Road Cycling

[Champ]

 

Not spending money on cycling shoes or funny pedals at the moment. If I really get into it I can sort that later, this is just about a bit of fitness at the moment.

 

Exactly...and then as Sir Chris Hoy would say, 'On yer bike!'

 

We await the reviews

[lifetime fan]

Mapped my route for my first ride Wednesday, probably do about 10 miles depending on how I get on.

[Phoenix]

Has anyone tired to buy a bike through cycle to work scheme?

 

Do you know if you can get something like this:

 

Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Xenon 2012 Road Bike | Evans Cycles

[lifetime fan]

Evans do the cycle to work scheme mate.

[Champ]

Yep.....dont know how your scheme works but our was affiliated with a local bike shop but you could have any bike you wanted and accessories....and didnt have to prove you were going it use it for work or anything. A great way to spread the cost of a bike

[lifetime fan]

Think you need to get your employer to sign up for it though.

[RJ Fan club]

I think there is a limit of a grand too. Well there was in ours at work.

[Phoenix]

Thanks guys...do you not get it tax free? i thought it was meant to be cheaper rather just instalments

[Champ]

Thanks guys...do you not get it tax free? i thought it was meant to be cheaper rather just instalments

You do indeed

[RJ Fan club]

Thanks guys...do you not get it tax free? i thought it was meant to be cheaper rather just instalments

 

Yeah it comes out your wages prior to tax. Therefore you're not taxed on it.

 

Do be wary that there usually a one off fee at the end if the 'lease'. This charge is usually reasonable and about a months payment, but it might vary. I think the Govt have indicated in the past that they may close some of these tax exemptions because I think some have abused it for high value assets, cars etc

[Champ]

Yeah it comes out your wages prior to tax. Therefore you're not taxed on it.

 

Do be wary that there usually a one off fee at the end if the 'lease'. This charge is usually reasonable and about a months payment, but it might vary. I think the Govt have indicated in the past that they may close some of these tax exemptions because I think some have abused it for high value assets, cars etc

After a 2 year lease I got an option to buy or return it (or something) at the end of the lease. I opted to buy it and made a final payment of 30 quid or something. Barely noticed the monthly payments

[lifetime fan]

Has anyone tired to buy a bike through cycle to work scheme?

 

Do you know if you can get something like this:

 

Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Xenon 2012 Road Bike | Evans Cycles

 

 

That's a bloody nice looking bike mate.

[VladimirIlyich]

Hasn't there been some sort of change to the free cycle to work scheme,something to do with the tax element?

[Phoenix]

That's a bloody nice looking bike mate.

 

Yeah it looks ace. Not totally sure of the spec so will need to check with bike geek mate of mine.

 

Lets hope my work will sign upto this scheme as it mean i pay around half the price otherwise i can justify £950 on road bike which i will lose interest in.

[lifetime fan]

Any reccomendations about helmets? Are there varying BSI standard of helmets?

 

I'd prefer to not wear one but knowing how the twats drive through the lanes round here it really isn't a choice I'm afraid.

[Jennings]

Anyone got a cheap cadence computer recommendation?

 

I don't wanna spend much 'cos I already have a computer on it - but it doesn't do cadence.

[VladimirIlyich]

This thread has made me really want to get a bike.

 

Ive got one but she only lets me ride her at christmas and birthdays! bum,bum,tish.

[Lario]

I'm like a cabon (pardon the pun) copy of Lifetime Fan.

 

Carrying a bit too much weight, so bought myself a bike a few weeks back on the cycle to work scheme. Got me one of these CUBE*Peloton Race

didn't know much about them...was originally attracted by the look of it. But the lads in here said there's good running gear on it. After reading up, they're right!

 

Decided to spend the whole €1000 on the bike, and pick things up as I went.

 

- So got cheap shit pedals for a fiver.. Like you I'm not a clip/funny shoes guy yet!

- Got a compression top, cycling top, gloves, and wireless computer for around €25 in Aldi.

- Got a helmet, pump, 3 x back lights, 2 x front lights, saddle cover, and 5 x refelctive armbands with flashing LED's all for the princely sum of €20 secondhand.

- Got a replica pair of Sky/Adidas bibshorts "secondhand", again for €20. The guy ordered the wrong size, and sold them on for cheap. Have the proper coolmax padding too.

- Bought a pair of regular cycling shorts for €15 in Halfords when they had 20% off accessories.

- Bought bottle, cage, tubes, levers, patches, etc. from Wiggle in their sale. Paid fuck all compared to the prices charged locally. I reckon the best thing I bought from them is this bike stand Wiggle | LifeLine Wheel Stand Stands Tis'a god send for not having to rest your grips/saddle against the wall when not in use. Even for cleaning and attaching the bottle it's class.

 

The weather's been beyond shit since I bought it, so only got out for a couple of short local spins in the last few weeks.

Plucked up the courage to do a 50k cycle for charity yesterday. Twas tough enough, but good fun. Got around in 1h45m which I was happy about as it was faily hilly. Had the brother-in-law with me, and it's so much easier to cycle with someone else.

It was also the first time I cycled in public in my gear. Normally I'd wear it, but throw a normal pair of shorts and windbreaker over it. But yesterday I beared all, and there were a good few that looked way worse!

 

But yesterday has really given me a buzz for it. I want to go out again this evening, but I'm playing ball. Will definitely go out tomorrow regardless of the weather.

 

Alls I can say is get out and do it! If you can rope someone in to go with you, all the better.

 

P.S. If you have an iphone/ipod, download one of the apps for tracking your route. It'll save you a few bob to start with on not having to buy a computer.

[lifetime fan]

I'm like a cabon (pardon the pun) copy of Lifetime Fan.

 

Carrying a bit too much weight, so bought myself a bike a few weeks back on the cycle to work scheme. Got me one of these CUBE*Peloton Race

didn't know much about them...was originally attracted by the look of it. But the lads in here said there's good running gear on it. After reading up, they're right!

 

Decided to spend the whole €1000 on the bike, and pick things up as I went.

 

- So got cheap shit pedals for a fiver.. Like you I'm not a clip/funny shoes guy yet!

- Got a compression top, cycling top, gloves, and wireless computer for around €25 in Aldi.

- Got a helmet, pump, 3 x back lights, 2 x front lights, saddle cover, and 5 x refelctive armbands with flashing LED's all for the princely sum of €20 secondhand.

- Got a replica pair of Sky/Adidas bibshorts "secondhand", again for €20. The guy ordered the wrong size, and sold them on for cheap. Have the proper coolmax padding too.

- Bought a pair of regular cycling shorts for €15 in Halfords when they had 20% off accessories.

- Bought bottle, cage, tubes, levers, patches, etc. from Wiggle in their sale. Paid fuck all compared to the prices charged locally. I reckon the best thing I bought from them is this bike stand Wiggle | LifeLine Wheel Stand Stands Tis'a god send for not having to rest your grips/saddle against the wall when not in use. Even for cleaning and attaching the bottle it's class.

 

The weather's been beyond shit since I bought it, so only got out for a couple of short local spins in the last few weeks.

Plucked up the courage to do a 50k cycle for charity yesterday. Twas tough enough, but good fun. Got around in 1h45m which I was happy about as it was faily hilly. Had the brother-in-law with me, and it's so much easier to cycle with someone else.

It was also the first time I cycled in public in my gear. Normally I'd wear it, but throw a normal pair of shorts and windbreaker over it. But yesterday I beared all, and there were a good few that looked way worse!

 

But yesterday has really given me a buzz for it. I want to go out again this evening, but I'm playing ball. Will definitely go out tomorrow regardless of the weather.

 

Alls I can say is get out and do it! If you can rope someone in to go with you, all the better.

 

P.S. If you have an iphone/ipod, download one of the apps for tracking your route. It'll save you a few bob to start with on not having to buy a computer.

 

 

Great idea, you have any apps you'd recccomend?

 

I'll have to work out how to put music on my iPhone too for when i go out.

[Lario]

I use CycleMeter, the brother-in-law uses mapmyrun/mapmycycle.

There's another one called Strava that seems fairly popular. I didn't go for that, as it kinda syncs with the webpage and other can see your route/times/etc. Not at a level where I want people to be seeing what I'm doing!

 

As for the apps, some of them might be paid apps. My phone is jailbroken, so I haven't paid for any of them!

 

Music on the iphone....

Open iTunes

Create a playlist (Ctrl N I think)

Call it iPhone Sync (or whatever)

Drag whatever music you want from your library into that playlist.

Attach your phone.

Highlight it on the left.

On the right, go into the Music tab (I think).

The options in there then ask you what you want to do. Select to sync playlists, and select your iPhone sync playlist.

Sync your phone.

All the music is then on your phone.

 

You could do that to transfer everything, and setup a numerous playlists for cycling/walking/whatever. All playlists will be on your phone (the music won't be doubled up!), and you can then choose what you want to listen to at the time.

 

P.S. If you're bringing your phone/ipod in your pocket, thrown it into a sandwich bag or something. Any bit of sweat/rain could fuck it up bigtime.

Edited July 30, 2012 by Lario

[Champ]

Great idea, you have any apps you'd recccomend?

 

I'll have to work out how to put music on my iPhone too for when i go out.

Computer for on your handlebars is great for showing your speed and distance travelled....and all sorts of other shit depending on how much you want to spend. Having said that that's pretty much all I need to know when I'm out so no need to buy anything too fancy. Mine was only £20 or so

 

Re Apps check what's out there. Friends were using different ones when we were doing our Moonwalk training...on the same walk together and getting different information re how far we'd gone. Rubbish

 

Also, beware about using your ipod when you're on your bike....first time I used mine I got knocked off my bike. May have been a coincidence but if you've got music on you're not going to be as aware of your surroundings

 

Re helmets, get to a cycle shop and try some on....as with so many things you can pay anything you like for them. Giro and Trek are good entry level brands

[lifetime fan]

I use CycleMeter, the brother-in-law uses mapmyrun/mapmycycle.

There's another one called Strava that seems fairly popular. I didn't go for that, as it kinda syncs with the webpage and other can see your route/times/etc. Not at a level where I want people to be seeing what I'm doing!

 

As for the apps, some of them might be paid apps. My phone is jailbroken, so I haven't paid for any of them!

 

P.S. If you're bringing your phone/ipod in your pocket, thrown it into a sandwich bag or something. Any bit of sweat/rain could fuck it up bigtime.

 

 

I'll have a look at those this afternoon mate, cheers.

 

Only got the 4s 6 months ago so will wait till the guarantee has expired before breaking it.

[lifetime fan]

Computer for on your handlebars is great for showing your speed and distance travelled....and all sorts of other shit depending on how much you want to spend. Having said that that's pretty much all I need to know when I'm out so no need to buy anything too fancy. Mine was only £20 or so

 

Re Apps check what's out there. Friends were using different ones when we were doing our Moonwalk training...on the same walk together and getting different information re how far we'd gone. Rubbish

 

Also, beware about using your ipod when you're on your bike....first time I used mine I got knocked off my bike. May have been a coincidence but if you've got music on you're not going to be as aware of your surroundings

 

Re helmets, get to a cycle shop and try some on....as with so many things you can pay anything you like for them. Giro and Trek are good entry level brands

 

 

Will need to do this, have a huge noggin.

[Champ]

 

Re helmets, get to a cycle shop and try some on....as with so many things you can pay anything you like for them. Giro and Trek are good entry level brands

 

A big sacrifice, I know, when there's beach volleyball to watch ;)

[lifetime fan]

A big sacrifice, I know, when there's beach volleyball to watch ;)

 

 

Have to actually work this afternoon.

 

Not happy.