Any question answered...

After my first ride to and round Richmond Park yesterday, which was also the first time I've ridden anywhere asides from laps of Regents Park on my new(ish) roadie, I have realised that I probably need a new cassette.

The gears are 12-23T and 39/53T.

The gearing was OK, but it's clear that if I go on a ride with hills, especially anything with a continuous incline, I'm going to be screwed. The gearing on my only other two road bikes was fine, so I am fairly clueless about this. The obvious option is a rear cassette, but what to get?

***** I like having the 12T, even if it doesn't get used that much, just for down hill sections.

***** I'm not keen on replacing the front chainrings at the moment due to the cost (especially post Xmas).

***** This will be my only road bike, and I'd like to use it for longer rides in the summer - day rides LDN to Brighton/Oxford/Cambridge, rather than weekend rides round the Lake District.

***** chainset at the mo is full Ultegra 6700.

***** Cost / Quality / Weight... I don't have the cash to be a WW, but where possible I try to look for a sensible compromise between the three. ie I'd buy a Rival rather than a Red cassette.

So the obvious option (to me) is a 12-27T (or maybe a 11-28T) Ultegra for around £50... and the question is, (1) does that sound sensible, and (2) are there any better options for the price?... and I guess a (3) is there anything I'm missing?

Cheers.

(ps if anyone knows of good deals, that would be helpful.)
(pps I'd swap a E90 fork with a v. short steerer length (ie -54cm frames) for a suitable cassette.)

I ride a 58X58.5 road bike, and a 56X56 cross bike, and am 6'2".

You should be alright on it, I reckon.

Is there a thread about forum members and what they do for their profession?

http://www.lfgss.com/thread17356.html

hugo7, go for the 11-28. The only downside of the bigger range of gears is a bigger jump in between some of them, but for that you just need to HTFU.

Q; just how bad is it when you call your current gf by the previous (our even before that!) ones name?
Was just on normal conversation and she didn't seem to notice as I talk at about 5000 words per minute. I an dyslexic and have a hell of time with names st the best od times. Also I keep finding girls that dress similar and have 2 syllbel names which does not help :s

very bad

hugo7, go for the 11-28. The only downside of the bigger range of gears is a bigger jump in between some of them, but for that you just need to HTFU.

Cheers. Ebay seems to be the cheapest I've found (sub£50 for Ultegra)

Q; just how bad is it when you call your current gf by the previous (our even before that!) ones name?
Was just on normal conversation and she didn't seem to notice... list of excuses you should never say to your girlfriend because it will only make her angrier... :s

How would you feel if the roles were reversed?

The really important thing here is whether she knows what your ex's names were. If you get caught, just apologize and don't give excuses.

You could also try blaggin it by saying that you didn't actually call you ex that name, you always used a different version of the name .... I guess like Jane = Jay, or Charlotte = Charley.

To be honest tho, most people don't like excuses, and in my limited experience it seems to make girls especially furious. A better solution is to choose a pet name for your girlfriend, and just use that from now on.

Question: does anyone fancy London to Brighton on Friday? It would have to be in the morning.

To be honest tho, most people don't like excuses, and in my limited experience it seems to make girls especially furious. A better solution is to choose a pet name for your girlfriend, and just use that from now on.

or only go out with girls with the same name.

I have one but it's broken at the moment. PM me if you want to talk about it

I didn't really have a question, just interested in them myself. Don't have one though.

@ hugo7. I had a similar problem with a second hand bike I bought last year. It was fitted with exactly the same gearing you have but in campag. I too struggled up a few hills and decided to swap the rear cassette. I picked up a 13/26 but immediately had a problem with the rear deraileur rubbing. I had to settle on a 12/25 which just clears. I have the small derailleur which severly limits my options.
Your other option is to go for a compact chainring but I find I am constantly changing from big to small rings on my other bike which has a compact set up. I much prefer the standard gearing overall and can get up most local hills but without the luxury of being able to sit and spin up them.

Not sure really, my initial thought was the heartburn had caused vagal nociceptors to fire, but as the teeth are under trigeminal innervation that doesn't make sense. The soft palate and back area of the tongue are vagally innervated, but tooth pain tends to be well localized.

Impressive stuff there. Sadly I didn't understand a word of it. :-)

^^ cheers.

I think I'll go 12-27t to be on the safe side and then if I have any trouble I'll drop the front chainring down a bit.

Actually, I'll just try and grab a tigra as cheap as possible. Then I can upgrade to something nicer later.

Bugger it, shes probably the most straight up person I know, will just tell her that I an shit with names and mix ups might happen :s
I have same problem with nouns (describing words?), I tend to get the first part of the word correct, then the middle and end are often the wrong term, dyslexia at it's best :s

I am trying to remember a quote about EPO.

It goes something like "when the ones with the fat arses started flying up the mountains, that is when I knew EPO was rife in the peloton".

That is a massive paraphrase. I think it is by a european cyclist (just to narrow the range of possibility!)

Ring any bells?

Right... so how do I find out what the bcd of my inside chainring is?

Usually I'd use a ruler, but I can't really do that because of the way shimano design their cranks now. Googling is another option, but I'm not getting any useful hits. I'm guessing it's 130, but I'd like something more concrete than that.

Can anyone confirm what it is on a Ultegra 6700 double crank? Cheers.

There's only one BCD on a double chainset, big ring on the outside, small one on the other. It's 130 on a 6700 39-53, the compact (6750) will be 110.

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure you won't get anything significantly smaller than a 39 on it.

I'm 6'1" and ride 55x56 road bikes. If you have normal proportions, you may find a 55.5 top tube a bit short, requiring a long-ish stem/long reach bars. I have longer than average femurs for my height, so I sit a long way behind the BB and still use an 11cm stem on a 56cm top tube even with my short upper body. Then again, I like to stretch out along the bike, so you could be fine with a short bike.

^^ cheers.

I think I'll go 12-27t to be on the safe side and then if I have any trouble I'll drop the front chainring down a bit.

Actually, I'll just try and grab a tigra as cheap as possible. Then I can upgrade to something nicer later.

Don't forget that you might also need to factor in the cost of a new chain. The current one may not be long enough and if it's particularly old then it'll cause extra wear to the cassette.

I am trying to remember a quote about EPO.

It goes something like "when the ones with the fat arses started flying up the mountains, that is when I knew EPO was rife in the peloton".

That is a massive paraphrase. I think it is by a european cyclist (just to narrow the range of possibility!)

Ring any bells?

Fignon.

I am trying to remember a quote about EPO.

It goes something like "when the ones with the fat arses started flying up the mountains, that is when I knew EPO was rife in the peloton".

That is a massive paraphrase. I think it is by a european cyclist (just to narrow the range of possibility!)

Ring any bells?

Peter Winnen.

i am hand washing some wooly jumpers what is the best stuff to use?

Water?

could someone explain how (if) wattage and RPM are related.
From what I understand, RPM should have no effect on wattage?
Also what's the basis of FTP- ie how long should you be able to hold that?
And some standard figures?
Much appreciated- I'm trying to understand how best to improve....

@jv, regular detergent, though I've heard dish soap also works.