The Historic Racers Cycling Thread

[Alan Morgan]

You could possibly tip your handlbars up slightly Peter - you might find yourself putting too much load on your wrists on a longer ride with them in that position and it will make it easier to hold your head up.

I do like the angular look of those Boardman frames...

[Peter Mallett]

Thanks Alan, I shall take your advice.

[Duddha]

A very nice thread Delta! Some of you may know my addiction to sport and cycling is one of those amongst the swim, bike and run effort. Interestingly, I have found a lot of similar stuff to motorsport with the bike, best one being that if one of your mates tells you it will make you faster, surely you end up buying it!

Have owned and raced quite a few bikes, one of the best was the Look 796 Monoblade Time Trial bike to UCI standards.



I have now switched to Specialized and their S-Works frames for road and Time Trial with the Tarmac SL6 Disc (Red) and Shiv TT Disc (Black) frames for this year, both to UCI standards.

[Alfaholic]

Now that MSV (and hopefully Silverstone at some point) are alowing spectators, and with a return to full time work, my riding will be dropping off a bit. This is the Titanium framed part of my fleet of 7 bikes (the others are a carbon road, aluminium flatbar & a steel 29er).
From right to left - A Spa Elan, Van Nicholas Ventus (with upgrades), flatbar built around an OnOne Pickenflick and a basic Nan Nicholas Ventus SE used as a commuter.

[Peter Mallett]

Dunno about the bikes but that's a great fence.

[zefarelly]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Dunno about the bikes but that's a great fence.

On a sensible note, not quite as simple, but I don't like craning my neck and crouching down. back in '86 I turned my bars upside down and chopped the bottom ( now top) off . . . . Instant comfort. It wasn't a new idea and no recolection of where I saw it, but its commonplace now. I have a photo somewhere . . . . Will dig it out.

[zefarelly]

Not quite as fast as Louis, I was a month shy of 15, we did a 10 day tour of Norway, including Trollstigen. I really should scan in the rest of the photo's, not that many are very good!

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

So, new shoes, pedals and cleats ordered. First run this morning and even though I stopped whilst trying to get used to the gear operation still averaged 2km/h faster than on the MTB. Got to also get used to holding my head up because the lay down position is different to the MTB. Steering is a bit different too, currently taking wider turns than previous.

The Boardman, and I guess all “road/race bikes” looks massively painful for those of us with lower back problems. I understand the aero benefit but I just couldn’t contemplate riding it; something that does put me off, along with traffic.

[Peter Mallett]

I sympathise with you, back pain means very few positions are comfortable including normal sitting. As to the saddle itself, I have found it pretty comfortable (without the lycra and padding) so that is a plus.

Incidentally did you know that there is a government scheme for employees to receive 25% off the purchase of a bike? All to do with the covid get fit thing and keeping off public transport. No good for those who are self employed of course.

[andy97]

Although, I have said (half jokingly) that I don’t see the pleasure in cycling, I do get that many people do enjoy it and I do see the benefits. I do spin classes and Mrs 97 and I went around the East Mids Airport trail on our old MTBs last week so I would do it more but I do have back issues and when I was riding on the roads for my tri training a few years ago I did see the traffic as a big issue.
I did ask Donington Park earlier in the year if they would open up the circuit a couple of evenings a week for cyclists (they did a couple of “cycling/running in the Park” events last year) but they weren’t interested, sadly. I guess that there are security/staff/ insurance implications although Mallory hold regular cycling evenings.
I think that establishing a regular cycling evening around the track, and an MTB trail around the outer environments of the park, could be one way of demonstrating wider value of motor racing venues to the local population. I would be interested in taking part; I even think I could get there without riding on the road for more than about 200m.

[Peter Mallett]

I agree, the roads can be daunting.

Fortunately the roads around here are reasonably quiet but I do limit myself to a couple of routes, none of which are particularly long (between 8 and 16Km). Although both have reasonably steep hills.

I also generally go out at 6am so miss the major traffic. I suspect I will be taking the bike to a circuit or at least a location away from the main roads. Caldecott lake in MK is quite good for that.

[delta]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Dunno about the bikes but that's a great fence.

That made me laugh Pete.

[delta]

I would also like to think I played a small part in your success with triathlons Louis. I would always nag him when I found smoking at race meetings.
Biking in this morning I thought how much our Mike would of loved this thread
. We need get a "Bells Bike Ride" organised..

[Peter Mallett]

Yes was thinking similar.

[Alan Morgan]

Did an early ride this morning (54km) with a mate to beat the heat. Early starts do mean quieter roads. An added bonus was that Cinnamon Cafe in Windsor (an excellent cyclist's stop btw) is doing "Eat Out to Help Out" so an Americano and a bacon sarnie only cost £2.80.