Road Cycling

Roady said:
Are you able to measure the current/new to determine if they actually are? Nipples do 'bed in' but I wouldn't expect the difference to be really noticeable by eye.
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this is a mavic Zicral spoke, it works differently, with a threaded rim, the nipple is captive on, but not threaded to the spoke. It pulls the spoke into tension by pushing against the bulged end of the spoke as it threads into the rim. The behaviour suggests the spoke is too long, but it's the correct part number

I've come across someone else with the same problem. He's suggested there may have been a design tweak during the production

Going to Cali said:
Any advice on how to replace the bearings on Fulcrum 5s and what type of bearings I would need?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RvHCM4_J9k


Fulcrum being owned by campagnolo are good about this kind of stuff. Bearings depend on which axle size you have, older ones are 6001-2RS
 
Anyone got a Nutribullet? My sister has one (I think) and I'm sure my other half was very interested in one. I'd pull the trigger but is there a better device for the same kinda thing? We've got a big clunky 'smoothie maker' which I'm sure needs replacing. Hardly use it as it's pretty poor at chopping things up & a pain to clean. Nutribullet would be quick & easy replacement, although smaller.

Saytan said:
Fulcrum being owned by campagnolo are good about this kind of stuff. Bearings depend on which axle size you have, older ones are 6001-2RS
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The bearings in my Campag Khamsin (2014/15 model?) were 2*6903-2RS if that's any help!

Ordered mine from here and then got the LBS to fit, will fit them myself next time (will do my Roval wheels before then too!) ;)
Saytan said:
I've come across someone else with the same problem. He's suggested there may have been a design tweak during the production
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Gah, that sucks! Mavic support any good for that kinda thing?
 
Roady said:
Anyone got a Nutribullet? My sister has one (I think) and I'm sure my other half was very interested in one. I'd pull the trigger but is there a better device for the same kinda thing? We've got a big clunky 'smoothie maker' which I'm sure needs replacing. Hardly use it as it's pretty poor at chopping things up & a pain to clean.

The bearings in my Campag Khamsin (2014/15 model?) were 2*6903-2RS if that's any help!

Ordered mine from here and then got the LBS to fit, will fit them myself next time (will do my Roval wheels before then too!) ;)
Gah, that sucks! Mavic support any good for that kinda thing?
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Mavic Don't support anything before about 2009 or so. This wheel is a 2006 one.
 
Bahh, post didn't post :mad:

Roady said:
Very interested to hear how you get on with the ELEMNT mate as I'm still torn about ditching my 810 for one...
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The release of the 820 hasn't filled me with regrets about not waiting, far from it. I'd have still gone for the Elemnt even though I was apprehensive Madinthehead did convince me :p I got mine for a shade over £200 in the end, even at full price (£250) it's considerably cheaper than the 820 will be and offers the same if not more.

Haven't used the maps/routes yet but will do this weekend. Will post a little write up this afternoon/evening.

Also the Vortex, specially the SMART parts of it. My KK RMII is fine for the amount of turbo work I've done the last 2 winters... As we've had quite good short ones without biblical rain for weeks on end. But WINTER IS COMING. :p
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My Mag CycleOps saw plenty of use so it was time to upgrade. The Vortex Smart is the best value Smart trainer available according to DCR, FT also recommended it to me too.

ERG mode is good, didn't touch my gears during a 2 hour stint of 20 min intervals with 4/5min rounds. Just changed cadence. Quick changes will cause spikes/drops whilst it adjusts but if you adjust cadence reasonably it's fine and isn't particularly slow. Updating firmware was a breeze through the App too.

Can't comment on noise as I have headphones in and fans on but it's quieter than the CycleOps Mag (unsurprisingly) but probably not the quietest but it's not an issue for me in the garage.

I'm glad I went the laptop route as I used to be a tablet & mobe turbo'er. Was also good excuse to buy a good laptop (Asus X550 with GT 740M). Big benefits of things like TR/Zwift/NowTV/BBC iPlayer without much fiddling/cost etc! ;)
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Work will be tossing out some old but perfectly capable Laptops soon so I'll pick one up. Running TR in the banner mode to watch media behind isn't available yet on IOS so that would be good as would the option to run Zwift more comfortably.

Though an iPad is convenient if on a WattBike away from home and less hassle than lugging a laptop round & balancing it on the bike :eek:
 
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Got out for 2 hours: https://www.strava.com/activities/640603533#comments

First time out in a while :( Been quite lazy, not good.

Trying to keep my cadence in the 90+ range. I did ok, but I struggled on climbs, and I was running out of cassette! My legs are so damn weak :(

I really struggled in Marlow, so damn slow and constant start/stop. I still struggle a bit with needing to actually stop without a kerb since raising the saddle. I can go pretty slowly, but a full stop is a pain. I need to practice unclipping my left foot, and then getting off the saddle. Still feels a bit weird.
 
madindehead said:
Got out for 2 hours: https://www.strava.com/activities/640603533#comments

First time out in a while :( Been quite lazy, not good.

Trying to keep my cadence in the 90+ range. I did ok, but I struggled on climbs, and I was running out of cassette! My legs are so damn weak :(

I really struggled in Marlow, so damn slow and constant start/stop. I still struggle a bit with needing to actually stop without a kerb since raising the saddle. I can go pretty slowly, but a full stop is a pain. I need to practice unclipping my left foot, and then getting off the saddle. Still feels a bit weird.
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Such a small world, you're not that far away :)

Have you access to a gym for some specific strength work?

Wahoo Elemnt findings:

Setup is pretty painless. Phone pairing via QR works in a flash and the App is quite friendly to navigate around. All my Strava routes Auto-Synced & downloaded immediately and continue to do so. Strava/Garmin Connect paired without issue too.

Screen setup allows you to easily disable certain screens you don't want on your regular rotation. Mixed units was nice to see! Customising screen fields is as simple as reorganising a list on the iPhone by just dragging to change their position and tapping to change the field itself.

All my sensors paired quickly and without issue too. I did have to re-pair my PM last weekend to successfully calibrate but can't pinpoint if this was the PM's issue or the Wahoo...

The screen is easy to see and you can customise the backlight to however many seconds you feel fit. Battery life seems quite good and the 12-14 hour mark I think will be fair dependent on settings. I’m using the LED's on the side for Heart Rate at the moment but they will also work for displaying Power and Speed, based on the ride average (over/on par/under). They're very clear and having quite a prominent reminder in front of you to catch your attention I found quite useful on Saturday as it did help me to reign it in a bit on our 'recovery ride' :p

Boot time isn't any slower than my Garmin 500 and having buttons on the front to change page, rather than the side, is welcomed.

My rides have synced to Strava & Garmin through data on my phone. I was under the impression a Wi-Fi network was required but this doesn't seem to be the case. You get a pretty comprehensive summary after ending a workout so you can quickly review ride stats without having to dive in to Strava.

It would be nice if upon sensing the PM it prompted a zero offset (calibration) like my Garmin did but I will suggest this on the Google Group which the developers are quite actively involved with and expect it wouldn't be too difficult to implement.

I did get a notification on my phone to remind me to charge the Element which I can see being very handy and putting and end to those rides where your unit dies midway :o

Very pleased so far :)
 
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madindehead said:
Got out for 2 hours: https://www.strava.com/activities/640603533#comments
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That lane looks brutal, unless the elevation profile is bogus there's part of it 20/30%!? Ouch! Similar to the stuff I was hunting down for training on.

To be honest the long CAT3's (1 & 2) on sunday really hurt, but I think I enjoyed them more than the really steep 20%+ stuff - I'm able to alternate sit/stand and can ease back for active recovery when seated. The steeper stuff if you stop you literally have to walk, there's no other option! The first on sunday I did the steep and then waited for a friend, the second some wheel slip, wet road, gravel and tired legs made me walk. I want to put in a proper effort on both now! :cool:

(steeper/harder one I was 'training' on before).

I guess it's 'staying on top of the gear' and not letting it get the best of you, once you do (and start to grind) it becomes a test of your power, your suffering and just how long & hard you can stay in the red to get up them.

The steep stuff kills any momentum so I am immediately grinding and in the red. I'm not comfortable there (like others) and can't sustain more than a couple of minutes max. (attempt 1, 1 min 15 @ 180+bpm & <50rpm) (attempt 2, <2 min @ 180+bpm and <50rpm). I started working on some threshold kinda stuff but I think I might be best to work on low cadence power work, I can then stand sooner, spin slower and not need to go as deep into the red for as long...

BennyC said:
Haven't used the maps/routes yet but will do this weekend. Will post a little write up this afternoon/evening.

My Mag CycleOps saw plenty of use so it was time to upgrade. The Vortex Smart is the best value Smart trainer available according to DCR, FT also recommended it to me too.

ERG mode is good, didn't touch my gears during a 2 hour stint of 20 min intervals with 4/5min rounds. Just changed cadence. Quick changes will cause spikes/drops whilst it adjusts but if you adjust cadence reasonably it's fine and isn't particularly slow. Updating firmware was a breeze through the App too.
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More interested in your writeup after you've used the navigation & maps! ;)

Guessing you were using OSM before (on the Garmin) so your comparison should be similar to what most of us here experience on Garmin. Stability and reliability are what interest me the most! Personally I don't think there's any excuse why a £200+, popular device, with numerous predecessors like the 810, should have the problems they seem to.

Will read up more about the Vortex, very interested in the hill climbing/resistance side of things. Cheaper alternatives to the KICKR is ideally what I'm looking at! ;)
 
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Am I the only one thinking there isn't that much training benefit to be found in stupidly steep climbs? All you can do is clunk it into the bottom gear and pedal as fast as you can bear, which likely won't be very fast, and hope your knees don't fall off.

By all means ride them, but I wouldn't have thought it was the most useful training. Happy to be told I'm wrong, of course...
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Am I the only one thinking there isn't that much training benefit to be found in stupidly steep climbs? All you can do is clunk it into the bottom gear and pedal as fast as you can bear, which likely won't be very fast, and hope your knees don't fall off.

By all means ride them, but I wouldn't have thought it was the most useful training. Happy to be told in wrong, of course...
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Can be very useful for specific training for racing but for the average rider you're right!

Got 4 of those Wiggle Lifeline bike racks to replace my decathlon hooks in my great Garage reshuffle, which so far has amounted to me buying some paint, and putting 80% of my stuff in the conservatory.

Also changed the Pinnacle over to some of the Lifeline Prime Armour Road tyres in 25c, will be interesting to see how they roll compared to the old Zaffiro Pros which were somewhat draggy.


In some positive news I have next week off and the weather is looking mighty fine so far! Not got much planned just needed a week off, probably going to do the South Downs on the MTB on Tuesday to co-incide with Tour rest day!
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Am I the only one thinking there isn't that much training benefit to be found in stupidly steep climbs? All you can do is clunk it into the bottom gear and pedal as fast as you can bear, which likely won't be very fast, and hope your knees don't fall off.

By all means ride them, but I wouldn't have thought it was the most useful training. Happy to be told in wrong, of course...
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There's some benefit but it's a different one to the benefit of more steady climbs. Steady climbs over the 5-20 minute mark are a good opportunity to do threshold work. Super steep sections are going to be neuromuscular/anaerobic primarily.

In an ideal world you'd definitely get some of both in...but in terms of getting up *most* hills quicker you'll want to be doing more longer, steady climbs than short steep climbs.
 
Well, yeah, there's probably more useful stuff you could be doing which would then have knock on benefits for hill climbing.

The most useful part of it for general riding is probably the mental aspect of knowing you've ridden a particular climb before, or a particular gradient. I think there's definitely something to be said for being able to think "Well, it's bad, but it's not as bad as..." whatever other horrible climb/distance/surface/weather.
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Am I the only one thinking there isn't that much training benefit to be found in stupidly steep climbs? All you can do is clunk it into the bottom gear and pedal as fast as you can bear, which likely won't be very fast, and hope your knees don't fall off.

By all means ride them, but I wouldn't have thought it was the most useful training. Happy to be told I'm wrong, of course...
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I must admit: I don't actively target 20% climbs. I don't like them. I'd much rather ride something 6-10%. I find those enjoyable. I won't be riding that lane again. I just took it as I'd never been up it before. I won't make that mistake again :p
 
madindehead said:
I must admit: I don't actively target 20% climbs. I don't like them. I'd much rather ride something 6-10%. I find those enjoyable. I won't be riding that lane again. I just took it as I'd never been up it before. I won't make that mistake again :p
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Same.

I'm not the most powerful of climbers either so when the gradients go over 20% I really can't last very long at all. Certainly with a 28 on the back. The Lake District passes really were misery for me, almost to the point that I didn't really enjoy the ride.

I also think Vonhelmets point about knowing a climb is a good one. Especially mentally when you can compare a climb to another and know it isn't as bad or you can control your efforts all the way to the top, knowing how much you can give.
 
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