paris roubaix challenge?

lizzylad84

Anyone planning on going to fo paris roubaix challenge in 2017

Quigs Snr

Yep.

lizzylad84

Good man quigs. I'm going but on my tod. No club mates are interested.

Quigs Snr

Two of us driving over in a van. Have to book it all this week. See ya over there.. probably stay in Roubaix or Lille.. buses booked to Busigny and staying over the next day to watch the race.. although blasting back to get to the UK the second the race leaves so we will have time to get a fairly early ferry the Monday afternoon.

lizzylad84

I'm booking this week. Flying to brussels airb+b in tourcoing. Flying home Sunday after race

eoghan84

Im doing this one for the fourth time! buzz and a half

lizzylad84

Eoghan84. Glutton for punishment?

JK.BMC

lizzylad84 wrote: »

Good man quigs. I'm going but on my tod. No club mates are interested.

Did the same myself in 2011.
You will be grand.
Bring good gloves- they will be far more important than club mates

Quigs Snr

JK.BMC wrote: »

Did the same myself in 2011.
You will be grand.
Bring good gloves- they will be far more important than club mates

Done it all as far as cycling goes.. except the cobbles. Tell me this, should I get my sperm frozen before I go, just in case ? Or is the bumping not as bad as they say ?

JK.BMC

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Done it all as far as cycling goes.. except the cobbles. Tell me this, should I get my sperm frozen before I go, just in case ? Or is the bumping not as bad as they say ?

It's very much an acquired taste; I loved it but one mistake I made was holding the bars too tight. In fact the best advice, odd as it sounds, is to relax your body and try to keep momentum all across the sectors. When you start to wobble or slow down, especially on the longer ones, you start looking at the grass verge for a way out; there is often a ditch or trench on the sides also.

It's a brilliant challenge and you will be tired and sore but in truth if you have a solid bike set-up dialled in and good pedalling technique and fitness (Im sure you do) then sperm freezing will not be necessary

lizzylad84

Is everyone flying aer lingus or ryanair

Lusk_Doyle

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Done it all as far as cycling goes.. except the cobbles. Tell me this, should I get my sperm frozen before I go, just in case ? Or is the bumping not as bad as they say ?

I've had sex twice since I did it in 2011. I now have two kids.

Lusk_Doyle

JK.BMC wrote: »

It's very much an acquired taste; I loved it but one mistake I made was holding the bars too tight. In fact the best advice, odd as it sounds, is to relax your body and try to keep momentum all across the sectors. When you start to wobble or slow down, especially on the longer ones, you start looking at the grass verge for a way out; there is often a ditch or trench on the sides also.

It's a brilliant challenge and you will be tired and sore but in truth if you have a solid bike set-up dialled in and good pedalling technique and fitness (Im sure you do) then sperm freezing will not be necessary

I simply was not able to get my hands to relax on the bars when on the cobbles. They went into a vice like grip which I could very slowly force open in order to move onto the hoods or vice versa. Not painful. Just bloody wierd and distracting.

lizzylad84

Sex twice in 5 yrs. Lucky git.

kayaksurfbum

Howdy folks.

What wheels and rubber are ye planning on using? Iv got a really comfortable Madone that im bringing but no idea about wheels.

Quigs Snr

Bontrager Paradigm Elite ultra wide rims and a set of conti gp4000s 28mm (which I measure at 30mm due to the width of the rim). Been riding them the last couple of weekends. Surprisingly good at low pressures (80psi). Drop in for a look if you want to see them.

midonogh

I rode 28mm Conti GP 4 seasons on Mavic open pros. Fairly indestructible wheel

ford2600

I've never done this or won't get to do it for a while but this is a quote from an occasional poster on here who did last year.

TLDR

Tubeless on wide rims and loctite FTW

"The battering the bikes take is unbelievable  - for the first few sectors, bottles are shot out of cages all over the place, saddlebags fall off, saddles break etc. Later on when metal fatigue has set in , the alloy cages start snapping off. Saw dozens, if not hundreds, of punctures though the tubeless were an absolute dream"

nak

ford2600 wrote: »

"The battering the bikes take is unbelievable  - for the first few sectors, bottles are shot out of cages all over the place, saddlebags fall off, saddles break etc. Later on when metal fatigue has set in , the alloy cages start snapping off. Saw dozens, if not hundreds, of punctures though the tubeless were an absolute dream"

Different experience for me, I didn't see any of that last year. No punctures, saw a few crashes on a slippy Arenberg plus one on a lovely smooth road. Tubeless 30mm tyres on my bike, no gloves and no blisters. It is tough going though, some of the sectors are thoroughly unpleasant.

Some crazy dude did it on a penny farthing.

eoghan84

ford2600 wrote: »

I've never done this or won't get to do it for a while but this is a quote from an occasional poster on here who did last year.

"The battering the bikes take is unbelievable  - for the first few sectors, bottles are shot out of cages all over the place, saddlebags fall off, saddles break etc. Later on when metal fatigue has set in , the alloy cages start snapping off. Saw dozens, if not hundreds, of punctures though the tubeless were an absolute dream"

yeh Id agree with nak - wonder what yr that fella did it! Arenberg was slippery last yr and also the year before too. Kinda sounds like a quote from Bladerunner though?

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. bottles are shot out of cages all over the place, saddlebags fall off, saddles break etc. Later on when metal fatigue has set in , the alloy cages start snapping off. Saw dozens, if not hundreds, of punctures though the tubeless were an absolute dream. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time to die."

wexandproud

if you get the old fashion bottle cages they can be bent in to hold the bottles tighter . also for the second bottle a long rubber band around top of bottle and then around bottom of cage , just burst the band when you need the second bottle . Did pr with a group of 8 in 1986 , not one bottle lost. Bit of blood lost though

2016

I'm in as well for this.

Equipment choices:

1. Trek Domane vs Boardman CX Bike?
- I'm going with the Boardman. More clearance for bigger tires, but really because it's my workhorse, the Domane is too nice.

2. Wheels
- Got new 32 spoke wheels half price:
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/arc31-disc-wheelset.htm


3. Tyres
- Aiming to go tubeless - above wheels are 'tubeless ready'.
- Choice between Schwalbe 30mm G-One Speed vs Schwalbe 35mm Marathon Supreme

Any opinions on the tyres?

JK.BMC

2016 wrote: »

I'm in as well for this.

Equipment choices:

1. Trek Domane vs Boardman CX Bike?
- I'm going with the Boardman. More clearance for bigger tires, but really because it's my workhorse, the Domane is too nice.

2. Wheels
- Got new 32 spoke wheels half price:
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/arc31-disc-wheelset.htm


3. Tyres
- Aiming to go tubeless - above wheels are 'tubeless ready'.
- Choice between Schwalbe 30mm G-One Speed vs Schwalbe 35mm Marathon Supreme

Any opinions on the tyres?

Those tyres seem very wide- one can get overly analytical about all this but perhaps tyre pressure is more relevant on the cobbles.
I see it it like this- the pro riders choose slightly wider tyres (28mm for example) and then reduce pressure relative to their weight. Taylor Phinney is well over 6ft tall and lumpy enough but he was running tubs at around 87psi; so once you have quality product and reduce the regular pressure you should be ok.

nak

2016 wrote: »

I'm in as well for this.

Equipment choices:

1. Trek Domane vs Boardman CX Bike?
- I'm going with the Boardman. More clearance for bigger tires, but really because it's my workhorse, the Domane is too nice.

2. Wheels
- Got new 32 spoke wheels half price:
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/arc31-disc-wheelset.htm


3. Tyres
- Aiming to go tubeless - above wheels are 'tubeless ready'.
- Choice between Schwalbe 30mm G-One Speed vs Schwalbe 35mm Marathon Supreme

Any opinions on the tyres?

I used my cross bike with Schwalbe 30mm G-One tyres at 60 psi.  No issues.

2016

nak wrote: »

I used my cross bike with Schwalbe 30mm G-One tyres at 60 psi.  No issues.

Tubeless? Mind me asking how much you weight?

nak

2016 wrote: »

nak wrote: »

I used my cross bike with Schwalbe 30mm G-One tyres at 60 psi.  No issues.

Tubeless? Mind me asking how much you weight?

Tubeless, ~ high 50s (kg).

kayaksurfbum

Howdy folks.

Saw on another forum that folks use safety pins to close jersey pockets to stop stuff falling out! Do we really need to do that?

Not long now :-)

Mefistofelino

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

Howdy folks.

Saw on another forum that folks use safety pins to close jersey pockets to stop stuff falling out! Do we really need to do that?

Not long now :-)

For soft stuff like a rain cape (or even food) then probably not. If you have a phone / car keys that you won't really need to get to often but aren't a snug fit in the pocket, then its not a bad idea. I pinned my phone wallet pocket last year but not the others. The 1/2/3 star sectors are fine but the jolting you can get on the toughest sectors is significant, particularly if you can't take your chosen line and end up hitting holes.

Even for the 170km, I wouldn't see much point in jamming pockets with food - the foodstops were enough and in any case you will spend the day passing through villages and towns if you do get the munchies.

Another tip I saw before was not to wear a wristwatch - friction from the winder can end up making a nice little hole in your skin.

nak

I had no issues with stuff falling out of pockets or bottles escaping.

eoghan84

Ive also never had any issue with stuff falling out over three occasions+a few practice runs too. I dont go near safety pins as I dont like to damage the jersey

tyres I use are heavy schwalbe marathon plus 25 and always were up for the challenge

the wrist watch mistake I made the first time and its true!

2016

I notice that the weather looks very good for the weekend.