Road Cycling

BennyC said:
What xdcx said. I'd recommend TrainingPeaks, with a British Cycling subscription it's £40~ per year, syncs with Strava and will give you a PMC, CTL, ATL, TSB, Ramp Rates and more graphs & charts you can shake a stick at and has an App too.
http://i.imgur.com/SOjAau0l.png
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Benny, are you importing macro/calorie data from MyFitnessPal to TP Premium?

I have Golden Cheetah very well setup. Spent so much time in it. But getting fed up with the extra hop in syncing and analysing so have just got TP Premium after using the free version for a long time. MY coach can give me premium for £6 a month so I just do that but may look at dropping Golden Cheetah all together and just use TP Premium. It gives everything I really need being honest about it.
 
Triggered!:D

I agree, the sale is very poor (at the moment). None of the stuff I want is on sale!:(

Obviously, I only settle for the "Pro" team kit.:cool:
 
Jonny69 said:
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Why you edit? I think it's a great point and so many cyclists I see round here are utter cockwombles. Flashing lights are sack, I can't even see them on a bike, let alone a car. I agree with 2 rears as well, at different levels preferably.
Recently, I've been astounded by some of the riding round here at night. So many in the pitch black with no lights on at all and then also just not looking when they do things. Turning left, across both lanes, without looking behind once. I'm approaching and they have zero idea what's behind. I'm surprised more cyclists aren't killed daily here. Morons.

I'm thinking about getting a hi vis cover for my bag, so it makes the blackness more visible. Would be a good thing for approaching cars.
 
xdcx said:
You need a PWM to accurately track CTL, ATL, TSB from TSS.
Your Strava fitness and freshness is calculated from HRM which is not going to be anywhere near as accurate as a combination of HR and power output to establish a TSS for the training.

TSB is the one you should be interested in as that directly shows how "fresh" you are and projects how "fresh" you will be on a given time in the near future.
You could also calculate an exact TSB and aim for that through training to achieve specific TSS values during a training block on the runup to an event.

Your CTL can be sky high, but if your insanely fatigued because of that and have exceptionally low TSB, you will perform well below your expectations so TSB is the one you need.

All of the above can be tracked in a proper Performance Management Chart, the Strava thing you use comes close but it's not going to be anywhere near accurate enough to peak for events specifically.
Training with a power meter is ideally the next step for you with regards cycling mate.
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All great info buddy, fantastic, thanks! Same for info from Ben too, which is why I'm utterly hooked about posting here! I'm one of those guys who reads far too much and (usually) gets utterly muddled/confused with conflicting info and my own misconceptions over things. Really appreciate everything and everyone here, brutally honest at times but equally we take the time out to discuss and provide information to each other! :D

Now all I need to do is save the pennies and come up with valid reasons & find a good enough deal to get a PWM past the better half! ;)

Conveniently on to PWM's and something I've been working my thought processes through the last month or so...

I've always told myself to go the P1 route, having a dual sided pedal PWM for cross purpose/bike use. The reality is I've been a predominantly '1 bike' kinda guy, previously with my Defy and now with the Diverge. The likelihood of me switching back to the Defy 'for summer' is quite low and the only reasoning I think I currently have for a second 'summer only' bike would be something more aero than the Diverge (as I also quite fancy trying some TT'ing). I couldn't get a 'new' bike past her without considerable questioning (or really justify it to myself after almost £2k on the Diverge). Also I'd quite like to build my own, using some of the parts from the Defy (read: wheels, groupset & saddle), so even better if I could find a S/H aero frameset. Quite a few deals on Venge & Tarmac frames the last few months so maybe I'll be going full Specialized... But I've also always loved the Cervelo S3...! ;)

With dual sided pedal PWM's costing £700/800+ (I'd like to avoid Vectors unless there was a huge cost saving) then looking at crank based power around the £400 mark I could justify having one on each bike (eventually). Power2Max S range looks very interesting (with probably a Rotor crankset, cheapy FSA on my Defy has well worn chainrings and never been 100% happy with it).

SoliD said:
If anyone sees any Carbon CX bikes in a medium/54ish size with full hydro set up shout!
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Roady said:
Cannondale Synapse, carbon frame, 685 hydra's & Ultegra. £1600.
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Not strictly CX but...
 
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lordrobs said:
This one was a Black Friday deal :p I'll reset it, charge it up fully and give it another go. If I don't have any joy I'll have to send it back :(
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Haha I thought it was... ;)

I've not spotted many deals on lights but not had many chances to check since thurs/fri last week. Works been busy since!
Shamrock said:
For xdcx to finally join the ranks of the true cyclist... :D

http://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/black-friday/black-friday/category/mens-black-friday
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Some ok deals, I'm very tempted over the Canyon/SRAM team jersey but without riding either and the shorts not being in the sale it'd look too 'tryhard'. Maybe Merino or Winter beanie/hat... Just don't love them enough for £25/£35. :rolleyes:
randomshenans said:
I'm thinking about getting a hi vis cover for my bag, so it makes the blackness more visible. Would be a good thing for approaching cars.
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'Hump' are great quality and very hard wearing (Mrs' hasn't killed hers in 2 years), very loud designs though! I'm still using the 'plain' highviz my Deuter came with and prefer it, not as contrasting/loud but still very bright (not that reflective though).
 
xdcx said:
Benny, are you importing macro/calorie data from MyFitnessPal to TP Premium?

I have Golden Cheetah very well setup. Spent so much time in it. But getting fed up with the extra hop in syncing and analysing so have just got TP Premium after using the free version for a long time. MY coach can give me premium for £6 a month so I just do that but may look at dropping Golden Cheetah all together and just use TP Premium. It gives everything I really need being honest about it.
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TP imports calorie & macro data automatically from MFP :)

I felt with GC it was a lot more time & effort when ultimately the most predominant metrics are taken care of on TP and also having an the App and being able to view/adjust etc on the fly (to some extent) is useful.

If you're cunning you can get the BC Gold discount on TP with a Silver membership. So £3.50pm plus a BC sub of course.

xdcx said:
I honestly just took a serious look and still it boggles my mind. Those are CHEAP prices? :D
The only Rapha item I really fancy is their merino base layer. And that isn't in the sale :(
Do not set me off regards this whole "Black Friday" ******* nonsense.
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The Wiggins Core Bib Shorts are a steal at £70, I paid £80 for mine. Great and can't fault them. Everything else is still hard to stomach :p

Roady said:
Conveniently on to PWM's and something I've been working my thought processes through the last month or so...

I've always told myself to go the P1 route, having a dual sided pedal PWM for cross purpose/bike use. The reality is I've been a predominantly '1 bike' kinda guy, previously with my Defy and now with the Diverge.
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A pedal based system is future proof with regards to groupsets and unless the pedal spindle thread changes. So no matter how many bikes/frames or BB's you get through there's no limitation.

Also if you're ever travelling or trialing a new bike you can just plop your pedals and and still have power. Course riding without isn't the end of the world but a nice to have. Equally if you ever have problems with a crank based system you'll need a spare/spare parts and it's more of a ballache to change that than it is screw pedals off & on :)

There's no real penalty with accuracy for pedal based systems, a little weight perhaps so unless you can't handle that or just don't like to look of the pedal PM offerings I can't see their being a stronger case for them.
 
SoliD said:
Roady the synapse is not cx at all. This would be for racing..
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Doh! I had this on my longlist for a while but it got chopped due to price and no guard mounts. Could never quite get my head around the colours either... Green, ok, Black, ok, light Silver! Wtf?! :o

Any deals on Pinnacle's/Genesis'/Whyte's? Not spotted any myself, but during CX season is probably not the best time to look for deals on them... ;)
BennyC said:
Also if you're ever travelling or trialing a new bike you can just plop your pedals and and still have power. Course riding without isn't the end of the world but a nice to have. Equally if you ever have problems with a crank based system you'll need a spare/spare parts and it's more of a ballache to change that than it is screw pedals off & on :)
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Balls, I'd considered the first (which to be honest is the primary reason I'd go for pedals) but hadn't really thought of the second! :D
xdcx said:
have just got TP Premium after using the free version for a long time.
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Is the free worth using even without a PWM to get rough ideas on training load trends etc? I don't see me getting a PWM until mid/later next year (at the earliest)... As mentioned the Strava Fitness/freshness was only an easy option for me to avoid recording anything, can TP free draw enough data from previous Strava activities (HR levels, intensity, duration etc) to be worth having a play around with it?

Edit: Wet here today, grizzly/drizzly, overcast with a cool headwind. Doesn't feel like 7 degrees. Random unexpected bonus for the week: council have filled in a number of bad bits of road on junctions around the streets I live on. Still plenty of worse surfaces and potholes on much busier roads which are probably more important... :rolleyes::cool:
 
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^^ Easily the Planet X. Assuming you can get it for the advertised £987.

- They both have full Ultegra 6800.

- PX has a carbon frame which IMO looks better aesthetically.

- Wheels are much of a muchness.
 
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Roady said:
Any deals on Pinnacle's/Genesis'/Whyte's? Not spotted any myself, but during CX season is probably not the best time to look for deals on them... ;)
B
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Not really proper CX tbh, thinking more Specialized Flux, Felt F4X, Ridley X Night. No given to mudguards etc, purely a race bred bike. Only thinking black friday stuff, so will keep my eye out.
 
BENNY - I have used MFP in the past and knew they enabled import to TP so was keen to give it a go but just haven't done so yet. I'll give it a bash from Monday onwards. Totally agree with what you say about GC, it's a lot of faffing for more info, but how useful is that more info? not very. TP has it all, in one sync'd place and is nice to use so GC is overload for overloads sake.

ROADY - Power meter wise. If planning to go with power meters on different bikes down the line without changing, I would be going P2M on Rotor 3D+. But for swapping between bikes like I do now I cannot fault nor recommend the Garmin Vectors more. I wouldn't pay full whack, I would hunt for 2nd hand Vector V1's in the £400 mark.... Buying new, I would get the P1's. Swapping between bikes is a pure doddle, I find it less hassle than changing a stupid back wheel for using the turbo for example so wouldn't let pedal swapping be a put off at all.

TP Free version won't give you access to full charts it will allow you to log your workouts but that is about it. It won't let you schedule any workouts over a day in advance and is pretty limited.
Would totally recommend Premium version Roady which as per Benny says can be had for little per month (cheaper than Strava premium per month and actual useful for something).
If you feed in data from training with all your averages and maxes etc it will calculate a TRIMPS TSS for you (tTSS). tTSS is a heart rate based algorithm, not as accurate or functional as TSS which is based on power/IF but it is still a better shout than the Strava dumbed down version of a PMC as the TP PMC will give you ATL,CTL,TSB from your tTSS scoring. You are more than savvy enough to make use and understand a proper PMC rather than the Strava one.

Via TP Premium you can log everything you do in Strava of course but you can log sleep hours, weight, nutrition, sickness, injury, how you feel and even go into ridiculous specifics with metric measurements. It's an all round tool and I used to think stupidly expensive, but when you consider how much a Strava or Zwift sub is per month, TP sub is worth the cash if you are serious.
 
I'm with Shamrock.

RE. the above datageddon, I'd love to get more involved with meaningful data, but I need to take some time to really pay more attention and setup some decent training programs really.
 
Planet x are offering the EC130E with ultegra for under a grand now. Given all the tales i've heard of them being in a bad way financially, this smacks of a fast cash-raiser to me.
 
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