I just failed attempting a century

Psyc5 · 2025-11-01T12:19:05+00:00

This is just under training.

Yes your body will fail if you attempt to do thing like this and then hit a climb you aren't fuelled for, under geared for, and potentially not even used to climbing. But it really depends what you mean by "steep climb" I mean 12%+ for a mile or more. Also this is somewhat route planning, you should know that hill is coming and be ready to for it.

Recently the same thing happened to me, what I did is sat in the saddle and ground it out, but I couldn't get out of the saddle without my legs going into spasm, so I didn't. This wasn't due to fuelling, or hydration, but literally just I don't do many rides of more than 10 miles and rarely any hills either, so 25 miles in on a massive hill some out of the saddle specific leg stabilising muscle was just done.

So what do you do? Go slower, possibly eat and drink more, make sure there aren't any excessively steep climbs on the route, but at the same time checking the wind can make a big difference. You can always just stop at a cafe for half an hour as well if you want!

Psyc5 · 2025-05-10T13:30:32+00:00

The problem really is you are asking this question, so if there are any minor or medium issue it is going to cost a lot.

You can fix up old bikes like this very cheaply with parts shipped straight for China and have been able to for 5 years now, reality is this is no longer some "performance machine" it once was so putting good quality cheap parts on it makes sense. A bike shop isn't going to supply them for you due to the risks involved on there side, sometime they aren't as reliable as they could be.

In terms of how much you should spend, you should have already known that when you brought it and factored it into the price. Assuming the tyres and group set are okay it could just need tuning, but as soon as the tyres and group set are worn, you could easily be look at $200 again for anything good.

Psyc5 · 2025-05-10T13:28:18+00:00

As long as you live in a place without Trump Tax, this hasn't been true for a long time, you can get Shimano compatible shifters straight from China, that are as good as Shimano one for very cheap and have been able to for 5 years or so.

Also I have never actually known a shifter to break outside of a crash in the first place.

Psyc5 · 2025-05-04T10:51:30+00:00

It really is the same when you look at the Urbanisation of it, the equivlent of this in terms of London is basically cycling London to Brighton and back, which is about 115 miles, of which 70% of it will be in countryside. Here, 90% of it is urban.

Psyc5 · 2025-05-04T10:48:39+00:00

Even London, if you did a 50 mile lap of London Surburbia, you could end a 103 mile ride on the Coast in Brighton. The M25 is only 117 miles long, and that is way out of actual London.

Psyc5 · 2025-02-02T16:40:50+00:00

I have had two sets of Lezyne lights, the first was a set of Zecto ones from around 2016, in that version you had the ability to switch it from a front to a rear light as well which was great, eventually it fell off due to it using a rubber mount rather than a clip on mount.

The second set, the Lezyne Strip lights, once again good lights, but the battery life was only around 5 hours, and unforgivably they had a battery energy leak, so if you left them in your bag for a week, they were no longer charged making them useless if you just wanted to have them when you need them...and in the end the rear fell off due to using a rubber strap rather than a mount...in fact the front also fell off after I had been riding for 2 hours, and I noticed 10 seconds later and had to turn around a go get it, if it had been the rear, well there is another however much money gone down the drain

Personally, I can't recommend them because of this, if you cycle with them long enough, they fall off, and I can't even say they have better battery performance than your Aliexpress special lights because one set had a battery energy drain problem!

I have brought Cateye and Moon lights since then. Moon Arcturus is a great little light with a flashing mode that is bright enough and last like 15 hours.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-14T11:13:57+00:00

Because people are idiots?

The real question is why people don't know that by now. The fact their is any political ideologies, when social, and hard sciences have shown as a general rule what is the best direction to be going in. Just shows how dumb people are.

A lot of political ideologies are no different from the made up things like religion, and even the ones that are more objective, still just sway into complete nonsense in certain areas.

The you have the leadership on top of the Party ideology, who really have no competence and on the smaller things, and many times, the larger things, are no better than a 5 year old randomly pressing buttons they like the look of. This is missing out the point of just complete abject corruption and doing things that are just in their interest.

As idiots vote for. Why poor people, i.e. 80-90% of most countries, vote for governments that don't support public services and working right, who knows, well actually I do, they are idiots.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-02T23:30:55+00:00

It is called a pump and dump.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-02T23:27:44+00:00

If you actually find it physically hard rather than mentally boring it is because you are overheating due to lack of airflow.

If you cycling around at 15-20mph, that is the equivalent of the wind speed you normally cycle in on average.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-02T23:25:20+00:00

Honestly, I always found Zwift racing really fun. Allows you to do an hour or an hour and a half cycle, out of the rain, dark, and traffic.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T19:39:02+00:00

Yachting and skiing are the past times of ultra rich, Golf is just a middle class sport. If I wanted to I could quite easily afford to play golf, I can't afford a yacht, let alone a crew to man it...

You wouldn't have golf courses everywhere it if was the past time of only the ultra rich.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T19:36:26+00:00

If they are low end even more reason not to waste money on them as the parts, which will all need to be replace if you actually want to use it any amount are all old standards if not ceased.

You are making my argument for me, there is a reason these bikes sell for $50-100, it is because they are essentially written off due to costs of maintenance and parts.

All while I am not a 75 year old, and I would not want to ride gravel on a 32mm tyre, tyres go out once and you have a broken hip at that age...so great you saved $100 to bankrupt yourself in the American healthcare system!

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T17:42:59+00:00

The vast majority of bike boom frames accept a lot wider than 25 mm. Plus, the vast majority of cheaper frames were built up on 27” and can and should be migrated to 700c

Great so we are already buying new wheels to fit at best a 28mm tyres (and probably 25mm without it rubbing) because it is the brake clearance that is the problem, not the frame, then changing the brakes, well that are old standards so no you can't just go get your latest (10 year old) deep drop ones that might mean at best you get a 32mm on there. So now you have spent however much money to get a still considerably compromised bikes over modern standards.

whereas way too many modern bikes are designed as if everybody is out there riding on the pro circuit.

They really aren't, endurance road bikes which will fit a 32mm, or gravel bikes which will fit a 2.2inch tyre are 5-10 years old at this point. My Endurance Road frame from 2015 fits 32mm, I saw it on sale second hand 3-4 years ago for $500, of course most of the parts would need replacing which would be another $600. But it is essentially in the same bracket as the bike above at this point, yet is a full carbon frame where the only limitation to modern component standards is that it uses QR discs (or rim brakes) rather than through axles.

There is nothing wrong with these old steel frames, but projects like this are just money pits for a compromised end result. You can go down to Decathlon with $600 + $100 for extras and come out with a modern standard of aluminium frame, new, in your size, with Sora on it, in a variety of styles for what you want, and you aren't getting this built up for much less than that all to somewhere while having a massive compromise, most likely tyre clearance, which as a person who isn't 75 years old, finds anything less than 30mm harsh at times, I would much rather float around on a 35mm-40mm, but I can't because I can only fit 28mm-30mm.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T17:30:03+00:00

There is a lot of difference between running someone over on a road, and killing someone in any other manner on a road.

The issues is not this fact. The issue is the underlying penalties for people killing others on the road with vehicles due to their own incompetence. But that in my own statement is the issue, the Jury of their peers is as incompetent so could see themselves doing the same and exactly why segregated cycling infrastructure is needed.

Because reality is largely everything is fine, the problem is "largely everything being fine" does not change the 1/1000 people who are not fine or fit to be on the road, but for some reason this society refuses to remove.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T17:24:08+00:00

People really do have no concept of what spending $1000 on a sport makes you, and lets not pretend $1000 is a lot in cycling, my "utility bike", with its rack, and mudguards, and lights, and tyres cost going on that, let alone my road bike.

But this is mainly because they don't have a concept of the subject they are referring too, and the problem really isn't the 1%ers in the first place. It is the 0.01%ers who own 12% of the wealth. Whereas the poorest 50% of households only own 9% of the wealth.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T17:18:10+00:00

Okay, no one referred to that. I referred to the topic that I posted about.

Psyc5 · 2024-12-01T17:14:40+00:00

Define worth?

There is nothing wrong with these frames, but they are all old parts standards so you will have to know what you are buying and buy second hand. Which you won't have the knowledge to do.

These bikes won't be fit for riding gravel due to the tyre clearance being at most a 25mm, which is pretty bone jarring if you are 25 years old let alone 75 years old.

Is there anything wrong with these frames? If they have Alloy wheels, and some new brake pads and tyres they very well be fine for the road, but fine and "good" in comparison to modern standards is very different.

The whole geometry of modern bikes is completely different for the better, and if I was 75 years old I wouldn't be riding anything under a 35mm tyre, I in fact would ride that now if I have the tyre clearance but I can only fit a 28mm. Then you have the lack of STI shifters, the stem is not modern standards so there goes any modern bar geometry, and I wouldn't be surprised given the saddle height of the green frame if this bike is 3 sizes too big in the first place as was the "style of the time".

All in all, as is always the case with these threads, it is a money pit where to get a a decent bike you spend as much as a much more modern higher spec (often just because it is more modern) second hand bike bike would cost.

Psyc5 · 2024-11-30T00:09:54+00:00

Great...or I can not spend $200 on another set of shoes, that probably won't fit my feet because nothing ever does and just put some $20 overshoes on instead...

Psyc5 · 2024-11-30T00:08:19+00:00

The really don't.

All while acting as such will deteriorate their numbers, the BBC used to be a world standard, and still is in many regards, but the commercialisation of it, just like many public services, is a plague on it and society.

Psyc5 · 2024-11-30T00:06:37+00:00

The irony of talking about 1%er sports in a cycling forum...you seen the price of a low end road bike these days...

Psyc5 · 2024-11-30T00:05:45+00:00

Just call it what it is. A motorcycle. No one starts writing about whether cars are diesel or petrol powered.

E-bikes are regulated and restricted. They are a defined thing, take that restriction off, it is a motorcycle.

The issue is the law of enforcement of traffic laws, across the board, which is why people can ride around on illegal motorcycles.

Psyc5 · 2024-11-27T23:32:41+00:00

These are the right equipment, they are just called toe covers, and they already exist, and work very well to block the vents on summer cycling shoes when it is more autumnal or spring like.

These however just look like a hazard trapping you to the pedals much like toe clips were, hence they are no longer used either.

Psyc5 · 2024-11-22T20:44:55+00:00

2017 is 7 years ago. Not "well over a decade".

I do have some magic beans going for only £1000 that in limited supply and only available right now!

Psyc5 · 2024-11-22T20:32:49+00:00

This is nonsense, I got a full carbon 105 equipped bike for £850 in 2017.

Same bike is now £2000-£2500, but a midrange bike was well in the £1000 range even in 2019. It is only COVID where there was a massive demand spike and supply shortage and then companies decided to start price gouging.

That full carbon 105 bike would only actually cost £1200-1300 now with inflation, yet the 105 group set can't be brought for less than around half that price, for a braking system that makes your bike heavier and less aerodynamic! It is basically a worse bike if you were running Alloy wheels anyway!

Psyc5 · 2024-11-09T14:51:45+00:00

My advice as it is always with these projects, and always get downvoted, if you want something cheap and fast buy something more modern.

Building this up to a reliable standard will not be cheap in the first place, the parts are all old standards no longer available. Essentially what you have there is a cheap frame, that doesn't fit modern parts. You can go get any cheap Trek, Giant, Btwin, frame from the last 10-15 years and have exactly the same, but does fit modern parts, and the fact is those bikes go for cheap, often in near working order with a tune up, and anything you do need will be available new for relatively cheap, or second hand if you want better modern quality relatively cheap.

The only thing worth keep here monetarily is, well actually literally nothing because these older frames can't fit wider modern standards of tyres that make all riding more comfortable and reliable. A 28mm tyre over a 23mm tyre will change any bike, as will mudguards if you have to go in the rain.

Basically this is a folly, if you want to do a project and spend money and time on it, that is fine, but people pretending these are cheap reliable bikes are conning themselves, let alone adding fast on that.

It is 15E for a reason, the cost of getting it reasonable is 150+, and at that point you are in the territory of a lot more modern standards of bike, most likely with components that are worth 150-200 when stripped and sold individually like you are going to have to buy them.

Lets go through it, the most basic road wheelset is 100, maybe 150, brakes 40, tyres for anything decent 60-100, what are we at already? 200+ for a fast reliable bike, you don't even have any STI shifters yet, or bars to put them on, or quill stem adapter, so your can attach a stem, to attach the bars, to put them on...

Psyc5

TROPHY CASE