I bought a Lezyne saddle bag recently to replace an Altura Saddle bag that had worn away.
Firstly, it’s a relief to be reviewing a proper cycling product. i.e. reasonably priced, of interest to most cycle users and bought for it utility and not because it weighs less than 50 grams. When buying this, no weighing scales involved – just a mater of whether it does the job or not.
Simple design, fairly sturdy. Looks good on the bike.
There is the main compartment and a second layer underneath. In this lower layer, I put one inner tube and a multi-tool. It would be a good place to carry a mobile phone as it would get quite a bit of protection from rain and it would fit the thin compartment quite well.
One thing with a saddle bag is that I’ve often had multi-tools get wet and rust. This is because the saddle bag can pick up spray on long rides. I’ve started putting multi-tools in plastic bags to help protect against this. Early testing suggests that the neoprene covering on the back and bottom helps to keep spray out. I haven’t been on long 4 hour wet rides yet. But, given the qualities of neoprene I’m expecting an improvement.
Inside there are three pockets. The $ pocket takes up a bit of space, but, they are useful for keeping things a bit tidier and easier to find. Also, I once punctured both spare inner tubes with a sharp multi-tool, leaving me stranded, so it is good to keep tyre levers and inner tubes separate.
The 2014 season didn’t make the most auspicious start. Getting knocked off the bike at 30mph by a kamikaze Portuguese dog. It was a shame because cycling in the Algarve was fantastic apart from the crazy dogs. It gave a taste for long European climbs, something I’d like to do more of sometime.
From early March until late October, I’ve been racing fairly consistently, though the change from doing 100 mile time trials to hill climbs is as good as rest in a way.
Early season classics
Stouts Hill – Photo: Rich Lewton
For me the highlight of the TT season are the early season hilly classics. I did the Circuit of Ingleborough for the first time and other hilly races like Circuit of the Dales. A highlight of season was doing the Bristol South Megahilly for the first time. This was a dream course for a hill climber – five long climbs of around 10%. Over 1,100m of climbing in less than 28 miles.
That’s the short answer, but if you ever need justification for buying a new bike – these are some reasons to help you dip in the wallet and buy the new bike you deserve!
Of course, no real cyclist ever needs justification to buy a new bike, but this might be helpful for dealing with those family members who may not share the same understanding of the scientific and emotional benefits of the new 2015 Shimano Dura Ace di2 groupset.
Good reasons to get a new bike
Because manufacturers inform you this years model is 20% more rigid, 12% lighter, 7 % more aerodynamic and only 33% more expensive. If you buy, everyone’s a winner!
If you don’t buy a new bike, it means you will be riding a bike that is potentially slower than you could be riding. How painful is that thought?
Why spend all those hours training in the wet and cold when you could be getting the same marginal gains whilst sitting in the office doing overtime to pay for your new bike?!
Because there will definitely be someone on the start line of your race / cyclosportive / Strava leaderboard – who will have that new bike. You wouldn’t expect Lewis Hamilton to turn up to a Formula One race, in a 1920s Ford Model T. You need the best to have a fair competition.
You need a cheap commuting bike to reduce the scare of getting your 33% more expensive new bike stolen. This is brilliant, You get a new bike that is so expensive, you have to get a cheaper bike to complement it. Two reasons for the price of one.
Cheaper than upgrades. If you took a bike apart and tried to buy the components separately, it would be twice as expensive. If you find yourself buying a new component like a new stem or new pair of wheels, you might as well just go the whole hog and buy a new bike!
The last bike you will ever need. The next bike you buy is so good, it will be the last bike you ever need. Manufacturers have been making bikes stiffer, lighter and more aero for years. But, this technological progress has to stop sometime. If you buy a bike, bike manufacturers are likely to say ‘that’s it, bikes can’t get better than this. (P.S. I have bought seven ‘last ever bike I will need’)
New bike gives new inspiration. There is a great feeling in riding a new immaculate bike. If you’re struggling with inspiration to train, buy a new bike and the next week of training will be really high quality because you are so happy to be riding a new bike. Admittedly, a weekly new bike could be stretching even the most enthusiastic resources of the most ardent ‘buy a new bike’ type person. You should save this for desperate times like the middle of winter.
Because it looks good. Who said a new bike needs to be faster? It’s not as if you’re going to win an important race anyway. Bikes are all about looks. That 1980s Colnago C50 will have plenty heads turning on the club run, and if that’s not worth taking out a £5,000 loan – what is?
Poor excuses not to get a new bike
Bike in house. A kind of modern art.
There isn’t room in the shed. This is a very poor excuse. There is always room to accommodate a new bike. Who said bicycles have to be stored in the garage? Take down your David Hockney from your living room, and in its place put your new living modern art (aka – your new Colnago) on the wall. In this way you’ve killed three birds with one stone:
You have a motivation to clean the bike after every ride
You have joined the modern art movement of spending a lot of money on the unexpected!
You have your new bike!
If all else fails, you could always consider selling an old bike. But, this is really a last resort, because it’s much better to accumulate an ever increasing number of bikes.
You haven’t got the money In the days of Wonga, credit cards and quantitative easing, there’s always money somewhere. Your granny may have told you money doesn’t grow on trees, but if the UK can have a national debt of £1,432.3 billion and Q.E. of £350bn money creation, do you not think you deserve a very small extension of credit for helping the economic recovery? Think of it as expansionary fiscal policy – any good Keynesian economist will tell you that your consumer spending is a selfless act for the greater good.
Family unconvinced. This is slightly tricky – your partner is not convinced that you need a 12th bike when the last family holiday was a budget hotel in Skegness in 2009. But, still with a new bike – every day is a holiday. All we need is that 12th bike and we will become a beacon of happiness and cheerfulness (until the next seasons models come out) – so everyone is a winner really. Note the emphasis on shared ownership. You may ride the bike, but really it belongs to everyone.
I’ve been looking into handlebars for the hill climb bike. I need to buy another pair because I want to chop the ends off (I won’t be using drops in upcoming hill climbs). It’s not the most efficient way to save 50 grams, but it might be easier to pull on the hoods as well.
I looked at the Zipp handlebars, as usual there is a confusing array of names Zipp SL, Zipp Contour SL, and Zipp SLC. There’s not a huge variation in each. Zipp SL the lightest. Zipp SLC the most rigid. Also, be careful – Zipp sizes are centre to centre. A 42cm ZIpp (Centre to centre) is a 44cm in most other brands.
Zipp SL
Zipp SL is the lighest handlebar it is 31.8 only in the middle of the bars allowing a more aerodynamic profile away from the centre.It means that you can put clip on aerobars on them. Zipp specificially say you can’t – it isn’t built with suitable clamping point. This is more of a climbers bar, with focus on lightweight, but they are still reasonably stiff.
Features:
• Weight (SS 42 cm): 170g
• Clamp Diameter: 31.8
• Clamp Width: 48mm
• Short-Shallow Bend: Yes
• Clip Compatible: No
• Max Brake Lever Torque: 8NM
• Max Torque Clamping to Bar: 8NM
• Drop style: SS
Combe Gibbet is number 25 in 100 greatest hills. It is a fairly short climb, averaging just under 10% to take you to the top of Combe Gibbet / Walbury hill.
I rode up Combe Gibbet on Sunday purely by accident. I was racing up Walbury hill which is an alternative ascent to the top of that hill. The weather was too hot to warm up on rollers so I preferred to warm up on roads instead. I took the road from Inkpen and went in any direction that was uphill and not on the race course. From Inkpen there is a gradual ascent, and then a bit of downhill before the short, sharp shock of Combe Gibbet. It averages 9% for 0.5 miles. But, towards the end of the climb, there is a good section of 16%. Pre race I was trying to ride up the climb, without going over 300 watts- which is a bit difficult to do without going at low cadence. I don’t like warming up too hard, I prefer to keep it fairly steady.
The weather was perfect so I enjoyed the climb and view from the top. The climb was quite quiet, very few cars, and the odd horserider. If I’d known I was riding Combe Gibbet I may have taken some photos. But, I also had a race to concentrate on.
After the race I went back up Combe Gibbet to do a bit more training. From the top of the hill, I headed south in the general direction of Andover. It was a strange descent, you kept thinking you would come to the bottom of the descent, but it kept on going down. One thing about hills in this part of the country is your never sure where the starting point is. It’s a great part of the country to cycle around. Quiet lanes, interesting roads, decent climbs, but nothing too taxing.
Combe Gibbet points of interest
Combe Gibbet is a popular tourist attraction. Wikipedia tells us a gibbet was erected in 1676 for the purpose of gibbeting the bodies of murderers – George Broomham and Dorothy Newman. The gibbet was placed in such a prominent location as a warning, to deter others from committing similar crimes. So if you want to see a replica of a Seventeenth Century Gibbet, there’s an added motivation to climb the hill.
Walbury hill is the highest point in Hampshire.
Combe Gibbet from the south
Combe Gibbet from the south is a good climb. If you want there is a several mile incline averaging about 1%. But, the climb proper only lasts for the last 1km.
The last 0.7 miles averages 7% and it gets steeper towards the top. The last half a mile averaging 10%
Even though I’ve done a lot of cycling around Yorkshire and Oxford, I still love to spend time looking at map trying to find the steepest possible hills. I know it’s probably more efficient to google and search Strava, but in my mind, it can’t beat the fun of looking at a real map and all those contour gradients. Any double arrow always raises a little excitement, especially if you haven’t been up that hill before.
At the moment, steep hills make great training for the hill climb season and the national championship in particular. But, even if I wasn’t training there is some attraction of battling against the steepest gradients. In one sense it doesn’t make sense to seek out the steepest hills, but there’s nothing like looking over your shoulder and seeing the road snaking below you.
Robin Hood climb near Silsden
Another kind of benefit of going up really steep hills is that you can get magnified power figures. For the life of me, I couldn’t do 450 watts on the flat, but when it’s 25% + it’s kind of hard not to!
The steepest hill I’ve been up is Hardknott Pass in the Lake District, a definite 30%, with the additional challenge of coming at the end of a pretty challenging hill in its own right.
Other really steep hills that have been quite memorable include Park Rash, Wrynose Pass, Bushcombe Lane to name but a few. I keep meaning to go over to the North York Moors, where 30% gradients seem to be a speciality.
Today I was in Menston, West Yorkshire, and there’s plenty of steep hills to choose from. I decided to go over the moors to Silsden. Where just a couple of months ago, I was one of millions lining the side of the road for Le Tour de France.
It’s hard to believe. But, yes this really did happen. Silsden closed down for the day to welcome Le Tour!
Le Tour didn’t go up the steepest hills in the district, the roads would have been too narrow and awkward for the Tour caravan.
On Strava, Robert Gesink is the quickest with 13.59. An average speed of 8.2mph. 399 watts average. A VAM of 1,694.0
The interesting thing was watching the climb unfold on Eurosport. At the bottom Valverde attacked, gaining a 20 second advantage. Froome was dropped from the main contenders and slipped away. But, as the climb unfolded, Valverde blew and Froome came back in contention. Picking off the favourites who had gone hard from the start; on that climb it was Froome who was the best of the GC contenders.
At 12-13 minutes, it’s quite a long climb. Also, at an average speed of 8.2mph, there is much less aero benefit from sitting in the wheels than usual. Therefore, there is less downside to getting dropped and going at your own pace. Froome likes looking at his stem and power meter, but bbviously sometimes there must be a benefit to looking at your power meter in a climb. Or at least be very confident in your ability to pace a climb.
I would say a power meter can be helpful, but it is important training to learn the art of pacing, without looking at a computer.
Blowing up on a climb
Everyone knows that awful feeling of getting carried away on the bottom of a really steep hill and then having to grovel all the way to the top. It happened to me this summer on Bushcombe Lane – with 25% gradient. It takes a certain patience to ride within yourself and make sure you can go all the way to the top at your best pace
Yesterday, after the race, I did some hill efforts, but purposefully kept to a lower power than usual for doing hill climbs. It was a nice feeling to be able to go all the way up the climb, knowing at any stage you can pick it up if necessary.
It all depends on the climb. Take a traditional British hill climb 3-4 minutes, and it requires a very different pacing to a 13-14 minute climb. But, even on a three minute climb, you can still blow up badly, if you get pacing completely wrong. Chris Boardman in his hill climb tips, always recommended riding a hill climb leaving a little for a sprint in the last half.
But, that doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. I dont really have a sprint to speak of. If I wait for a last minute sprint, I would never do my best hill climbs. I need to ride close to the limit for as long as I can.
The only real way to learn how to pace hill climbs, is to experiment and do real hill climbs in practice. Forget intervals on turbo, go out and find a suitable hill and do a few efforts. If you can measure your time, power and heart rate, it gives even more data to work with. Try your favourite hill in different ways. One day go like a madman from the start, another day pick it up after half way.
Pacing long hill on Saturday. Photo Ken Norbury.
Thanks to Ken Norbury for this photo from yesterday. (album on Google Plus)
As I mentioned yesterday, after Snake Pass hill climb, I joined Paul and Ben for a lap of their efforts to ‘Everest’ Snake Pass.
Ben emailed me to say Paul Talbot successfully completed the challenge on Sun 11.30pm after 14 hours ‘moving time’. 16 hours after he started. That’s 181 miles at an average speed of 12.8mph. 27 times up Snake Pass.
Ben says he retired after reaching 5,360m (approx base camp). Everesting is even tougher if you’re the better side of 86kg).
I’m off to New York for a couple of weeks. Hot, humid, intense roads and happy drivers – not the perfect acclimatisation for the upcoming British hill climb season. But, as long as a I can do a few hill intervals I’ll be happy.
There’s a lot of interest in ‘Everesting‘ at the moment. I got invited to speak on BBC Radio Surrey tomorrow morning 8.50am about the ‘Everesting’ of Box Hill. Unfortunately, I will be dipping into my first American breakfast of fried donuts and corn syrup muffins.
In my keyword statistics I see someone is googling ‘everesting Cat and Fiddle’ – Good luck with that one. That would be a lot of miles to Everest Cat and Fiddle. on the 3% slope. (and you have to cycle on the way down.)
Cat and Fiddle. One of England’s longest climbs.
To Everest Cat and Fiddle, you’re looking at 27 times * 330m, which is 13.2 miles per lap (up and down). Total of 343 miles. I wouldn’t recommend with a strong headwind.
Some notes on the rules and laws of cycling. Though, whatever rules are – there’s a lot to be said for using common sense to stay safe and respectful of other users.
Difference between legal requirements and advisory notes
The Highway code reflects some legal requirements.
At night your cycle MUST have white front and red rear lights [Law RVLR regs 13, 18 & 24)] This is a law.
The Highway code also offers ‘advisory notices’ on how you should behave.
You should keep both hands on the handlebars except when signalling or changing gear.
The difference is that there is no legal requirement to keep both hands on handlebars – so it is OK to drink a bidon and eat a banana without risk of prosecution… It could be considered ‘best practise’ to keep hands on handlebars.
Generally, rules and laws are there to promote a more harmonious and safer experience on the road. When people ignore road traffic laws it can be both frustrating and dangerous. But, whilst it’s important to be aware of all the legal issues around cycling – you can’t beat plain common sense. If you cycle blindly through a red traffic light whilst under the influence of drink, you shouldn’t need a law to tell you it’s a dangerous thing.
Also, the next time someone beeps at you for cycling two abreast or 1 metre from edge of road, it is quite a comfort to know that what you are doing is perfectly legal and within your rights, even advised by the department of transport.
Common Questions on Cycling and the Law
Is it legal to cycle on pavement?
No, it is illegal to cycle on pavement (footpath by side of road) unless, it is marked as shared use cycle path [Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A 1984, sect 129]. Cycling on pavements can lead to a fixed penalty notice of £30.
Can children cycle on pavements?
No. However, children under 16 are unlikely to be issued with fixed penalty notice. In theory, police and community support officers are supposed to use considerable discretion in dealing with people who cycle on the pavement. This is to reflect the difference between a young children seeking a safe passage on the pavement and others who might be cycling at high speed putting pedestrians at discomfort. See more at: Cycling on pavements
Can you cycle on Bridleways and Footpaths away from the road?
The law specifically relates to footways by the side of a highway. In theory, if you are on a footpath away from a road, it is legal to cycle – unless there is sign saying otherwise.
Can you cycle across a Pelican Crossings?
No. The highway code states ‘Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across.’ However, you can cycle across a ‘toucan crossing’ A toucan crossing is a wider version of pelican crossings. It will have an extra light to indicate a green cyclist.
To confuse matters, some pelican crossings have an extra green light for cyclist. A green cyclist light gives the indication it would be OK to cross on the bike.
Can you cycle on Dual Carriageways?
Yes, unless there is a specific sign saying cyclists prohibited.
Motorways are prohibited to cyclists.
A no cycling sign, might appear on some three lane dual carriageways.
Can you cycle in Bus Lanes?
Yes. Most bus lanes are open to cyclists unless indicated otherwise by signs.
Can a Cyclist cycle in the middle of a lane?
watch for car doors opening.
There is no law stating where on the road a cyclist must be. There are different guidelines offered. One guideline is to cycle ‘well clear of kerb. 1 metre on in centre of the left lane (best position on road for cyclists) and (Direct Gov link) However, this would also mean ignoring small bicycle lanes.
