Getting back into cycling

[Zoidburg]

So my plans changed a lot this morning, basically I just wanted to stay in doors eating biscuits, drinking tea, listening to music rather than braving the cold on the bike.

But then I had a bit of a word with myself and figured that any riding was better than no riding. So I sort of headed towards town with the vague idea of getting to sefton park doing a loop round the outside if it then heading back.

But once I was out I started to enjoy it and after checking my nav at the park I pushed on towards town as I'd only managed 14k.

From the centre of town I passed the cathedral and headed towards Albert Dock where I picked up the promenade which took me back towards home.

I'm definitely enjoying being back on a bike but boy is it hard work on a MTB rather than a road bike. Still it's not to be good for the legs & lungs I guess.

So ended doing 36k which was a bit of a trudge in places but pretty pleased with it all in. I earned this afternoons roast thats for sure.

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[walpurgis]

I'm knackered just from looking at your pictures. At least you had a decent day for it.

[Zoidburg]

I'm knackered just from looking at your pictures. At least you had a decent day for it.

Was chilly but I was prepared for it thankfully.

I've just got to get used to the idea that every weekend between now and the end of may is going to revolve around at lease 1 bike ride.



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[Svend N]

Nice one Ben, and good on ya for getting out on a cold day! Scenic area you live in, and looks like no shortage of trails to explore.

And yes, riding a mountain bike on the road is a slog. Slow-rolling tires, heavy fork...Gasp! Are your tires set up tubeless? That helps a lot to reduce rolling resistance and rotating mass (about 250g/wheel). I did that on my bike, and it is brilliant.

[Zoidburg]

Nice one Ben, and good on ya for getting out on a cold day! Scenic area you live in, and looks like no shortage of trails to explore.

And yes, riding a mountain bike on the road is a slog. Slow-rolling tires, heavy fork...Gasp! Are your tires set up tubeless? That helps a lot to reduce rolling resistance and rotating mass (about 250g/wheel). I did that on my bike, and it is brilliant.

Morning mate,

Yeah Liverpool has its scenic spots, its a nice place to live in that respect. There's not so much in the way of off road trails near me but plenty of paved cycle tracks to ride.


I'm running inner tubes at the moment but will look into going tubeless, anything to help with the on-road slog!!

[Svend N]

Tubeless is well worth the effort. It can be fussy to set up, but Bontrager makes it as easy as it can get with their rim-tire combos. E.g.: I run Bontrager XR4 (Fr.) and XR3 (Rr.) on my 29er, and have no need for sealant, the fit between tire bead and rim is that tight. Granted, the tires will slowly deflate over the course of a week, but that is no matter as I always air them up before every ride no matter what. I've had them set up that way for 3 seasons and have never had a puncture...and believe me they take a pounding (I weigh 225 lbs, and ride some gnarly terrain, so the tires really get flogged).

At the initial install it can be difficult to get the bead to seat in the rim hook (this is true of any tubeless setup, not just Bontrager), and sometimes I have to use my compressor to blast them into place. If you don't have a compressor you might want to get your shop to do this for you.

A few ounces of sealant in there would be good if you ride on the road a lot, to seal up any holes from nails, glass, etc..

Speaking of road and gravel riding, Bonty has a micro-knobby tubeless tire that might work well for you:
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/e...olorCode=black

Those closely-spaced centre knobs should be pretty fast rolling. Lighter too, than the XR2 tires that are on your bike now -- about 150g less. Minus the weight of the tubes (~250g) and you're looking at saving 400g per wheel! That's almost 2 lbs off the bike and 1 lb/wheel of rotating mass. Pretty significant... You'll be flying along

Cheers,
Svend