Any question answered...

I've just watched a Fiat TV ad which proclaims "No road tax!" Is that something you can complain to someone like Offcom about?

That is acceptable both as a colloquialism (if you accept that VED is commonly known as 'road tax') and for pedants (because the same is true of every car, since road tax doesn't exist)

What is unacceptable is their slogan of "More Fun, Less Emmisions"
FEWER Emmissions, you illiterate cunts.

£300 frame?? Buy whatever you want, but if you're dropping that much on a f+f, i'd expect to spend at least the same amount on everything else, so £600 in total... at least...

Well I think your probably right but just said to ask...
Maybe i ll get lucky and find some used stuff in good condition to buy the budget will stay low.
The frame is a Cinelli that I really like!

Something else...If I lock the bike in central London it wont last for long right?:P It will be stolen quite fast I think...

Not if you buy a couple of good kryptonite d locks and are careful about leaving it

I already have one small size ABUS D lock and I plan to get another one!
The thing is I watched some videos yesterday about bike thefts in London and the experiments the police tried out and it was ridiculously easy to steal a bike in a crowed street, even with a D lock...

My riding looks like this:

-Commute during the week (150-175 miles per week - fixed).
-Light spin on a Saturday (35 miles - road bike or I'll join the slow club road ride on my fixed gear, usually ~60-70 miles).
-Long club rides on a Sunday (~120-140 miles).
-Just started racing (BC road races ~60-80 miles in place of club ride).

Would I benefit from sports massages? I do have heavy feeling legs most of the time and not soreness, but a lingering ache/tiredness is pretty much always there. I guess it just feels like I'm constantly full of lactate. I know I don't cool down enough from hard rides, though I do stretch a lot. I did a TT study for some PhD research and the guy's blood tests told him that I hold onto lactate like a mofo (24 hours off the bike it's at a level he would have expected 1-2 hours after a hard effort).

I have a foam roller which I used to loosen up my IT bands, but never really felt that I got any benefit from it other than that. I can't afford lots of massage though, so it would be maybe a 30 minute session once a month. My concern is that if it did help, one hard ride later, the benefit will have been lost. And unless it's prep for an important race or recovery from a long ride (doing the C2C2C in 18 hours later this year!) then it'd be worthless.

Any experiences?

The sleep thing could be an issue. I'm working two jobs and also doing an Open Uni degree so 4 hours is about the most I can expect. This is something I hope to change in the next couple of months though.

I wasn't really thinking about doing them for a performance benfit, though that would be a nice bonus. It really came about because there was an offer on at a local place and I thought it may just make me more comfortable. Just didn't want to spend the money if the benefit from a session was only going last until the next ride.

I think from a performance point of view, the junk miles observation is spot on. I find these days I find it hard to put in really intense efforts when riding and it's always my legs that give out first, never getting that heart racing, feeling like you're about to puke out your lungs sensation. More like a struggle against fatige than against the effort, if that makes sense.

Think it's time to start working out a structured training/riding plan...

I'm amazed how you do all that on only 4 hours sleep. How on earth are you surviving? That kind of weekly distance with an average of 4 hours sleep a night - hell even 5 hours is mad.

I've just gotten used to it, I guess. I've never been in a situation where I've had the 'normal' 8 hours/night so don't really know what that's like. I've read a couple of studies though that say physically, sleep isn't really needed, you get the same benefit from rest/lack of motion and expenditure of effort, though the sleep is very important for mental and emotional recovery. I don't know how true that is, but I'm sat at a desk all day and working from home all night, so other than time on the bike, I'm pretty much constantly in a state of physical rest. Maybe that helps.

I'm currently clearing some debt and once it's gone I'm ditching the 2nd job, the OU course will be finished and I'm going to try to get into a structured routine that involves a lot more sleep. Who knows, maybe I could have been a Tour contender all these years if only I'd rested properly!

On the massage thing, a Groupon deal came up offering a 15 minute induction/consultation and then two 30 minute sessions for £29. Figured at that price I have nothing to lose by trying some massage. Fingers crossed.

I already have one small size ABUS D lock and I plan to get another one!
The thing is I watched some videos yesterday about bike thefts in London and the experiments the police tried out and it was ridiculously easy to steal a bike in a crowed street, even with a D lock...

If you spend time considering how and where you lock your bike you make it a lot more likely that your bike will be there when you come back. There are many strategies that work, but the essentially you want to make it unappealing for a thief to steal your bike and the bits attached to it. There is lots of very good and pretty specific information on locking strategies on here if you put in the time and search for it.

If you want a nice bike then go for it but if you are going to spend the money on a good build remember insurance (I have mine on my home insurance policy) because as you have already found out if a thief REALLY wants to nick your bike no lock will stop them.

That is acceptable both as a colloquialism (if you accept that VED is commonly known as 'road tax') and for pedants (because the same is true of every car, since road tax doesn't exist)

What is unacceptable is their slogan of "More Fun, Less Emmisions"
FEWER Emmissions, you illiterate cunts.

emissions, you ************ ****

tonionio

Read these threads:
http://www.lfgss.com/thread17938-35.html#post2823355
http://www.lfgss.com/thread52914.html
http://www.lfgss.com/thread71407.html

** There is lots of very good and pretty specific information on locking strategies on here if you put in the time and search for it. **

You need to have a play with the search engine on here. Many of you're questions can be solved using google and doing some reading around. Regarding the parts for your bike, I think you should go second hand, and cheap until you've got a better idea of what you want, need, can afford.

Can anyone remember the name of the on-line store that sells carbon bits, including lots of mtb forks in a wide variety of sizes?

I thought it was carbonzone - but that's not showing anything other than an ebay store, which I don't think is right.

http://www.carboncycles.cc/

?

cheers

I've been using 25c Gators, and they grip wet road like an ice-cube grips a glass table top.

I meant, what tyres have you used which gripped much better in the wet.

emissions, you ************ ****

No choice but to rep you for that.

I meant, what tyres have you used which gripped much better in the wet.

I'll probably replace the Gators with Maxxis ReFuse, a bit Hipster but a really nice tyre to ride. They should last a hell of a lot longer not being on a fixie skidder.

Can you not find some bonti racelites in 28c?

They seem pretty much as good as my refuse but came in more sizes?

still available here: http://www.zovelo.co.uk/bontrager-race-lite-hardcase-700c-road-tyre.html

I'll probably replace the Gators with Maxxis ReFuse, a bit Hipster but a really nice tyre to ride. They should last a hell of a lot longer not being on a fixie skidder.

quality on these has taken a nosedive. I've had weak spots in sidewalls, delaminating tread, splits and a fuckload of punctures on re-fuse. I'm all about Panaracer Pasela Tourguard at the moment, or whatever the modern Stelvio Plus is

I'll probably replace the Gators with Maxxis ReFuse, a bit Hipster but a really nice tyre to ride. They should last a hell of a lot longer not being on a fixie skidder.

Why are the Maxxis 'a bit Hipster'?

They are, quite simply, the best commuting tyre I've ever had. Very puncture resistant, hard wearing and, unlike many of their peers, consistent in handling in all conditions.

I've just gotten used to it, I guess. I've never been in a situation where I've had the 'normal' 8 hours/night so don't really know what that's like. I've read a couple of studies though that say physically, sleep isn't really needed, you get the same benefit from rest/lack of motion and expenditure of effort, though the sleep is very important for mental and emotional recovery.

I'm no doctor/scientist, but I always believed that your body needed sleep to physically recover - that tissue healed, cells regenerated etc much better during sleep than during waking rest. Think of the daily stress you put your body/limbs under from all that cycling, it needs time to recover.

Also, mentally, it seems counterproductive to have that amount of sleep. For a few years I consistently slept very little, and did a lot of all-nighters, but I could only function because I was in a constant state of stress and dosed up on adrenalin permanently. It was a bit of a fuckup.

csb, I know.

You've got to let yourself sleep it out at least one day a week I would have thought, I'm sure your studies will benefit too...

I think more sleep is needed but not specifically in one go. Having 8hrs sleep doesn't always make any difference to having 5hrs if it's all in one go. When I was pushing my limits I was sleeping on my lunch break and eating while working. That hour of sleep kept me going much better than knocking off work an hour early to sleep longer.

Getting out of that routing was very hard work though. I could pretty much sleep whenever/wherever, but then getting up was the problem. I could sleep for 16hrs straight if my alarm didn't go off.

yeah I can sleep anywhere, especially in moving vehicles (bus/tube/train), for short naps, don't think that kind of napping is very helpful for repairing cells though? not that I would know.

Why are the Maxxis 'a bit Hipster'?

They are, quite simply, the best commuting tyre I've ever had. Very puncture resistant, hard wearing and, unlike many of their peers, consistent in handling in all conditions.

I suppose simply because I associate them with fixed gear, and more specifically with this forum.

Helped along by buying my first pair in the garden of the old East Drinks, when people still went.

^^ I don't think it is. I would just shove myself in a corner and that would be it. I think your body needs to get to a certain level of sleep before the repairing happens. Depending on the circumstances it changes how quick someone goes through those levels of sleep. Someone that's used to caffeine or alcohol will be affected differently to someone that isn't.

I was pretty much addicted to caffeine at one point, If I didn't have my caffeine then I found it hard to sleep but felt very sleepy.

I think more sleep is needed but not specifically in one go. Having 8hrs sleep doesn't always make any difference to having 5hrs if it's all in one go.

8 hours derive from Victorian time, 8 hours sleep, 8 hours play and 8 hours work.

There were even studies saying that there's a risk in having more than 8 hours sleep, or so researcher from California claimed.

Apparently there is. Something to do with memory loss, can't remember the other stuff but I did read an article about it.
One old routine used to be sleep for 3hrs, get up for an hour and do some low energy stuff then go back to bed and have the 5hrs. Can't remember where this is from though