Road Cycling Essentials

[touch]

Here is the comparisons of the speed data and power data:

Winner's data on the left, mine on the right.
You can see that when his speed drops off, he puts in more power to get it back up.
I have focused on keeping my power steady and didnt put in any extra effort when my speed drops.
Looks like he put in a lot more power after the turn (halfway) then dropped it a bit to maintain that speed whereas i didnt use so much power initially so even though i kept the power constant and maintained the speed, it was a lower speed i was maintaining than what he did.

Average power was very close for both riders (mine was 3-4w higher)

It was fairly flat but there were still slight climbs which were enough to take a few mph off your speed.

 

[Jonny69]

...and then it's a question of whether I go to the trouble of dismantling the headset and cleaning/greasing that, and whether I do the bottom bracket while I'm at it...

Are you guys not all on sealed bottom brackets and headsets? I may be wrong, but I don't think you'll find headsets or bottom brackets with serviceable caged bearings from anything made after the mid 90's. All you can do is replace the headset bearings or replace the whole bottom bracket, there's nothing to grease.

 

[oli collett]

Here is the comparisons of the speed data and power data:

Winner's data on the left, mine on the right.
You can see that when his speed drops off, he puts in more power to get it back up.
I have focused on keeping my power steady and didnt put in any extra effort when my speed drops.
Looks like he put in a lot more power after the turn (halfway) then dropped it a bit to maintain that speed whereas i didnt use so much power initially so even though i kept the power constant and maintained the speed, it was a lower speed i was maintaining than what he did.

Average power was very close for both riders (mine was 3-4w higher)

It was fairly flat but there were still slight climbs which were enough to take a few mph off your speed.

Other factors to consider would have course be:
Aero position
Components
Accuracy of power meters - a 2-3% difference would not be unexpected using different ones on different bikes

1:40 does seem like a big gap though even taking this all into account

 

[VeNT]

about avarage in my case..

stock triban 3 wheels - 1.4k miles
shimano r501's - 2.4k
campy khamsin - 3.8k and still going strong.

I'd recommend getting a set of campy's to be honest!

wait, your triban wheels BROKE AFTER FOUR MONTHS USE?
how?

 

[Shamrock]

They are rubbish that's why. At £25 per wheel they aren't going to be great.

My flatmate's Triban 3 stock rims died after about 1500 miles too.

 

[ArmoVanBuuren]

Campag Zonda. I had AL30s for a while and they were OK but I had 3 or 4 broken spokes in quick succession (one spoke went 40 miles from home!) so returned them for a full refund. I have Zondas on my good bike now and they are superb so far. Fast, light, strong and (hopefully) durable.

Ordered (accidently)the Zondas - should be here tomorrorw! Excited about them and hope they are a lot more durable than the PX Wheels. My first (semi) expensive wheelset so I hope I get the gains from them over the season's miles!

 

[grudas]

wait, your triban wheels BROKE AFTER FOUR MONTHS USE?
how?

yup! I dissembled them and one side of the hub had loads of grease while the other was empty? same on both wheels, this killed the hub(walls were stuffed) and killed the hub on the rear too, started skipping, making loads of noise etc.. spoke/trueness wise they were ok.

They are rubbish that's why. At £25 per wheel they aren't going to be great.

My flatmate's Triban 3 stock rims died after about 1500 miles too.

yup they're REALLY cheap.

 

[6thElement]

Are you guys not all on sealed bottom brackets and headsets? I may be wrong, but I don't think you'll find headsets or bottom brackets with serviceable caged bearings from anything made after the mid 90's. All you can do is replace the headset bearings or replace the whole bottom bracket, there's nothing to grease.

I've regreased external BB bearings before, just lift the dust cover with a pick, clean, grease, press cover back over the bearings.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Are you guys not all on sealed bottom brackets and headsets? I may be wrong, but I don't think you'll find headsets or bottom brackets with serviceable caged bearings from anything made after the mid 90's. All you can do is replace the headset bearings or replace the whole bottom bracket, there's nothing to grease.

You may well be right, and to be honest I'm not aware of any problems with either the headset or bottom bracket anyway, no grinding or funny noises or anything. That bike has mudguards on it, so I guess that protects it from the worst of the muck.

One thing I was wondering about was how to clean the derailleurs now that I've taken them off the bike. They're pretty mucky, so they probably need a good scrub with something, but I'm wary of cleaning all the good grease out of the insides. Should I clean them out with something and then put a load more grease in? If so, what do I need? I've seen an article on Park Tool about completely dismantling a rear derailleur, but I'd rather not do that when it's the only one I have for that bike. I'll save that jigsaw puzzle until I replace it and have a spare one to play with.

 

[InQ]

Does anyone here have a stages power meter? Trying to work out the cheapest place to get one, all seem to be the same price. Annoyingly I need a ultegra one to match which is a £100 premium over the 105

I've been looking at these on and off for a few months, price never seems to get cheaper! Might be a bit overkill for non-competing cyclist but thought if i dont like it i can always sell it on, lose a bit of cash but not a fortune.

Have you considering the Power2max? I think they dropped their prices late last year, Rotor 3D, Praxis rings, P2M of course about £1k-1100?
Or a Powertap? Seen the 46mm Reynolds 46mm carbon rims for £1360 online with the G3.

I guess the Stages offers the easiest method of swapping bike to bike though, assuming you get the same brand chainset.

I would need a DA9000 crankarm so £100 more than 6800....if i want them matching of course.

Does anywhere have stock of the Stages though? Seem to be all out in general (well DA9000 172.5mm).

 

[platypus]

wait, your triban wheels BROKE AFTER FOUR MONTHS USE?
how?

He rides into kerbs and bunny hops over lorries.

 

[Jonny69]

One thing I was wondering about was how to clean the derailleurs now that I've taken them off the bike. They're pretty mucky, so they probably need a good scrub with something, but I'm wary of cleaning all the good grease out of the insides. Should I clean them out with something and then put a load more grease in? If so, what do I need? I've seen an article on Park Tool about completely dismantling a rear derailleur, but I'd rather not do that when it's the only one I have for that bike. I'll save that jigsaw puzzle until I replace it and have a spare one to play with.

Yeah, don't take it apart - no need. Spray it down with WD40, petrol, paraffin or whatever light solvent you've got which will loosen the dirt and dissolve any hardened greasy/oily deposits. Repeat until it's nice and clean. The WD40 will work its way into the pivots and dissolve out any old oil or grease, but it'll evaporate off quite quickly. Then it's simply a matter of re-oiling it with a good quality bike oil. Something like Finish Line green is good

 

[[DOD]Asprilla]

I've been looking at these on and off for a few months, price never seems to get cheaper! Might be a bit overkill for non-competing cyclist but thought if i dont like it i can always sell it on, lose a bit of cash but not a fortune.

Have you considering the Power2max? I think they dropped their prices late last year, Rotor 3D, Praxis rings, P2M of course about £1k-1100?
Or a Powertap? Seen the 46mm Reynolds 46mm carbon rims for £1360 online with the G3.

I guess the Stages offers the easiest method of swapping bike to bike though, assuming you get the same brand chainset.

I would need a DA9000 crankarm so £100 more than 6800....if i want them matching of course.

Does anywhere have stock of the Stages though? Seem to be all out in general (well DA9000 172.5mm).

Or get a second hand powertap with full service history. I just paid £389 for mine.

 

[touch]

edit: ignore

 

[Vonhelmet]

Yeah, don't take it apart - no need. Spray it down with WD40, petrol, paraffin or whatever light solvent you've got which will loosen the dirt and dissolve any hardened greasy/oily deposits. Repeat until it's nice and clean. The WD40 will work its way into the pivots and dissolve out any old oil or grease, but it'll evaporate off quite quickly. Then it's simply a matter of re-oiling it with a good quality bike oil. Something like Finish Line green is good

What about soaking the derailleurs in degreaser or something? Or is that a bad idea? Can I follow the same procedure, be it wd40 spraying or soaking, for my brake calliper saw well?

Going back to the headset, if I'm not taking that apart, am I as well leaving the fork in and just cleaning that along with the rest of the frame?

 

[platypus]

One thing I was wondering about was how to clean the derailleurs now that I've taken them off the bike. They're pretty mucky, so they probably need a good scrub with something, but I'm wary of cleaning all the good grease out of the insides. Should I clean them out with something and then put a load more grease in? If so, what do I need? I've seen an article on Park Tool about completely dismantling a rear derailleur, but I'd rather not do that when it's the only one I have for that bike. I'll save that jigsaw puzzle until I replace it and have a spare one to play with.

I do it regularly (every 3 months). Take em off, soak in hot water with fairy liquid for 15 minutes, leave to dry for 15 mins, then dry with a rag. Clean to a sparkle (either muc off or wd40), oil the hard to get to bits, re-attach to bike, lubricate liberally.

 

[6thElement]

Depending on your model of rear derailleur the jockey wheels might have sealed cartridge bearings. Soaking it in degreaser probably isn't the best thing for them.

 

[touch]

I take the cage apart and clean and regrease the jockey wheel bearings regularly but i wouldnt want to leave the whole thing soaking in degreaser.
I'v had a derailleur with a seized cage pivot before, that was a right pain in the ass to get back together after i cleaned and greased it. I wouldnt want to risk breaking down the grease inside there and having to do that again!

 

[Vonhelmet]

I did wonder about the jockey wheels. I'll have to add that to my list of bike bits with bearings for when I'm thinking about what can be safely blitzed. Headset, bottom bracket, pedals, wheel hubs, freehub, jockey wheels... Have I missed anything? Maybe something in the shifters?

 

[touch]

Most jockey wheels dont have bearings* as such, more of a metal bush around the bolt that they spin on. Still needs to be cleaned and greased - just dont be surprised if it isnt the same as the other bearings on the bike.

*I think, technically, the metal bush is referred to as a 'bearing' but they are probably not ball bearings like wheel hubs, headsets, bottom brackets, etc