an engine too to haul that mass
about.

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The more aerodynamic you are on the bike, the easier you will feel to
go fast. If you go out today and buy a road race bike, but adopt a
mountain riding style (upright riding) as so many road newbies do
(buying high rise stems or use the Zoom stem extender to get the handle
bar higher, you are going to be highly dissappointed. You will
probably go slightly faster than on your mountain bike, but you won't
pass these racers with impressive speedo times.

To beat them at their own game, a combination of group training and the
ability to go low on the bars, tucked in aerodynamically and be
punching in the bigger gears (52/14 or 12) are necessary. Being
upright isn't going to be any help to you going fast.

Incidentally, the lower you are on the bars, the more leverage you will
get pushing the bigger gears by using your arms on the drops or hoods
acting as a fulcrum. You will feel as though you're going to be
ejected out of your saddle and only your arms are holding you in.
That's what experienced cyclists are doing.

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All is not lost though as you can actually convert your mountain bike
to go faster by riding low to your bars and stretched out -- longer
seatpost setback plus a longer stem and then running a pair of narrow
higher pressure tires. Tuck in low, real low and you might give the
poser racers a run for their money!!

Heh - you paint a very vivid image, your descriptive writing is
impressive. Not wishing to sound unwelcoming of this quite correct
synopsis, I should point out that racers (usually 10-speed) have been
my mainstay up until I took quite a break from cycling, about 7 years
ago, since which I've been pottering around on a mountain bike and
frankly rather frustrated at the process.

My natural riding position is down low - I even had my old motorcycle
down in that racing style. Played hell with the back on long
distances, though. The mountain bike style isn't quite as bad as the
sit-up-and-beg bikes, but it does feel more like a chopper than
something you actually need to hug and steer with yourself, rather
than it. Having said that, it works - for very rocky surfaces. This
proposed road-bike is for speed mainly.

I'm noting what you've said, because my style has undoubtedly become
sloppy, and - as with all things - advice is always welcomed. Do you
agree with the adage that one should pedal at as constant a pace, and
at as constant a torque as they can reasonably manage, and use the
gears to adjust the speed for the conditions?

Back in the day, even that old Dawes gave anyone a run for their
money.

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This is why a bordering-on-racing bike is the sort of bike I'm
interested in, rather than something that will kill you after 80 miles
and/or will be considered a throwaway if you ride it over a sixpence.

James.

If you are planning to buy a fast bike with low handle bar and you're
coming from a mountain bike background, I would strongly suggest that
you go to a bike fitter that can fit you properly. Pay extra and get a
lesser bike if you have to. A well fitted bike will make you go faster
than an ill-fitted one.

David.

Sorry - slight misunderstanding about the MB background. But the MB
was an astounding thing for me - always having had a road bike, I was
used to studiously avoiding potholes or manhole covers, and putting a
foot down to ease my delicate wheels over even the lowest curb.
However, the Gary Fisher MB was happy over even sizeable stones,
careering down sharp rocks, bumping down stairs and - most
particularly suprising to me - applying the front brake in gravel or
suspect surface on a sharp decline didn't result in the front wheel
dissapearing to the rear almost immediately.

These experiences (which should have been obvious, duh!) made me
understand different ends of cycling, and how everything must be a
compromise no matter what you pay in any single bike. I'm still very
happy with the Hoo-Koo-Eee-Koo (don't ask why Gary Fisher calls them
that). But I think I've settled on the modest Specialized Roubaix -
it seems a very nice compromise between pure racing and and touring.

It's expensive, but - since I've saved a long while for it - I don't
mind paying.

James.