do i buy a thing

i do not ride home in my work trousers- always wind pants or street shorts. the ride home is longer due to very gradual 400 ft elev gain.

I've been doing one or two days a week into work, but I always have to wear a 2-pc outfit (ie not a dress) and take a clean shirt w me because SWEATY.

Some transatlantic translation issues here:

wind pants = had to google this, are they basically tracksuit bottoms?
a slap on cuff holder = cycle clips?
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SvBr0MN8xxE/S1lqD4iOaCI/AAAAAAAAHhY/7MfjXNqdlmc/s400/cycle-clips-flo.png
I've got some of them somewhere, I think. I'm still pretty sure I could manage to get oil on my clothes. Maybe I should just wear a pair of old jeans.

yeah i mean we're talking < 5 minutes here, right? football shorts in the summer, old jeans in the winter.

yeah, wind pants = tracky bottoms ime. not pants for farting in, although the better wind pants do allow that.

Guys I see going to work in work clothes usu just roll up the right leg?

yeah, but unless you are scrupulous that eventually leads to dirty cuffs, at least on the inside

Re: 'pants' meaning 'trousers', when I was 9 we had a stand-in teacher from Newfoundland, Canada for a few weeks for some reason. He told the class that we had to do a play in assembly about the original colonists meeting the native americans (or whatever he called them in those days). He told me I was to be the leader of the latter group and that in the interests of authenticity that meant I couldn't wear any pants. I've been mentally scarred for life by the terror that order sent through me. I'm not sure how long it took before I found out he meant trousers.

wind pants perform same basic function as tracksuit bottom, but tracksuit bottoms are often soft and not wind resistant. i insist on my wind pants being lightweight unlined shell- otherwise i get too warm. ankle zips and at least one zip pocket are good. on cold windy days i will sometimes put these over my tights for xc skate skiing, or use just for warm up.

yeah cycle clips is same idea. i used to use velcro reflective fabric cuff straps, but the slap on things are like those kids bracelets--

http://media.performancebike.com/images/performance/products/medium/10-0649-NCL-FRONT.jpg

so, pants is like underwear in uk? i almost always wear pants then, highly recommended no matter how you get to work.

Yeah, these are pants:
http://www.bedazzledbedmats.com/images/TH_Web_MENS_Y_FRONTS.jpg
So basically a pair of them (made of wind resistant fabric) and some luminous yellow handcuffs round my ankles and I should be fine.

to normals in cars, that's basically the same as lycra u know

i started doing the basic lycra thing when i started to ride to work again, primarily due to the sweat, but once i had some base fitness after a few weeks i just went back to regular clothes. eventually i refined it to regular clothes plus a wool baselayer and a pair of the rapha trousers that i got during a sale. this was for a three and a bit mile commute. i ended up getting rid of the trouser clips i was using and just giving the leg a good roll-up, meant less stuff to remember.

i now avoid all this by not having a job, haw.

wife wants a new bike for commuting, canal path riding & maybe longer weekend rides up to 30 miles

looking at cross bikes. what's the best value on the market rn? genesis are nice but do feel you pay a premium for the styling

wish she'd go for a road bike and get the entry level canyon (£730 for full 105/apex) but no deal

couldn't justify buying a bike for me, so i finally replaced mrs. hunt3r's. giant avail in crabon. geometry for women (actually for everyone) has come a long way. so so much easier to fit.

once she gets it, i get to make sad eyes when i look at it, and start asking "do i buy a thing?"

Mmmm....crabon

I want to switch out my friction shifters on my steel concorde for some STIs

should I go second hand groupset or pick up something spiffy & new like SRAM apex

my experience is that second hand brifters are nearly always pants.

Buy new. SRAM Apex is an excellent choice btw. You'll probably want to do the whole drive train (derailleurs, chainrings, cassette, shifters); manufacturers are working there hardest to make mixing and matching an unsatisfying experience.

What do you currently have?

shimano 106 maybe

I take it I could fir sram apex to an old 90s steel frame easy enough?

It's an 8/9/10 rear spacing, right (130mm)? Shouldn't be a problem. A turn of he 90s frame might be 126mm, you might need the stays spread then.

worthwhile endeavour? cost effective? buy a new bike instead? yay nay?

The gruppo will certainly be cheaper as a part of a new bike but the whole new bike will undoubtedly be more expensive. It really comes down to how much you like the current frame and wheels.

u could try some retroshifters?

can't shift from the drops, but I don't think I have ever done that? nb I haven't tried the retroshifters, just think they're a neat idea

what’s a fair price for a 2005 full carbon focus cayo, w/full ultegra groupset & mavic krysium wheels

also what’s the best 1£k tourer? long-haul trucker?

lugging my anchor bike up a looooong vertical runup today and fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck i want to buy a new cx frameset. just got my bonus, so i _could_ justify spending a bit of it on a frameset, but frankly, i suck at cx and will i really race it next year? A POUND AND A HALF THO. i'd be mid 17 lbs with clinchers, i'd love that. gah.

i suppose i could save it for a new actually light road bike, but... i'm ok with my road bike, it's sort of a classic and handles amazingly well. if i got this cx frameset and put light clincher road wheels on it, it'd be half a pound lighter than my road bike or more.

I want a steel-framed single speed with drop bars. But I don't want a divorce.

buyyyyyyyyyyyy ittttttttt

what bike you thinking about?

i don't have a bike for dirt. want one. guess i could put knobby 25s on my roadie but.

Genesis Day One, or Kona Paddy Wagon, or Genesis Flyer, or On-One Pompino... Probably erring towards Genesis Day One, as I like the flexibility, and a mate has an Equilibrium which he swears is the best bike ever.

Basically I lust this - http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/adventure/urban-cross/day-one-disc

Cool bike. Pretty steep seat tube and short tt. I ride my steel sscx bike more than the rest of my bikes, its a great long haul utility bike but mine has gears. I rode it ss for a bit but for hauling gear the ih. Gears are useful.

I guess the tt isn't short really, id be a size up from my usual tho, on a 58. Does it have sliders on the back for the disc adjustments with chain wear?

Could you explain what all that means to someone who is basically an idiot? i.e. what effect would the seat tube and tt have? What do you mean by sliders and chain wear? I literally just ride and clean my bikes and trust LBS to service them regularly...

so many cool bikes in the genesis range.

hunt3r you should upgrade CX frame then just put on wide slicks when weather's nice. or become a gravel grind specialist!

i bought a thing: those TRP mini-v brakes for the crux. been on for two months or so now.

+ proper raw stopping power, god the difference is amazing
+ well-finished; probably nicest components on bike (drivetrain is tiagra 9-sp, deore lx mix). barrel adjuster included, some ti bolts in there I think, nice road-style pad holders, pads themselves are decent. big contrast to local conversions i've seen that have had to be re-machined to clear road forks, etc.

- setup seems finicky (got the shop to do this)
- bit of a pain to get open for wheel changes, much more difficult than proper Vs on my old flat-bar
- expensive, I guess

deal-breaker for many would be lever feel - it's a bit more indistinct than with cantis but I'll take the extra power every time. didn't really feel I took long to adjust to how they work.

all it means is that the rear disc caliper is set up so that it slides back and forward in tandem with the wheel itself, because the wheel will be moved periodically to adjust for chain wear on a ss. if the wheel gets moved back to adjust for chainslack and the disc caliper is static, the disc will hit the back of the caliper. i have to think genesis have it all figured out nicely to make easy adjustments.

yeah guys i bought the frame set, it's my reward for finishing fourth to last on the weekend, instead of actual last. like the scattante, it's a mailorder house brand frameset (sette), so nothing fancy, but it will convert easily as it has cantis and a 68mm english bb. i will move all my old gear onto it, and set up the scat as a single speed cx with antique parts I have in my bin (for example, a 1992 suntour xcpro microdrive crankset!). i think the only things i will need to find are a drop bar and a new chain. maybe i can sell it.

gravel races are cool but most of the interesting ones are long and i don't have that kind of free time. a woman i work with did kanzaa last year, that's 200 mi on shit dirt country tracks, i truly cant imagine. i've ridden all the way across usa, and even on that trip, i never did more than 130 miles- and that was definitely paved.

excellent buy i'm thinking about mini v for front. you can use them in colorado pretty reliably as there is not too much muck here. oth, when you do get mud, it is not greasy slippy mud, it is clay based adobe cement, and woe to him who finds it.

i like to use a fork crown cable stop, they almost never shudder with regular cantis, but this new frame has a headset hanger, which usually suck and shudder like hell. oth, the new frame as a 1.25/1.5 tapered headtube, which should be stiff.

because the wheel will be moved periodically to adjust for chain wear on a ss

Having never owned or properly ridden a ss, can you expand on this? Not realised this was an issue. Is it something one needs to do as a regular act of maintenance, like cleaning?

i've ridden all the way across usa

braggin

also: say whaaaaaaaaat

as the chain wears, it'll "stretch" (nb it does not actually stretch), and the rear wheel will need to be moved further back to keep the right amount of tension (which, on a geared bike, is maintained by the rear der)

every how many hundred miles on avg?

no clue. I am terrible man for the chain maintenance

it's not very often, i probly do this on my commuter like, every 500 or 600 miles? maybe less frequently than that?

i was not self contained on the trip, gbx, i worked for a cycle touring co for 12 weeks, anacortes, wa to belfast, me. i could just finish my morning chores and get on my bike and ride.

wd all these play nicely together and wd they go on my concorde OK. my new wheels are 10sp compatible

crankset - 50 - tiagra
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-4650-compact-10sp-chainset/rp-prod67233
shifters - 54 - tiagra
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-4600-double-10-speed-sti-lever/rp-prod69504
front derailleur - 18 - 10sp 105
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-105-5700-double-10sp-front-mech/rp-prod50487
rear derailleur - 29 - 10sp 105
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-105-5701-10-speed-rear-mech/rp-prod85966
bottom bracket - 11
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-4600-tiagra-bottom-bracket/rp-prod67221
chain - 13 - 10sp 105
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-105-5701-10-speed-chain/rp-prod50457
cassette - 15 - 10sp tiagra
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-4600-10-speed-road-cassette/rp-prod67228
brakes - 32
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-brake-caliper-4600/rp-prod67224

225£ for tiagra/105 mix seems p.good when sora is 210 online