Racing Bike on a bit of a budget

Huh? Not sure I get you're point there.

Sorry -

If I get longer cranks I'll have to put the seat post down in order to reach them.

I know I'll notice a small difference in the amount of leverage I can get from each pedal stroke, and a small difference bio-mechanically, because I've already experimented with various crank lengths on other builds (165/170/172.5&175)... but I like the saddle height as it is at the moment (in relation to the hoods), and if I get longer cranks I will have to drop the saddle in order to accommodate them. The saddle is already quite low in relation to the bars, so I don't want to go any further down, plus it's an aero post so I'm not even sure how much further I can actually clamp it.

And it's stuck anyway, which doesn't make adjusting it a simple task. I'll sort it out at some stage (when it's time for a new seatpost and saddle), but for the meantime I'd rather just sell the longer cranks and get 170's like I'm used to.

So... am I shopping for the same cranks in 170? Or can I shop around for other options as well?

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^this kind of thing, for example?^

Not quite the same thing, but a guy I know does downhill MTB racing and said someone that no one knew turned up to a race on a old no-suspension bike and proceeded to trounce much of the field. He was apparently flying down the courses and got massive respect from the people he had beaten.

In the same vein, I know a few people who like having old kit for competitive sports - it keeps you focussed on you and your performance, not the performance of the kit. If you've just started out, you're new to the sport, you have old equipment and you're getting beaten, nobody will be at all surprised. On the other hand, when you start beating people using clearly sub-standard kit, they will KNOW they've been beaten by you.

If I were any good at racing (which I'm not) that's how I would start.

^ that exactly there is why I love riding without the proper kit, fixie's, rigid mtbs etc, overtaking folk on my alu/carbon road bike just isn't the same as fixed with a rack on the front! Similarly me and a mate were riding a local off road park, he was on a downhill bike, me on a old skool rigid, we both over took a carbon 100mm bike with Lycra and sun glasses wearing bloke with rucksacks on. He eventually caught up with us after we'd put the bikes away and were half way down a fag, didn't look impressed haha.

Finished!!:

Came first in the cat 1's yesterday, bored of cycling now so starting pottery lessons tomorrow.

-thread ends-

Pottery is extremely difficult, so I gave it up right away and bought spotter bars:

....which, in case you were wondering, are a massive pain in the arse to mount into Pearl stems.
Half a can of WD40 and plenty of swearing later, they are now IN. They may never come out again, so they'd better be good!

The new groupset and wheels are hopefully arriving on wednesday, courtesy of Rive Gauche and mdcc_tester, so things are now moving along nicely and I'm still well within budget. There's also a man in Sweden with what must be a rather large pile of carbon 170mm Centaur ultra-torque chainsets, who is currently over-saturating the market for such things to a remarkably affordable level.

....which, in case you were wondering, are a massive pain in the arse to mount into Pearl stems.
Half a can of WD40 and plenty of swearing later, they are now IN. They may never come out again, so they'd better be good!

There's also a man in Sweden with what must be a rather large pile of carbon 170mm Centaur ultra-torque chainsets, who is currently over-saturating the market for such things to a remarkably affordable level.

My nitto noddles were a pita as well, so it's probably the stem.

Do you have a link for the cranks?

Ebay, but I want to win so hands off!

How's the training going?
Are you going to plan your training or just ride how you feel on a given day.

No method yet, just going for longish 40+ mile rides whenever I can = about twice a week. In the absence of a "proper" road bike for the last week or so, I have been out on my touring bike (pretty much no fun, if I'm honest), and my new beater (much more fun!)

For the meantime the beater wins, although it doesn't even have drops. It's certainly a good work-out on the hills, what with having completely inappropriate gearing.

I've also bought a 300 lumen light set that's great for going into the countryside after dark, which seems to be the only time I can get there at the moment.

I've been doing 1 minute full gas, 1 minute rest for 10 repeats to try and get my stamina up and local climbs (telegraph hill in new cross, fountain drive, and the one up to blackheath). Aiming for a sub three minute ride from standstill at the post box near the toll gate on fountain drive to the top. Closest so far is about 3.19mins: I keep fucking up my timing and loosing it near the end.

That's all, jobseekers.

Sounds good.

Would personally worry less about 1m full gas stuff, won't help 'stamina'. Concentrate at longer 20m+ intervals at a good pace, 6/10 perceived effort (hard to talk), or longer steady pace rides as you've been doing.
Short intervals will only boost your anerobic capactiy, aerobic work will boost your stamina/endurance.

Have you looked at Freils traning bible? It's a bit 'old' now but got some good stuff in it. If you substitute more higer intensity, tempo work in for 1hr-2hr periods when long 4-5hr rides aren't possible.

Thanks Skinny, sounds like good advice.
20m = miles or meters or minutes?

(I saw the 1 min full gas thing on a Chris Hoy film during the olympics... something about lactic tolerance. I mainly remember thinking it was odd seeing Sir Chris writhing around on the floor about to be sick, so I guess it stuck with me!)

I should look into training techniques more thoroughly.

20 minutes.

Short intervals are great, but not so important when you're trying to build up endurance,

I've a copy of freils book your welcome to borrow, it's to be taken with a pinch of salt, but a solid place to build your knowledge from. Pm me if your interested.

that figures - 1 minute on 1 minute off would make more sense as a sprint thing.
Thanks for the offer, Joe Freil has a wonderful face so I shall read his blog and start from there.

Roll on wednesday.... and then whenever i get cranks / unstick the post.

I now have the groupset and the wheels, which feels good: Thank you again to Rive Gauche and mdcc_tester for sorting me out with this stuff and especially Rive Gauche for being extremely helpful with all my daft rookie questions and dithering; great seller: )

I managed to score a cheap-ish (cheap for what it is, not so cheap for this project!) carbon Centaur chainset, which should be arriving soon, and I still need to get BB cups, sti cable stops and to unstick the post and (probably) the bottom bracket. I also have a clamp-on front mech arriving soon to replace the braze-on that came with the group.

I'll keep the tyres for the meantime, even though I'm not keen on blue. I have a pair of black rubinos in the wings (from the original build), but they're 20mm and a bit skinny for this time of year.

I'm very much looking forward to trying the new cockpit setup, as I've never been able to get a perfecly smooth bar>hood transition with the retro stuff, and haven't had STI's since about 2008. I'm thinking white microtex, as I think I have some lying around somewhere.

Next up will be a lighter saddle and seatpost (well, if it comes out in one piece, then I'll keep the post for now)...... maybe a Flite?

Here's a link to the Veloce stuff for sale, if anyone's interested.

The Training Bible is an amazing resource - basically everything all in one place. Completely revolutionised my training.

What I have learned so far with road cycling is that when you're only just starting to 'train' I don't think it's neccessarily that important that you use the most up-to-date reverse periodisation fad etc - consistency, proper rest days and having a plan are the most important things. Don't over complicate things, otherwise it will either all fall apart, or when somethings not right you won't be able to work out what it is.

There is so much literature and opinions out there when it comes to training and what sessions to do and when that it can be very, very confusing even for experienced racers.

Dan is right, look at the time you have available, work out what training you think you can do in that time and then try and be consistent in using that time productively. You'll benefit far more from little and often, with adequate rest, than in doing infrequent big blocks.

^ this.

It's pretty overwhelming if you read too much. It helps to have people around who've been racing for a long time you can bounce plans and ideas off... but more importantly to tell you to stop overthinking and over training! Or just to shut up and get on with it :)

The best two pieces of advice in the training bible are probably
"Don't increase training volume by more than 10% per year, or risk burn out"
and
"Make sure your rest days are as restful as possible"

(not actual quotes, but that's the gist)

Thanks for the info guys.

I have a simple mechanical question:
Can I use these Shimano down-tube cable stops with my new Veloce groupset?

There are other options, but these just look better made.

Yes .. Shimano will work just the same as the Campagnolo or Modolo ones

Great little thread, good luck with your racing quest gaz.

Listen to andyp; a voice of experience and reason.

However don't forget to run anything by scoble as he knows the most!
;-)

Cool, they're now on order. I have also found a titanium Flite for cheapish from luckyskull, so I'm pretty much there now; just waiting for things to arrive, then I can start on the build.. Hopefully be finished by xmas or early Jan in time for a few months training before some springtime racing.

oh, hello!!

Got the cable-stops and bottom bracket cups now too, so just a question of putting it all together and making it work.
No time before leaving town for Christmas, though, so this will have to wait until January.