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Had a good ride on Saturday.
Left a bit late so good race down to meet point. Out on a longer club ride on a bit of a mystery route, Linda the lead saying to "the Tumble but not up it" 6 of us ended up some random back road up the 'Blorenge'. After missing the turn, then Linda getting a puncture at the base of the climb we all started it semi-cold. It should have been an Omen to turn around as it was HORRENDOUS hitting 25% very early on and steep either side of it. Random gravel and high hedgerows/trees so you couldn't see very well, or where the top was. At least it was dry. Me and another guy up front (I'd come from the rear after making sure a clubmate had clipped in as she struggles to set off uphill!) he eased after the steep - thankfully my BOLTv2 had switched to 'Climb' screen when it detects ascents and I was able to shout "another 350ft to go!" at Clive to keep him riding. Counting down the feet left to ascend was the only thing that kept us going all the way...! Closest I've come to walking for a while...
https://www.strava.com/activities/11547554866/analysis/8082/8850 - will not ever ride that again, through choice!
We stopped at the 'top' for the others. Laughing about how that's the last time we "follow Linda on a mystery climb" again, only to take a right turn and hit ANOTHER climb of 750+ft (my BOLT again helping me tell the others it was a long one so to pace it). I'd soon left the others behind as somehow my legs had recovered - I was pacing it well and it was a far better climb than the first. Climbing through the trees with glimpses of radio masts and the various hills as the road snaked up through the treeline and opened onto glorious open moor with the 'main' Tumble road (we'd descend shortly) in the distance, a much more consistent and enjoyable climb than the first.
https://www.strava.com/activities/11547554866/analysis/8930/9865
After a quick descent down the 'usual' way up The Tumble we stopped for a coffee/cake/bacon bap in Abergavenny. Tanya and Linda both admitting then, they where not looking forward to the hilly route home. As there was a block headwind from the North 3 of the rest of us said we'd 'chaingang' the main road back so they could have an easier ride home. My legs where superb so really it was 10+ miles of (mostly) me sat on the front trying to do as slow as 19mph (seriously the SL7 likes to ride at 21-22mph and anything lower on smooth flat roads is hard!) while trying to keep everyone on my wheel. Rode off the front too many times lol. Considering the almost constant headwind back,
fairly pleased with that. Even had good legs, fatigued but not empty for
some good speed even at tempo on the way back home.
Can't wait to get my power meter fitted... After missing out on a couple of 4iiii on 'bay to snipers around £230 I bit the bullet and bought a new one for around 300. Figuring it being a Precision 3+ and new gave me enough of a reason. I'd hoped to pickup a Stages for an amazing price after all the news about them, but if anything the prices have gone up! Guess that's also the sunny weather...
Looking back through emails, i bought a Garmin HRM Tri in Feb 2020 from Amazon. It failed in October 2020 and Amazon replaced it. That then failed in Feb 2022. This time i went to Garmin and they replaced it with a HRM Pro and said not to return it, and it looks like i also went via Amazon who refunded me. So it's actually cost me nothing!
Going to change the battery and see if it helps, if not then given how often it's failed, i'm not sure i want to trust Garmin again so might just go Wahoo/Magene.
Reminds me of my first 1.5-2 years of hassle with Garmin straps. Got sick of returning them/unreliable and went budget 'Wahoo TICKR Blue' option (before Wahoo really became big) just to tide me over while one was away... Ended up getting a refund on the Garmin as the Wahoo just worked. It survived 7-8 years, starting to get a bit more unreliable in the last year. I replaced it with a TICKRv2 and although I then had one fail at 1.5 years old (moisture ingress) they sent me a free replacement (arrived within 48h of reporting - insanely good support!) and that one has ben fine since Nov '23. I find it hard to recommend anything else - even with getting a failure/fault they're not that expensive considering 3 units in 11 years...
Now at home feeling sorry for myself, bandaged up and a very stiff/painful shoulder. Bike is fine I think, need to take a closer look when I'm strong enough to get it out my girlfriend's car. London to Brighton in a couple of weeks might be a bit ambitious..
Rubbish! Glad you're largely 'ok' and nothing more serious. Hope the bike isn't too bad either - hopefully at that speed end over end it just bounced...!
Tubeless sealant: What's everyones go-to? I've been using Stans but wondering if there is something better/more cost effective.
Mucoff 'Tubeless Easy'. Cheap enough in 1L bottles to keep a stock of it and all the messing around I've done with tyres the last few years. Leaves a lot less 'gunk' than Stans like I was using before. Smells nicer. Looks crazy pink. Washes off/up easier. Maybe not quite the 'fit & forget' performance I had with Stans (I've had more holes which didn't seal) but that could be my luck & tyres more than anything else. Also get it next day/weeks on Prime when cut short matters quite a bit. It seems to last longer than Stans in the winter weather too, although I'm still keeping a 6-8 month rotation/replacement policy on mine.
Sooon in the market for a decent set of wheels, but been out of the buying market for a while. I’ve just been given an 11 speed ultegra frame set (with rim brakes) which is pretty decent so keen to match it with wheels.
Appreciate it’s a bit of “how longs a piece of string” question, and I’m after all round wheels leaning towards long distances but that won’t embarrass themselves in an Ironman (certainly not as much as I will!), with a budget of around £1000.
Hunts well regarded, Scribe too - several others selling the 'chinese carbon' but branded and UK built for the backup/warranty. Think Rolf are the same? Farsports too but not UK. If not after bargain carbon, then some FFWD's or DT so you have a quality hub - as mentioned you should find lots of choice second hand with rim brake wheels. I always loved the Campagnolo Zondas but alloy...
Can't offer much advice on nice wheels for rim bikes but I would steer clear of Zipp 303s. The hubs have serious issues that myself and plenty of others have had and the warranty is tied to the complete wheel.
Define 'serious issues'???
I've 3 Zipp wheelsets with similar hubs. 176D & 177D. Zero issues on any of them, changed bearings and freehubs a couple of times. The 30 Course are 7 & 5 years old. My 303 S are nearly 4 years old. I love them and no serious problems (other than me smashing a hole in one on a pothole!) Amazing wheels for the money. Similar weight and faster than many other wheels even twice the price. Yes warranty might be 'tied to the whole wheel' - but same is to almost any wheel easily bought retail/off the shelf so struggling to see that as a reason not to buy?!?! If you broke something wouldn't you want the whole wheel replaced? I did with one of my 30 Course after a pulled spoke. They didn't even want the freehub swapped over. Bargain!
New shoes! Forgot how much I missed having tan walled tyres. The regular black ones on my bike looked really boring so it's nice to have a splash of colour back on it
She is looking fantastic mate. The 404F decals really pop (far more than my 303 S as they're more a matt dark slate against black). Crazy to think the headset isn't internally routed with all that space there!?
Go SRAM so you can hide more, although saying that the front end of my Diverge looked very different even just going to di2. You have the hydraulic hoses either way, but a single di2 is easily tucked alongside one of them. At least yours being Canyon they probably do rubber grommets to cover the spare hole you'll have. Gave up trying to plug mine with something, but thankfully it doesn't whistle in the wind like some do...!
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