Need advise from Cyclists

Just wanted to get some tips from the cyclists on the forum - ABC01, Fox, Tippster, or any others

Its my dad's 10th Argus next year and I've promised him that I'll do it with him. I've personally never cycled properly on the road before so I'm shitting myself, 109km sounds ridiculously far. First of all, any suggestions on what bike to get? Some of the bikes these days cost as much as cars so I was thinking of something average, maybe second hand & I would prefer a road bike. What makes are recommended and which should I avoid? I been told giant is pretty good.
Secondly, I'm 95kg at about 10-11%BF, will it be possible to get cycling fit for that distance by putting in about 20min on the cycle-machine at gym every day and maybe a long ride on the weekend? At the moment I'm very unfit. also How much muscle mass will I lose? You guys are obviously keen to build muscle and I would imagine that long distance cycling or cardio must chew muscle, effecting any AAS cycle gains.

Thanks man, I would appreciate anyones input.

Hey

Let me first start off by saying that I don't cycle competitively anymore and just ride for fitness and socially.

I would recommend any descent carbon or alloy bike with an equivalent 105 shimano groupset and descent wheels like mavic ksyrium. A bike like that is bulletproof and will hold your weight I ride a carbon bike at 110 kg now haha but still holding

I rode a stage race this year on almost zero training and finished comfortably but did it slowly.

I would recommend from about nov to start spinning 2/3 times per week and do a longer ride on the weekend starting with 1 hr and building it up to 4/5 hrs in 4 week blocks eg week 1 1 hr week 2 2 hrs week 3 3hrs week 4 1hr rest week. Week 5 2 hrs, week 6 3 hrs week 7 5hrs week 8 2hrs rest week etc etc can take it slower than that.

You will lose some muscle mass but just make sure you eating enough calories and you still lifting heavy.

Hope this helps

Thanks so much bud, much appreciated.

i just started recently

spinning twice a week and then weekends do between 40km and 70km

More time spend in saddle the better.

Pleasure hit me up with some other questions if you want

Any bike over 500cc will do just fine IMO.

admin wrote: Any bike over 500cc will do just fine IMO.

I would personally reccomend the KTM 525... WOW!

haha admin, I think I might need a motor on my bike.....

@Tippster, you said it will be a good idea to get a carbon bike - how much would that cost for a reasonable make?

What is a shimano groupset? I assume its gears? What makes it special?

I agree with everything Tippster said. Are you buying a bike just to do the Argus? Are you planning to continue cycling after the argus?

Bikes can set you back anything up to about R135 000. If you are not planning to race i would opt for a 2nd hand bike. Shimano and Sram refers to the groupsets on the bike. This will be the gears/shifters ect. Both are good. If you go with a bike with shimano, i would not go anything lower than 105 (the bottom of the range is sora, then tiagra, then 105 then ultegra, then dura ace). Dont worry about a carbon bike because that put a couple of thousand to the pricetag. Brands you can look at would be giant, specialized, merida, scott. There are allot of others brands but i reckon these would give you the best value for money.

As for the training: Some people are just naturally better endurence athletes than others and they would catch on quickly. I reckon 3 spinning classes a week and 1 or 2 longer rides per wknd is fine. You dont have to ride longer than 3 hours. Start off with 2 spinning classes per week and 1 longer ride (start with 1hr) over the wknd. Work your way up to 3 spinning classes a week with a 1.5hrs ride on the saturday and a 3hrs ride on the sunday. Buy quality cycling shorts (bibs are the best). Quality would be R1400-R3000/bib.

Check out gumtree or thehub.co.za for good deals on bikes. If you go 2nd hand you can find a bike with good spec for a affordable price. What do you want to spend?

Thanks ABC01. I don't just want to buy a bike just for the Argus, knowing me I will probably end up commiting myself wholeheartedly to the sport. So I don't want to buy anything cheap and nasty.

I was looking about spending in the region of R5000 - R15000. I really have done very little browsing for bikes at this point, but I'm pretty sure about getting something second hand with a good spec, like you said.

I'm definitely not an endurance athlete at all. I've always been a sprinter, used to be competitive swimmer (short coarse), so anything long distance is a real challenge for me. I've done the Midmar Mile a few times but it's nothing like the 109km Argus race (also swimming & cycling fitness are completely different).
I will take yours and Tippster's advice and start hitting the spinning classes....

Thanks so much for the input bro.

Then you are a natural athlete bud! You will be more than fine. Your ass will get sore the 1st 3 or 4 weeks. Get some anti chafing cream. There is a baby bum cream that works well. Think its fisan. I like stuff like this bud so i'll post here as soon as i see something worth while.

Happy cycling! Awsome sport but i really dont want to look like a skinny euro pro :lol:

How tall are you and which province do you stay?

hahaha, ja, those euro pros have decent legs but that's where it ends. I really want to hang onto as much muscle as possible.

I'm 1.77m tall, stay in Joburg.

have a look:

www.thehubsa.co.za/forum/index.php?app=h...ew_item&item_id=4138

I just bought a silverback mountain bike, buying new there is no better bang for buck

Thanks crawler, looks like a nice bike. Do you know if time trial bikes are the same as ordinary road bikes?

Only buy time trial bikes if you intend doing time trials. Not allowed in normal road races. You are about my hight so you will take a size M in most bike brands.

As for losing weight. I normally end up between 80-84kg in first half of year when i focus more on gym and then end year off at about 73 or 74kg when i focus more on cycling the 2nd half of year. So yes, its a bomber but you do loose allot of hard earned lean muscle

Thanks bud. Going to do some browsing for bikes this weekend, and also get some good quality cycling shorts and bum cream, lol, sounds a bit dodge.

Do you always lose around 10kg no matter if you on a high protein diet and AAS?

Hey ABC01, Tippster

What do you guys think of this bike:



2007 Cervelo Soloist Carbon
Size 54
White Cervelo Soloist Carbon
Campagnola Chorus Groupset (10 speed)
Campagola Zonda Wheelset
FSA Slk Carbon Crank
ITM Pathon Carbon Handlebars
FSA stem

Cervelo is a pedigree brand! Nice bike with good groupset. Not so familiar with the cervelo sizing but i think a 54 might be slightly small for a guy that is 1.77m tall. Sizing does differ between brands but in the normal scope of things you should be riding a 55 in some brands and 56 in other. Just make sure of this

ABC01 wrote: Cervelo is a pedigree brand! Nice bike with good groupset. Not so familiar with the cervelo sizing but i think a 54 might be slightly small for a guy that is 1.77m tall. Sizing does differ between brands but in the normal scope of things you should be riding a 55 in some brands and 56 in other. Just make sure of this

Well I bought it yesterday and it seems to fit fine. Very excited to hit the road this weekend and test it out,

STUARTF wrote:

ABC01 wrote: Cervelo is a pedigree brand! Nice bike with good groupset. Not so familiar with the cervelo sizing but i think a 54 might be slightly small for a guy that is 1.77m tall. Sizing does differ between brands but in the normal scope of things you should be riding a 55 in some brands and 56 in other. Just make sure of this

Well I bought it yesterday and it seems to fit fine. Very excited to hit the road this weekend and test it out,

Hey bud

that is a very nice bike with a very decent group set- well done

Personally I will recommend you rather try hitting a half hour to hour early morning or after work two to three times a week and then weekends a bit longer. You won't get the training you are after on a spinning bike - you might just loose precious muscle on the spinning. You need the road confidence and experience

Start by riding out for 20 minutes and wherever you are go back- that will give you a rough 40 minutes.

Also try and focus on the speed your legs spin / cadence / rpm. Try keeping your gears light enough to stay above 80 rpm. And try keeping your average speed 30km/h or above that- which will be difficult in the beginning but will also be much easier when riding in a bunch with the race. The easiest to work out your speed when not using a cat eye or to plan your route is to multiply your distance or intended distance with two- and that should be the total amount of minutes that ride should take you, ex 20km should take you 40 minutes, 30km should take you 60 minutes = 30km/h Any time faster than this will be a bonus for you.

Bunch speeds average between 40 and 50 km/h, but it is easy to stay with the pack as you will be in their slip stream. Just hook a wheel and stick to it, balle teen die walle!

You will definitely loose muscle mass- but you will be surprised how fast it will come back once you slow down again with the cycling- the upside is you will develop great definition on your calves and quads, as well as triceps.

And when adjusting your seat make sure the leg that is extended has got a slight bend, but you must still be able to extend it fully, not sure how to explain- but the "bend" should look something like this:


That is about all I can think of now

Cool bro, didn't realise you were also a cyclist. Thanks for all the tips. Yeah planning to get out to the Cradle of Humankind every weekend for a morning ride. I'm also gonna take my bike down to Cape Town in Dec and do some rides around Chapmans just after sunrise - apparently it is breathtaking.

Ja, I must admit that bunch riding looks quite nerve-racking especially when the bunch is wikkeling at over 50km/h. In terms of muscle mass, I'm going to make sure I lift heavy and eat properly and hopefully I'll maintain my muscle and just get super-ripped. Coming off my current cycle at the end of Dec, so I'll lose some anyway.

I have actually recently been wondering about the correct posture for my leg and I have noticed that a slightly bent leg makes a world of diiference - thanks for that. (+1 to you and ABC & tippster for all the help)

Thanks bud

Ja I'll moer off after 5km at this stage but used to do competitive races from 1992 - 1997. Went with a back pack to watch the Tour De France in '96- best experience of my life!

I used to ride to school which was 22km, then after school I would gym eod - go home (another 22km)- then dropped my suitcase and then went "training" for 40 - 60km on the days I didn't gym. Wednesdays was my "long distance" training- did between 80 and 120km every Wednesday.

Every Saturday was race day.

Those days I weighed 72km- had big legs and arms so I did very well in sprinting. When I started leaving the cycle to weekends I gained lean mass like no one could believe- I was very quickly on 90kg and my bodyfat that stage varied between 8 and 9%. Everyone thought I used gear because of my sudden size- but it was just because I dropped the cycling. Diet was not in place at all.

You must try using Tridenosen with your training- when I read up on it I saw guys are using it for cycling. Let me know when you tried it- your feedback would be very interesting.

Enjoy your ride! Chapmans will be excellent training for you!

Lekker man, the backpacking to watch the Tour de France must have been incredible. I would really like to do that sometime. Haha, sounds like you spent most of your youth in the saddle!

Yeah, I'll give Tridenosen a try sometime, I've heard some good reviews.

Bud your bike setup is very important. Too low saddle and you'll screw up your knees, too high and you srew up your hamstrings. Too far forward and backward is also bad for knees and probably for lower back. Cyclelab does professional bike setups. Its worth the money. Works out cheaper than your dr's bills for a screwed up itb.

Enjoy buddy! Soon you will own a mountain bike as well. When the bug bites, it bites bad and that bug is one expensive bitch to maintain :lol:

@ Ondier: You lucky to have watched the tour the France bud. I missed a mountain top finish at the Giro de Italia by 1 day in May. Couple of friends are planning to attend the tour de france next year. Looking at about R20 000 for 5 days. This is the cheaper option.......

ABC01 wrote: Bud your bike setup is very important. Too low saddle and you'll screw up your knees, too high and you srew up your hamstrings. Too far forward and backward is also bad for knees and probably for lower back. Cyclelab does professional bike setups. Its worth the money. Works out cheaper than your dr's bills for a screwed up itb.

Enjoy buddy! Soon you will own a mountain bike as well. When the bug bites, it bites bad and that bug is one expensive bitch to maintain :lol:

@ Ondier: You lucky to have watched the tour the France bud. I missed a mountain top finish at the Giro de Italia by 1 day in May. Couple of friends are planning to attend the tour de france next year. Looking at about R20 000 for 5 days. This is the cheaper option.......

Wow if you can make it you should do it! I was in France, London, Belgium and Netherlands for 28 days and it cost me R6000, including my plane ticket :lol:

And I brought back a saddle, cycling shoes, rims and spokes from Belgium which cost about R800 all together! :lol:

But we only stayed in our tent- every morning we packed up and moved on. Longest we stayd at one place was just over a week in Paris- on the grass underneath the Eiffel Tower! :lol: But every morning we had to pack up our tent before the police came to our possie