#284 - Last Instalment of Roadbiking for Mountainbikers

From left to right, top : 2 tire levers, 1 inner tube,
1 tube of glue, dessicant, "sand paper", 2 tire patches,
water bottle (to keep them all in).
Bottom : multi tool, 1 lezyne CO2 cartridge, 1 adaptor,
2 more CO2 cartridges

Tool 'water' bottle on the seat tube. Real water bottle on the
down tube

 

8. Change the way you bring your Spare tires and Tools

For mountain bikers, it is simple. If you need spare inner

tubes, tools and water, that's easy. Just get a Camelbak

in the required size and off you go.

 

But for roadies ... Lugging a camelbak is a no-no!
Even those popular saddle bags are a no-no! For complete

enlightenment, I advise you to go and read THE RULES.

While you're at it, pay attention to rules #29, 31, 32

and 52.

 

So to prevent being the object of ridicule by the

roadie community, I bought a pair of matching (they have to

be matching!) and color coordinated bottle cages and water

bottles. Since my bike is blue, black and white, my bottle cages

were black and blue and are attached by lightweight blue

aluminum screws (hehehehe). My bottles are white
with black letterings. One bottle carries water and the other

bottle carries SPARE TUBE AND TOOLS! So my jersey

pocket only contains a phone and a wallet.

 

This is the cheapest version of Speedplay Zero.
There's a Stainless and Titanium version there's the
race day Nanogram version ... but I can only afford the
cheapest. So Chrome Moly for me ;-)

 

9. Choose your pedals

When I bought my bike, I also bought Shimano 105

pedals for it. I was thinking I have used Shimano and

Crankbrothers on my mountainbikes and I always go

back to Shimano XT pedals because they are bombproof.

 

So it should be the same for roadbikes, right? Yes,

that is right ... BUT the thing with these roadie pedals is

that you can only clip in on one side of the pedal.

 

I tried to love these 105 pedals, I really tried.
But whenever the traffic light turns green on the
junction I am on I swear I am mentally prepared that
I get honked at (or sideswiped?) by cars for being soooo

slow in clipping in AND all the while looking down to
see if my pedals were right side up and why I am STILL

not clipped in.

 

I actually had an epiphany while going to T15 on my

MTB. It was early (6AM?) in the morning and I was

at Velocity in Novena. I was going to cross Thomson

Road to get to IRAS (and on to Bukit Timah Rd).

I saw two roadies going to the direction of Long House.

The lead guy clipped in easily. But the second guy has

already crossed Newton Rd and yet he is still trying

to 'find' his pedal !?

  

This won't do. It's an accident waiting to happen.
So I got myself some lollipops AKA Speedplay Zero
Pedals. There's a lot of reviews about these pedals
online and I may do a review as well. For now though
I am not so nervous in the junctions anymore. I don't
miss my XT pedals. When the light turns green, I stomp
on my pedal and that stomping motion will generate a
satisfying click which means I'm already clipped in.
Simple and safe.

 

 

10. Always ride with a Group

Last and definitely (as the cliché goes) not the least :

Always, always ride with a group. I'm not talking about

getting a ride buddy. I am saying really go and ride

in a group !

 

In the same way that I am such a coward whenever

the trail heads downhill, I am also a coward when cycling

on the roads of Singapore ALONE.

 

You can call me a chicken and stick feathers on me but
I will not leave the pavement when I am cycling alone.

So the best thing here is that you go cycling with a group

of friends.

If you don't have friends or your friends are not available

then you create a new set of friends. There are many road

cycling groups here in Singapore but I contacted JoyRiders

because they are very visible and I see that they cater to

both the really fast riders as well as the newbie riders.

 

You may head to the JoyRiders FB Page and inquire
how to become a member.