Two newbie questions

[L2XE]

Hi all,

Two newbie questions for you.

1. Maintenance. Got caught in a downpour today, so as soon as I got back the bike went in the garage and I jumped in the shower. Do I need to dry the bike off or apply any lubricants?
2. Etiquette. Whilst getting saturated I decided to push it a bit to get back quicker, I came up behind two fellow cyclists not going very fast. After following them for a bit and making sure there was nothing up ahead that would cause them to swerve I pulled out to overtake. About two bike lengths away I called out "on your right" to alert them to my maneuver, the look I received from the pair of them was complete disgust. Have I broken some Road cycling rule I didn't know about?

 

[Supersuperleeds]

1.) You will get loads of different answers on this one, but my view is if you have rim brakes give the rims a quick wipe with a dry cloth and give the chain a quick mickle (use the search function and look for mickle method)

2) Don't worry about that, some people will appreciate the warning, others won't. I tend to just say hello to anyone I go by.

 

[Cycleops]

Maintainence. Don't get too precious about it, just dry the saddle if it got wet.

Etiquette. They were probably pissed you were going faster then them.

 

[13 rider]

Wot he said
I'd dry the bike off .
When overtaking I just give room and say hello when alongside . When riding in the rain and overtaking leave a gap before you pull in to stop any spray

 

[iamRayRay]

As per above.

When overtaking, Morning or Evening always appreciated.

 

[Racing roadkill]

As far as maintenance goes, just make sure you dose any oily bits with a lube like GT85, or similar, once it's dried off. As for the etiquette thing, it's best to say nothing, it can be construed as a passive agressive irritatant. Just pass wide and quickly, and keep schtum. The worst I've encountered, as I passed someone, with a "good ( insert part of day )" was an attempted wheel kick, he missed, I was passing too wide, but some people really don't like being passed, if you go 'stealth mode' and keep going after you've passed, there's nothing to worry about. Don't break your 'arris to get past, then fail to keep that speed up.

 

[Ajax Bay]

an attempted wheel kick, he missed,

You're sure he wasn't just super surprised to be passed and lost his pedal then?

 

[wheresthetorch]

They may have just looked pissed off because of the rain.

I usually just lift my left hand off the bars as a sort of 'hello'.

 

[steve50]

Hi all,

Two newbie questions for you.

1. Maintenance. Got caught in a downpour today, so as soon as I got back the bike went in the garage and I jumped in the shower. Do I need to dry the bike off or apply any lubricants?
2. Etiquette. Whilst getting saturated I decided to push it a bit to get back quicker, I came up behind two fellow cyclists not going very fast. After following them for a bit and making sure there was nothing up ahead that would cause them to swerve I pulled out to overtake. About two bike lengths away I called out "on your right" to alert them to my maneuver, the look I received from the pair of them was complete disgust. Have I broken some Road cycling rule I didn't know about?

hang around these forum long enough and you will discover it is "normal" practice and a lot of them won't even acknowledge your existence on the road.

 

[EnPassant]

Depends on the road, out of town It often makes me jump if a cyclist passes me though I can normally recompose fast enough to respond if they give a cheery greeting. Don't get me wrong I'm not that quick, but it's infrequent enough that I'm usually at least a little bit surprised. If they shouted out from behind me, that would probably be worse, I suspect I'd jump even more. Perhaps the look you got was surprise rather than anything more sinister?
On this basis when the roles are reversed I say nothing until I actually get into the peripheral vision of somebody I pass, then once they are aware I'm there and assuming the speed difference is appropriate, say a few mph, I'll say Morning or Afternoon as appropriate. If I'm doing 20 and they are doing 5 I'll probably forego saying anything as its over before there could really be a reply.
No clue if any of this is politically correct, just seems to me to be reasonably polite?

 

[biggs682]

if really worried give the chain a quick spray of a gt85 kinda of product then spin it around a few times

and just acknowledge when going past its only polite

 

[Dave7]

2. I can't remember the last time I managed to overtake anyone apart from an 8 year old on the cycle path .
I get lots of people overtaking me and virtually all of them simply say something like "hello/hi" etc. Cant recall anyone calling "on your right" or similar but I think that's a very nice & safe comment to make.

 

[Globalti]

After a wet ride you do need to dry and clean the rims with a damp rag and pull the rag through behind the brake blocks to clean them. If the brakes sound gritty take the blocks out and pick out the bits of grit and alloy embedded in the rubber and clean out the slots. If the blocks look glazed you can rub them on some wet and dry paper.

 

[winjim]

Commute bike gets a quick wipe down with an oily rag and a spray of GT85 post rain. Possibly a dash of chain lube if I'm feeling generous. Ti superbike gets a proper clean.

I really can't be bothered acknowledging people I don't know as I pass. If they didn't realise I was there, they really ought to have been checking behind themselves a bit more often.

 

[EnPassant]

Hm, I sort of disagree about the constant checking behind you. I always do if I'm about to make any kind of manoeuvre, but not for just cycling along in a straight line every 500 yards or whatever, what exactly would I be looking for? There's a car or truck a couple of hundred yards back? It's not as if there is anything I can do about it anyway.
All I'm likely to do is up my "will I get whacked up the a*se?" fear factor and I want to stay on my bike, not at home terrified to go out.

It's not a flick of the eyes as in a car, and I'm not about to put mirrors on my bike. I can hear cars, but not ninja cyclists.
Maybe I'm overstating it and I'm also perfectly willing to be shown the error of my ways if such be the case.