[Fatleg]

Anybody got any ideas regarding turbos. I've looked on wiggle and there are loads. The general categories seem to be fluid or magnetic. Anyone know which is best and which make to go for?

[webbo]

i have a basic fan and fly wheel affair,i'm not sure they make them anymore.i just adjust the resistance by changing gear and if i ever get so strong that 53x12 seems like a warm up i can just screw the roller tighter on to the wheel.i did have a magnetic one before this but fucked when i pulled the adjuster cable out of its housing.
i suspect the all dancing/singing jobbies just tend to give your brain some respite from continually giving you the message "this is painful stop now!!"

[fatdoc]

i'm borrowing dolly's for the winter, it's a £130 type mag affair, varable resistance that i dont use ( i use gears). works fine: i.e; it can kill me with ease.

[webbo]

which 24hr mountain bike event are you doing.the yorkshire gritstone bouldering mountain bike team are considering doing one which is worrying as they are a man down.

[squeek]

Me and a few others were thinking of doing one, but the Kona one, and the twentyfour12 one are both too far away for us to be bothered getting there after work, competing then driving back for work.

[Norton Sharley]

which 24hr mountain bike event are you doing.the yorkshire gritstone bouldering mountain bike team are considering doing one which is worrying as they are a man down.

wildboar24

[SA Chris]

Bad news; Jason McIntyre has died.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7189168.stm

[Percy B]

That's really tragic - an awesome athlete killed by a van driver.

[Houdini]

[Fatleg]

Apparently Jason was cycling South into Fort William and the van driver was heading North. A highly tragic event and our thoughts should be with his Wife and two daughters.

[fatdoc]

Advice / opinion time guys...

I have a bad left knee. 15 years ago i subluxed the patella jumping down a flight of stairs... no biggie... after straightening it out from having crossed legs it usually gives off a painless *crack*.

no weakness, no locking, no giving way, no swelling.


BUT

on doing some hills on my roadbike at the end of autumn i got medial / frontal patella pain. I was straining like fuck on some of those hills, low gear cadance 50... true lung bursters..

sooo, i stopped riding (good timing on building my woodie).

I'd already changed from MTB Time to MTB speedplay.... (cos i had a pair of top end MTB shoes that wernt very old).

I'm now training for the sportive season. My first is 96km on march 30th, i've got a plan, it's going OK (all i want to do is finish and get home in time for a few pints - trained athlete you see)... and my knee hurts enough to hinder my training... on hills 

its a dull pain, when really forcing it on hills after about 55km... and for a day after too

i dont like the slippery feel of the speedplays....

I've had a chat with the bespoke bike shop in sheff over the phone, bloody good advice that wasnt too snobby or pushy at all. (they know I'm a roadie punter). They reckon it's unlikely that a consult with them  - to ensure bike is set up well - will be of much benefit... but will have a look at me on their setup rig (cost unknown... but it cant be that much for what i could get out of it). They also recommend going roadie shoe / pedal... have to say i thought that would be the case at some point.

I've always liked Time mtb pedals.

I'm thinking of: going to bike shop (not bespoke one coz they dont sell shoes) and trying on some shoes.. for about £70 there seems to be some good spesh ones... i've liked their shoes for mtb and they seem well rated. Then sauntering off down to the cool shop and getting bike setup confirmed with a set of their pedals... they sell Look and Time (i presume RXS). The Time seems to have angular and lateral float (like ATAC mtb)... i never got pain with ATAC - but there again you pedal way differently on the road...

sooo

what experience do you guys have?

BTW no *see a dr* type stuff, i dont want an MRI / arthroscopy.... i'm too damn busy and until I get pain during activities of daily living I'm not going under the knife.. i also know anterior knee pain is a bad bad thing to have, but mine is not classic either in site or causation - so i think this money i intend to spend is worthwhile (hopefully).

thanks!

[webbo]

i've used mainly look pedals and the old spd road pedals.i currently have the look on my best bike the others on my winter bike.the only reason i've started using look again is that shimano have stopped making the road spd and the only reason i started using them in the first place.was because the shoe plates don't wear out as fast as look ones do.
the main thing with road pedal is getting your foot postion right i.e. ball of foot over pedal axle and getting your foot at the same angle as you walk/stand i.e. do you walk like a duck.
sit on the edge of a table legs hanging at 90 degrees should give you this postion.
the main diference with road pedals is their ridgity you might find if you climb then bike afterwards you could experience toe cramps.not nice.

[fatdoc]

thanks..

I'll off to LBS today

[Dolly]

I think this is a relatively common roadie problem which in my limited experience can be solved by cleat positioning.
There's lots of advice online - if not I'm sure I've got some roadie manuals somewhere with diagrams and such. It got better for me when I spent a bit more to get some Look pedals and cleats with more float than the "rock hard rigid hardcore" black ones.

Hope that helps

[Yossarian]

stop riding up hills till it stops hurting?

i knackered my knee in vietnam last year, mainly by riding too many miles and up hills without small enough gears, although i think that actual problem was a small tear of the lateral meniscus.

i left it for a few weeks, and then started out spinning on flatish terrain and using the turbo.

i also changed to rotor cranks (i signed up to do a lab trial thing) and since then my knees have been fine. i use look red cleats, and am always very careful about setting them up just right.

[fatdoc]

I've found some really rather fetching WELL GAY shoes 20% off in james's... they're silver!!!!

had word with the bicicleta dudes and i'm getting the pedals off them, either look or time... gonna fork out a bit more (TBD by them) for taking the bike in and making sure the rest of the set up is OK.

I'll try to avoid the £500 wheelset on the way out 

the affected knee is on the same side as my spack foot, so biomechanically anything could be going on!

[saltbeef]

do la bicicletta have a web site?
are campagnalo mirage any cop?
will anyone be doing leetapedudales?

[fatdoc]

dunno
dunno
dunno

but the no
is 2665533

mate of mine is gonna get a well nice Look for 1500 from there... i'm really impressed by the phone chats I've has with them....they seem interested and prepared to help, even if you are a punter like me!

[Fatleg]

HI fatdoc, Cheshire cat is looming.
I'm no pedal expert, but I've heard speedplay pedals are suppose to be good for those with knee problems.
I'm also in the process of wanting to change my pedal shoe combo so would be interested to know what you go for.
Time pedals have good reviews on line.

Apparently Spec shoes are also suppose to be good.

P.s I know the name of a good knee surgeon....Doesn't do NHS though!!

[Fatleg]

http://www.labicicleta.co.uk

[fatdoc]

HI fatdoc, Cheshire cat is looming.
I'm no pedal expert, but I've heard speedplay pedals are suppose to be good for those with knee problems.
I'm also in the process of wanting to change my pedal shoe combo so would be interested to know what you go for.
Time pedals have good reviews on line.

Apparently Spec shoes are also suppose to be good.

P.s I know the name of a good knee surgeon....Doesn't do NHS though!!

i got some spesh lightweight sliver looking ones... very cool... you can always make a cool shoe warm, but not the other way round!!

there is indeed a very famous knee surgeon here in sheff, private only, personally my work lends itself to seeing a lot of orthopaedics - I know who would treat me (NHS), and it would not be in a teaching hospital (MRSA higher)

i've tried the frog speedplays - they fit in MTB shoes... cant get on with them, they feel they are slipping on an ice cube on the hills.. wierd. same cleats as road apparently.

will be going cheap if my new roadie ones work out!

[Yossarian]

i have some specialized shoes, and the plastic buckles are a bit gash... next time carnacs i think.

[fatdoc]

no buckles.. velcro strap only... v comfy, no slippage.. nice

[chappers]

do la bicicletta have a web site?
are campagnalo mirage any cop?
will anyone be doing leetapedudales?

i have a mirage group on my winter bike, no real problems. a bit "clunky", but way worth it for the money (and from what i can tell, way better than the shimano equivalent).

[Percy B]

I have suffered the knee pain thing. The problem with Look and Time pedals is that you can adjust cleats etc. for more float, but the float isn't free - the springs always put pressure on the cleat to return to the central position and this can cause your knees to get tweaky. Me, I bit the bullet and shelled out for a pair of stainless Speedplay X2's at the start of last season and once I'd got used to them (took one ride, pretty much) I truly believe these to be the best pedals I have ever used. Light, easy to get in and out of - the business. The only problem was the pricetag, but well worth it with hindsight. The end of me endlessly buying different pedals in the hope of curing the problem.

The La Bicicleta boys are very friendly, and very adept at getting you to part with your cash. Once you've darkened their premises, you are surely doomed - but in the nicest possible way. I will at some point post a picture of the track bike the boys built me recently. Its a beautiful thing, and has been the cause of several envious comments at the track in Manchester (it also won its first race the other day!).

I have recently been getting a tweaky infrequent twinge under my left patela - a combination of faling off boulder problems a lot combined with cycling being the culprit I believe. Luckily I just found a stash of Mr Pickles' brown pills, one of which has seen me right! Aahhh, the miracle of strong anti-inflamitories....