Hi all! Newbie to Road Cycling

quickbuck

I just speak from experience.
My experiences may be worng, hell, I am not perfect, and haven't had all the experiences one could possibly have.

I DO NOT carry a multitool, as it is a real waste of space IMHO.
My choice.
You can chose different (for your reasons), it makes no difference to me at all.

matagi

They are not stamped on my bike nor on the 3 other bikes in our household, so where are they stamped on your bike? I even had to go searching on the internet to get the torque settings for my bottom bracket. In fact the only numbers I've seen stamped on any of the frames we have are the serial number and lug angles.

Not having a go, I am really curious about this.

artemidorus

I've got a stem with torque settings printed on it and a sticker for the settings for my seatpost clamp. Shimano cassette lockrings have the required torque stamped on them. Nothing else on any of my bikes mentions a torque setting. But it can mostly be looked up.
Noone's arguing that any bolts shouldn't be fastened at the correct torque, but some of us are happy to admit that nobody's perfect. At the very least, a multitool allows you to fix your buddy's bike because he hasn't got a torque wrench.

__________________
"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

roshea

'course they do, it's the R In Zid A If.

Wrightstuff

I find money well spent if considering an upgrade is to the more puncture resistant tyres (ie kevlar based). On my commuter road bike these have been invaluable. If the tyres are folding they are fairly light and may not need tyre levers to get on and off the rims.

If I am riding out in the sticks and not with other riders, I may carry a spare folding tyre with me as well. It is only a 200 gram penalty which is bugger all when considering my weight, and I have been caught before damaging a sidewall and writing off a tyre (in the burbs though and close to a BS).

I dont cary a mult-tool, but a set of allen keys which have always been useful and cheaper.
One other little niggling expense is finding light waterproof lights that won't let you down when it's pouring. I have gone through several lights (F&R) to try and find some that will still flash/blink when it's bucketing down.

Wilchemy

If there is no strike capability isn't it more of an aero club than an air 'force'?

hehehe..Just being a smart arse coz our RAAF is sooo scary... what with our 40yo bombers, "obsolete before they were even bought" helicopters, and 10 or whatever "pride and joy" Hornets

quickbuck

Yep, my seat post clamp has a 55in.ibF max sticker on it (inch pounds Force).
The head bracket thingie (sorry name escapes me at the moment) has 8N.m on it.
Funny the mix of imperial and metric torques.
I realise the seat post clamp is so the Carbon Fibre post doesn't get crushed.

Oh, and who said the fasteners aren't as good as aircraft ones??
I bet they are.
Also the majority of the whole bike is made out of stuff that would be perfectly placed in an aircraft.
6061 Aluminium Alloy is very weldable (and the only one allowed to be welded in aerospace applications. Funny though that is what my handle bars are made of (No welding on them, but hell light, and I know where I can get some new ones ).

Even Chr-Moly 4130 is an aircraft spec material (Ever heard of a Bell 47?)

BTW, I read something today about the fatigue life of some of the components on the bikes these days.
And here we are laughing about obsolete aircraft..... Mmmmm.....

quickbuck

Well, there is no way your local aeroclub (or Helicopter service) will drop in the boys who have permanently blacked out eyes.
Now, those boys are scary....
They can fold you into a paper boat by looking at you (apparently).

Flying in a 40+ year old aircraft is fine (because I know them all in side out).

j.r.hawkins

Ha! I've got that problem right now. 2 lights in 2 weeks. I've had the rear sorted awhile, but I'm looking for a decent waterproof and bright front flashy that won't empty my wallet.

What do you recommend?

j.r.hawkins

Not wanting to be a smarty pants, but it seems to me that lacking a strike capability makes the phrase NZ Air Force something of an oxymoron, does it not?

I'm not having a go at you personally - I realise these decisions are made by politicians.

matagi

Now now gentlemen - someone has to maintain the helicopter that Helen Clark uses to dash around the country.

quickbuck

No, i realise you are not having a go at me personally.

It has been 5 years since we lost the strike Roll, and I am over that now!

The truth is, there is much more to an Airforce than Fast Jets.
I know it is hard to imagine, but it is the truth.

Yes, it is even hard to convey the message that we are still an airforce to the troops within it at times.

There are many platforms that we still use that can only be an airforce.
An example: There is no way that we can charter an AirNZ (yep, partly owned by the Government too) 737 to drop some troops into Afganistan. But, with out saying anything specific, there is no problem with the RNZAF doing it.

Also, there is no way ****** (bid NZ Helicopter company) will get a job to transport troops in Timor Lesette... But watch this space to see who does that job.

Now, back to cycling...

Has a good ride to work this morning, and the first reall wet ride I have done.
Must talk to TransitNZ about the lovely paint they use to mark cycle lanes!!!
I don't mint the motorbike loosing a wheel (serious, I have been riding 29 years, and it doesn't bother me) BUT on a Pushie... It really stained my shammey (sp).

Wrightstuff

I use a Cat eye Compact Safety Light SL-LD100. This is a waterproof light with "O" ring seals around the battery and uses a magnet to switch on and off. Is only a 2 LED jobbie, but it has a couple of flash modes and I use it as the light to be seen with, not by. Batteries are the round 2032 batteries and life is OK. I got from Dean Woods Direct and it works well in the wet and hasn't let me down yet.

I also use Light and motion Light to see by. This light was expensive, but it has 3 levels of brightness, Bright, Dazzling and Supernova, the latter brightness I only tend to use either on a very dark path and I'm the only one around, or to get a motorists attention. The light works well when it is bucketing down.