Road Cycling

Roady said:
Finally found a ride for this from one of my usual suspects. Steve Abraham rode it (but doesn't seem to have uploaded anything). I didn't spot Hoppo on the results, but he did ride it under the weather/illness ("Started race 15lbs over race weight, finished it 30lbs over. It was like carrying a water barrel as ballast. Just going to doctors now. Lost 10lbs overnight!" :o) so didn't do well and uploaded at some point yesterday - https://www.strava.com/activities/2552424716

Looks like 3 different 'circuits'. 2 of them loops, the other between 2 roundabouts with several 'out and backs' around various other roundabouts and various roads linking them together. Must have been a logistical nightmare! Not really very flat if that 810 elevation route is anything to be believed.
Click to expand...

I often wonder what some of them do for jobs/work whilst training for such things or just in general unless sponsored/paid. He's averaging around 3 hours per day on a bike every single day of the year so far according to Strava. 18.4 at 119bpm is pretty impressive given it's near 12k ft. It's like the guy who is one of worlds highest KOM holders based in UK - hasn't had a day not cycling in over 12 weeks, you can't go back far enough on Strava to even see when he didn't cycle :D
 
Steve Abraham does deliveroo, think he might have been a postman before attempting the year record.

Noted 90s mountain biker David Baker was a postman. Reckon it's a pretty good job for someone trying to train a lot - fit and active, and all over fairly early in the day

@Roady from following Steve Abraham on twitter, he had some gut problems and "only" did about 290 miles
 
Roady said:
Yeah, thankfully been allowed to take a bit of advantage of the fantastic weather. Little man sleeping much better and currently no illness doing the rounds in our household so much more rested and healthy... The other half was off last week using up holiday (+ birthday) so mini wasn't in Nursery to pickup anything... But returns today. :eek:

Not sure I quite realised the extent of your knee issue, miserable! Sure hope you've found the solution, just take it steady to make sure you fully recover. Many saddle changes? Have changed both of mine and it's proved a bit of a pain(ha) to get things right. Getting there now, but this knee pain is the first I've had for around 4 years. Really hadn't experienced it the last couple of saddle changes, but they where not quite so extreme changes.

I've a couple of saddles if you wanted to try some out two old (Specialized Phenom Comp, Selle Italia GelFlow) and one fairly new Fizik Arione Open. All with cutouts.

Sleep patterns are a tough one, especially this time of year. Obviously mine is dictated by mini^me but I generally find if I'm not in bed until 11.30/12 I really struggle with usual wake up at 5.30/5.45am. If I can get myself in bed for 11 that extra half hour helps me loads with my riding stamina. Running this short on sleep (6 hours a night max) does take it's toll and I'll always try to get 1 earlier night a week (say 10pm) if the mini hasn't had a lie in... A handful of times the last few months he's slept until 8am (so we can sleep until 7am). Fantastic when that coincides with a saturday when the other half isn't working, or a sunday as we can also laze even longer. But usually it doesn't! :rolleyes:

I used to be a real 'night owl'. Gamed a lot until 2-3am in my 20's while holding down a job with a 9am start but could only do it a couple of times a week before it really affected me. Then changed to being self employed I could generally do it for multiple nights a week (and partying on the weekends) without any real problem... Then more responsibilities and age came along, so went back into full time employment with an 8am start, so had to totally change my sleep patterns again... Also exercise/cycling I sleep so much 'better' and have no problem dropping straight off to sleep. Now with a little person that sleep amount has obviously reduced so all of my sleep is generally quality now where I'm asleep within minutes of going to bed. Generally wake up feeling great too. Bit groggy for 5 minutes but when the little bundle is shoving a Peppa pig book at you and full of energy (he's slept for 10+ hours) you have no option to wake up gradually haha :D ;)
Click to expand...

Good luck putting out the Watts to get you and the chariot rolling later in this heat, I had to do a short diversion on the way home earlier, which meant I tackled ~320 feet of climbing over ~1.5 miles in my current easiest gear (24/17, as opposed to my only other current option of 38/17 on the fatbike) in the ~30C heat to get home via my local Midanbury hill reps territory that I rarely do these days... So dry and hot, sweated buckets despite it not being that big a gear compared to my road bike and I've drank one of my 750ml bottle of chilled water and ~1.5l of ice cold diet cola since I got in at ~1345! :eek:

Part of me wants to head out to the South Downs hills this afternoon, because I desperately want to get a routine going again after this latest setback, but from last summer I know damn well I'll go through water so quickly in this heat we have over the next few days. I've pretty much written off 2019 targets (I'm now ~12k feet down on last year's climbing totals and ~40k feet behind my hope of cracking 500k between indoor and outdoor rides), while I need to cautiously try and build up my sustained power back up again while I keep an eye on my left knee, so it's going to be a while before I have a hope of challenging my power PBs up many of the local cat3/4 times I set last year.

Thanks for the offer of trying those saddles, I will see how things go with my revised setup and give you a shout if I reach crisis point again! I think a lot of the discomfort is simply down to poor saddle position, but also tyre pressure (was using ~95/100PSI for 28mm GP4000S IIs, now using ~85PSI) and the worsening condition of many of the roads I ride... Many of the South Downs lanes have really horrid course tarmac, Longwood Dean Lane is a rare ~2 mile exception, butter smooth after unnecessary resurfacing last summer. However, I did notice the other day that my there was another factor in my saddle discomfort, in that my padded shorts were rotating to my front along the ride! :eek:

Used to be a "night owl" myself and was the main reason I laughed at the idea of becoming a postie years ago, but I think the fitness cycling since Jan 2017 has generally helped me feel tired enough to get to bed and try and sleep by ~2200 max. It's been a combination of sleeping badly due to not riding as often (so staying up later), hot summer nights, early sunrise etc. has meant that so often in the last couple of months or so I've missed the the chance to get out before 0700 in the relative cool because I've either not got up early enough on days off work and/or I've felt incapable of overcoming the "woolly" feeling in my head as if I'm jetlagged. I'm not good at coping in the heat, even climbing the hills at ~225-250W results in me going through my water supplies relatively quickly in the midday sun, so I con myself to thinking I will head out after dinner... But the temp drops very slowly and it's much warmer at ~1900 than ~0700, there's the slight concern that an evening ride might prevent me getting to sleep at a decent time but so often of late I feel absolutely drained after food.

At least there is the TDF final week to watch online while having my Honeywell turbo fan blasting air at me! :D
 
Saytan said:
Steve Abraham does deliveroo, think he might have been a postman before attempting the year record.

Noted 90s mountain biker David Baker was a postman. Reckon it's a pretty good job for someone trying to train a lot - fit and active, and all over fairly early in the day
Click to expand...

It gets much harder to find energy to do constructive riding that improves your cycling fitness after a delivery shift when you get into your mid 40s, but besides the age thing the job has got far more physically exhausting over the last ten years with longer duties and the internet shopping revolution. ;)
 
Cassette noise...

I have been using Ultegra (6800&8000) cassettes recently as they are a bit cheaper and more ratios than SRAM offer.

On the gears which are not joined so the 11-19 usually, I get loud drivetrain noise, it must be amplified by the hub or wheel or something.

In the top three gears which are joined together. Almost no noise, normal operation.

Two cassettes, two different hubs & wheels & chains. Both chains pretty new, using Squirt dry lube. A little grease on the freehub when putting the gears on, lock ring torques to 40nm with proper torque wrench.

Should I put it up to 45nm?

Try the nylon spacers between the gears from a used SRAM cassette?

Remove and add more lube or remove lube from the freehub?
 
@Jonny ///M I can only assume CRC/Wiggle have cocked up the cables on this?

zhJqJFA.jpg


Excuse the slipper
 
Interesting, cables look a horrible mess out front, may have to cut them back a bit, but does make some sense, out of interest where do the Di2 cables go if you use them, as it looks like the cable guides front and under the bottom bracket are removable.
 
Yeah you could probably shorten them quite a bit by the looks of it.

The guide on the down tube is removable and just uses a grommet to blank it, the BB one is replaced by a smaller plate with no guide on it. RD exit and FD exit are the rubbery cone shaped grommets with small holes.

The brake cable has a guide at the front of the head tube, there should be a new one in the bag with an extra slot on the bottom for the Di2 wire to go in at the same time as the brake outer. Extra points for heat shrinking these cables.

For Etap there is just small grommets instead of the cone shaped ones I believe.

https://www.felt-stuff.com/parts-sp...s-kit-fr-2016-plugs-and-cable-guides?c=200054

https://www.cyclist.co.uk/reviews/2184/felt-fr2-review-pictures#3
 
Last edited:
Ah nice. I did spot some bits in the box. Not thinking of di2 now but maybe some hand me downs to this in the future.
 
NooBish AbbZ said:
Anywho, the point of my post, i follow a couple Cycling marketplaces on facebook and I've seen a few (used) carbon wheelsets for sale. Question. Would it look ridiculous if i had a bog standard Decathlon Triban 5, but with some kind of Carbon wheel set? taking into account he fact i bought the bike for £160 second hand :p
Click to expand...
Phil was bang on the money, apologies for my somewhat negative initial response as I was just trying to advise caution over the 'carbon for everything is best' attitude that many new cyclists can get (obviously influenced by marketing). Ride whatever you want, regardless of what others think! If it makes you ride more and enjoy riding more then it's the 'best choice' regardless!

There are many cheap carbon options these days which carry lower risk - more often branded wheels like Zuus, Prime and Hunt will carry a little price premium - but are generally quality or at least backed up by support/warranty and 'known' brands (so even trusted in a way). I'm not saying they're without issue - I've heard of may problems with Prime & Hunt, but within warranty they're all resolved or people got refunds. If you look online there's many people 'stuck' with junk 'carbon wheels from china' with no warranty, support or refund opportunity. Buying second hand you really are at the 'mercy' of the seller. I'd probably push you towards ebay as at least then you can see sellers ratings/feedback as a measure of 'trust', along with purchasing through Paypal for some payment protection. Meeting up and buying with cash you really do need to know what you're looking at to reduce risk. Is that my old-age sensible head talking and obviously providing advice a little too much... ;) :)

Saytan said:
there's something really nice about using something until it's used up and has no more to give. Especially against the backdrop of upgrade culture cycling has
Click to expand...
Yup, totally! Especially in this day and age - the quantity of mechanical components we 'wear out' and have to replace are very low as everything now is plastic/electronic and seems to break/die long before it wears out...

Drollic said:
I often wonder what some of them do for jobs/work whilst training for such things or just in general unless sponsored/paid. He's averaging around 3 hours per day on a bike every single day of the year so far according to Strava. 18.4 at 119bpm is pretty impressive given it's near 12k ft. It's like the guy who is one of worlds highest KOM holders based in UK - hasn't had a day not cycling in over 12 weeks, you can't go back far enough on Strava to even see when he didn't cycle :D
Click to expand...
Who we talking about, Steve Abraham or Hoppo? I know Hoppo is sponsored and is a brand ambassador for several quite bespoke specialist brands. At least 1 bike manufacturer, 1 wheel builder, several nutrition providers amongst others. Also Biemme clothing. He's got an impressive palmares which gives him quite a good opportunity for sponsorship but to put it into context, back in 2017 his turbo trainer broke, a 15 year old Computrainer. He couldn't 'afford' a smart trainer (at that time ~£300 for the cheapest?) as was between jobs while training for RAAM. During his training he'd done so much work with World Bike Relief on Zwift (then TeamWBR/RaceWBR), they actually did a couple of fundraiser rides for him and accepted donations to surprise him with a Turbo trainer (at the time I think it was a Wahoo KICKR Snap worth around £450). It got a huge response from him, was really quite humbling on how emotional it made him in a couple of the videos, really humanised him and put into context how he operated things and how his training for these huge events was on such a shoestring budget.

Just recently (last 12 months) he moved his family to Jersey (or was it Guernsey) and things where all quite vague on why. He's riding quite a bit less, but still able to compete so think it was a job/sponsorship opportunity EU based or possibly even for tax reasons. Unsure. Doubt the latter as he didn't seem to have the quantity of money coming in to be in a high tax bracket...

Saytan said:
Steve Abraham does deliveroo, think he might have been a postman before attempting the year record.

Noted 90s mountain biker David Baker was a postman. Reckon it's a pretty good job for someone trying to train a lot - fit and active, and all over fairly early in the day

@Roady from following Steve Abraham on twitter, he had some gut problems and "only" did about 290 miles
Click to expand...
Yup, Steve Abraham also has/had a load of private backers when doing the year record. I'm unsure how much sponsorship he has now, but he certainly has no problem taking a few days out to ride out to the National 24h, compete and then ride home. If you look on his Strava there's usually some good writeups on his rides. Almost like a timeline/blog at times and really quite interesting - gives an insight into how he does things/thinks.

UTmaniac said:
Good luck putting out the Watts to get you and the chariot rolling later in this heat, I had to do a short diversion on the way home earlier, which meant I tackled ~320 feet of climbing over ~1.5 miles in my current easiest gear (24/17, as opposed to my only other current option of 38/17 on the fatbike) in the ~30C heat to get home via my local Midanbury hill reps territory that I rarely do these days... So dry and hot, sweated buckets despite it not being that big a gear compared to my road bike and I've drank one of my 750ml bottle of chilled water and ~1.5l of ice cold diet cola since I got in at ~1345! :eek:
Click to expand...
Only got time to respond to this first bit... I actually enjoyed riding in that heat! Part of that might be because the wind was blowing from the South-East which is very unusual so I had a rare tailwind with the Chariot! It felt amazing to be pushing near 20mph at times for ~200W! The ride to collect was a pretty constant headwind and took quite a sustained tempo type effort in 30 degree+ heat which was probably closer to 35 with the warm winds though! Downed around 2 litres of liquid in the next few hours (4x what I normally would) as I'd utterly dehydrated myself without really realising due to the humidity... :o

Got home and it was much cooler inside (24 degrees) than outside (got sun visors we open to shade our large south facing kitchen window and patio doors)! So kept all the windows shut! :D

EDIT: had quite a thunderstorm here overnight and a real downpour - loads of rubbish washed onto roads and debris off trees. Speaking to someone at work (Irrigation manager) he reported 6mm of rain in less than 20 minutes. Which is a pretty huge downpour. Although the rain only lasted for an hour total so won't have done much to the ground/surface/plants, except help keep the dust levels down...

xdcx said:
New blog post. How close can a mere mortal get and do 400 watts for national level hill climbs? Let's give it a bash and find out!
https://dcun.co.uk/project-400/
Click to expand...
You're no 'mere mortal'. :p

EDIT: Good little post and really love your enthusiasm towards a goal which is just going to hurt. Lots! Haha ;) :D

Re: Ed Laverack, I know you'll have seen many of his videos, but no idea how much communication/interaction you've had with him. He's quite a good follow and active enough on Strava to have 'conversations' with. Loves his data/metrics/plans just the same as you! I know you where racing with/against him on Zwift - he's sure to remember you/your performances and I bet would be interested in helping you out with some pointers/advice - even though quite possibly you'll be competing against him in the National. :)
 
Last edited:
Roady said:
You're no 'mere mortal'. :p

EDIT: Good little post and really love your enthusiasm towards a goal which is just going to hurt. Lots! Haha ;) :D

Re: Ed Laverack, I know you'll have seen many of his videos, but no idea how much communication/interaction you've had with him. He's quite a good follow and active enough on Strava to have 'conversations' with. Loves his data/metrics/plans just the same as you! I know you where racing with/against him on Zwift - he's sure to remember you/your performances and I bet would be interested in helping you out with some pointers/advice - even though quite possibly you'll be competing against him in the National. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks mate :) I've spoken with Ed quite a bit over the last year and he's a good lad. Looking forward to meeting him later in the year and fully expect to be smashed... but will be awesome to see how close I can get!

SoliD said:
Interesting and will be keen to see the progress. From a technical point of view, how do you have your bike for this event, single ring etc? or just take off your cages and away you go?
Click to expand...

I have my previous Cube Agree frame sat looking sorry for itself. The plan was to build it up with Red 22 parts I got second hand cheap over the next few months so will see how that goes. Other than that Fizik R1 bars (already on it), Deda Superleggera seatpost (already on it) and either my FFWD F4R's or Reynolds SLX 90 things I just got with my new (2nd hand) Cube Agree frame. I need to weigh them both against each other to decide.

Cheap carbon minimal saddle and it'll be almost there and certainly sub 6.8kg.

I'm bit of a lost cause with single ring which I would prefer to do and drop front mech etc. I mash vast majority of things on a 53. I'll do Haytor in the 53 most probably. So I am worried of going a single 44 for example. I think the best idea and easiest will be to get a compact.... I will end up in the 50 everywhere though and never use the little ring as it will be too little :( Jury still out on this decision as you can see!

#Chri5# said:
Very interested to follow how you get on.
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy :)
 
Definitely one to consider xdcx, you've done the calcs on the wattage so you can definitely work out what you'd need. Dropping little bit of weight and getting a little bit of aero gain too! Presume aero suit and overshoes to go with it, anything to make you more slippery.
 
xdcx said:
Thanks mate :) I've spoken with Ed quite a bit over the last year and he's a good lad. Looking forward to meeting him later in the year and fully expect to be smashed... but will be awesome to see how close I can get!
Click to expand...
Ahh, good, I had hoped that was the case! You're probably very similar physically - I've only kinda-half-met him once 4 years ago on an NFTO club ride when he wasn't the lightweight climbing beast he is now but he wasn't a big guy then.
xdcx said:
I'm bit of a lost cause with single ring which I would prefer to do and drop front mech etc. I mash vast majority of things on a 53. I'll do Haytor in the 53 most probably. So I am worried of going a single 44 for example. I think the best idea and easiest will be to get a compact.... I will end up in the 50 everywhere though and never use the little ring as it will be too little :( Jury still out on this decision as you can see!
Click to expand...
Wouldn't carbon hoops with tubs be the way to go? Getting under 1200g? The FFWD's are a general wheelset if I recall - how heavy are they with tyres and tubes?

Regarding gearing, couldn't you cobble a 53/44 together to get the best of both worlds? If you're grinding but not riding anything steeper than 15% as you said. Just don't let the purists see it! You could even then just whip off the 'opposite' ring & FD as required to save a few grams for competition depending on the climb, then just refit for all your non competition riding... The extra 'weight' of a gear outer & cable just hanging there is nothing in comparison to dropping the FD & ring. :cool:

Had a bit of a fiddle last night as my front hydraulic has been a bit noisy with performance really dropping off the last week. I put it down to contamination before, as just before all this dry weather I'd stripped and cleaned the pads, caliper and rotor. So I went to bleed it last night, opened the top cap in the shifter to fit my funnel & stopper (before removing the lower) and realised I couldn't see any oil/fluid... Eek! Removed pads and squeeze them a bit and there it was, not totally dry but fluid level had obviously dropped quite a bit. Cleaned pads as I had them out, topped it up and removed bubbles. Performance is back to expected awesome levels! Actually had to unclip to avoid falling over after an abrupt test stop this morning lol :o ;)

It had been such a gradual drop I hadn't realised just how much performance had dropped - was still able to easily lock the wheel, just requiring 2 fingers rather than 1 and it being extra noisy. Can't see any evidence of a leak, but is probably 5-6 months since I last checked levels/removed bubbles...! Will admit my level of maintenance has dropped as we've really had very little filthy weather for many many months. All I've really been doing is tyre pressure and chain wipe & relube!

Oh tyre pressures... Thought things felt a bit squishy before the chariot commute on tuesday. Front had dropped to below 20 PSI, oops lol. Bit too 'comfortable'! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom