also sure not enough movement or leverage with certain levers/brakes. ie Spyre Road Disc with shimano shifter, like wth I can push the the bike forward with brake applied (brakets setup like paper thin gap and most movement allowed on arm on mech caliper body) yet with Tektro Dual Pivot Calliper Brakes you get fine control and locks up wheel if needed.
The older disc brakes with a spring for caliper position adjustment are just awful.
And how good is the grip between the tyre and the road in the wet?
If you think rim brakes are "good" in the dry then you haven't used a bike with well sorted brakes, easily go over the bars on my campagnolo rim brakes.
I agree braking in torrential rain on deep drop 57mm rim brakes just "slows you down"
I'm used to riding top end bikes, I imagine they have enough power to send me over the bars, but I wouldn't grab them that hard
I do like the ease of setting up standard callipers and the speed of adjustment/pad change time.
Disc brakes even mid range ones in my experience have excellent feel close to the limit of traction which you only seem to get at the very top end of rim brakes and on certain setups, difficult to get the same consistency as a disc.
Depends entirely on power output. If you took 5 hours (14mph avg) somewhere in the region of 2,500~ would be relatively accurate.
I can spend 4 hours on a club run covering circa 65 miles with not a huge amount of elevation (2-3kft) and burn 2,400kj/cals. Equally I can cover the same distance solo with another 1-2kft of climbing, in the same time and burn 3,200kj/cals. Or I can burn 2,400kj/cals in around 3hours/50miles.
It really is all relative. If you have a stonking headwind the whole way you'd burn significantly more calories than if you had a tail wind and were sat on wheel instead.
5-600cals an hour puts you in the range of 140-160watts average power. You won't be able to, nor should you, aim to eat this back during the ride. Finding your preference for energy intake depends not only on what sits well with you, your appetite and what you actually need.
2-300 cals an hour with a greater carb bias than fat or protein is safe bet but ideally you want all 3 macros in there. Water/electrolyte intake comes down to how much you perspire, the sodium content and of course the weather
And how good is the grip between the tyre and the road in the wet?
If you think rim brakes are "good" in the dry then you haven't used a bike with well sorted brakes, easily go over the bars on my campagnolo rim brakes.
Thanks Benny. Im quite interested in the nutrition side of things so ive just started reading up and taking advice on how to fuel - im soaking it all in
I rode for around 18 months without a PowerMeter and did just fine but having it has made seeing expenditure and an awareness of effort levels quite valuable. As well of course structuring training.
Equally I've always had interests in nutrition and have dabbled to some extent to boost fat adaption on the bike in the last 12 months and have gone from needing to eat carbs semi regularly in the region of 3-400 calories an hour to being able to complete relatively intense 4-5 hour rides (fasted on occasion) on little more than 5-700 calories with a 50/50 fat/carb mix (with some protein in there too).
Ultimately it's best to 'over fuel' than be under fueled or fed. And I always take more than I think I will need in addition to keeping something for emergencies in my spares kit. Better to have it, carry a little extra weight and not need it. Than end up struggling or worse hypo with no help.
Some decent looking world tour kits being revealed for 2017. I do however particularly like JLT Condors 2017 kit, might go on the wishlist once its released thouvh I bet its pricey.
Once set up the brakes work ok, levers pull too far for my liking and the 505 looks hideous. At least they are getting there with the dura ace now looking nice and slim.
It's more about the end user that will spray oil near them or they get covered in road **** on a group ride and get contaminated. Rim brakes at least always work but a contaminated disc gives next to nothing when you'll need it.
Edit: Most people struggle with QR wheels and having wheels in dropouts properly as it is, every other day you get a wheel with the wide end of the spring over the axle and forced into the frame/fork. This isn't just random people but folk that have cycled for years and should know better. Maybe I just don't have faith in people??
I know I'm late to this but I'm no speedster and had only done 45 miles solo before my first 100 miler. It can be done - just nibble food as you go and you'll be amazed what your body can do
That's rich coming from you Frenchy.
Starting your sentence with "because" and then not capitlising "English". You are a disgrace to your tea drinking/brake disc fiddling brethren.
just because i think disc brakes are a pointless sell-more-stuff exercise on a road bike doesnt mean i dont think hornetstinger is a bit of a flat-earther. They're brilliant on an MTB, and the deore M615 is very well regarded....
my 6ft 6inch 20 stone mate disagrees with me on the pointlessness of road discs thouhgh
Went out with ELY RC on saturday. Rain forecast and pretty wet conditions so around 8-9 of us on some filthy roads. I was already fatigued from an FTP test earlier in the week and no rest days, so thrown in a fast group I found myself at the back before we even hit the big climb up to the golf course. PR'd every single one of the climbs by quite a margin but had still lost touch by the descent, PR'd that too but with the conditions I'm still far too nervous cornering at speed on non-perfect roads. Regrouped but around Leominster the standing water lead to most of us getting utterly soaked by a lorry. Route was changed slightly and once we hit the long drag up Dinmore hill the group was ripped apart again, 4 of us regrouped at the top and did a fairly speedy 4 up to try and catch the group. We hadn't made much ground so they stopped to regroup before the run back into town, 3 of us stuck together for it (taking it fairly easy) but I was still struggling to hold wheels so missed a couple of turns.
Great ride but hard work (just what I needed!). Glad it was a social ride and nothing too serious (so guys happy to regroup & work together closing gaps)! Need to get out for more of them, but need to have a rest day later in the week before doing so. Think I'll progress loads more as I slightly got out of the habit of group riding on saturday mornings when the bad weather started.
I still get annoyed when people wait behind me for ages when the road is plenty wide enough to overtake, it makes me nervous that they cannot judge a gap sufficiently and could completely **** up the overtake.
Haha yeah, annoying! Especially when out on a group ride, give the 'car back' shout and everyone filters into single file... Shoulder check and car is holding back... Arm wave and nothing. 2-3 arm waves later and riders start to move back into 2 abreast. Car then beeps it's horn and is sat right on my wheel with poor visibility and corners ahead. Riders filter into single file again and car overtakes unsafely around blind corners.
Bad form, your pink buff doesn't match your pink on the gilet & black arms with grey gilet is a newbie mistake. Take note on how to properly master the Rapha pink winter look, young padwan:
Ouch! Crazy crash, glad to hear they're ok, that first guy you don't even really see him until his bike it at head height of the rider before the guy with the camera! Guy on the left had good reactions but think he got hit anyway, he may have found himself in trouble if the car was actually on the correct side of the road & 'only' cutting the corner lol!
I lace everything with spinach for mine these days and coupled with the vit D she has seen big improvements in energy levels and fatigue from work has all but gone when previously she would be knackered every day of life.
I maybe need to do similar for mine, she's always knackered! She's veggie and I probably eat veggie for around 60-75% of the week, I did start us both routinely eating nuts & dried fruits for snacks in the evening (as an easy source of extra protein & vits) but she's gone off eating them more than once a week or so (I haven't!).
Any advice on which/any mudguards will work for this 3mm clearance ?,
I am guessing that only the likes of SKS raceblades will do, with just a metal filet under the fork - but with these, mud would then just be thrown into fork tube.
Attaching clip into inset brake bolt looks as though it will be fun, also need P clips for bottom of fork that does not have eyes.
SKS Raceblade Long. They're about your only option due to the clearance, although look to see if there is a set the same brand as your bike designed for your model. Although google lots of reviews of them, I went through 2 sets of Giant guards designed specifically for fitting the Defy and neither of them came close to the coverage, quality & fit of Raceblade Longs. They even fit to the QR so you don't even need frame mounts.
There is no such thing as a 'fit & forget' mudguard, nor is there such a thing as a 'plug & play'. You'll either have a straightforward 'easy' guard to fit, which will require constant adjusting & fiddling to keep as silent as possible due to movement. Or you'll have a set which are painful to fit, requiring multiple hours of fettling/trimming when fitting, but less future maintenance to keep the fit good and noises down.
I went through 4 different sets on my Defy (2 of them Giant branded) before settling for a well maintained & adjusted set of Raceblade Longs. For my Diverge I avoided the 'Specialized Plug n Play Fenders V2' and went straight for SKS Chromoplastics (although sounds like the Spesh guards are actually ok). Took multiple hours of fettling & lots of other bits (from the previous cr*p guards), but now I hardly touch them.
I'd also comment on how awesome hydro discs are, if mine weren't making an absolute racket!!
This rain is about the only thing shutting them up at the moment
Mine are worse in the wet! HOOONNNNNNKKKKK every time from the front!
Actually got some filth in them last saturday so sunday I got all my tools out and prepared for several hours of faffing around to remove the pads, clean & refit. Hadn't looked at videos on pad changing before. Took all of 15 minutes! So so easy...!
After cleaning pads I'm not convinced I've not got a bit of degreaser/GT85 on them (and could've before) so going to grab some brake cleaner for them. I've checked the alignment as much as I can and can't see them being off-centre (as I first suspected) so I've not attempted to realign them - don't want to make them worse!
I think tbh my biggest issue atm is a mental one - just not ever having done more than 35 miles in a single run so I'm concerned about how 70+ miles is going to do down with my arms legs and other bits. I've got to somehow get my hamstrings stretched out properly because atm they're super tight and pulling on my lower back like a mofo. I swear it's the winter - my body feels about 15 year older than it is in the winter, I feel fantastic in the Spring and Summer.
Not sure if this link will work but here's my sportive:
Really want to get a MMH space at some point but it always seems to sell out so damn quick! It's one of the 'main' UK Sportives that is quite close to me (only the Velothon & Ride Birmingham come closer).
Of all the big rides I've done (around that kinda distance) it's my butt that hurts the most! I'm always ridden longer distance with a 'bit' in reserve so I'm never feeling utterly empty at the end. The only exception was the Kington Lions ride.
2015 - 90km (55 mile) 'Festival of Sport'. 4 hours moving time. Good warm weather, ideal conditions, from doing regular 30/35 mile fast group (18mph) rides and a couple of ~40 mile training rides, I enjoyed this one. I had a mechanical all the way around so couldn't use my big ring much. Rode most of it solo and slower so over fuelled & under effort.
2016 - 72 mile 'Land of Hops & Glory'. 5 hours moving time. Great conditions again. Found this one quite hard as cycling out to the sportive and back put me at ~84 miles total for the day... Around 25 more than I'd done in a single day before. Good food stops so fuelled well, but riding with a faster mate so continually pushing hard for it. I suffered with cramp for the last 20+ miles but had to push through it as that was ~50 miles in &30 miles from home! Well fuelled but suffered with bad saddle sores afterwards for days, legs were bad from the cramping, recovery was hard from this one.
2016 - 76 mile 'Kington Lions Classic'. 5.5 hours moving time but around 7.5 hours in the saddle. Terrible conditions, bad weather, bad road surfaces. Got utterly soaked before even 30 miles in, the middle climbs sapped all my strength and the last two at 60 & 65 miles I had to walk up. Utterly emptied all reserves, was underfuelled and hadn't got the fitness for all that climbing /distance. The last 30+ miles were purely survival. Was not a pleasurable experience but a good sense of accomplishment & made some good friends from it!
Modulation can be a bit hit and miss in the wet but my RS785's don't lack stopping power wet or dry - if anything they have too much! Locked up my rear this morning as I'd lifted weight to ride some rollers & had to slow for someone oncoming. Wet surfaces & think I'm running a bit higher pressure than I should. My rims (5800) wouldn't stand a chance and I'd have to ride much more reserved in the same conditions.
Loving it mate, such a breath of fresh air from the Defy. I can't even imagine getting the Defy back out in the summer, there just doesn't seem anything to gain from it?! It's no faster, it's less comfortable (the ride is so harsh in comparison!) and the mudguards a complete joke. I'm probably only going to keep it for turbo use with any summer bike being something more aero (as that's about all the Diverge & my position/fit can be improved upon).
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