Curiously, I'm just designing a GPS tracking/logging device. It's for a high altitude balloon, but I bet it'd work on a bike!

Hmm. 15 miles in 50 minutes this morning, at just after dark o'clock - I have no idea if that's good or not...

A couple of things need sorting - the saddle height is too low, and I think the handlebars could come up a little, too. I'm not getting on with the clippy pedals; can't get my trainers into them on the move. When I do use (one of) them, I find they're a little short for my size twelves so the weight is going onto my toe joint rather than the ball of my foot; this doesn't feel right. They're also a little narrow, though curiously this feels less so when the toe is in the clip.

Any advice?

Yes, get some proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals. The have float in the shoe pedal interface which helps the knees. They are also safer, believe it or not.

As for saddle height,
Start with a height from This site. Make sure you get your inside leg measurement right. Then follow the advice on here to get it perfect.

The handlebar height will be an issue till you adapt to the road position. Don't worry about it for a while.

Saddle tilt is critical too, I used to get a numbness till an ex pro at Condor cycles saw my bike and asked if I got a numb crotch He told me to tilt the saddle back a few degrees and try that then a few degrees more if I still had the problem. I have it tilted quite a bit and never get numbness any more. He explained that with the saddle tilted forward you are transferring your weight forward and then the pressure is on the front as you hips are also tilted forward. Tilting it back makes you hips sit differently and the weight moves back and releaves the pressure on the blood vessels that supply you testicles. It also stops you getting numb hands.
You will never see a pros road bike saddle tilted forward.

Thanks John, I'll have a peruse.



<thinks> now, is 'E' to the top or the bottom of the gentleman's particulars? Could be a significant difference...

Stand against a wall, get Anita to place a book up against your crotch, with moderate pressure (careful not to trap the old chap) with the book side flat against the wall and measure from the floor to the top of the book. repeat three times to get an average

Eeee! If she's not careful that could give three increasing measurements!

The clippy pedals were a nightmare for me, spent half the time trying to look down and get the pedal the right way up and as I'm a size 13 I had the same problem - I was pedalling through my toes mainly and not the ball of the foot. Painful!

A couple of bargains I've just bought and thought I'd share in case if you want to go the SPD route:

Shimano M520's on offer at Wiggle They should come with the cleats too. Or £17 on ebay without.

Muddy fox SPD shoes for £20

Think I've got everything now.

Those Muddyfox shoes are for mountain biking it seems. Did you go for those because of the price rather than get road shoes?

I still haven't got my Triban yet! The paperwork for the scheme is taking a while (not helped that the usual HR person that deals with it is on holiday).

No doubt they will be sold out locally when I finally get my voucher, ho hum. Looking forward to seeing how much quicker my Strava times are though once I finally get it.

was looking to spend around £150 for my 1st road bike but this thread has convinced me to increase my budget... damn you!!

On the mountain bike shoes the cleats don't scrape on the ground when you walk.

Road shoes are lighter and more streamlined.

I chose the mountain bike shoes - I think most other people have done the same.

#20 is a brilliant deal. You'd be lucky to get second hand ones for that.

Also, be a bit careful about sizes. I'm an 11 but I went for a 12 on the bike shoes (shimano) and they're just right. I don't know about Muddy fox.

Dan I went for those because they were SPD. You can fit them to a road bike and use them no problem. They also do SPD-SL shoes for £20 if that's what you want. I don't like them myself.

Getting the hang of the clips, now... this is a much quicker bike than Anita's MTB - downhill, I freewheel accelerate faster than she pedals.

Quick test today had a top speed of 56kph freewheeling down a not-very-long hill and 44kph pedalling on the short level. I could use a wider spread of gears on the front set... couple of teeth more on the big one and a couple fewer on the little.

I feel that I need more gears when going downhill, you have to pedal quite fast when doing 40mph! Ditching the plastic pedals for SPD's has made a massive difference to the riding experience.

Do you know how fast you're pedalling (RPM)? What front and rear gearing is on the bike? 11 tooth top gear on the rear cassette is pretty much as high as you'll get. You do need to be pedalling fast to get up speed above 40mph - 120rpm + is typical. As you head towards 50mph, jut getting into a tuck and freewheeling is the technique.

Your front chainset is probably 50-34, so highest ratio is 50/11 = 4.55

11 at rear is smallest you can go IIRC but you can go typical serious rider 53-39 on front as opposed to beginner 50-34, so a 6% increase.

Welcome to the slippery slope of bike modifications!

As MRS says, you should not be spinning put on an 11 50 unless you are doing over 45mph. The ideal cadence for a road bike is 90rpm, pros can go way over that and be smooth at 120rpm still.

It is kinder to your nees to keep you cadence high, but it takes some getting used to, typically most first time road bikers run at 60-70 rpm and think 90 is spinning out.

Up until 10 years ago the highest gear on road bikes was a 52 13 and the pros were happy with that.

Best bet is to work on pedalling at 90rpm rather than search for bigger gears.

Do you guys have cadence sensors on your pedals/shoes (however they work) or just time your strokes over say 10 seconds and multiply by 6?

I see a sensor for my Garmin is £30+.

I have a cadence sensor for my Polar HR Monitor. You place a magnet on the crank arem and the sensor on the down tube or the chainstay.

Yup - cadence sensor. I rarely ride by it now because I know what 90 feels like. I tend to average in the low 80's (83-85) on a ride allowing for freewheeling downhill, up to junctions etc It's good to get used to what 90rpm feels like.

For those bike computers that do cadence, most have separate sensors for wheel speed and cadence, the Velomann unit I have now combines them into a single sensor at the rear wheel (handy if I want to use it as an indoor trainer). But the cadence magnets are tricky to strap onto the crank arm without looking messy or falling off, there are some powerful circular magnets you just attach to the end of the pedal screw thread which look neater, has anyone used these?

How do those work, Dave? Which thread? My pedals always seem to finish flush with the crank arm

Like this http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=97721 quite a few on FleaBay

Ooh - I like that - magnets bought! Thank you

I just glue a magnet on with arldite A lot cheaper than the pedal magnets.

One word of warning, make sure the cadence magnet is on the non drive side. Otherwise it can get attracted to the chain and then skip onto the chain and jam the rear mech, make an awful mess too!

Sounds like you speak from experience? But supposing you want to remove the pedals? You've now covered up the allen key slot!?

I don't glue the magnet to the pedal spindle but to the crank arm just below.

A friend who had a small cube shaped magnet that was purloined from an office magnet board, this fitted neatly in the pedal spindle and was very strong.

I was behind him when jumped onto the chain as we were going full tilt it got caught and wrecked a very expensive Campagnolo Record rear mech.

Probably way over buget, but I spotted a Pininfarina bike last week whilst in Italy. A bit of a garish colour in lime green, but it would certainly look the part when strapped to the back of the coop!

Have a word with your employer (if applicable), I dont know if its still widely available, but there are government backed schemes whereby you can buy a pushbike for commuting (like they check!), out of your salary - before tax, in monthly installments - at a reduced rate. A friend of mine bought a Boardman road bike a couple of years ago. Not sure how good they are??? but it seems well specced.

I think the idea is these incredibly strong magnets stay put. Certainly won't be trying on the chain side either!!!!

Cycle to Work schemes. Used to be good but the Taxman has screwed them. Basically you lease the bike from your employer then, at the end of the lease, you get the option to buy. Trouble is that the Taxman has set residual values. Add to that the probability that your bike shop won't give you a discount as they have to pay the scheme administrators 15% and it starts to look like nothing more than a cheap loan for an expensive bike. Much better to lurk until around this time of year when you can get up to 50% discounts for this year's model

Typical of the taxman I guess I was going back a couple of years, but you have raised a fair point about buying at this time of year.