GuyP

what happened when you used them before?

That made me smile - my first bike, a Peugeot Classique, had a 52/42 with a 6spd 12-21 or thereabouts. That was standard faire, plus you could go over anything with it, interestingly enough! Look at all the old bikes - monster gears! Tongue in cheek, maybe its easier these days to take tons of supplements, spend gazillions on a bike, than to actually get out there to do the work!

I switched to lower ratios on my long distance bikes (200km+) because the way you cycle is different over distance than over a 100Km race, and the variety of terrain also increases over the longer distances. So while my audax bikes have 11-25 to 11-28, my race bikes have 11-23. I suppose it all depends what you're up to. The old schoolers would be cringing at any mention of more than a 23 though! And while we're on that, nobody seems to be missing the good old 53/42 now that we've all gone soft and opted for 53/39's, or even compacts! At a point, I was thinking of changing my crank to a 53/42, but then changed my mind - cycling back then was somehow very different to how it is today, thankfully or otherwise

They probably need to work in tandem for maximum effect though!!!

Interesting, I have non-UST 2.25 Crossmarks with the same problem. Poor quality control?

Yep, don't worry about being torched, other peoples opinions, and all that cr@p! If it works for you it works! BTW it works for me too! Welcome (back) to the dark side!

actually it was quite invisible until you pointed it out lol! still without front brakes?

Good one. Even my wife insists on riding with spare LINKS!

Well, I see the FowlStArt livery, and a quite surprising amount of ungreen Petrochemical company kit around! FowlStArt, can't you sort those guys out with some more appropriate kit? BTW, great pics of outrides aren't doing any good at the moment!!!

Hey, thanks! And get those brownie points up - you're going to need them given all the riding this little group is bound to do!

Mumps is a virus, so it's 10 days from yesterday so as not to damage the ticker! And there wasn't much riding last week with the floods, so three weeks off the bike in total! There's a Paris-Brest-Paris qualifying ride on Sunday that i'll miss as a result. Total bummer!

you luck buggers! I ended up not with a mere cold, but with mumps!!!!! I'm out of commission!

Hey I would love to. Will be there in spirit, cough, cough!

Glad you had fun Crasher, it did look like a fine evening! FowlStArt, I'll take that on the chin while I'm sick in bed with a massive cold, which I probably got from cyclocrossing-it in the rain and mud at Teak all day last Sunday. Maybe I'll do our next ride on the 'cross. I managed to get up the Viewpoint hill at Teak, slipping all the way up in a 30F-27R, west-to-east, over wet rocks, stones and mud. However, the downhill was really traumatic, especially since it was incredibly slippery in the rain on 700x38 tyres! I actually think it was bad no matter what you rode that day! Sadly I think this cold is going to keep me off the bike this weekend

Yep, the more the merrier. If it gets big enough, maybe we'll even eventually have the luxury of being able to split the groups!!!

holy crap!

Okay, giving today a skip

I wonder if those are commercially available, would be handy for cyclocross

A good Bell helmet also paid the price - it broke at the point of impact above the ear, no doubt saving a more messy situation!

Broke my front wheel in half taking the wrong line on a downhill at Forest to Falls. Scars on my face and ear, was concussed and taken off the course by ambulance!

Are there any roadies in this group? I have decided to try and qualify for 2011 Paris-Brest-Paris, starting this weekend with a 220Km LSD (say about 25-27Km/h depending on wind) on Saturday. I would love some company!

Fantastic! He may have a new customer!

Seems like rain is guaranteed tomorrow afternoon! 48 Hour Forecast TuesdayWednesday EveningNightMorningAfternoonhttp://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/33.gif Scattered showers. More clouds than sun. Cool.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/34.gif Passing showers. Mostly cloudy. Nippy.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/33.gif A few showers. Mostly cloudy. Cool.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/21.gif Isolated tstorms. Mostly cloudy. Mild.Temperature19°C16°C20°C24°CWind Direction5 km/h E5 km/h NE9 km/h NW15 km/h SWHumidity78%82%80%74%Dew Point16°C13°C16°C18°CComfort Level19°C16°C20°C25°CVisibility4 km4 km4 km5 km6hr. Precip. TotalScattered showers Passing showers A few showers Isolated tstorms Chance of Precip.63%72%39%61% WednesdayThursday EveningNightMorningAfternoonhttp://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/19.gif Showery. Mostly cloudy. Cool.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/19.gif Showery. Mostly cloudy. Nippy.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/18.gif Drizzle. Mostly cloudy. Cool.http://weather.news24.com/Images/Icons/Forecasts/21.gif Widely scattered tstorms. More sun than clouds. Cool.Temperature18°C13°C18°C22°CWind Direction9 km/h S11 km/h E14 km/h E13 km/h EHumidity88%87%77%65%Dew Point16°C11°C13°C15°CComfort Level18°C12°C18°C24°CVisibility3 km3 km11 km5 km6hr. Precip. TotalShowery Showery Drizzle Widely scattered tstorms Chance of Precip.88%88%32%40%

Bloody hell, if it rains tomorrow like it's just done, we're going to drown out there!

And FowlStArt, stay away from wires this time!!