noob questions

i have the gold rock and roll. is red better? tbh i wondered, when reviewing the options at lbs, if it was all just marketing or if they were really different. i think the guy there said gold would be good for me.

i guess now i am mostly confused - do you need to grease your chain, or degrease it? or do you just degrease it after every few lubes? i feel like *ack* cathy right now!

xpost that post ended up in the wrong thread.

both grease and degrease. There are two philosophy's in lube, dry lubing and wet lubing. Dry lubes are waxes that flake off over time so in theory pick up less dirt but need more frequent application. Wet lubes tend to allow dirt to stick but need less frequent re application.

AFAIK gold is a drylube, I use R&R red on the road bike.

I use dry in the summer and wet in the winter and on my commuter bike all the time.

My standard procedure though is to wash the chain at least monthly this removes any grime and metal particles that might promote wear; but yes you degrease and then regrease with clean lube.

ok. so red to clean, something else to lube.

I use finish line wet lube, it works, never used dry, maybe next summer.

Ed's right on the chain cleaner, those things are a pleasure to use compared to the old scrub with a toothbrush or take off cOmpletely and soak in paraffin methods....

When you do lube it back up, take your time and lube the chain from abOve, it's the bearings inside that need living not the outer plates. Then take a wad of kitchen paper and run the chain through that to take off the excess that will only pick up more muck, rather than doing anything beneficial.

There's something quite beautiful about a freshly cleaned and lubes chain, especially if it's zipping quietly through a clean smooth drivetrain, sigh.

Think I'll give the felt a deep clean tomorrow.

Rock and roll have miracle red cleaner and red lube. Green nipple cream too, FNARR!

http://www.rocklube.com/bicycle.htm

Jesus, some awful spelling mistakes in that post, sorry guys, combination of tiredness and smartarse iPhone spelling correction.

sorry pp meant to reply to your text then got sidetracked

def going to trawl CTC; need to start piecing together a potential itinerary

Not sure what your aims are but I can recommend Cherbourg or St Malo to Caen. The vendée comes highly recommended (cf. this year's TDF). And some friends recently did the Rhine to Basel IIRC they started somewhere in south East Belgium to take advantage of Eurostar tickets taking you to anywhere in Belgium

http://www.rheinradweg.eu/en/index.php

so clipless.....

um, convince me

i have to take two pairs of shoes everywhere?

it just seems like so much hassle.

are you just riding around, goin places? or do you go on "rides"?

i rode clipless on my commuter/work bike for ages and it was great (and also necessary on a brakeless track bike). however, when i was commuting, i was in separate kit anyway, and kept my nice shoes at the office. when i was a messenger, riding my bike was my job.

i recently put BMX platforms on my CX/city bike, and I love it. most of this was motivated by only having one pair of clipless and wanting them on my MTB, but now that i've gotten accustomed to it, i'm p sold on flat pedals as being the best urban option. it's not a big deal to throw my clipless on my bike if i'm going on a proper ride, and not carrying two pairs of shoes (or being a dork in bike shoes all day) is great

Oh god I'd never ride sans cleats now. No way. I don't feel safe without them these days. The shoes I have are fine for walking around in, too, though obviously not all of them are. Also you can get regular trainers with space for cleats these days - http://www.alwaysriding.co.uk/footwear-148/cycling-shoes-218/ - which makes them even easier / more practical.

Cleats make pedalling so much more efficient. They also make me feel much more "at one" with the bike. Hippy bullshit, I know, but it's a definite psychological advantage, I think, to feel more connected to the bike. Physiological, too.

I do hate the term 'clipless', though, it seems are-backwards - cleats are not clipless, it means you DO have clips, unlike regular pedals wjhich are clipless? Unless it comes from toe-clips, which it probably does, but that just seems etymologically screwed. Like "I could care less" vs "I couldn't care less". The former means you do care, ergo wtf, confusion?!

My commuter bike has double-sided pedals, both clipless and flat. My fun bike has double-sided clipless.

the first time i rode clipless (having never ridden with toeclips) was incredible, i felt like my power output doubled. was an instant convert. as for shoes, you can get less dorky ones, or dual sided pedals you can ride with normal shoes if you really need to wear those dress brogues.

yeah clipless is such a stupid term. should be strapless!

"clipless" comes from toe-clips, yeah. esp since some "cleated" pedals used to have toe clips! (http://www.yellowjersey.org/tocleat.html)

but yeah, it's confusing. lotta ppl just say SPDs, like Kleenex. anyway: clipless pedals are totally great and i love them and you def go faster. but if yr bike is yr main city transportation (ie - not just a commuter) then i think flat pedals are the jam. but that assumes that you ride your bike everywhere all the time, don't want to carry extra shoes, and anticipate situations where bike shoes would be a liability (dancing!). if it's just for to-and-from work, or actual sunday rides or whatever, then go for clipless.

not so dorky cycling shoes?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Images/Models/Full/9494.jpg

[Removed Illegal Image]

http://www.hostelshoppe.com/images/products/la_08keen_comuter.jpg

yr dork mileage may vary

http://media1.roseversand.de/product/370/3/3/336352_1.jpg

i feel compelled to point out you would not catch me dead in those sandals

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/images/products/medium/exustar-sp705-stelvio-leather-spd-touring-commuter-shoes-black-IMG20634EXUSTAR_L.jpg

i commute in these, they are basically bike cop shoes. i leave a couple of pairs of work shoes in my office and change when i get in.

i trimmed off the exustar tab and blacked out the tongue logo ~~stealth~~

also, i dont want straps on my commuter shoes because, lol ~stealth~, but i want them ez on/off, so i (ninja) replace standard laces with elastic laces (/ninja).

Cozen, can't recommend cycling in hollan enough, specifically on the LF1 north sea route. We did hoek to heemskerk on Saturday and it was a real pleasure. Just about 60 miles, maybe 15% of those on actual roads. The cyclepaths through the dunes are just awesome, mostly smooth paving (we had a fair amount of block paving, and a couple of kms of light gravel too). Plenty of views, plenty of pastry stops, courteous drivers when the paths did cross, marvellous.

As for pedals, clipless all the way now, despite the odd "moment" such as the one last night where a straight pull out saved me from a v ignominious fall from stationary.

i do about 150 miles a week commuting and nobbing around, then a big most sundays to get rid of hangover

i'd hate the idea of riding on flats, i like having the slot to put my foot in

i see loads of ppl with spds looking a bit flakey clipping in and out and in and out when it's busy around london

i dunno, think im gonna buy some new pedals (mine fell apart the other day) then maybe treat myself to some spds and use them on the long rides and see how that goes

thanks for the shoe recommendations guys

150 miles+ is a shitload to be riding on flats, but imo gbx's assessment of that ish is exactly right

i feel compelled to point out you would not catch me dead in those sandals

― ledge

Phew.

sandals are sorta dire, but they have their uses (on somebody else's feet, not mine). keen also makes these:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4114732817_aa5bde58d8.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4114732817_aa5bde58d8.jpg

yeh its obvious really, kinda wanted you all to go GET SPDs you'll never look back thus freeing me of the guilt of spending lots of £££ i don't have on spds and new pedals

i do about 150 miles a week commuting and nobbing around, then a big most sundays to get rid of hangover

i'd hate the idea of riding on flats, i like having the slot to put my foot in

i see loads of ppl with spds looking a bit flakey clipping in and out and in and out when it's busy around london

i dunno, think im gonna buy some new pedals (mine fell apart the other day) then maybe treat myself to some spds and use them on the long rides and see how that goes

thanks for the shoe recommendations guys

see yr sitch is perfect for SPDs. go for it

yah, do it. also, i liked these shoes, very comfortable.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/24298840_a4b8876b35.jpg?v=0

I do mostly city riding, usually 3 miles or less per bike ride, and pretty much never go on "rides". I've got toe-clips and love them. Always been curious about clipless but only if I can get practical/comfortable "regular shoes" that I can wear all the time thar happen to have the clip-in plate built in. Doesn't Chrome make these? I have to be able to dance in them and I p much refuse to carry around a spare pair of shoes all the time.

i get by with regular pedals on the commutard bike as i don't particularly like having to tote an extra pair of shoes around. but my commute is like 5km each way a day, i'd say go for the SPDs in your case, crackle box.

i have cut a rug in spd shoes

Can I make a case for pedals with toe-clips (i.e. straps)? They've become my choice for city commuting as you can use civvy shoes (careful they won't get scractehd up by the clip, mind) while retaining the feeling of security while pedalling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsCyC1dZiN8

i can't dance in my spds, but anyone you ask will blame me.

Yeah, from what I've read the soles are quite stiff and not really good for everyday non-bike stuff. Maybe I'll just stick with toe clips for now

ah, sorry, i sacrificed clarity for my attempt at humor, that was meant to be a joke about my "dancing" more than a fair critique of the spd shoes.

the exustars that i use for commuting are danceable, and they're quite comfy for walking around, they are v. close to feeling like regular shoes. they feel good on the bike btw.

i also have a pair of what are now branded as mavic cruizes (adidas minretts). they are even better on the bike, nice and sporty, but are slightly stiffer and narrower, and while comfortable to walk around in, you are quite aware they are not regular shoes.

both are good for general utility use tho.

Do you have a link to the exustars?

i ordered them from UK here:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/exustar-sp705-stelvio-leather-spd-touring-commuter-shoes-black-prod20634/

as far as fit goes, they are pretty high volume. i have narrowish feet so i used some cushion insoles to take up space.

what pedals w/ toe clips you got mark c???

i've had two lots and they've both fallen apart in less than 6 months. most recent ones had a metal clip that made a "you're a shit cyclist noise" if it ended up scraping against the road, so i didn't like them v much

recently I have been intrigued by these. Don't really have a use for them, not exactly going to ride the BMC to a bar.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/200496881373?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y

Crackle, I have these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mks-sylvan-track-pedals/ - They're not the smoothest ever, even afetr I took them apart and regreased the bearings, but they actually work fine and haven't fallen apart under several thousand miles of use.

what are the best otp touring bikes for £700-1000? surly LHT? on-one pompetamine?

I think the cross-check may be a viable alternative to the lht and a wee bit more versatile. Or... Could you put a kaffenback together for that price?

Check the Dawes Range as well

OK so I got my bike yesterday. It is a super nice vintage Bobbin city bike. I got bag and lock and helmet and lights and a nice bell too. It was fucking expensive. Then I rode home in the dark and it was HARD! Why didn't you guys tell me?

Still, can't wait to go home and try it again, but hills that are small in car are big for bike. This will take a little getting used to,,,

not a noob question, more of a noob update

Pics or the proverbial.