Road Cycling

Junglist · 6 May 2022 at 09:59

Silly question alert...

Want to get my partner up and running on the turbo trainer in a few weeks but in order to make it easier for her I wanted to replace her rear thru-axle with one with a lever on it. Her current one means using an Allen key and I'd rather make it less fiddly when it comes to switching our bikes over.

That's the axle in her bike. I don't know if you're supposed to measure the entire thing or just the barrel part. My guess would be that it's 170mm

Would this be a suitable replacement?

Only thing I can't seem to find anywhere is the pitch of the thread.

Edit: and of course after asking I think I've sussed it. Think it's the size smaller with a different pitch

SoliD · 8 May 2022 at 12:43

Had food poisoning the last week, went out Thursday which in hindsight was misjudged as I wasn't right, but feeling better today went out again, managed 2 hours and was absolutely knackered at the end of it, pushing 200W felt nigh on impossible for anything more than 30 seconds! Said to a guy I rode with I knew I was ill as I didn't even want to ride my bike! Hopefully it's passed now and can get a few miles in this next week with the good weather before heading on holiday for 3.5 weeks the week after for a long overdue honeymoon!

fez · 8 May 2022 at 15:19

Another beautiful day for the bike. Went on a 60km route from Komoot and made the mistake of not really looking at it too much. The mad man who added it clearly liked a hill and at one point it veers off route just to go up a really long and steep hill and then turn around at the top and come back down.

Pushed over 60km/hr down the hill and I was braking quite heavily at times as it was in the shade at times and I have zero faith in our roads. Fun on the down, horrible on the up.

It’s funny how you feel like you are doing quite well when you are cycling and then you get a stern reminder that you are a rank amateur as some chap blasts past you on a climb and he’s not even breathing heavily as you are regretting all your life decisions.

I think I need to do some hill specific stuff on the wahoo as that’s where I massively struggle. Lot of hills around here as well.

Trifid · 8 May 2022 at 15:22

SoliD said:
Had food poisoning the last week

So you... weren't so solid...

AndyCr15 · 8 May 2022 at 16:07

fez said:
I think I need to do some hill specific stuff on the wahoo as that’s where I massively struggle. Lot of hills around here as well.

I'm dreading it, but I need to do a 4DP test again. Last time it told me my MAP was my weakness, so I spent a year mainly doing MAP training, but looking at comparison numbers now, they seem to try and tell me my NM and AC are now my weaker points. Tbh, I don't really need them, so maybe I'll keep working VO2... but I really should just man up and do the 4DP again

To your point, I did a few hill climbing sessions before I went to Mallorca, slow cadence, high power. They're not fun, but I feel like they helped.

Lethal` · 8 May 2022 at 23:43

Lethal` said:
BB needed changing (could wobble it) so I fortunately managed to get a mobile repair guy out to me within a few days and change it at my place. Pretty decent. Unfortunately, it's still creaking especially in small gear. Go to investigate today and discover that the aftermarket chainring bolt I had to use a year or so ago due to supply issues has stripped itself. Sigh! Hopefully, chainring bolts are not in such short supply this time.

Damn. This turned out to be a stripped thread in the chainring - not the bolt. I had to use aftermarket Raceface bolts after an original Shimano stripped (the head came off). At the time bolts were literally unavailable. Local shops were waiting months too. The Raceface bolts are steel... the chainring is alloy. Seems odd for the bolt to come loose just after a BB change where in theory they weren't touched but whatever.

I wonder if there's anyway to salvage the chainring?

fez · 9 May 2022 at 10:14

AndyCr15 said:
I'm dreading it, but I need to do a 4DP test again. Last time it told me my MAP was my weakness, so I spent a year mainly doing MAP training, but looking at comparison numbers now, they seem to try and tell me my NM and AC are now my weaker points. Tbh, I don't really need them, so maybe I'll keep working VO2... but I really should just man up and do the 4DP again

To your point, I did a few hill climbing sessions before I went to Mallorca, slow cadence, high power. They're not fun, but I feel like they helped.

Yeah, I'm sure I just need to do some work I don't want to do to get better at hills. Honestly I think there is just a base level of hill climbing fitness I need and then I won't feel like dying on the long steep ones. As long as I can spin up them its fine.

I guess part of it is just knowing your route and pacing yourself. I had never ridden the route before and the massive horrible hill was about 2/3rd of the way around. It was definitely a big hill because there is another good long hill near the final stretch of the route I do quite a lot and I was dreading it but I managed to get up it OK despite being knackered.

I think I still need to work on my refuelling as well. I took 2 750ml bottles with High Five energy drink which had ~60g of carbs (40g sugar ) between them. I think the extra bar I took to compliment them saved me. I felt much better after eating that. Perhaps I should have taken 2-3 bars.

How many of you guys use a massage gun or anything similar to help with recovery. I have a cheapo one and I find that giving the legs a good pounding with that when I get back from a ride is really helpful.

Junglist · 9 May 2022 at 10:22

I really hate hills. I love the feeling at the top of it as it's a nice feeling of accomplishment but I hate the going up part. I keep trying to do the Zwift Alp to try and get better but I don't think it's doing much for me in the real world!

I want to go and cycle up Cheddar Gorge now the weather is getting nicer. descending it is really fun but I haven't gone up it yet.

fez · 9 May 2022 at 10:57

Junglist said:
I really hate hills. I love the feeling at the top of it as it's a nice feeling of accomplishment but I hate the going up part. I keep trying to do the Zwift Alp to try and get better but I don't think it's doing much for me in the real world!

I want to go and cycle up Cheddar Gorge now the weather is getting nicer. descending it is really fun but I haven't gone up it yet.

I haven't tried the alp du zwift yet and I probably won't for a little while. Looks grim. I'm going to be mainly riding outside over the coming months due to the weather being good. When the winter comes though I will be all over it. Hopefully by then I will be a lot fitter anyway.

Junglist · 9 May 2022 at 11:11

fez said:
I haven't tried the alp du zwift yet and I probably won't for a little while. Looks grim. I'm going to be mainly riding outside over the coming months due to the weather being good. When the winter comes though I will be all over it. Hopefully by then I will be a lot fitter anyway.

It's worth doing for sure and it's quite a good workout. I'm very slow up there as my best time is, quite frankly, sedate 74 minutes but I always enjoy it once i get to the top. However I do not enjoy keep getting given the damn helmet. I've done it 8 times now. I've got the helmet 6 of those times.

My aim is to try and get close to or under 60 minutes by the end of the year. Doable but shaving another 14 minutes off will be tough. I just tell myself it's a minute per corner.

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2022 at 11:19

Junglist said:
It's worth doing for sure and it's quite a good workout.

I personally believe an actual workout is a better workout though. Sounds silly or obvious, but I was really impressed what a training plan did for me...

fez said:
How many of you guys use a massage gun or anything similar to help with recovery. I have a cheapo one and I find that giving the legs a good pounding with that when I get back from a ride is really helpful.

Yeah, I have a half decent one. I'm never sure how much difference it makes for recovery as who knows how the legs would feel the day after if I did or didn't use it? There are times though, your muscles all feel twitchy and achy and a good pummelling seems to help them feel better

Junglist · 9 May 2022 at 11:28

AndyCr15 said:
I personally believe an actual workout is a better workout though. Sounds silly or obvious, but I was really impressed what a training plan did for me...

Yeah for sure. I only really do it on my free ride days. Though i did it yesterday (helmet again) as a workout and hated it as by the time the workout finished I was only at 16 and then had to do the rest of it whilst I was already a bit tired.

I need to do Ventoux next. I still think the Radio Tower is the hardest climb in the game

fez · 9 May 2022 at 11:39

AndyCr15 said:
I personally believe an actual workout is a better workout though. Sounds silly or obvious, but I was really impressed what a training plan did for me...

Structured training in most sports is fantastically effective, the only question for me is how much I value performance over enjoyment. I am/was a very keen climber and COVID lockdown kind of reset my perspective on my hobbies and what I want from them. Previously I was very committed to training 3 times a week and doing some training but I realised that I didn't enjoy that as much as climbing at a bit of a lower level and doing it less frequently but with more freedom.

The scenery on the ride yesterday was breathtaking at times. England really is a beautiful country. As long as I am fit enough to do the rides I want to do and see the countryside I want to see, training will probably take somewhat of a backseat to just getting out there and riding.

AndyCr15 said:
Yeah, I have a half decent one. I'm never sure how much difference it makes for recovery as who knows how the legs would feel the day after if I did or didn't use it? There are times though, your muscles all feel twitchy and achy and a good pummelling seems to help them feel better

My legs feel much better than they have any right to feel today and they felt much better immediately after the pummelling yesterday. I think its pretty well accepted that they do work. I imagine diet and sleep are more important but I have been surprised how much of a difference it did make as I hadn't found it that useful for climbing recovery.

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2022 at 13:52

fez said:
for me is how much I value performance over enjoyment

A point a friend made to me, which I think fit with my own needs too, was that they wanted to be a good enough cyclist that they could keep up with their friends. Unfortunately, this friend and another elevated themselves above me and it's hard work now when I ride with them

I think I've reached near the top of my performance curve too.

UTmaniac · 9 May 2022 at 14:10

Junglist said:
I really hate hills. I love the feeling at the top of it as it's a nice feeling of accomplishment but I hate the going up part. I keep trying to do the Zwift Alp to try and get better but I don't think it's doing much for me in the real world!

I want to go and cycle up Cheddar Gorge now the weather is getting nicer. descending it is really fun but I haven't gone up it yet.

Generally, I've tried to make my harder turbo sessions apply to the real world while cycling everyday since Nov 2nd, after flu last Oct left me wondering if my days of trying to challenge my outdoor hill segment PBs were over. Hills near Southampton in the South Downs aren't that big in the grand scheme of things, a fair few in the 250-450 foot 3%+ range, but there's only the very odd few 450-640 foot.

Since getting my turbo Xmas '17, what typically happens is I make decent gains over the winter, then get a respiratory infection around early March during which all intensive stuff has to be knocked on the head, so I lose a bit of the gains and then start trying to apply my gains to outdoor rides. However, no lurgy happened this winter after that flu and I've carried my gains through, after the setback of dropping from 285W for 20mins in September to 205W in early Nov after the flu I'm now at an all time best (since Xmas '17) of 314W.

My local cat4+ hills take me approx 5-15mins to climb on a good day without a headwind, so most of my racing and workouts on Zwift have been doing frequent 5-20min races/intervals at my limit without any tactical drafting in bunches. Outdoor segment PB chasing have been sporadic over the last two months because I'm a fairweather outdoor cyclist, but I've either set new PBs or very close seconds on all but my freak 1min best from Mar '20 and getting severe calf cramp as I approached Wheely Down from Kilmeston (apparently I was 4secs up on my best set in a monster tailwind a few years back until cramp) the other week.

But even if not chasing segment bests up hills, those turbo sessions made steady hill climbing that little bit more comfortable, because my body is used to working harder. As I wrote the other day, I travelled to Warminster for the day and did my fifth biggest day ever (~80 mile including rides to/from Southampton Central and ~6100 feet) and the last one similar was June '19. There's nowhere to hide on that top section near King Alfreds Tower even in lowest 34/34 gear, but the other hills were fine, by far my biggest challenge that day was the time duration because I've only done one other ride of 4 hours this year and most of my turbo sessions were 25-75mins... My legs were a bit achy over the weekend! https://www.strava.com/activities/7092150402

Go ride Cheddar Gorge and maybe the more constant gradient Burrington Combe (other nice climbs there too, Draycott Steep is brutal), they are wonderful climbs, well worth riding relatively steady at least once to enjoy the views.

fez · 9 May 2022 at 14:11

AndyCr15 said:
A point a friend made to me, which I think fit with my own needs too, was that they wanted to be a good enough cyclist that they could keep up with their friends. Unfortunately, this friend and another elevated themselves above me and it's hard work now when I ride with them I think I've reached near the top of my performance curve too.

I'm sure you could improve and exceed their level if you wanted to enough but as you get better the diminishing returns kick in harder and harder. To get 10% better you might have to put in 30% more time. Cycling is very much a sport that requires a massive time commitment vs many others.

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2022 at 15:56

I think the issue is, I've never been a long distance type. I almost can't believe what I can do these days. I think I would struggle to keep up with my friends as one is 20 years younger, 15kg lighter and trains pretty hard. I just don't think I could be as quick as him. The other is the long distance type, 30kg lighter and has now thrown some structured training in, so again, I just think any time we come to a climb, he's going to leave me behind. (Tbh, the whole 'you can do anything if you want it enough' as always annoyed me, especially when it comes from some sports star 'you could be like me if you just try hard enough'. I just don't believe it :cry:

How many others have tried that hard and not made it. You don't hear from them...)

It's funny though, I often think I was in better shape this time last year*, but some of the 3 to 8 minute climbs I've done recently smashed PB's. Ivinghoe this Saturday, I felt knackered, legs felt gone... took my PR from 7:0? down to 6:30ish... I didn't think I even tried that hard... :eek:

*again, I think it's because this time last year I was as quick or even quicker than my two riding mates. This year I can't keep up, but it's them improving, not me getting slower (I think...)

fez · 9 May 2022 at 17:22

AndyCr15 said:
(Tbh, the whole 'you can do anything if you want it enough' as always annoyed me, especially when it comes from some sports star 'you could be like me if you just try hard enough'. I just don't believe it How many others have tried that hard and not made it. You don't hear from them...)

Oh 100% when it comes to the sharp end but I can guarantee you there are dudes in their 70s who have never been elite level at a given sport who would smoke 95% or more of people younger than them of any age bar the professionals/semi-pros.

Its easy to believe that age is the reason that guy 20 years younger is better than you and yes, for the same amount of quality training he will probably always beat you but quality >>> quantity in almost everything.

If you don't have the time or desire to train enough to compete with them thats one thing but I would wager that unless they are exceptional exceptional athletes you could match them with the required dedication.

The reason people spout the BS about hard work is because they want to believe that at the very elite level it isn't hugely about luck. Luck in your genetics. Everyone in the tour de france is a monster. Some of them are just slightly more monstrous than others. They can train harder than the others because of their genetics. If you look at any world class athlete you will most likely find someone who works extremely hard but also has genetic advantages alongside a very strong mental game.

AndyCr15 said:
It's funny though, I often think I was in better shape this time last year*, but some of the 3 to 8 minute climbs I've done recently smashed PB's. Ivinghoe this Saturday, I felt knackered, legs felt gone... took my PR from 7:0? down to 6:30ish... I didn't think I even tried that hard...

*again, I think it's because this time last year I was as quick or even quicker than my two riding mates. This year I can't keep up, but it's them improving, not me getting slower (I think...)

Applying the Skinner logic to the situation, I like it

AndyCr15 · 9 May 2022 at 17:33

fez said:
Oh 100% when it comes to the sharp end but I can guarantee you there are dudes in their 70s who have never been elite level at a given sport who would smoke 95% or more of people younger than them of any age bar the professionals/semi-pros.

Its easy to believe that age is the reason that guy 20 years younger is better than you and yes, for the same amount of quality training he will probably always beat you but quality >>> quantity in almost everything.

And this is my point, when I started cycling, I was soooo out of shape. I got massive gains for a good 12-18 months, but as time progresses the gains become less and less as you get closer to the best you could be. I'm a lot further along that curving graph (time committed against gains being made) than my younger friend was last year. He's now moved up into a similar place as me on that graph... and he's younger and lighter than me, so he's fitter and faster. Yes, I could quit my job, train 4 or 5 hours a day and I could perhaps push further up my curve and go past him performance-wise, but quite honestly now the sun has come out, I'd rather just enjoy my riding and maybe a training session or two during the week after work

fez · 9 May 2022 at 18:33

AndyCr15 said:
but quite honestly now the sun has come out, I'd rather just enjoy my riding and maybe a training session or two during the week after work

You and me both!