Official P&b Cycling Thread

[Funky Nosejob]

7 minutes ago, Gnash said:

Yeah, the local legend thing is a bit odd.  Seems to be rewarding a lack of imagination. 

I’m over 50 with a swimmer’s build, riding an 8 gear, single chainring, £300 hybrid bicycle.

I’m never going to get a KOM, so I’ll take any accolades going.

[Silvio Tattiescone]

1 hour ago, Funky Nosejob said:

I’m over 50 with a swimmer’s build,

Me too. Whales swim don't they?

[Busta Nut]

talk to me about strava, have they striped it back a bit in recent years?

 

[Funky Nosejob]

21 minutes ago, Busta Nut said:

talk to me about strava, have they striped it back a bit in recent years?

I use the free version which gives me distance, elevation, moving and elapsed time, and average and maximum speed. I also get a map and speed and elevation graphs.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

talk to me about strava, have they striped it back a bit in recent years?
 

The frwe version gives you most of the basic metric you'd want. The "summit" version has the KOM pish.

[Andy Dufresne]

Could not get my grandson to try his bike without stabilizers not matter what i tried last summer,then last week he asked for his bike out the shed 2 minutes later he pasted me at a fair rate of knots no problem,i asked where did you learn that(school he shouted)

So of course i went and bought him a new bike.

[Funky Nosejob]

9 hours ago, keithgy said:

Could not get my grandson to try his bike without stabilizers not matter what i tried last summer,then last week he asked for his bike out the shed 2 minutes later he pasted me at a fair rate of knots no problem,i asked where did you learn that(school he shouted)

So of course i went and bought him a new bike.

Depending on whether your grandson is under 13 or not, either don’t get him Strava or go for the free version initially.

Edited March 5, 2021 by Funky Nosejob

[Caledonian1]

20 hours ago, Funky Nosejob said:

I’m over 50 with a swimmer’s build, riding an 8 gear, single chainring, £300 hybrid bicycle.

I’m never going to get a KOM, so I’ll take any accolades going.

I'm over 50 and carry far too much weight but still hold 4 or 5 KOM's. Would have a swimmers build if I had done some swimming since mid-December

[Funky Nosejob]

On 05/03/2021 at 13:47, Caledonian1 said:

I'm over 50 and carry far too much weight but still hold 4 or 5 KOM's. Would have a swimmers build if I had done some swimming since mid-December

On 04/03/2021 at 17:32, Funky Nosejob said:

I’m over 50 with a swimmer’s build sparrow legs, riding an 8 gear, single chainring, £300 hybrid bicycle.

I’m never going to get a KOM, so I’ll take any accolades going.

There! Happy now?
Anyway, to push myself on I decided to join a suitable Strava challenge to cycle 400km in March. I’ve been out every other day so far and checked my progress after this morning’s ride. I’m currently in position 129,181 with 145km.
Everyone in the top 10 is over 1,000km and the leader is claiming an impressive 10,366km in 7 days. If that’s your level of cycling, why would you join a challenge to cycle 400km in a month?

[Caledonian1]

3 minutes ago, Funky Nosejob said:

There! Happy now?
Anyway, to push myself on I decided to join a suitable Strava challenge to cycle 400km in March. I’ve been out every other day so far and checked my progress after this morning’s ride. I’m currently in position 129,181 with 145km.
Everyone in the top 10 is over 1,000km and the leader is claiming an impressive 10,366km in 7 days. If that’s your level of cycling, why would you join a challenge to cycle 400km in a month?

utter nonsense...averaging  910 miles per day - not possible....an impressive 38mph for 24 hours every day...nah sounds like an error on his account.  91 miles per day is of course easily achievable if you have the time (I have done 900 miles in a 6 day period but that was doing LE-JoG)

[Archie McSquackle]

That's a bit like my Samsung phone recording my steps for the Samsung Health app with a monthly target of 200k steps. The folk at the top are doing the equivalent of ultra marathons every day for a month. So you've worked out a way to cheat the app - really? Why bother? I know I'm going to sound ancient here but the only person you're cheating is yourself.

[Busta Nut]

Some of the KOMs on the aulder versions of Strava were (on wee segments I had set up) folk going up steep hills at about 30mph and it's clearly folk in their motors. It does make you wonder why they bother. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

1 minute ago, Busta Nut said:

Some of the KOMs on the aulder versions of Strava were (on wee segments I had set up) folk going up steep hills at about 30mph and it's clearly folk in their motors. It does make you wonder why they bother. 

Strava's Match climbing challenge has some mental figures at the top. It looks as though quite a few folk are just doing massive hill repeats on Zwift. 

[Gnash]

2 hours ago, Busta Nut said:

Some of the KOMs on the aulder versions of Strava were (on wee segments I had set up) folk going up steep hills at about 30mph and it's clearly folk in their motors. It does make you wonder why they bother. 

I've never bothered with any of the challenges, but you are spot on about some of the KOMs. 

To be fair, in most cases it's not deliberate.  It's people doing a session on their bike (usually MTB) and forgetting to switch the app off before the get into the car to drive home.  Those cases are easy to spot and flag.

[Ginaro]

32 minutes ago, Gnash said:

I've never bothered with any of the challenges, but you are spot on about some of the KOMs. 

To be fair, in most cases it's not deliberate.  It's people doing a session on their bike (usually MTB) and forgetting to switch the app off before the get into the car to drive home.  Those cases are easy to spot and flag.

Probably explains the (bike) journeys on various motorways in the heatmap https://www.strava.com/heatmap#16.56/-3.39159/56.07685/hot/ride

[Gnash]

5 hours ago, Ginaro said:

Probably explains the (bike) journeys on various motorways in the heatmap https://www.strava.com/heatmap#16.56/-3.39159/56.07685/hot/ride

Yeah, I've seen rides with a top speed of 120 kph. 

[jamamafegan]

I haven’t had a bike for years now but I’ve decided I should probably get back into it to help my knees for hillwalking, as advised by the physio. I’m not wanting to spend a fortune on a bike yet I’m not keen for a second hand one off eBay or that.

I’m half thinking I’d quite like to get a cyclocross bike as they look like they’d be good on the road and be able to handle rougher tracks as well.

Been doing a bit of looking around and I’ve seen something which is screaming to me too good to be true - or is it legit? A brand of bike called “Sunspeed” that’s made in China. They look alright, fine for my needs really - and the price is reasonable. Just worried I’ll get scammed! I have heard of Alibaba before.

https://m.alibaba.com/product/62241137305/Sunpeed-700C-Gravel-Bike-Disc-Road.html?mark=google_shopping&src=sem_ggl&mark=shopping&cmpgn=12058145687&adgrp=115623119665&locintrst=&locphyscl=1007345&ntwrk=u&device=m&dvcmdl=&position=&pla_adtype=&pla_mrctid=255004184&pla_channel=online&pla_prdid=62241137305&pla_country=GB&pla_lang=en&pla_group=1125668278518&pla_localcode=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkcvc_6Kk7wIVi9_tCh2S-wY4EAQYASABEgIk_fD_BwE#shopping-ads

Anyone got any thoughts?

[Papad]

All I can say is that the bike is definitely entry level going by the specs. If you got into riding a lot then you'd be looking at buying a new bike rather than upgrading this one. My worry is that the components are poor and break quickly forcing you to buy new ones.

Personally I'd be checking out decathlon if you're looking in that price range.

If you do buy it, let us know what it's like as I'd be keen to know!

 

[jamamafegan]

All I can say is that the bike is definitely entry level going by the specs. If you got into riding a lot then you'd be looking at buying a new bike rather than upgrading this one. My worry is that the components are poor and break quickly forcing you to buy new ones.
Personally I'd be checking out decathlon if you're looking in that price range.
If you do buy it, let us know what it's like as I'd be keen to know!
 

Yeah that’s fine, entry level is all I need. Just something to zip about to the shops and maybe take up a forestry track or something.

Had a look at Decathlon just there, their entry level equivalent is nearly 200 quid more and a lot of the reviews are saying the tyres are shite - so I’d need to buy a new set of them!

There’s a few videos on YouTube of folk using Sunpeed bikes, loads of Phillipinos it would seem and I can’t find anyone in the UK who has reviewed one!

If I get one I’ll keep you updated with how it all goes...going to mull it over for now. I have no idea what this guy is saying but I’m getting #goodvibes from him regarding the bike.

https://youtu.be/BKFTkMsb3lw

[Benjamin_Nevis]

8 minutes ago, jamamafegan said:

 

Yeah that’s fine, entry level is all I need. Just something to zip about to the shops and maybe take up a forestry track or something.

Had a look at Decathlon just there, their entry level equivalent is nearly 200 quid more and a lot of the reviews are saying the tyres are shite - so I’d need to buy a new set of them!

There’s a few videos on YouTube of folk using Sunpeed bikes, loads of Phillipinos it would seem and I can’t find anyone in the UK who has reviewed one!

If I get one I’ll keep you updated with how it all goes...going to mull it over for now. I have no idea what this guy is saying but I’m getting #goodvibes from him regarding the bike.

https://youtu.be/BKFTkMsb3lw
 

 

I started out on one of Decathlon's bikes (via the Cycle to Work scheme) - It was a B'Twin Ultra AF105 . They are a bit pricier than the one you're looking at but much better value than the major manufacturers for similar spec components.

Decathlon will use Shimano for almost all their models. I got about 5500 miles out of mine without having to renew any major components - it now lives on my smart trainer (I bought a Giant Endurance bike last year for outdoor stuff). 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Day of the Lords