Cheers, I'll have a look on Planet-X. My glasses fogged up in the time it took me to twist my Garmin on to my bars and never cleared today, they ended up in my pocket after a couple of miles as my vision was getting worse every time I breathed!
Road Cycling Essentials
- Thread starter Matutu
- Start date
- Status
Cheers, I'll have a look on Planet-X. My glasses fogged up in the time it took me to twist my Garmin on to my bars and never cleared today, they ended up in my pocket after a couple of miles as my vision was getting worse every time I breathed!
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Apr 2004
- Posts
- 4,793
- Location
- London
Yeah, now I see how it works it seems incredibly easy - I think it is an odd design though as they don't 'feel' right even when setup properly!
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 16 May 2005
- Posts
- 31,297
- Location
- Manchester
Definitely. You get used to them though and the weird pull does afford you a lot of control/modulation.
I use Halfords anti fog wipes. You only need to do it a couple of time a year and it improves things. It's not perfect but it's better.
Thanks for the tip, I'll give them a shot when I'm next at Halfords.
Now with mudguards, dirt and a few hundred km....
I love this bike. Coming down Broomfield the other day and I was thinking there was no reason why this couldn't completely replace the Cervelo.
Details:
Canyon Inflite 9.0 with the following changes...
1) Swapped the 44/34 chain rings out for a 52/36 set as this is going to be for the road.
2) Changed the Ergon saddle for a Brooks Cambium C15. I never rode the Ergon but it didn't look comfortable and I wanted to try the Brooks.
3) Fitted guards. You have to use the ones specifically for the frame because the mounting points are on the inside of the forks and the stays.
4) CX tyres off and road tyres on.
It's a brilliant bike and although I've said it before I may as well say it again; discs are good and hydraulic discs are awesome.
I love this bike. Coming down Broomfield the other day and I was thinking there was no reason why this couldn't completely replace the Cervelo.
Details:
Canyon Inflite 9.0 with the following changes...
1) Swapped the 44/34 chain rings out for a 52/36 set as this is going to be for the road.
2) Changed the Ergon saddle for a Brooks Cambium C15. I never rode the Ergon but it didn't look comfortable and I wanted to try the Brooks.
3) Fitted guards. You have to use the ones specifically for the frame because the mounting points are on the inside of the forks and the stays.
4) CX tyres off and road tyres on.
It's a brilliant bike and although I've said it before I may as well say it again; discs are good and hydraulic discs are awesome.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Sep 2008
- Posts
- 10,120
- Location
- Burscough
Nice.
Pulled the trigger today. Canyon Endurace 9.0 CF is now on order. Fingers crossed I don't regret it!
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 8 Dec 2002
- Posts
- 20,825
- Location
- North Yorkshire
You won't I loved mine before I put it too bed for the winter.
4 Seasons isn't a bad substitute mind
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Sep 2008
- Posts
- 10,120
- Location
- Burscough
You won't I loved mine before I put it too bed for the winter.
4 Seasons isn't a bad substitute mind
Its going to be the dry weather/summer bike only! So its really no inconvenience that the earliest delivery date I have is the first week of March!
Soldato
- Joined
- 8 Dec 2002
- Posts
- 20,825
- Location
- North Yorkshire
I wouldn't take that for granted mine arrived 2 weeks earlier and I was in plaster and on crutches
What an amazing day! Have to do a quick write up as I'm on my phone. Will sort a proper something out when I get access on my laptop.
Woke up to an amazing sunrise over alcudia Bay, breakfast served, great healthy selection but surprisingly some cakes and pancakes.
Sat in on the team brief with all of the riders, interesting to see how they all have individual pre planned efforts. Then headed out riding as a big group. Nightmare scenario. My garmin was dead when I turned it on. So lost about the first 6 or 7 miles. Rode with the pros for about 15k was chatting to Ben Swift for about half of that time. Then they Went and done their training with half of the guys doing sa calobre and half doing a flatter route.
We split off as a group of VIP's. Most of the people here had won a charity auction. Only 2 of us through the jaguar competition. So very varying levels of ability.
We then had a race which was 3x2km laps then a 3km climb, team to win was the first to get 2 men and 1 woman over the line first. Our team had decided to send our blokes ahead (me and a a german) as the men had to do one more lap. This was a decisive move as we got to the climb with a minute or so lead and extended it as the climb went on!
Once everyone got up the climb we carried on to the lighthouse. And back, fantastic bit of road which has has been resurfaced since team sky met with the islands mayor last year. Headed back after this. Weather was fantastic all day about 12-14 with a bit of a breeze so arm and leg warmers and compression top but comfortable!
Managed to meet dave Brailsford, Laura trott, jo Rowsell, Paul manning, nico Roche to name a few, spotted ed clancy and Eli Barker, as well as all the riders out with the team training leo Konig, elia viviani bernie eisel.
Overall i couldn't have asked for more being able to meet all these people who were so approachable and happy to ask any questions you may have had. Few pics for now
Woke up to an amazing sunrise over alcudia Bay, breakfast served, great healthy selection but surprisingly some cakes and pancakes.
Sat in on the team brief with all of the riders, interesting to see how they all have individual pre planned efforts. Then headed out riding as a big group. Nightmare scenario. My garmin was dead when I turned it on. So lost about the first 6 or 7 miles. Rode with the pros for about 15k was chatting to Ben Swift for about half of that time. Then they Went and done their training with half of the guys doing sa calobre and half doing a flatter route.
We split off as a group of VIP's. Most of the people here had won a charity auction. Only 2 of us through the jaguar competition. So very varying levels of ability.
We then had a race which was 3x2km laps then a 3km climb, team to win was the first to get 2 men and 1 woman over the line first. Our team had decided to send our blokes ahead (me and a a german) as the men had to do one more lap. This was a decisive move as we got to the climb with a minute or so lead and extended it as the climb went on!
Once everyone got up the climb we carried on to the lighthouse. And back, fantastic bit of road which has has been resurfaced since team sky met with the islands mayor last year. Headed back after this. Weather was fantastic all day about 12-14 with a bit of a breeze so arm and leg warmers and compression top but comfortable!
Managed to meet dave Brailsford, Laura trott, jo Rowsell, Paul manning, nico Roche to name a few, spotted ed clancy and Eli Barker, as well as all the riders out with the team training leo Konig, elia viviani bernie eisel.
Overall i couldn't have asked for more being able to meet all these people who were so approachable and happy to ask any questions you may have had. Few pics for now
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Sep 2008
- Posts
- 10,120
- Location
- Burscough
The full write up will be post of the year!
Underboss
- Joined
- 20 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 33,840
- Location
- Oxfordshire / Bucks
Very Nice SOLID, very nice indeed
glad you had a fab time, we are all so Jealous!
glad you had a fab time, we are all so Jealous!
Now with mudguards, dirt and a few hundred km....
I love this bike. Coming down Broomfield the other day and I was thinking there was no reason why this couldn't completely replace the Cervelo.
Details:
Canyon Inflite 9.0 with the following changes...
1) Swapped the 44/34 chain rings out for a 52/36 set as this is going to be for the road.
2) Changed the Ergon saddle for a Brooks Cambium C15. I never rode the Ergon but it didn't look comfortable and I wanted to try the Brooks.
3) Fitted guards. You have to use the ones specifically for the frame because the mounting points are on the inside of the forks and the stays.
4) CX tyres off and road tyres on.
It's a brilliant bike and although I've said it before I may as well say it again; discs are good and hydraulic discs are awesome.
Looks very very nice. I am considering a new bike plan and that machine certainly has me thinking.
Tempted to sell the Wilier and make the Chinarello main summer bike and then get a cross machine for next winter. I quite fancy racing some cross and I guess that canyon would do the trick
Managed to snap my chain today so only managed 25 miles but was good to be out again. First time for near a month. Wasnt gasping too much so seems like the few turbo sessions are doing something.
Right have managed to get on some nice free wi fi in my hotel! So apologies if my story telling is boring, but have tried to give you most of the details, any questions don't hesitate to ask!
So to start my weekend I was getting a lift to the airport by my parents, unfortunately I woke up Friday morning realising I had forgotten my HRM, as well as a quick link and my multi tool with chain remover, just in case. So said to my Dad we need to pop in to my house on the way (about 15 minutes out of the way) Lots of swearing entailed!
In the end there was no traffic on the A3 or M25 so I got to the airport before bag drop had even opened!
Day got even better from there when we were on the plane, we were sat on the runway for a good 30 minutes, and then the pilot comes over the radio, (EasyJet) Oh we've had passengers check bags in but not get on the plane.....So we head back to the terminal, to say I was beginning to think I'll never meet the guys was an understatement. Went back to the terminal, now about an hour late to take off, and the pilot announces, oh we've found that the staff accidently scanned something they shouldn't but because we were sat for so long we have to refuel! Not happy to say the least, and then we have to wait for a spot in the queue to get a take off. So in the end we take off about 90 minutes late, from a cold wet Gatwick.
Landed in Palma airport, then follow the myriad of escalators to get my luggage, unfortunately I had managed to walk about 500 yards past where my bike would come out, at this point I was losing my mind and getting just a bit annoyed (with myself) Eventually met up with our hosts Ollie Figlio Du Cuoco (I'll come onto this later) and Kelly, who are planning assistant and sponsor liason respecitvely. Both great guys, we have a couple of Jag XFs, which we then managed to squeeze 3 bike boxes into the back of one! with some persuasion, and headed off to the hotel, I was with Ollie in one car, and this is where my questions started, how long he has been into cycling etc, he had actually raced full time for a year in Italy when he got made redundant before joining Team GB and then Sky (which seems to be a common theme for the majority of the guys involved.
Got to the hotel in the end by about 5.30 local time, the team have the whole hotel booked to themselves from December through to the end of January, so only riders staff and guests (such as team GB pursuit teams this week) to be greeted by a few other Team Sky reps, we have about 15 minutes to get our stuff into our rooms and meet up for a briefing with Sir Dave Brailsford for a brief, upon arrival in my room, a nice new pair of Rapha Bibs and Jersey was on my bed! (Lovely kit!)
He had a 30 minute slot, talking about how the team operates, how they plan for the year, how they do each race, how many staff etc, the guy is an absolute legend, he went on in the end for about 90 minutes! With questions being asked and him delivering open and honest answers, everyone in the room was listening incredibly intensely, and hanging onto everything he was saying, which was so insightful, and wasn't just about cycling, but management in general, which you could use in your everyday working and personal lives.
The main message of this brief, was antibacterial hand gel which is dotted about the hotel is the most important thing to use constnatly the team are very concerned by bacterial infections, which they said accounted for 23% of their riders downtime last year. In our briefing packs it specifically highlighted to tell any member of the team if you feel unwell. The level of detail they invest in to keep everything clean is incredible, and you can see why.
We then had an evening brief of the plan for the next day, which included the evening meal, breakfast, morning briefings, morning ride and departures, everything is planned meticulously and all riders and staff are expected (demanded) to be at the daily events on time. (each day is the same) With a morning and evening brief for riders and staff, breakfast is fairly flowing, but evening meal generally everyone comes down together. Just towards the end of the brief, I get my first sort of glimpse, well noise of a famous, it was Laura Trotts giggle, which is about 100x more infectious in real life!
So the evening meal followed this, which was put on by Soren (you may have seen some of his youtube videos), which was a selection of pasta, salad, breads, chicken, beef, all lovely simple but well cooked foods. With a bit of pudding and lots of activia yoghurts. Dave Brailsford came and perched himself on the end of the table next to me, and the table and us had a chat for another hour or so about all aspects from the team to being away from kids working for so long etc. Once again incredibly insightful.
After this we retired to the lobby and had a brief discussion on the route for tomorrow, which was set up as 15km riding out with the team on the flat, at which point they would split off in to their relevant training teams and the VIPs would ride their own route, which was a further 10 or so km to a section where we would be split into two teams and do a simulated race. During this 10km, we would do some sprinting, and Torque sessions, simulating what the pros would do, whereby they would whack it into 53/11 and grind along (usually doing this up Sa Calobre) to encourage muscle strength. I will be doing a bit more of this sort of work, as they say it is very useful for their guys, so can't do any harm in small sections (they usually do 5-10 minute intervals of this). Followed by a race!
After this the group had a bit of a chat about tactics and consumed a bit of wine! Then most people went to bed about 10.30.
Got a bit of a crappy nights sleep, think due to the room being quite toasty, but went down for breakfast about 7.30, at breakfast all of the pros were there, along with all of team GB sprint pursuit, which included Laura Trott, Ed Clancy(who is huge in real life), Jo Rowsell, Eli Barker, and a fair few others.
Went and got changed then back down to the lobby, this is where the photos started, it was one of those, where once the first was taken with Dave Brailsford, everyone joined the bandwagon! With a few of the riders about at this time I got a fair few. Once again everyone was so approachable and happy to take pictures, and have a chat. I got Laura Trotts, and then asked Paul Manning for his, which Laura took, he took the mickey out of her saying she isn't used to this and won't know how to do it!
So we then had a briefing for the day whereby all the riders plans were shown for the day, this was led by one of the performance coaches Dario, who went through who was going with who, who was in the cars etc, fairly detailed and each rider had quite tailored requirements for their various aspects, so for example, Leo Konig had a very demanding full bore session up sa calobre,whereas Ben swift and a few others were doing Torque sessions followed by Zone 3 (all power related not HR) followed by Torque etc, for about 5 minutes a piece. yet they followed the same route.
Kiriyenka and Elia Viviani
Leo Konig (really slight irl)
So out for the ride, we set off in a big group with a couple of support cars, van and motorbike, the pros at the front, but Ben Swift dropped back about 5km in and had a good long chat with me until the split point, he said he had hoped to catch us during the race to see us going for it! We then followed the routines they talked about the evening before, then we got to....
The RACE
The race was changed from the initial plan, and got very confusing, but in essence, the team to win was the first to get 2 males and 1 female over the line. As the riders were of varying abilities, as most of the VIPs had won the chance to come by charity auction. The route was 3x2km laps(2 for women) followed by a 3km climb. With 2 teams, we split up and done some tactics, our team decided to send who they thought were the two strongest guys (Me and a German guy)out front to get a gap and everyone elses responsibility was to nurse the strongest girl to the bottom of the climb.
So from the off Me and this german guy went for it, doing turns (him longer he was an animal who we later discovered done over 20k km last year) and had built up a huge lead by the bottom of the climb, but we carried on going, and eventually caught our teams female about 200m from the top of the climb. Who we pushed up to the finish! Winning by a good 2 or 3 minutes. The prize was supposed to be a massage, but unfortunately these got fully booked up by the time we got back.
The option was then to ride on to the lighthouse or head back to the hotel, most guys carried on, the run to the lighthouse was a lovely mix of descending and climbing, all on a perfect road, which has been resurfaced since Sky had a meeting with the Mayor of the Island and brought up how it could do with being resurfaced!
Once we got to the tip of the Island the views kept coming, and we had a little breather with the support car providing food. When up at the lighthouse, we were talking to our guide Ollie, about why he had the Italian name on his sleeve, being a thick northern accented individual (Figlio du Cuoco) and yet had Cookie on his bike, and he said it is because I can't really have Cookson any more, as his dad is Brian! The UCI president! He made a joke that his dad gets annoyed as people say to him oh you're Ollies dad!
We then turned around, followed the same road, and headed back to the hotel, with riders going at varying pace, but meeting up at points to regroup. Eventually getting back to the hotel, getting cleaned up and having a bit of lunch (at 4pm) It was then I had to part and head to my own hotel, as I'm staying out here for the rest of the week!
I couldn't have said thank you any more to all of the staff members, the whole team were so welcoming and open, with chats and advice being asked to everyone from performance guys, to chefs, to mechanics.
So I think that is it!
TLR My couple of days were a cyclists wet dream, Team Sky are awesome and I'll be supporting them even more this year! (and they are expecting a good year, with Richie Porte in amazing form and looking for a win at TDU next week)
So to start my weekend I was getting a lift to the airport by my parents, unfortunately I woke up Friday morning realising I had forgotten my HRM, as well as a quick link and my multi tool with chain remover, just in case. So said to my Dad we need to pop in to my house on the way (about 15 minutes out of the way) Lots of swearing entailed!
In the end there was no traffic on the A3 or M25 so I got to the airport before bag drop had even opened! Day got even better from there when we were on the plane, we were sat on the runway for a good 30 minutes, and then the pilot comes over the radio, (EasyJet) Oh we've had passengers check bags in but not get on the plane.....So we head back to the terminal, to say I was beginning to think I'll never meet the guys was an understatement. Went back to the terminal, now about an hour late to take off, and the pilot announces, oh we've found that the staff accidently scanned something they shouldn't but because we were sat for so long we have to refuel! Not happy to say the least, and then we have to wait for a spot in the queue to get a take off. So in the end we take off about 90 minutes late, from a cold wet Gatwick.
Landed in Palma airport, then follow the myriad of escalators to get my luggage, unfortunately I had managed to walk about 500 yards past where my bike would come out, at this point I was losing my mind and getting just a bit annoyed (with myself) Eventually met up with our hosts Ollie Figlio Du Cuoco (I'll come onto this later) and Kelly, who are planning assistant and sponsor liason respecitvely. Both great guys, we have a couple of Jag XFs, which we then managed to squeeze 3 bike boxes into the back of one! with some persuasion, and headed off to the hotel, I was with Ollie in one car, and this is where my questions started, how long he has been into cycling etc, he had actually raced full time for a year in Italy when he got made redundant before joining Team GB and then Sky (which seems to be a common theme for the majority of the guys involved.
Got to the hotel in the end by about 5.30 local time, the team have the whole hotel booked to themselves from December through to the end of January, so only riders staff and guests (such as team GB pursuit teams this week) to be greeted by a few other Team Sky reps, we have about 15 minutes to get our stuff into our rooms and meet up for a briefing with Sir Dave Brailsford for a brief, upon arrival in my room, a nice new pair of Rapha Bibs and Jersey was on my bed! (Lovely kit!)
He had a 30 minute slot, talking about how the team operates, how they plan for the year, how they do each race, how many staff etc, the guy is an absolute legend, he went on in the end for about 90 minutes! With questions being asked and him delivering open and honest answers, everyone in the room was listening incredibly intensely, and hanging onto everything he was saying, which was so insightful, and wasn't just about cycling, but management in general, which you could use in your everyday working and personal lives.
The main message of this brief, was antibacterial hand gel which is dotted about the hotel is the most important thing to use constnatly the team are very concerned by bacterial infections, which they said accounted for 23% of their riders downtime last year. In our briefing packs it specifically highlighted to tell any member of the team if you feel unwell. The level of detail they invest in to keep everything clean is incredible, and you can see why.
We then had an evening brief of the plan for the next day, which included the evening meal, breakfast, morning briefings, morning ride and departures, everything is planned meticulously and all riders and staff are expected (demanded) to be at the daily events on time. (each day is the same) With a morning and evening brief for riders and staff, breakfast is fairly flowing, but evening meal generally everyone comes down together. Just towards the end of the brief, I get my first sort of glimpse, well noise of a famous, it was Laura Trotts giggle, which is about 100x more infectious in real life!
So the evening meal followed this, which was put on by Soren (you may have seen some of his youtube videos), which was a selection of pasta, salad, breads, chicken, beef, all lovely simple but well cooked foods. With a bit of pudding and lots of activia yoghurts. Dave Brailsford came and perched himself on the end of the table next to me, and the table and us had a chat for another hour or so about all aspects from the team to being away from kids working for so long etc. Once again incredibly insightful.
After this we retired to the lobby and had a brief discussion on the route for tomorrow, which was set up as 15km riding out with the team on the flat, at which point they would split off in to their relevant training teams and the VIPs would ride their own route, which was a further 10 or so km to a section where we would be split into two teams and do a simulated race. During this 10km, we would do some sprinting, and Torque sessions, simulating what the pros would do, whereby they would whack it into 53/11 and grind along (usually doing this up Sa Calobre) to encourage muscle strength. I will be doing a bit more of this sort of work, as they say it is very useful for their guys, so can't do any harm in small sections (they usually do 5-10 minute intervals of this). Followed by a race!
After this the group had a bit of a chat about tactics and consumed a bit of wine! Then most people went to bed about 10.30.
Got a bit of a crappy nights sleep, think due to the room being quite toasty, but went down for breakfast about 7.30, at breakfast all of the pros were there, along with all of team GB sprint pursuit, which included Laura Trott, Ed Clancy(who is huge in real life), Jo Rowsell, Eli Barker, and a fair few others.
Went and got changed then back down to the lobby, this is where the photos started, it was one of those, where once the first was taken with Dave Brailsford, everyone joined the bandwagon! With a few of the riders about at this time I got a fair few. Once again everyone was so approachable and happy to take pictures, and have a chat. I got Laura Trotts, and then asked Paul Manning for his, which Laura took, he took the mickey out of her saying she isn't used to this and won't know how to do it!
So we then had a briefing for the day whereby all the riders plans were shown for the day, this was led by one of the performance coaches Dario, who went through who was going with who, who was in the cars etc, fairly detailed and each rider had quite tailored requirements for their various aspects, so for example, Leo Konig had a very demanding full bore session up sa calobre,whereas Ben swift and a few others were doing Torque sessions followed by Zone 3 (all power related not HR) followed by Torque etc, for about 5 minutes a piece. yet they followed the same route.
Kiriyenka and Elia Viviani
Leo Konig (really slight irl)
So out for the ride, we set off in a big group with a couple of support cars, van and motorbike, the pros at the front, but Ben Swift dropped back about 5km in and had a good long chat with me until the split point, he said he had hoped to catch us during the race to see us going for it! We then followed the routines they talked about the evening before, then we got to....
The RACE
The race was changed from the initial plan, and got very confusing, but in essence, the team to win was the first to get 2 males and 1 female over the line. As the riders were of varying abilities, as most of the VIPs had won the chance to come by charity auction. The route was 3x2km laps(2 for women) followed by a 3km climb. With 2 teams, we split up and done some tactics, our team decided to send who they thought were the two strongest guys (Me and a German guy)out front to get a gap and everyone elses responsibility was to nurse the strongest girl to the bottom of the climb.
So from the off Me and this german guy went for it, doing turns (him longer he was an animal who we later discovered done over 20k km last year) and had built up a huge lead by the bottom of the climb, but we carried on going, and eventually caught our teams female about 200m from the top of the climb. Who we pushed up to the finish! Winning by a good 2 or 3 minutes. The prize was supposed to be a massage, but unfortunately these got fully booked up by the time we got back.
The option was then to ride on to the lighthouse or head back to the hotel, most guys carried on, the run to the lighthouse was a lovely mix of descending and climbing, all on a perfect road, which has been resurfaced since Sky had a meeting with the Mayor of the Island and brought up how it could do with being resurfaced!
Once we got to the tip of the Island the views kept coming, and we had a little breather with the support car providing food. When up at the lighthouse, we were talking to our guide Ollie, about why he had the Italian name on his sleeve, being a thick northern accented individual (Figlio du Cuoco) and yet had Cookie on his bike, and he said it is because I can't really have Cookson any more, as his dad is Brian! The UCI president! He made a joke that his dad gets annoyed as people say to him oh you're Ollies dad!
We then turned around, followed the same road, and headed back to the hotel, with riders going at varying pace, but meeting up at points to regroup. Eventually getting back to the hotel, getting cleaned up and having a bit of lunch (at 4pm) It was then I had to part and head to my own hotel, as I'm staying out here for the rest of the week!
I couldn't have said thank you any more to all of the staff members, the whole team were so welcoming and open, with chats and advice being asked to everyone from performance guys, to chefs, to mechanics.
So I think that is it!
TL
R My couple of days were a cyclists wet dream, Team Sky are awesome and I'll be supporting them even more this year! (and they are expecting a good year, with Richie Porte in amazing form and looking for a win at TDU next week)
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