Re: New to cycling
 

Browse the Pro teams merchandise sites around now and into next year - You can usually pick up some good kit quite cheap - especially with sponsor changes etc.
I have a few 2012 OGE Santini bibs which are fantastic, cost me $32ea (still got a couple in the packet brand new)
also have a pair of 2014 OGE Craft Bibs - not as good as the Santini but still much better than most cost me $45.
I've never paid more than $50 for one of their Craft or Santini jerseys.
Some folks won't wear pro team kit for what ever reason - personally If its good and cheap I don't care.

Re: New to cycling
 

You do pay for what you get Trev. It am yet to pry my money from my fingers to pay that sort of coin and no doubt the Rapha gear is top end, but I have found the likes of Santini, Castelli and some of the high end DHB stuff to be really good too. Perhaps not Rapha good, but still quite decent. One thing I noticed is that the Rapha gear doesnt make you look like your wear wearing a nappy or you've crapped your pants. The Chamois looks more concealed and contoured over some of the cheaper brands. Comes down to if you care how it looks or not.

Re: New to cycling
 

I have a Katusha kit from 2011 I still wear. Santini knock off but its still good enough for training. A lot of the purists are anti team kit due to them thinking you look like a try hard. I know what they mean, but Im not going to let it deter me from how I dress. WGAF what it is, as long as it looks good and is comfortable it shouldnt matter.

Re: New to cycling
 

Busy last few weeks of January
My entry to the 142k TDU Bupa ride, Norwood to Victor went in today.
Then I have the 114k Cadel ride in Geelong a week later. Guess I've got some training to do!!
Anyone else doing either of these rides?

Re: New to cycling
 

I'll be doing BUPA ride. Hoping to crack the 200 again, as I'll ride to the start and possibly part way home.

Re: New to cycling
 

Sweet - my brother lives in Victor so getting home will be easy, we just need to work out getting to Norwood. Probably drive up I'd say.

Re: New to cycling
 

Not sure whether I coming to see and ride Jan TDU or venue over to do a few rides in Bright this year.
Haven't given much thought about doing the Cadel ride , but it's had quite a bit of air time over the last few weeks .
The group that did the ride to Eukea Tower in honor of the rider who took his life is doing a ride up Mt Donna Buang next week . 16km with an av 6% gradient with some sections at 14%
An hour of fun before wishing in the new year :dance:dance

Re: New to cycling
 

There should be an AFF meet up in Victor after the ride. haha. I'll be doing a part of it as my training has waned and feel I wont make the distance due to work commitments.

Re: New to cycling
 

By the way, while I will splash out on stuff like Rapha bib shorts and anything that helps my bum, all my jerseys are from op shops :-) I got four from an op shop down in Brighton, all in good condition etc. that I have been wearing for a couple of years now. Cost me $3 each :-)

Re: New to cycling
 

speaking of shorts ..... the padded type, ivanhoe cycles (melbourne)sells some padded ones, they do seem to help a tad for those of us with the delicate areas, i dont know if they have better ones , these are just ones i found wandering aimlessly around the store.

they do online by the look of it , might also be useful for other stuff too , its big bike store with plenty of gear.
Edit : i might add the shorts go up to 3XL .... almost big enough :).

https://ivanhoecycles.com.au/clothin...ng-Shorts/1752

Re: New to cycling
 

I've got some Limar brand shorts, but the padding was a little thin. I'm now using shorts I bought from Cellbikes online (Cell Elite - $39). They seem to be better, comfort-wise. They go to XXL ...

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Clothing...and-facet/CELL

Re: New to cycling
 

I do quite few big rides (100km+) during a year so I do buy decent bibs. Currently have castelli bibs which are pretty good for about 4 hours and can tolerate double that.

Re: New to cycling
 

It's amazing how comfort and or pain can effect your ride and the distance, a couple of days ago I did 27 k's , the first 20 k's was easy goin, after that pain in the saddle area started to set in , the last 7 k's was a hard slog.
Went for another go today with a bit of extra padding and did 34 k's with no pain (but a good bit of old geezer fatigue :) ), I'm convinced if I get the bike set up better the fatigue will be less too.

Re: New to cycling
 

A question for the fellow bikers, is there a bike drinking utensil that keeps your drink insulated from the heat ?
I`m sure warm water is a nice kidney flush, but when your a bit thirsty during hot ride , it is a bit average.

Re: New to cycling
 

Camelbak make a model of bottle called "podium chill" that is insulated but it really only buys a short time. I'll take that with hydrolite and ice cubes and if I going longer I usually stick a bottle in the freezer if Its going to be a hot day and take two. Otherwise keep refilling at drink taps.

Re: New to cycling
 

I have a camelback podium and a zefal isotherm.
The podium holds more water and is rather average in terms of keeping the water chilled. The zefal holds less water but will keep the water super cold for hours. In fact the ice stays frozen for @ 1 hour even on atinking hot days. ( @ 6 ice cubes )
Only issue is they dont or sell these anymore .....

Re: New to cycling
 

Thanks guys i`ll check them out ,i just have a cheap bike shop water holder/container, even if i put it in the freezer it doesn't stay cold for too long ..... maybe i need to ride faster :) .

Re: New to cycling
 

And wrap it in a wet heshon bag. :)
Another alternative if you don't like straight tap water is to get a Brita filter bottle from Coles/woollies. They re about 10 Bucks ea and you can keep refilling them with fresh water.

Re: New to cycling
 

Went for a 65km ride today in 38deg weather and my drink bottles were tepid within half an hour. I still drank but it was on the limit of wanting to not bother and just tip the water over my head. Might have to try the frozen method next time.

Re: New to cycling
 

I went for a 40k ride yesterday morning, at around 7.45. Even then with my garmin registering a max of 28 degrees before the sun started belting my frozen bottle had melted completely.

Went downhill MTB in Lysterfield in the arvo with some mates and it was even worse. Was thawed and out of water with 40 minutes return trip and no taps around the trails! :(

I am really really loving my Roadie. Tried to pair up my giant RideSensor SPD/CAD sensor to my edge 520 yesterday and was successful (I had been using the sensors that came with the unit bundle), but a few minutes in and the Giant Ridesense cadence sensor is only sporadically showing readings :( I don't know whether it's a magnet issue or what. I really don't want to have to put on the garmin sensors over the inbuilt Giant ones.. Pain in the bum having to go back to the Bike Store.

Re: New to cycling
 

I've found the ride sense cadence sensor needs a pretty strong magnet due to being inside the frame and some space from the crank arm. It's also quite sensitive to placement on the crank arm. I had to fiddle with mine for a while to get it right. Once it was, it's been fine.

https://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/1...7d3f287fc3.jpg

My new ride, 2016 Trek Remedy 8
Old ride in the background, 2014 F6.

Re: New to cycling
 

Your a bit keener than I am Shav, 35 and over its union rules for me, I'll do some sit-ups in front of the air con instead, the heat knocks the crap out of me.
Nice effort though , well done.

Re: New to cycling
 

Nice, I do a bit of downhill myself on my Giant Roam XR0, can't do too much with my Hardtail frame though.

Took it to the cycle shop this morning and they popped the battery in and out on the Ridesense unit, and that's fixed it apparently. I sure hope it stays that way!

I've taken to bringing the road bike inside now, I'm not to keen on it being in the garage because it's not a cheap or easy bike to replace should anything happen.. Anyone else do the same?

Re: New to cycling
 

For those who think they're putting in lot of time in the saddle, perhaps you haven't heard of Bruce Berkeley, a cycle mechanic in Adelaide. He has commenced his attempt at breaking the record for the number of kilometres ridden in a year - he's aiming for 121,000 km.

http://www.bikeradar.com/au/news/art...attempt-45898/

I've been following him on Strava in the lead up to the start, and the last two days have seen him ride 335km and 340km, each day spending more than 11 hours on the bike.

His profile (Cycle_Dr 1) and progress is on Strava for those who have signed up for Strava.

It's a mind boggling effort, I hope he can keep it up!

Re: New to cycling
 

For you and Mik, just get something like a Camelbak Mule (3L) and fill it with as many ice cubes as you can then fill with cold water from the fridge as full as you can and your good to go. I ride for over 2 hours in temps over 35º in Central Oz and my remaining water is still cold when I get home.

Plus plenty of storage pockets for tools, spares, keys, cash (for the pub) etc.

Re: New to cycling
 

I also have a hardtail (Scott) that I take bush (can just see the rear wheel in the pic), not as comfy as the dually but the hardtail still climbs better.

Re: New to cycling
 

Anyone got any fitness/biking new year resolutions ?

Mine is to ride more kilometers than I run without reducing my running distance. So 50 km a week running and 50 km a week on the bike, something to aim for anyway.

Re: New to cycling
 

This year gone by, I managed to more than double the previous years' distance, and I think I improved a bit, so this year I'm going to try to average 150 a week over the year, which will nearly double my distance again.

I might have to bank a few km's for weeks I'm on night shift or such, but I'll see how I go!

Re: New to cycling
 

Thats a nice bike mate, nice spec aswell.

As for cycling resolutions, its just to ride more get a bit more game with some gap jumps and do a few shuttle days before the season is over and if i progress a little more i may slip onto a DH bike, but for now my reign is as close a bike as im going to get before buying one.

Was a few weeks off the bike for me over xmas, went out yesterday i was exhausted after next to no sleep the night before aswell.