Road Cycling

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If you've got mount points, Sks chromoplastics. If not, get p clips and Sks chromoplastics. Failing that, but any old thing because they're all fairly ropey. Cruds are notably crud, though.
 
I've been out this afternoon for another trial of the commute for my new job. 11.6 miles there, 10 back by a different route. Moving time for there and back was 1:20, elapsed time about 1:30. Not bad, given that just the run into Manchester for my current job takes over 50 minutes moving and about 1:10 elapsed! I'm sure it'll take a wee bit longer when there's traffic, but it shouldn't be nearly as bad. I can't wait.
 
One for the Zwift users- when you sign up to the full site do you get a proper workout record? I did a 20 min FTP on my trial and can see no record of it other than the entry in my activities. Not even a record of what my FTP was which kind of sucks as I can't actually remember what I got :p I also can't see if this has any impact on anything else I would do to help me improve etc.

TBH it was a bit of a disappointment as I had high hopes for continuing using it.

I'm tempted by the trainer road trial to see how I get on with that but I've got a poor track record of cancelling things before the payment is taken so if I don't like it I'll be paying anyway most likely.

Finally am I right in thinking you can just pay monthly for these and drop in and out as I'll not be using it at all during the summer. Do you lose all your data when you cancel?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance for any help.
 
lordrobs said:
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Hey Rob

Zwift keeps a record of all your activities and you can download any of them at any time. However you can connect your Strava account to Zwift and it will auto upload any activity straight to Strava immediately on completion of the workout. If you connect your account it should send it through retrospectively and you can view the results on there I would imagine.

Once you know your FTP you just put it into your Zwift settings and every ride you do from then on will give you your w/kg as you ride round. If youre using a set workout then the workout is tailored to your ftp , for instance each block will be a certain % like sweetspot at 95% of your ftp and rest intervals may be 55%. Ive had sprint intervals as high as 725 watts for 15-30 secs. It all depends on your choice of workout

I'm pretty sure its a monthly thing and you can stop anytime. Dont forget British Cycling are doing 2 free months of strava premium which in turn gives you 2 free months of Zwift
 
dodg3rman said:
Hey Rob

Zwift keeps a record of all your activities and you can download any of them at any time. However you can connect your Strava account to Zwift and it will auto upload any activity straight to Strava immediately on completion of the workout. If you connect your account it should send it through retrospectively and you can view the results on there I would imagine.

Once you know your FTP you just put it into your Zwift settings and every ride you do from then on will give you your w/kg as you ride round. If youre using a set workout then the workout is tailored to your ftp , for instance each block will be a certain % like sweetspot at 95% of your ftp and rest intervals may be 55%. Ive had sprint intervals as high as 725 watts for 15-30 secs. It all depends on your choice of workout

I'm pretty sure its a monthly thing and you can stop anytime. Dont forget British Cycling are doing 2 free months of strava premium which in turn gives you 2 free months of Zwift
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Excellent, thanks! I'm a British cycling member but didn't spot that offer. I'll get myself signed up for another couple of months on Zwift. I think my FTP was either 213 or 218 (I love the way my memory works :o ) so I'll plug that in if it didn't automatically pick it up.

EDIT - It was 213, just found it in my profile. Didn't realise it only showed up in the app and not on the website profile. Happy now!

Oh, and does 213 just suck a bit or does it really suck? :p
 
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Went out this morning in San Francisco hoping to do Mt Tamalpais... bike shop didn't even want to rent me the bike as it was raining a lot... managed to get them to rent it in the end though it did have gatorskins on :D Went for a nice little loop in the rain around Marin headlands... decided against any steep climbs as the descent back down would have been pretty dangerous.
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
Ladarlocks OKLEYS :D:p

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/KuKu...ycle-sunglasses-glasses-Free/32303741556.html
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Yeah they look the same as the ones I got, comparing them to the genuine Radarlock frames I ordered from Wiggle everything is genuine/feels/looks genuine - the case, nose grips, cleaning cloth & even the box they came in! I'll be surprised if the lenses are not too. The only difference is the plastic the frames are made from being softer/more flexy and the side catch being noticeably poorer.

FrenchTart said:
My faux radarlocks from Aliexpress are pretty decent but they're a bit small so if you've not got a pea head they don't feel quite right. They're awesome aside from that though.
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I have a big head but the ones I got flex so well they fit/grip well. You've made me realise a genuine frame might be too tight! :eek:

Muffin` said:
What's a good set of mudguards for a road bike?
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Depends on clearance and tyre width. Check online to see what others with your bike are using. Tight clearances - SKS Raceblade Long V2's, ok clearances, SKS Chromo's as mentioned :)

lordrobs said:
Finally am I right in thinking you can just pay monthly for these and drop in and out as I'll not be using it at all during the summer. Do you lose all your data when you cancel?
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With TR when you remove the payment it'll ask if you also want to cancel your account (which will wipe out your activity records). So easy to drop in and out, not sure if Zwift is the same?

lordrobs said:
Oh, and does 213 just suck a bit or does it really suck? :p
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213 isn't bad, I was at 206 last spring. Also not much difference between 213 & 218!
 
5 miles, 13 sets of lights, 2 pairs are timed pairs where if you make one you'll make the other

5 or 6 belisha beacons too, but usually not too many peds around at half 7

no way i'd use single sides for that. I see a local elite cat racer when commuting sometimes and i can pull a few yards on him from the lights because it takes him so much longer to clip in properly. He then goes past me like i'm going backwards, but still.
 
Skipped my 'old school club ride' saturday morning as the winds were horrific! 35-45mph! With the forecast being much better for sunday I thought it prudent to ride then instead. Still, loads of riders went out (~40) so I'm kicking myself a little for missing it! :rolleyes:

Set off for my ride a little later than planned, had wanted to go try the Tumble but one thing after another (Christmas Tree!) meant I didn't have the time. Still got back an hour after darkness (just after 5).

https://www.strava.com/activities/445523410/

Went for two climbs of Pencombe Hill and a long loop back home for close to 40 miles. Felt good climbing and was almost overdressed to start with as the sun was out! Things soon cooled by around 3 and I wasn't underdressed for the ride back towards town. Legs were utterly empty for the last 10 miles...!
 
lordrobs said:
Excellent, thanks! I'm a British cycling member but didn't spot that offer. I'll get myself signed up for another couple of months on Zwift. I think my FTP was either 213 or 218 (I love the way my memory works :o ) so I'll plug that in if it didn't automatically pick it up.

EDIT - It was 213, just found it in my profile. Didn't realise it only showed up in the app and not on the website profile. Happy now!

Oh, and does 213 just suck a bit or does it really suck? :p
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I guess it really depends on your weight as the w/kg is what matters most I think. Check out this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18671905 to see the monsters on these forums :eek:

I did my first ftp test in October when I got my kickr (264 watts) but it only worked out at 3.2 w/kg which im happy with as i've only been riding since March.
 
Has anyone got any experience of replacing loose balls in headset bearings?

The steering on my TdF is really heavy. I mean, it's manageable when you're riding, but when I compare it to my Pompino or RT-58 it's just worlds apart. I think it must be the headset, because it feels like that even with the bike still, so it's not some quirk of geometry or fork rake or whatever making it more resistant to steering.

The bike has a really cheap headset in it, like one that I've seen on ebay for like £5. It's got loose ball bearings in it, rather than sealed cartridges. So my choices are either to just pull the entire headset out and replace it with something like the FSA 11n, or I take the bearings out, chuck all the old balls, clean out the old grease, and then pop some new balls in, regrease them and re-assemble it. The latter is cheaper and easier - balls and grease vs. a new headset and cup removal tool - but I'm wondering whether maybe the headset won't be rescued by new balls.

Any ideas?

Or do I just need to adjust the headset in some way or other?
 
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Have you actually checked that the bearings are knackered? It may simply need a clean and re-grease. Alternatively, it may be on too tight (which will probably have knackered the bearings if so).
 
Roady said:
Skipped my 'old school club ride' saturday morning as the winds were horrific! 35-45mph! With the forecast being much better for sunday I thought it prudent to ride then instead. Still, loads of riders went out (~40) so I'm kicking myself a little for missing it! :rolleyes:

Set off for my ride a little later than planned, had wanted to go try the Tumble but one thing after another (Christmas Tree!) meant I didn't have the time. Still got back an hour after darkness (just after 5).

https://www.strava.com/activities/445523410/

Went for two climbs of Pencombe Hill and a long loop back home for close to 40 miles. Felt good climbing and was almost overdressed to start with as the sun was out! Things soon cooled by around 3 and I wasn't underdressed for the ride back towards town. Legs were utterly empty for the last 10 miles...!
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I like the look of that Pencombe Hill climb and I think I will give it a go over the festive period (depending on the weather). How hard is it in comparison to say Haugh Wood?

Good effort going up it twice!
 
I think someone asked this not too long ago, but what happened to Asprilla/Chris?:confused:

Nothing on strava since the end of August!
 
Shamrock said:
I think someone asked this not too long ago, but what happened to Asprilla/Chris?:confused:

Nothing on strava since the end of August!
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Yeah, I was wondering that. Nothing on here, nothing on Strava. He used to be on road.cc but I'm not sure what his username is, and I've not got him on Facebook so can't check there.
 
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