NEW WEBSITE

Hi

There is a new website up & running now available at www.northtynebike.co.uk (just click the link, it’ll take you there).

I was going to close this down but as people still come here, I’m going to keep this as a blog on what North Tyne Bikes is up to and any interesting stuff for cyclists & maybe non cyclists.

Again, any enquiries for work to be done can be sent to me via the Contact form on the Contact page on the website or via telephone number which is also on the website.

Many thanks and I hope to hear from you soon.

Darren.

Don’t go off it on the phone at me

If you can’t get a booking at North Tyne Bike. I can only take so much work on and I won’t ‘rush a job’, just to satisfy your need to have your bike serviced before the weekend.

It’s not my style, I’m afraid.

Don’t shout & swear at me or ask me why I can’t ‘cancel a job and I’ll give you an extra tenner’, then be offended when I refuse.

So what I’m saying is – bugger off – I don’t need your type of custom. I’m doing ok running things my way. And I have registered your mobile as spam just in case you ring back.

Thanks

Darren @ North Tyne Bike.

OK the Lance saga -

I tend to agree a little here.

 

Thanks at @M_Atkinson_ who is a very talented Artist in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Check out his work here: http://blogbymichael.wordpress.com/

Just a quick note today – Hydraulic Suspension.

I’ve had a few enquiries via my business (www.northtynebike.co.uk) about servicing Hydraulic Suspension on mountain bikes.

Sadly I’ve lost business because I refuse to service hydraulic suspension. The reason I won’t service suspension is, in my humblest opinion, this type of equipment demands specialist attention. It’s all fine and well just doing an oil top up but what if the seals are leaking? Then the job becomes a tad larger. And what happens if you call the client and inform them of this? I may be met with the “well it wasn’t leaking before” and I can’t seriously be bothered with that.

This is why I say to any customer or potential customer – and I know of a couple of local bike repair businesses that say the same – take the suspension to an APPROVED repairer or send back to the manufacturer for a proper service or overhaul.

It may cost a little more but what saying that bike repair shop say’s “Yeah we can do that”, yet has no professional experience with hydraulic suspension, and when you’re next tearing through the woods or on a downhill and your suspension tops or bottoms out and you go over – who’s to blame then?

Just my thoughts on it – I don’t want the guilt of a customer having a bad accident because I thought I could do the job correctly.

It’s been a while….

Since I posted on here as I’ve basically been so busy these last few months.

The bike service and repair side to my life is going very well. I am working on this on a part-time basis as a lot of people know (need the full time job to pay the mortgage at the moment) but momentum is building already for what will hopefully turn out to be a busy year for North Tyne Bike Repair.
Along with the services that I already offer, I will be adding to the repertoire later in May with any luck. And I’m looking at branching off into a new section of the bike business that will offer good deals for potential customers. Can’t make promises or give clues as if it doesn’t come off I’ll look a right berk for offering what I can’t supply.

So yeah, it’s been manic, it’s getting more manic but I’d not have it any other way. I love what I do. I meet interesting people who bring their bikes in and I’m on a steep learning curve as the bike industry is forever moving forward.

So please, keep firing questions at me, I’ll try to answer them honestly. Keep checking back here for updates on North Tyne Bike and more product information coming in the months ahead.

Thanks

Darren.

Winter training / staying in shape (sort of)

Anyone who has ever met me will testify that my shape is odd. Quite skinny legs through cycling and a rotund torso from drinking. Albeit it’s a lot less than it was before I started cycling.

However we’re now at that stage of the year where the days are short, the weather is getting crap – though there is the adage that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choice – and the decision between continuing to ride roads or bring out the turbo trainer or rollers.

We all know that with the advent of dark nights the risk to cyclists increases ten fold. Poor lighting conditions, drivers lack of awareness, cyclists complete lack of awareness that USING LIGHTS ON A NIGHT TIME IS A MUST, drivers not adhering to giving cyclists their rights on the road as we don’t pay ‘road tax’ (such a thing doesn’t exist but don’t let that cloud your ignorance), but above all it’s a matter of both drivers and cyclists giving a little bit more respect to each other.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes – dark nights.

As a cyclist I don’t ever fall into the trap of riding sans lights on a night or morning. It’s stupid and dangerous and above all you’re a moron if you do ride without lights in the dark. However as safe as I am on the road I still feel uneasy at this time of the year when riding home from work in the dark as I know for a fact that come that time of day, the driver only wants to get home to their families/pub/football whatever they have going on and it’s tough luck to those who get in their way.

So out comes the turbo trainer for me. My set up consists of swapping the Conti’s across the Michelin Pro Race tyres, slapping the turbo skewers through and then figuring out what works best for me for half an hour before I’m finally set for my punishment sessions.

My set up in my torture chamber (sometimes acts as a conservatory according to the Mrs)

As it stands though and which I found out when I used a TT for the first time, it’s a bit more ‘difficult’ than riding on the road. Whereas on the road you can freewheel, have a breather, etc, the TT quickly lets you know when you’ve had enough time as it tends to come to a halt much quicker than on the road. Or it should do if your tensions are set correctly. Anywhere between 5-10 seconds freewheel is sufficient before you need to crank those legs again and get moving. Anything more and I personally think you’re slacking!

In the initial stages of using the TT I found that 30 mins was killing me as I had it all set up wrong. So you will need to tinker till you get the right setting for you and if you don’t get it right first or second time, don’t dismiss it and throw it in the shed, persevere with it and you’ll get it right. Trust me – I’ve been riding for a long time now – it takes time!

Now though as I alluded to at the beginning it’s winter time and any cyclist will tell you that this is probably the worst time for cycling. Wrong kit on, you’ll freeze or get drenched (see my blog on decent winter based kit elsewhere in here), early morning starts mean having to prepare the night before (trick: set your kit out the night before, pack your backpack with what you need, get your drink bottle fixed up, check your lights are working, etc, so in the morning it’s shower, black coffee, kit on and go). There is a multitude of excuses not to ride in the winter but the TT or Rollers can eliminate this.

I’ll lay out what I do in the winter – my training plan as it is (these are subject to change due to work commitments):-

Mon – TT 1 hour at 60-90% max HR (inc. intervals)

Tues – TT 30-40 mins of The Sufferfest (anyone who uses The Sufferfest will know what that’s like – PAIN!)

Wed – TT 30 mins at 60% max HR

Thurs – day off

Fri – TT 1 hour split between The Sufferfest working at 90% of max HR and interspersed with 30 second intervals and then a very slow recovery session to build core fitness

Sat – day off

Sun – Possible ride of 20-40 miles at low intensity (and I mean very slow – not going above 160 bpm. This in itself is a learning curve as it’s very boring and you naturally want to go fast. Don’t. You’ll burn fat, build a good base fitness for the coming summer and you’ll notice more power at low speeds over time).

Any of the above I can replace with my ride to work if I’m on sensible shifts. A nice 20 mile round trip with a host of short hills, long flats and anything else that can be thrown at a rider. So I basically get sprints & hill climbs (short bursts) thrown in for my 30-40 min ride to work.

If I can’t do any of the exercises on the given day I will up the tempo on the next session till I either puke or collapse in a sweating heap on the floor.

I’m not a ‘fast’ rider. I prefer longer rides at a steady 15 mph with a few kicks and hills thrown in. More a Domestique than anything else. As a mate pointed out, I’ve got a Diesel engine that will run and run and run.

That programme that I’ve laid out will NOT WORK IF YOU’RE NEW TO CYCLING. Don’t even try it. Please. It may put you off altogether. The racing snakes amongst you will be thinking – that’s nowt that. And to you I blow a massive raspberry.

So there you go. That’s my winter training schedule. Now – if only I could eat & drink sensibly I’d be signing for Omega Pharma…….aye, Darren, dream on sunshine. Comments welcome.

Happy riding folks. See you on the road.

Useful Links:

The Sufferfest
http://www.thesufferfest.com/

Fitness Republic
http://www.fitnessrepublic.com/cycling/indoor-cycling-workouts.html

3LC
http://3lc.tv/

Boardman Bikes
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/

Rapha with Greg LeMond

Rapha with Greg LeMond

This is, in my opinion, a great short film. 

Only just wish LeMond bikes would make a comeback but thanks to Trek Bikes and Armstrong, highly unlikely.

Winter Cycle Clothing

Hello!

It’s that time of year again. Nights closing in, leafs on the road, rail companies canceling trains as it’s the ‘wrong time of the day’ or something of that ilk and choosing what you want for Christmas off your better half.

So that leads me to choosing a couple of cycling jerseys.

I’ve been looking at Torm, Rapha, Shutt VR and Colomba as my inspiration for new kit leading from the very cold weather to the more mild stuff we’ll probably get come April onwards.

Now, having absolutely no experience of the more ‘high end’ cycling kit – preferring to buy the more ‘budget’ based kit from DHB, Altura, Madison etc – though I will hasten to add that budget doesn’t mean crap as this kit has performed excellently over the years I’ve been wearing it. So maybe ‘budget’ is doing it a massive disservice! In fact my Madison commuter jacket and Altura winter jacket are fantastic bits of kit. However my latest purchase of  DHB Vaeon Roubaix bibs seem quite poor for winter weather (in my humblest).

They (the Vaeon) aren’t as insulated as they claim to be and let in an awful lot of cold air for my liking (and yes I have them on the right way round with the zips up) which means on the nether regions on a cold morning, it’s slightly ‘refreshing’, shall we say? However that is the only gripe I have with them. The protective pad is fantastic, very comfortable and supportive in the right areas. So overall I’d give them a 7.5/10 as that is the only gripe I have.

The best winter bibs I have are a pair of a pair of Lusso (Manchester made) Super Roubaix unpadded bibs. These have seen me through some freezing cold days, are heavily fleece based AND waterproof – priced at about £40 as well. They (Lusso) have also introduced a Carbon cycling jersey. Exactly what this entails I think is that carbon is woven into the fabric and is mega light and dries in next to no time. I’d like to test ride one to see what it is truly like, more so in the summer, please.

However back to the high end kit. I’ve got friends who swear by it (particularly Rapha) but weighing up Rapha lately, I can’t help but feel you’re paying solely for the name. Yes I know they spend loads of money on research and development for their products and they test them till they effectively are knackered, but the price of some the kit is simply staggering. However, who am I to say what people should and shouldn’t buy – you get what you pay for, right?
No I think I’ll be heading down the path of both Torm and Shutt. Both British brands, both have good reputations among riders. Though Torm did have some issues with Rapha or, to be more precise, Rapha had issues with Torm over infringements, shall we say. And looking at both together (Rapha and Torm) its easy to see why!

So where does this leave me? Well I like the look of the new Shutt VR series that is coming out soon, particularly the Performance Jacket (http://www.shuttvr.com/shop/productdetail/Performance-Jacket/) and at £159 seems a decent price for a technical winter jacket. This seems to fit the bill nicely and along with Shutt’s Signature LS Jersey (http://www.shuttvr.com/shop/productdetail/Shutt-Signature-LS-Jersey-Black/) at £99 should see the top half of any cyclist warm and waterproof.

On a slightly cheaper platform, the Torm range is quite good value for money. I’ve got a mate who owns both Torm and Rapha and he reports that the Torm is not quite the equal of Rapha, and that the material is a slightly less ‘heavy’ version of the sportswool fabric that both Torm and Rapha use.

Torm do a particularly nice range of jerseys from the B1 Baselayer at £28 and then the range goes from the T1 to T8 jerseys to the T11 and T12. Obviously the prices vary depending on what you want, long sleeve, short sleeve, etc.
I think a T5 jersey (http://www.torm.cc/t5.html) at a bargain £55 and the B1 baselayer (http://www.torm.cc/b1.html) at £28 would be sufficient for all but the harshest of conditions.

All products can be found at Torm http://www.torm.cc/index.html, Rapha http://www.rapha.cc/ and ShuttVR http://www.shuttvr.com/.

Unfortunately I don’t think Newcastle has any stockists of these ranges so it’ll be mail order. Happy shopping!

Note: The Rapha site has a particularly cracking video of some of the Rapha team riding with Greg LeMond in his native California. Well worth digging out. Thanks.