Rode ZRL Finals last night, last race of 3 and a crit - 5 laps clockwise & then a gap followed by 5 laps reverse. Eating very close to start time I didn't really do a warmup... Had mega legs the first race, along with a good result for me... Then had nothing left for race 2 so really dropped the first selection and sat in the handful of riders to beat them all at the end. Chuffed I had 1 good race and not 2 'meh' so that's a positive to finish this season of ZRL which I've been totally 'out-gunned' riding against top B riders. Nice little bump to my FTP (to 270W) from the first race, but consider it quite a 'soft'/false value from a 23 min race and not a 30-40 min effort.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11247727295 - 8th!
https://www.strava.com/activities/11248150442 - 7th from last!
My back/shoulder (still slow going) felt ok riding. Pretty stiff afterwards and wondered if I'd hurt myself a bit too much, but much more mobility and less pain this morning. Feels like the end is near! Need to get some longer rides in, I have good 'race legs' from Zwift but I'm feeling like I don't need race legs once the weather turns. Need endurance legs! Set a bit of a challenge for around a months time as there's a 'FRR Charity' day on Zwift/Ventop and I'm planning 3 ascents for my vCingles badge (and gain the coveted FRR jersey!) so will probably be a 6-8 hour ride and my longest indoor ride by some margin. But a good stepping stone to some longer outdoor rides this year - I really want to cross off some proper Sportives/Events as it's been a few years since I did any.
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The Shimano brakes are much easier to bleed. However, I love that you can swap batteries on eTap between front and rear and it's way easier to carry a spare.
I find the ergonomics of both similar now. Di2 used to be much nicer but SRAM has improved a lot on that front.
If relevant, Shimano kit is generally better for touring/travelling as shops will almost always have Shimano spares but very rarely SRAM.
It's pretty much a tie for me for general riding.
Really good info & feedback mate! What's the mega hilly event you have planned for needing that 44t?!?
Lots of Pro's on SRAM used to drop chains (JV seemed very good at it!), but seen far less of that recently. Shimano is not exactly immune but have to admit I've seen a massive amount more chains dropped on TV than in many years of group rides outside... Their margins might be so tight in the hunt for gains or maybe just something more prevalent on the top end groupsets with the bigger chainrings and 'faster' cassettes they tend to ride - or the massive difference some have between their front rings...
I love the idea of eTap batteries and how 'swappable' they are compared to Di2. One thing I've not visited yet (but intend to) is looking at reducing the amount of cables required for Di2 charging. I'm surprised not many have done it - the older Di2 charger is massively big of mostly empty of plastic for a very basic charging circuit which plugs into USB. I nearly always charge mine (overnight) from a little battery pack and it'll full charge from 'low' to 100% using less than 20% of the battery pack - the same pack will barely charge my mobile more than 75-80% from near 0. So the requirements to fully charge Di2 are very low mAh @5V & 2A. Really I have no need to charge my Di2 out on the road, but as my ELEMNT is now not lasting longer than 3-4h then long rides I'm taking a battery pack with me anyway, so seems silly not to have a more portable Di2 charger too (although you can't charge Di2 and use it at the same time, if you can fully charge in half an hour then the portability/swappability of eTap over Di2 is negated). Love a bit of hardware hacking
But back to groupsets... I'd always ride Di2, but my reasoning is around the price of components. It's just significantly cheaper when it comes to replacing/upgrading anything. Chainrings and cassettes are massively cheaper. But I know lots of people who have 'some of each' and don't prefer 1 over the other when riding, so I'd happily ride SRAM - just didn't go for it on the new bike as 105 di2 12s is such a deal.
While we're on the subject of groupsets, anyone on newer 12s di2 comment on the wireless shifters & their batteries? Peeled back hoods when doing tape last weekend and although I didn't really look, didn't notice an obvious place for a battery cover/door. Do you need a screwdriver to change them?
It shows as >100m but the actual elevation is only around 20m
Where on earth is it getting it's data from!
The GPS data of the person who first created the segment. Which is why you see so many crazy ones around! There used to be far more 'cliffs' around on flat roads, so Strava have got better at sorting the obvious ones. The less so obvious maybe less so hard to catch...
I'm the same as Steve - I use the 'Correct Elevation' on my long outdoor rides with my ELEMNT as it nearly always under reports. My battery woes may lead to replacing it with the BOLTv2 (can't justify getting the ROAM). I've no idea if they're any better. I always find my elevation below that of my Garmin teammates - but also many of them are overstated too, while I'm under. The truth is somewhere between...!