FNRttC FNRttC to Southwold 7th September

[Wobblers]

What on Earth makes you think that I have any desire to be in your good books?

Well, that's a relief.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Davy,
Your bars are at racing / sprinting height which makes them very low for riding all day on with only moderate pressure on the pedals. If you can raise them up an inch or three it will take the weight off your hands!

!!! But but but, its a track bike, its low-pro.. I think, I am just going to have to resort to have comfy bar tape all the way around.. not ideal, but the best compromise.. Or get an On One pompino....

Dell, the forks are carbon and the bar and stem are Deda Piega 6061 Alloy....

 

[dellzeqq]

I've got my bars lower than yours, and I have similar forks and bars - and I'm completely comfortable. Do you ride on the drops or the hoods?

 

[velovoice]

I've got my bars lower than yours, and I have similar forks and bars - and I'm completely comfortable.

Your body proportions are also very different from Davy's. Just sayin'.

 

[Davywalnuts]

I've got my bars lower than yours, and I have similar forks and bars - and I'm completely comfortable. Do you ride on the drops or the hoods?

I don't have bar tape on the bars however.. The white tape at the bottom, is not padded, but, me, being a tart, I like it aesthetics as it is.. And I tend to ride her with my hands narrow, right by the stem when cruising. I think, I just need to get comfy bar tape all over. My backs fine, just the hands.. over long distance...

 

[frank9755]

I don't have bar tape on the bars however.. The white tape at the bottom, is not padded, but, me, being a tart, I like it aesthetics as it is.. And I tend to ride her with my hands narrow, right by the stem when cruising. I think, I just need to get comfy bar tape all over. My backs fine, just the hands.. over long distance...

Bar tape will help but only a little bit. Sore hands comes from them bearing too much of your weight rather than the bars being too hard. You'll only solve it by getting more of your weight back onto your saddle.
There are other things that you could adjust apart from bar height. The most obvious one would be to shunt your position back relative to the bottom bracket by sliding your saddle back and getting a shorter stem. A fatter front tyre at lower pressure would help a little bit, too.
Fundamentally a track frame designed for going fast over a short distance is not likely ever to be very comfortable to ride 100 miles on at touring pace!

 

[iLB]

Davey, I'm afraid you may be suffering from hipsteritis as well as having sore hands. Do you have any of these symptoms?

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVmmYMwFj1I

 

[martint235]

Lol

 

[StuAff]

Bar tape will help but only a little bit. Sore hands comes from them bearing too much of your weight rather than the bars being too hard. You'll only solve it by getting more of your weight back onto your saddle.
There are other things that you could adjust apart from bar height. The most obvious one would be to shunt your position back relative to the bottom bracket by sliding your saddle back and getting a shorter stem. A fatter front tyre at lower pressure would help a little bit, too.
Fundamentally a track frame designed for going fast over a short distance is not likely ever to be very comfortable to ride 100 miles on at touring pace!

I am reminded of a Tommy Cooper joke. Man goes to the doctor, 'It hurts when I do that'. 'Well don't do it then'. Even if you've got the right size frame and it fits you properly (and the latter is definitely not applying at the moment), it's not a road race bike, let alone something more comfortable. Never mind all that 'it's a track bike it's supposed to be low' stuff (though that's a big part of the problem), It just should not be hurting you like that, and it won't get better if you don't do something about it. I agree with Frank, it sounds like a fit problem to me more than anything. And leave the hipster idiot no bar tape stuff to the Hoxton twits.

How did you buy the bike? LBS or online? If it's the former, I'd go back and see what they can do to make it fit you better, if not absolutely right. If it's the latter, I'd hazard a guess that you looked at the geometry, thought 'that looks about right', and unwittingly bought the wrong size (and/or stem & bar setup). And it's easy to get it wrong buying like that. I've been lucky with mine: Viner was bang on (first owner was my height, and I had a bike fit done after I got it, a few parts needed changing for best results), Trek was right too- no parts changed at all on that one. The Squadra was a bit different. Saw it on eBay, checked the frame sizing on Condor's site, thought it would fit me. And despite the different geometry and sizing, it does- shorter stem than the Viner, and the riding position's about 5mm lower. But that's perfectly comfortable (and it's a road bike, not a track bike).

 

[JohnKilbey]

I reckon I've got this night ride business cracked. I'm telling you now, people, it's not going to get any better than that. (Oh - and next year I'll do two of these rides if people want me to)

Yes please!

+1

As one of a small number of 120-miler virgins on this ride, I approached it with some trepidation. Would my ageing knees and creaking neck be up to it? Would I be able to keep up?

Being dragged along at speed by Michael et al. towards Mersea was sheer exhilaration and there was plenty of time to soak up the dawn breaking over the estuary while the ferryman dragged himself out of bed. The many highlights and excellent company made the miles seem to fly by and after a couple of pints of the local brew in Southwold I was left with a warm ( and slightly fuzzy ) glow of achievement and satisfaction. Huge gratitude to Simon for making all this possible and thanks also to Miranda for the excellent pictorial record.

A fabulous ride - why wouldn't you want to do it again .... and again?

 

[wanda2010]

@ Sahar - Yay!!! What bike is it? Pics?

Not that I'm nosy or anything

 

[mmmmartin]

i did a 200k audax ride last Saturday in 12 hours 7 minutes including a stop for two sausage sandwiches and two teas. So I now feel I might be able to keep up on this ride. I'd be very interested in doing it next year.

 

[frank9755]

i did a 200k audax ride last Saturday in 12 hours 7 minutes including a stop for two sausage sandwiches and two teas. So I now feel I might be able to keep up on this ride. I'd be very interested in doing it next year.

I think you would manage fine, Mmmmartin. As it happens, we did think of you when we were looking at the breakfast menu and wondering where a person could sit to avoid the sun!

 

[StuAff]

I can only agree with Frank, you'd be fine Martin.

 

[velovoice]

I aspire to being fast enough to do this next year.