With Christmas and the New Year behind us, now is the time to shed those excess pounds and get some fitness ready for the cycling season ahead.
Unfortunately to become a fitter cyclist in the summer, whether it’s just for fitness sake or if you want to be a competitive cyclist, your training needs to start now if it hasn’t already.
This means you have to brave the dark, wet, cold icy [DANGEROUS] conditions OR use a turbo trainer/rollers and do some ‘indoor’ cycling.
Indoor training can become a regular part of your training or fitness plan. Turbo trainers have a number of benefits that you should utilize in your weekly training especially in the winter time.
Turbo training sessions make great use of time, as they simulate riding up an ‘adjustable’ gradient, 30 minuets on a turbo trainer is equivalent to 1 hour on the road.
As you use your own bike on a turbo trainer, you ride in exactly the same position as you would on the road so you won’t feel awkward or damage your joints.
Turbo trainers are also a great way to monitor fitness in conjunction with a heart rate monitor and cycle computer as you ride in a controlled environment.
For riders who prefer not to ride a bike which is fixed to a solid frame, rollers are the answer. Riding on a set of rollers takes some practice and a fair amount of skill as you balance yourself on your bike with only your ’speed’ keeping you upright, this for many does feel much more natural and with a level of concentration required time appears to pass more quickly.
Below is a short film of the world’s greatest cyclist* Eddy Merckx training on his rollers.
If you couldn’t get to work because of the icy conditions, call in for some coffee and cakes.
Even more impressive is the achievement of long-distance rider Guido Kunze who recently broke the world record for riding across Australia while using Di2. The German completed the 4,200km challenge in seven days, 19 hours and 5 minutes beating the previous record by over 16 hours! Guido covered over 3,400 km of his epic journey before he had to charge his Di2 battery for the first and only time. He also used Shimano Dura Ace C24 carbon laminate wheels, Dura Ace pedals and Custom Fit R-310 shoes for his record breaking attempt.
Demo Reel from The Coastal Crew on Vimeo.
Scott Addict RC Di2 Now In Stock
New for 2010
The Scott Addict RC, a Team Columbia-HTC replica bike with Shimano Di2 Electronic Components and Dura Ace Carbon wheel set.
The Addict has become a benchmark in the carbon construction, and is known as THE bike to ride in the pro peloton. Scott use IMP carbon technology to produce a superlight road frame that weighs only 790 grams. Team Columbia-HTC consistently rides this bike to victory. The Addict features a race inspired geometry with a short head tube, longer top tube and slacker seat angle. The bike also features carbon dropouts, front derailleur mount and cable stops.
New price £6599.00 Ex Demo price £4000.00
For sale Scott Plasma Limited. It is used, but has only done a small number of miles. The frame itself has seen no more than 100 miles the group set a little more.
2009 Scott Plasma Limited 20 speed
Specification:
Frame: Scott Plasma 2 (TRI / TT) IMP5 technology / HMX-NET TRI Geometry, Intergrated Seat tube, replaceable hanger.
Fork: Scott Plasma 2 (TT/TRI) 1 1/8″ carbon Integrated.
Headset: Ritchey WCS Carbon Integrated 45mm drop-in headset.
Rear Derailleur: SRAM RED Carbon Ceramic
Front Derailleur: SRAM RED Carbon
Shifters: SRAM Red TT Carbon Shifter.
Brakelevers: Profile QSC
Brakes: SRAM Red
Crankset: SRAM RED Carbon 39/53 T.
BB-Set: SRAM RED Ceramic
Handlebar: Profile CX3 Aero
Aerobar: Profile CX3 Aero
H’stem: Profile Cobra 1-1/8″ – 31,8mm – 84°.
Seatpost: Integrated
Seatclamp: Ritchey WCS Aero (adjustable)
Seat: Fizik Arione TRI 2 Carbon
Hub front: DT Swiss
Hub rear: DT Swiss
Chain: Sram Red
Cassette: Sram Red 11-25.
Spokes: DT Swiss Evolution
Rims: Zipp Carbon 420 / 18 Front, Zipp Carbon 620 / 20 Rear.
Giant Avail Alliance Size Small
Female specific carbon and aluminium comfort road bike
Designed for riding long distances in the most comfort possible
Carbon and aluminium frame is light stiff and yet very comfortable
Great looking bike with Shimano 105 10speed groupset
Scott Cr1 Pro 1 only in stock!
The CR1 is the frame that forever changed the way carbon bikes are built. The tube-to-tube construction is now an industry standard, producing a light yet compliant frame. The Scott CR1 Pro 20 speed 2009 Road Bike geometry suits a performance-minded rider.
Groupset Shimano ULtegra 6600
Wheels Mavic Ksyrium Elite
One Only In Stock Reduced To Clear.
2009 Scott Voltage YZ 15 Dirt/Jump/Street Bike
The Voltage dominates any terrain, dirt or street. Its massive hydroformed tubes and nimble geometry let you manual, boost jumps and rail berms with ease and confidence.
Super Stiff 6061 Hydro-formed Frame
Suntour XCM 100mm travel fork
Shimano BR-486 hydraulic disc brakes
Children love riding bikes. They always have done. And – in an era of computer games and television, with child-obesity rates climbing at a terrifying rate – parents need their kids to be active. This is not a difficult circle to square; get your kids cycling regularly and they’ll enjoy it at the same time as doing themselves some good.
There’s just one problem. The bikes aimed at the children’s market are invariably of poor quality. Buy a child’s bicycle from a supermarket or a catalogue, and all too often you’ll end up with a machine you wouldn’t dream of riding if an adult equivalent existed.
There are all sorts of problems with kids’ bikes. The biggest is the sheer weight of the things. The typical child’s bike weighs around 15kg or more, which could be half or more of the rider’s body weight. That makes cycling hard work, and your children are likely to be put off travelling more than a few hundred yards at a time.
The vogue for mountain bikes is another problem. Bike manufacturers seem to think that youngsters want bikes they can ride up a fell or through a swamp, so many of the machines on offer to children are scaled-down mountain bikes.
Off-road bikes may be trendy, but they are built for careering over difficult terrain rather than on-the-road riding. That means thick, knobbly tyres and half a ton of suspension. Both make for more physical riding, but they are totally unnecessary for riding to school or for a trip round the park. Again, your children will soon be put off.
So what should parents be looking for in a child’s bicycle? The first thing to say is that the biggest mistake you can make is to buy a bike your child will “grow into”. If you have never tried riding a bicycle that’s too big for you, put your seat up by a few inches and see how awkward you find it.
Cycling Plus magazine has a decent guide to children’s bikes on its website; the address is www.cyclingplus.co.uk. This suggests that 14in or 16in-wheels would suit a child aged four to six, that 20in-wheels are more appropriate for five- to 10-year-olds, and that older children should move up to 24in-wheels.
If you don’t want the expense of changing a bike every year or so – children grow quickly, after all – look for a machine with a decently long seatpost that can be adjusted. You’ll also need handlebars that can be moved up and down, too.
Examine some other aspects of the bike as well, particularly the pedal crank (that’s the piece of metal connecting the pedal to the frame of the bicycle). The length of a child’s cranks should be about one-tenth of their height, but too many bike-makers simply bolt adult cranks on to smaller bikes, which makes for uncomfortable riding.
Similarly, check that children can brake comfortably. Not all brake levers are easily operable by small hands, so you may need to adjust their positioning on the handlebars.
Gears are another issue that needs to be addressed. Kids compete with each other on the basis of how many gears their bikes have, however, a large range is completely unnecessary for almost all junior riders. And this is an additional area of the bike that can go wrong, landing you with an inconvenient trip to the bike shop and possibly a nasty bill.
In fact, a starter bike probably doesn’t need any more than one gear, while slightly older riders will be fine with three speeds. For older children, a seven- or eight-speed bike will be fine. Be wary of machines that have more than one ring at the front end of the gear mechanism – that can just be confusing and lead to problems for younger riders.
Gear shifters work best for children when they’re the “grip” style. These tend to be the easiest to move and don’t require children to release their grasp on the handlebars.
Make sure your child’s bike also comes with a chain guard. Otherwise, at best you’ll spend lots of time cleaning oil off their trousers. At worst, they’ll get fingers stuck or catch their legs.
There’s no denying that a decent bicycle that meets all these criteria is likely to be rather more expensive than the models you might have expected you’d be buying. But think in terms of pound per mile and you may end up saving money, because your kids are far more likely to use a good bike more often and cycle further.
If your children really insist on a mountain bike, look for a machine that has a lighter aluminium frame. Ridgeback and Scott offer very affordable machines in their ranges that would suit younger riders.
Finally, don’t forget to make sure your kids are safe on the road. Once they have the new bicycle, supervise their first few rides and consider getting them a helmet.
