Finally Got One!

spiderweb

spiderweb

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
9,488
Display Name
Display name:
Ben
My first good road bike, a CAAD 8 Claris.

It is so fast and easy uphill, I actually worry I will get less of a workout!

Any tips or thoughts from experienced bikers?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1497.JPG
    IMG_1497.JPG
    1.6 MB · Views: 79
Have fun, and watch out for potholes and long-eared dogs.

Rich
 
Last edited:
Nice lookin' bike.

When you coming to Texas?
 
Be carefull,the more you ride the more confidence you get. Always keep an awareness of other traffic.
 
Ride longer steeper hills, if it's not enough of a workout move to more hilly country to ride! Cycling becomes more fun with friends to ride with too. Tend to get longer rides and more intensity out of them. I wish it was more of a priority for me these days, I miss riding. Used to ride 2-400 miles a week, racing on weekends. Love riding almost as much as flying.
 
Put a second water bottle on.
 
don't cutoff cars or motorcycles ... <grrrrrrrrrrrr>
 
Nice bike. That thing must have cost almost $100.00!
 
FastEddieB said:
Or ditch the water bottles and cages and wear a CamelBak.
Click to expand...

How do those work for keeping the water cool, without freezing my back. When I start my ride, I have one water bottle completely frozen, and the other filled with ice cubes and topped with water. By the time I finish the first bottle, the second one has thawed. I don't like the idea of putting a half frozen water pack on my back.
 
Bob Noel said:
don't cutoff cars or motorcycles ... <grrrrrrrrrrrr>
Click to expand...

A few weeks ago I did a ride from Malabar, FL up to a causeway, over to A1A and up to Indialantic and back. Very different from the constant hills around me in N GA.

Anyway, I was waiting for a light. When it changed I had some sort of brain fart and began a left turn. Skidding tires alerted me to the fact that oncoming had also just gotten a green.

Had the timing been slightly off I could have been killed or crippled and it would have been 100% my fault. Yikes!

Anyway, Cannondales are solid bikes - mine is a 2013 Synapse:

14707263312_a0d0101eea_z.jpg


Here's my prior, about 30 years old and still perfectly serviceable:

14505402969_732e1c9d4c_z.jpg


Ride safe!
 
Last edited:
EdFred said:
I don't like the idea of putting a half frozen water pack on my back.
Click to expand...

Dude, don't you remember Gastons in June? Down here, having a frozen water back on your back is WELCOMED.
 
EdFred said:
How do those work for keeping the water cool, without freezing my back. When I start my ride, I have one water bottle completely frozen, and the other filled with ice cubes and topped with water. By the time I finish the first bottle, the second one has thawed. I don't like the idea of putting a half frozen water pack on my back.
Click to expand...

They are well insulated.

I fill mine with ice cubes and it stays cold for hours without feeling cold on my back at all.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Dude, don't you remember Gastons in June? Down here, having a frozen water back on your back is WELCOMED.
Click to expand...

I don't ride when it's that hot!

FastEddieB said:
They are well insulated.

I fill mine with ice cubes and it stays cold for hours without feeling cold on my back at all.
Click to expand...

I will have to look into them.
 
spiderweb said:
My first good road bike, a CAAD 8 Claris.

It is so fast and easy uphill, I actually worry I will get less of a workout!

Any tips or thoughts from experienced bikers?
Click to expand...

Congrats, Ben, a good responsive road bike is a lot of fun.
 
Very nice, I got my first road bike (and my first bike in ~10 years) a couple weeks ago. A Cannondale Synapse, I've put 84 miles on it already and it's a lot of fun. I'm working on getting ready for Big BAM (Bike Across Missouri) in June with my family.

I think my wife (she got a Fuji Finest) and I finally have almost all the minimum gear we need for our bikes. At least based on the list my parents gave us. Going from memory so it's not everything, but below are some of the things my dad told us to get (he rides a lot). Some of it's pretty basic stuff, but we were starting from scratch.

Good Bike Shorts! - I bought a pair from Sports Authority and they were terrible. A good pair can make a huge difference in your ability to sit normally after a couple rides.
Inner Tubes
CO2 Inflator/Cartidges - easier to carry on a ride than a pump
Tire Pump - no point in wasting cartridges when you don't have to, he recommended staying away from the really small bike pumps since you'll just wear yourself out trying to pump up a tire with one.
Bike Lubricant - for the chain & gears

One piece of advice my dad had is to never clean your bike with a hard spray from the hose, you wash away the lubricant that protects the chain and gears. Use the shower or mist setting from the hose to wash it make sure you spray it with the lubricant after you're done.

I just started using Strava, which seems like a pretty nice app for tracking your rides.
 
Todd Copeland said:
Ride longer steeper hills, if it's not enough of a workout move to more hilly country to ride! Cycling becomes more fun with friends to ride with too. Tend to get longer rides and more intensity out of them. I wish it was more of a priority for me these days, I miss riding. Used to ride 2-400 miles a week, racing on weekends. Love riding almost as much as flying.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
FastEddieB said:
A few weeks ago I did a ride from Malabar, FL up to a causeway, over to A1A and up to Indialantic and back. Very different from the constant hills around me in N GA.

Anyway, I was waiting for a light. When it changed I had some sort of brain fart and began a left turn. Skidding tires alerted me to the fact that oncoming had also just gotten a green.

Had the timing been slightly off I could have been killed or crippled and it would have been 100% my fault. Yikes!

Anyway, Cannondales are solid bikes - mine is a 2013 Synapse:

14707263312_a0d0101eea_z.jpg


Here's my prior, about 30 years old and still perfectly serviceable:

14505402969_732e1c9d4c_z.jpg


Ride safe!
Click to expand...

Nice bikes! I like the synapse!
 
Sounds good!

Fredbob711 said:
Very nice, I got my first road bike (and my first bike in ~10 years) a couple weeks ago. A Cannondale Synapse, I've put 84 miles on it already and it's a lot of fun. I'm working on getting ready for Big BAM (Bike Across Missouri) in June with my family.

I think my wife (she got a Fuji Finest) and I finally have almost all the minimum gear we need for our bikes. At least based on the list my parents gave us. Going from memory so it's not everything, but below are some of the things my dad told us to get (he rides a lot). Some of it's pretty basic stuff, but we were starting from scratch.

Good Bike Shorts! - I bought a pair from Sports Authority and they were terrible. A good pair can make a huge difference in your ability to sit normally after a couple rides.
Inner Tubes
CO2 Inflator/Cartidges - easier to carry on a ride than a pump
Tire Pump - no point in wasting cartridges when you don't have to, he recommended staying away from the really small bike pumps since you'll just wear yourself out trying to pump up a tire with one.
Bike Lubricant - for the chain & gears

One piece of advice my dad had is to never clean your bike with a hard spray from the hose, you wash away the lubricant that protects the chain and gears. Use the shower or mist setting from the hose to wash it make sure you spray it with the lubricant after you're done.

I just started using Strava, which seems like a pretty nice app for tracking your rides.
Click to expand...
 
spiderweb said:
My first good road bike, a CAAD 8 Claris.

It is so fast and easy uphill, I actually worry I will get less of a workout!

Any tips or thoughts from experienced bikers?
Click to expand...

You will definitely want to upgrade to clipless pedals and a decent pr of cycling shoes.
 
EdFred said:
How do those work for keeping the water cool, without freezing my back. When I start my ride, I have one water bottle completely frozen, and the other filled with ice cubes and topped with water. By the time I finish the first bottle, the second one has thawed. I don't like the idea of putting a half frozen water pack on my back.
Click to expand...

Perfect, I use them all the time, keeps the drink cold for many hours, well insulated from my back. I have them in a couple of different sizes, and even rigged one to the back plate on my dive gear for drinking from underwater.
 
spiderweb said:
My first good road bike, a CAAD 8 Claris.



It is so fast and easy uphill, I actually worry I will get less of a workout!



Any tips or thoughts from experienced bikers?
Click to expand...


I am on my second Cannondale. This one is a Black Edition with electronic shifting.

Here are some suggestions;

Pick up some sort of activity tracker. Gives you a better sense of your progress.
Get a survival pack (spare tube, 16 gram CO2 systems, patch kit)
Light er up. I ride with a blinking headlight and flashing taillights.
Wear survival gear -- I am wearing bright yellow these days.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
FastEddieB said:
I settled on Shimano SPD pedals and mountain bike shoes with recessed cleats.

Not the "raciest" combo, but I appreciate the ability to more comfortably walk around in them if I have to.
Click to expand...

Good idea!
 
Marauder said:
I am on my second Cannondale. This one is a Black Edition with electronic shifting.

Here are some suggestions;

Pick up some sort of activity tracker. Gives you a better sense of your progress.
Get a survival pack (spare tube, 16 gram CO2 systems, patch kit)
Light er up. I ride with a blinking headlight and flashing taillights.
Wear survival gear -- I am wearing bright yellow these days.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

You're obviously a very serious biker, and I appreciate the comments. Black edition is top of the line. How does the electronic shifting work?
 
spiderweb said:
You're obviously a very serious biker, and I appreciate the comments. Black edition is top of the line. How does the electronic shifting work?
Click to expand...


It is unbelievable. Very crisp shifts and is even smart enough to know that you are in a cross chain situation and will clear the cassette. Battery runs for 600 to 700 miles and you have a way to check it before a ride to make sure you got enough juice. Default failure is for the chain to end up on the middle of the cassette.

You will love Cannondale support. I had about 18,000 on my old Cannondale R3000 before the frame cracked at the chain stay. Cannondale gave me a new CAAD 9 frame and paid to have my Dura Ace components moved over.

I only bought the Black Edition because I was doing more hill climbing (bigger hills than before) and I wanted a compact crank bike.

You made a good choice on the bike.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Quite cool.

Marauder said:
It is unbelievable. Very crisp shifts and is even smart enough to know that you are in a cross chain situation and will clear the cassette. Battery runs for 600 to 700 miles and you have a way to check it before a ride to make sure you got enough juice. Default failure is for the chain to end up on the middle of the cassette.

You will love Cannondale support. I had about 18,000 on my old Cannondale R3000 before the frame cracked at the chain stay. Cannondale gave me a new CAAD 9 frame and paid to have my Dura Ace components moved over.

I only bought the Black Edition because I was doing more hill climbing (bigger hills than before) and I wanted a compact crank bike.

You made a good choice on the bike.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top