Road Cycling

None this year, in just under 5,200 miles of riding!

I've had two chains break, though, one of which did catastrophic damage to my old single speed bike.
 
I'll stick to my punctures thanks. Signed back up to TrainerRoad yesterday, has anyone used that and/or Zwift, just wondering how they compare when it comes to training plans? Hopefully going to sort out my garage set up this weekend so I'm ready to roll next week, probably be one maybe 2 sessions a week prior to Christmas ramping up the efforts after. Always prefer to go outside if I can.
 
After being Mr Puncturelot last year I've been pretty lucky. Might be the swap to Pro4 E's in 28mm.

So the CRC Black Friday (on a Thusday :confused: ) deals have tempted me for a second week in a row. Last week was a cheap set of MTB gloves which they then refunded me for with an extra £5 due to a stock error :D Today I bought this - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...5_2016_leyzne&icb=bspot1-a-week45_2016_leyzne

I've been concerned for a while that my backup light is a Lezyne KTV (15 Lumen "be seen" light). While it may get me seen I wouldn't want it to be my only companion 10 miles of unlit country ride from home :p Also means I can ditch the Aldi Nebula copy.

Forgot to use my £5 voucher code though :o :(
 
SoliD said:
I'll stick to my punctures thanks. Signed back up to TrainerRoad yesterday, has anyone used that and/or Zwift, just wondering how they compare when it comes to training plans?
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There's huge amount of plans in both of them, I've not followed either but I've done training sessons on both and would say they're very comparable in that respect. I used TR in 2014 and then Zwift from beta to current.

TR is more 'professional' looking and you end up concentrating on the graph holding your power figures. Zwift is a little more interesting due to the passing landscape and other riders, alongside the figures you're looking at (just not the big power bar graph which is quite good in TR). Zwift does allow for more distractions of course, that's the beauty of it, but equally it grades you on different parts of the session on how accurate you were (gives you 'stars') and some plans have onscreen encouragement (TR's tend to just be countdowns).

When I last looked at TR plans there was lots of choice of plans over number of weeks, number of sessions and overall time commitments (volume). I don't think Zwift has that much overall plan complexity/choice, but it does engage you more so it would feel less like a chore loading it up for the Nth time that week. You see people riding plans just popping up on free rides (I assume for distraction) and chatting with their mates. It's more social and lots of a 'community' feel between regular riders and groups, many of which do base mile rides together through organised sessions rather than the solo orientated training sessions. The Training plans and even training sessions are only part of what Zwift is, they're everything that TR has.

I would go back to TR if there was a good reason to choose it over Zwift, but for me Zwift just offers too many other things as well as training plans. I'd probably go for a Sufferfest subscription over TR, or as a replacement for Zwift alongside TR. Just so I had something else (and I quite fancy trying their app as it's fairly new and meant to be quite good!).

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/trainer-apps-guide.html
lordrobs said:
Today I bought this - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...5_2016_leyzne&icb=bspot1-a-week45_2016_leyzne
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Damn that's a good deal! Especially for backup lights...! Interesting to see what else pops up on 'black friday' deals but with the different cycling sites all doing different things I'm going to miss most of it unless someone links something lol.
Vonhelmet said:
None this year
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Impressive with all your commuting! Seems like FT and I have had most of the *uncture luck! :rolleyes:
 
lordrobs said:
After being Mr Puncturelot last year I've been pretty lucky. Might be the swap to Pro4 E's in 28mm.

So the CRC Black Friday (on a Thusday :confused: ) deals have tempted me for a second week in a row. Last week was a cheap set of MTB gloves which they then refunded me for with an extra £5 due to a stock error :D Today I bought this - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...5_2016_leyzne&icb=bspot1-a-week45_2016_leyzne

I've been concerned for a while that my backup light is a Lezyne KTV (15 Lumen "be seen" light). While it may get me seen I wouldn't want it to be my only companion 10 miles of unlit country ride from home :p Also means I can ditch the Aldi Nebula copy.

Forgot to use my £5 voucher code though :o :(
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That De Rosa frameset is the sex.
 
SoliD said:
TrainerRoad
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SoliD said:
Thanks Roady, sounds like TR is more my thing as I'll have the laptop under the screen, with something interesting displayed on that and then laptop showing TR.
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I've not used Zwift only ever TR, I'm sure I'd enjoy it though.

I quite like the simplicity of it and whilst it might be considered a bit boring I find it great for practicing self distraction and focusing on pedal & breathing efficiency.

I've found some of the on screen instructions particularly useful in this regard and in the eventuality I used the WattBikes at the gym I can take my iPad with me and not look like a nerd :p

If I was going to be doing regular 2-3hr+ sessions I'd probably consider Zwift more heavily for the social side but being determined to ride throughout the winter I've not gone down that route yet.
 
SoliD said:
Thanks Roady, sounds like TR is more my thing as I'll have the laptop under the screen, with something interesting displayed on that and then laptop showing TR.
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Bear in mind you get '2 free months of Zwift' with a Strava premium membership so you could always try it out if you wanted (my 2 free months started at the start of this month so quite nice they give you your 'free' months when it's usually cold & miserable in the UK!) :)

Although think it's the last time they're doing it for Strava Premium...?

BennyC said:
If I was going to be doing regular 2-3hr+ sessions I'd probably consider Zwift more heavily for the social side but being determined to ride throughout the winter I've not gone down that route yet.
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I think that's what has kept me on Zwift rather than trying some of the others (looked at FullGaz last winter), I can use it for lots of different things, as well as recording 'just riding' (base stuff) with or without another distraction (TV). It's just easy to fire up and do 'something' on the turbo without committing to time/plans. Convenience.
 
I'm actually planning on switching from trainer road to the sufferfest app as it's now really good. It might only have a fraction of the workouts but the workouts it does have are great
 
Roady said:
Bear in mind you get '2 free months of Zwift' with a Strava premium membership so you could always try it out if you wanted (my 2 free months started at the start of this month so quite nice they give you your 'free' months when it's usually cold & miserable in the UK!) :)

Although think it's the last time they're doing it for Strava Premium...?

I think that's what has kept me on Zwift rather than trying some of the others (looked at FullGaz last winter), I can use it for lots of different things, as well as recording 'just riding' (base stuff) with or without another distraction (TV). It's just easy to fire up and do 'something' on the turbo without committing to time/plans. Convenience.
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Don't use Strava Premium :D
 
When you go out and do hill reps and the ascent is about 7 mins at 270w and the descent is 6 mins pedalling all the way down you know it's windy.
 
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