Road Cycling

[Vandle]

Its a funny one because I think if you look at the difference it makes its not massive percentage wise. I just found that it didn't feel right for me. Its a bit like the 1x vs 2x debate. Some people have zero issues, I found that on my gravel bike I was rarely in the right gear for the cadence I wanted. Perhaps its habit and what I'm used to. Perhaps if I didn't have 2x as my daily driver I would quickly adapt but it just felt off. Same with 52/36.

I have a 1x on my gravel bike and I really like it. I run out of gear on a long downhill but other than it it suits me well. Spoke to my bike fitter yesterday and asked him why he recommended I go for a 54:

I opted for this bigger size as you were predominantly doing flatter faster rides, running out of gears. Even though 54/40 sounds big, when paired with a 11-34 cassette, it has a harder/faster gear than if you had 52/36 at the front and 11-30 at the rear. It also is an easier climbing gear than 36-30.
That said, if you plan to do peaks or lots of climbing, 52-36 at the front with 11-34 rear cassette is needed.

So I'm going to try it with a 34 cassette instead of my current 30.

 

[Trifid]

And I enrage another driver...

On my commuter bike, crossing a 3 lane dual carriageway at a toucan light at the end of a cycle lane on the opposite side. Traffic is stop start, barely moving. My light goes green, lanes 1 and 3 keep the crossing clear and I start proceeding slowly as driver of lane 2 is still wanting to push forwards across the toucan crossing (which again is green for me) and starts shouting at me for being in the road. Dude, it is my green and I am proceeding cautiously because you haven't stopped! Literally no benefit to trying to get ahead as he is going to be in a at least 5 minute traffic jam to the next lights.

 

[fez]

So I'm going to try it with a 34 cassette instead of my current 30.

Yeah, suck it and see if you like it. As your fitter said, you're pushing a harder "easy" gear already. We always forget that 20 years ago people were going up double digits with a corn cob at the back and just grinding away. We're spoilt now with how easy our gearing is.

 

[Martynt74]

It amazes me seeing some old Spanish men flying up 10% hills with the smallest cogs. As you say, we're spoilt now, and i certainly am with my gravel bike gearing.

 

[fez]

It amazes me seeing some old Spanish men flying up 10% hills with the smallest cogs. As you say, we're spoilt now, and i certainly am with my gravel bike gearing.

Old man strength. I've just got used to high cadence. There are some of the older dudes on the club rides who have a cadence in the 60s/70s and I assume thats almost entirely due to the gearing they grew up on. Feels awful to me when I am doing 60 RPM or less on hills. Fine if I am standing up but sat down feels weird. I need to get used to it and get used to going super slow on hills because on easy rides I end up pushing far too many watts on hills at 90RPM+ in my easiest gear.

 

[Roady]

Anyone spots a 9000BTU+ portable air conditioner of an 'ok/good' brand come into stock this week for less than £600 let me know!

Can confirm one of these works well - USB-C to Di2 adaptor - grabbed the smallest & one of the cheapest, which had a couple of positive reviews. Just used it as my Tarmac (12s R7200) which dropped to 30% this morning after showing 40% for a couple of weeks. Plugged into an old Pebble Explorer (8400mAh) battery pack which I've abused (actually thought I'd killed it last week as it overheated). Took 55% capacity to fully charge the Di2. Adaptor goes straight into the saddle bag! My grand plan is getting a 'waterproof' mini battery pack, maybe with some kinda mini plug in solar to charge. Then I'll bar mount it, so can top up my DJI camera with it directly - with USB-C cable. Also means I can also do head unit or Di2 at the roadside in emergencies!

This is the feedback I was looking for. Thanks. I'm on a 52 now, didn't think an extra 2 would be that much of a difference!

52 to 54 is considered a big change (think why it's not standard). AI says an additional 38cm per pedal stroke (using an 11t cassette), but lets run the maths.

Google says a 700c road wheel with a 25cm tyre has a 210.5cm circumference. So 210.5x(54/11) is 1033.36 cm distance. Then 210.5x(52/11) is 995.09 cm distance. 38.27cm difference per wheel rotation. AI was right!

Also says that at 90rpm the speeds are 53.7kph & 55.8kph which sounds a lot/too much/wrong?

Is that the app that was being sued by whoop for copying them? The app that showed that in fact they had the designs they were being sued for copying before whoop did and therefore if anyone had copied anyone, it was the other way around.

Wasn't even aware of this - being a Whoop subscriber! But also wouldn't surprise me - they're an American company and that's a very American bully business thing to do!

I let this one go on Sunday, hopefully the girl in the passenger seat told him off. https://gopro.com/v/86898c20-874b-4d17-aaf3-5c0320d5d454

You'd done the right thing and seemed to ease off the speed, best kind of self preservation - expect them to ignore/go as the risk to them is low. Low risk = brain says take the chance and don't even pause. Yeah with the shadows he might not have seen you - poor excuse. The passenger obviously did! Nice of her to apologise - at the end of the day - that's what we want isn't it!? Acknowledgment of a mistake, as that hopefully leads to change in behaviour.

So I'm going to try it with a 34 cassette instead of my current 30.

That'll have a big difference - I'm loving 34t after riding 32t for many years I'm quite used to the 'gaps'. I did never quite feel at home when I had a 30t for a while, the gearing was different in 'feel' to 28t & 32t.

I start proceeding slowly as driver of lane 2 is still wanting to push forwards across the toucan crossing (which again is green for me) and starts shouting at me for being in the road.

That is an offence - might actually Police do something with that one? You have video proof he basically was trying to drive through a red light?

 

[fez]

No excuse but to be fair to the driver they are looking directly into bright sunshine.

I mean, that sounds exactly like an excuse no? If you cant see properly, you don't make a manoeuvre.

 

[Trifid]

You'd done the right thing and seemed to ease off the speed, best kind of self preservation - expect them to ignore/go as the risk to them is low. Low risk = brain says take the chance and don't even pause. Yeah with the shadows he might not have seen you - poor excuse. The passenger obviously did! Nice of her to apologise - at the end of the day - that's what we want isn't it!? Acknowledgment of a mistake, as that hopefully leads to change in behaviour.

I thought I was a little slow to react at the time, but looking back at the video I don't think I could have reacted sooner. I don't think the passenger apologies, looks like she was suffering with hayfever but definitely saw me.

That is an offence - might actually Police do something with that one? You have video proof he basically was trying to drive through a red light?

No camera on the commuter as I am only ever on it for a few minutes at a time. I drove through the junction this morning and there are definitely separate lights for the toucan junction in addition to the main road junction lights. I think this might have been the first time I went across it alone, I don't go that way too often but it is a major pedestrian route. I think he bigotry just assumed cyclist is in the wrong trying to get across and not looking at the lights that permit him to proceed.

 

[AndyCr15]

Can confirm one of these works well - USB-C to Di2 adaptor - grabbed the smallest & one of the cheapest, which had a couple of positive reviews.

Yeah, I got about 4 of these, off AliExpress at about £3.50 each. Handy to have in bike boxes, even my saddle bag now.

This week I received my CHA Smart Lube.

I've only had one ride on it, so far, but all seems good. (I might make a video about it, I'll post if I do)

 

[Martynt74]

Yeah, a video would be good. It would be an awesome thing for long dusty gravel rides. At the Traka my drivetrain got horrific, and whilst the aid stations had lube available, i wasn't sure if it was ok to mix wax based lube (i use Squirt) and oil based, so i didn't bother.

 

[fez]

Yeah, a video would be good. It would be an awesome thing for long dusty gravel rides. At the Traka my drivetrain got horrific, and whilst the aid stations had lube available, i wasn't sure if it was ok to mix wax based lube (i use Squirt) and oil based, so i didn't bother.

It is not.

 

[Roady]

They don't mix. But I do think it would still be better than doing nothing with all the dust? As probably towards the end all the wax was long gone anyway

Then you'd plan to strip it completely and wax again when home. At the end of the day I'd say some lubrication to reduce wear (in dry dusty conditions), is better than none?

 

[AndyCr15]

At the end of the day I'd say some lubrication to reduce wear (in dry dusty conditions), is better than none?

It's not uncommon to see people putting sun lotion on their chain, in desperation.

 

[#Chri5#]

I'm sure I've posted previously about sticking an 11-34 on the back on my Synapse. 34 is a bit of a bail out but when you need a 34, the climb still hurts. If/when Shimano release 13 speed road, I hope they do a "proper" 40T option. Proper as in not needing use to a MTB cassette and have extreme screw settings on the rear mech.

I gad a birthday weekend away last month and played the birthday-boy joker to get a day out in the Yorkshire Dales on the bike with the B-i-L. I planned a route to include Buttertubs Pass as neither of us had ridden it before. To get into Swaledale from Kirkby Stephen, I picked the only B road from Nateby. That turned out to be a punchy climb called Lamps Moss which I'd never heard of before. You know you're in for a bit of kicking in the last KM of a climb when you are going downhill but ClimbPro shows you still have a fair chunk of ascent to tick off. I think my Garmin showed 20% on the last ramp, whilst Veloviewer says 18.9%

Segment Details for OFFICIAL 100Climbs No78 Lamps Moss - VeloViewer

3.84 km ride with 315 m of climbing, average grade of 8.1 %. Check it out!

veloviewer.com

What a fabulous road though. Big skies, big views and hardly any traffic. No doubt horrible in winter if it's raining with a stonking head wind but just marvellous on a sunny day. A little ribbon of tarmac threading through the scenery. The cafe in Keld was top notch as well.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xcBidccTg5KdsxV57 if you want a Streetview. This is looking back from the top of the climb:



There was a 2-up German touring motorbike on the same road and they were constantly stopping to take pictures, so we kept leap-frogging each other.

Buttertubs averages 9% from Thwaite, so plenty of 10%+ sections. The council had been surface dressing sections of it but thankfully it was all on the climb for us and not horribly sketchy on the descent.

 

[Calpol]

Just back from a short cycling adventure. Not strictly road but we don't seem to have a "gravel" thread.
Went to Kielder, Northumberland and stayed at the campsite with a view to doing some gravel riding. Was touch and go whether or not I could make it after my incident with the car a couple of weeks ago but didn't want to cancel so decided to go with it. Ended up doing 2 days gravel and a day of MTB at the Kielder trails.

Day 1
Kielder- Newcastleton- Kielder
There are quite a few routes on Ridewithgps and we copied this Loop 1 into our computers and set out. It was pretty good and a manageable start given that my mate was a bit short of fitness and I was still pretty battered. It feels pretty remote and isolated with only the odd forestry commission vehicle in sight. Quite a lot of climbing and to be honest I wish I has more gearing than 44-36. Gravel quite chunky in places so tyre pressures need a bit of finessing. I think I ended up with about 35psi in a 40mm maxxis reaver. Part of the route involved a short section of MTB trail which was quite sketchy. Grabbed a bit of lunch in Newcastleton and then headed back. 33 miles or so, 3500ft of elevation. 33 miles on road is quite easy but this was tougher however a decent 1sr day and a good test of how the body held up post crash.

Day 2
Kielder MTB trails Kielder MTB Trails
I haven't ridden a MTB for about 10 years and have only ever been to one trail centre. Sherwood Pines where the red run is fun but quite accessible to a half competent bike rider. I also have never ridden a full sus 29er. It felt weird. 1x gearing with 30, 12-51. Trek Fuel carbon job. It really felt pretty alien and if we had been sensible we would have spent a bit of time either on a blue or gravel just to get used to the bike. First section of kielder mtb we decided to try was the Deadwater Fall trail. Honestly it was beyond my skill level as a game but inexperienced mtber. Quite a lot of climbing, some of it steep, some of it technical, some of it was walked! It's now that I appreciate why some people have e-mtb to get up the trails faster. Personally I like the challenge of climbing but it does take quite a bit of time. At the second section of downhill my mate stacked it trying to roll a decent size rock drop off - fortunately he wasn't too badly hurt and could continue. I was pretty crap on the first section however the bike was very competent and I negotiated some terrain that I would never have attempted previously, including some quite steep drop ins to trail starts. By the time we had down most of the red I was starting to improve and could manage the dropper post, gearing and brakes. The bikes are pretty twitchy compared to a gravel bike and pitch you offline much quicker.

In the afternoon we decided to ride the Blue Osprey trail which again was quite a long climb to reach. Even after the trail started it was a lot of quite steep uphill sections but by then I was getting more confident in the bike and I managed to ride all of it without a dab despite the singletrack being quite well hidden by recent strimming. With hindsight we should have started on the blue but all in all it was a decent day if a little too biased to going up vs getting better at riding down.

Day 3
Kielder Reservoir Loop
By day 3 my mate was suffering a bit and so we wanted something a bit easier and hopefully flatter. 26 miles round the reservoir seemed a very manageable proposition. However, it was deceptively challenging. The profile tells you that while it's not reaching an great heights the course is a series of short, steepish ascents and descents. It's quite hard to get a rhythm and my buddy was struggling a bit so I was slowing up to not drop him. The route is a good surfave but some of the gravel is quite fine and almost powdery so some cornering was a bit sketchy plus we had a block headwind on the way back. Tbh I was quite glad that it was only 26 miles as I was pretty cooked. Partly from not riding for two weeks and the accumulated effort of the two previous days.

Overall a good trip. I enjoyed the riding. Have a new appreciation of the "dark side" and definitely would return for more gravel. The campsite at Kielder is fine but it's pretty isolated and village pub is closed, shop only open on a Thursday so options for food, beer and entertainment are limited. Weather is a bit of a microclimate but in c14 hours of riding outside we didn't see any rain and temps were good for the types of efforts involved. Glad to be back on the bike and am now sore in a lot more parts than those bruised in the fall.

 

[SenTineL]

It amazes me seeing some old Spanish men flying up 10% hills with the smallest cogs. As you say, we're spoilt now, and i certainly am with my gravel bike gearing.

Old man strength. I've just got used to high cadence. There are some of the older dudes on the club rides who have a cadence in the 60s/70s and I assume thats almost entirely due to the gearing they grew up on. Feels awful to me when I am doing 60 RPM or less on hills. Fine if I am standing up but sat down feels weird. I need to get used to it and get used to going super slow on hills because on easy rides I end up pushing far too many watts on hills at 90RPM+ in my easiest gear.

I remember the first DA equipped bike I had came with 18t as the lowest cog, so if the older guys are running vintage kit that would explain it.

I've always been a bit of a climber, but it was horrendous, a real grind. There was a steep climb a few mins away from where I used to live which I went up nearly every day. It had sections of 20-25% which really, really hurt

I swapped the whole drivetrain out about 9 months later

 

[Trifid]

I set a 5 minute max effort PR 2 hours into a ride on Sunday on a climb a bit shorter than that. Thinking I could do better when fresh, this morning I headed to the longest level uninterrupted road I could easily get to from home to try a set effort before work. 5 minutes (and 4 seconds for good measure) at 5.16w/kg and resulted in Intervals updating my eftp to 4.21w/kg. That will do nicely. I felt sick on the cycle home though, don't think I had anything left in me.

 

[bastic]

came back from Girona on Friday evening...Ryanair luggage handlers puncture a big hole in my bike flight case...raised a claim...

holiday was really good, tad hot - hottest was 44degrees.
cycled 4 days. usual Els Angels twice, climbed biggest climb around Girona , Mare du del Mont - warning, cafe on top might be shut and there are no taps on top... was an extremely hot day in the saddle for the long climb...
one day for visiting medieval towns.
Went to great Cafe in Banyoles called Aquarium - very recommended !!
and did usual beach loop, this time with Sant Grau climb. beautiful climb. last stages are steep 12-14% but views and whole climb are really nice. nothing on top though, just descent down to next town
My fish scaled Serenade wheels did amazing. held really good in crosswinds, headwinds, felt fast . really happy with them

next time, i need to get Gravel bike there

 

[AndyCr15]

Mare du del Mont - warning, cafe on top might be shut and there are no taps on top

Yes, sorry, I could have told you that, as I learnt from experience myself . It's one of my favourite climbs anywhere, though. I love the views from the top. When the cafe is open, you can't beat chilling there with a cake and a coke.

 

[Roady]

I'm sure I've posted previously about sticking an 11-34 on the back on my Synapse. 34 is a bit of a bail out but when you need a 34, the climb still hurts. If/when Shimano release 13 speed road, I hope they do a "proper" 40T option. Proper as in not needing use to a MTB cassette and have extreme screw settings on the rear mech.

Epic trip mate well done!

Totally agree about the cassette options, I thought we might get there with 1X making a bit of a return last 2 years but that seems to have settled down again and only SRAM teams seem to be using it on the road? Not really seen any talk GRX side of 1X with wider range cassettes. There's talk of VDP riding it this Tour for flat stages?

Was touch and go whether or not I could make it after my incident with the car a couple of weeks ago

Amazing trip and well done considering what happened just before, well done for getting all those consecutive days done! How have your 'bumps' and injuries progressed? Even after the weekend?

I found as soon as I got riding again things sped up healing wise and felt much better (+mentally just spinning the legs was massive)! I did a 200km audax 12 weeks after breaking my fingers (& nearly my femur), it was a bit of a reckoning - crossing it off to prove to myself I was fully 'back' and had to be fully recovered to do it. Until then had lots of excuses why I wasn't at 100% for various other things - after then, none. So much of it is mental.

There was a steep climb a few mins away from where I used to live which I went up nearly every day. It had sections of 20-25% which really, really hurt

Things like that are massive - regularly riding something that challenging, without the 'pressure' of specifically riding there to put a max effort into it, gives you so much foundation for other riding & climbs. Just being able to 'survive' up a steep section without hitting your VO2Max.