Road Cycling

Shadowness · 19 Feb 2017 at 19:35

Yes but it's nice to be able to compare rides, and more importantly for me, pace yourself.
I've pushed myself far too hard on many commutes, and it's nice to have a number to ride to instead. I'm still in the early days of all the numbers, but I have no regrets yet.

One More Solo · 19 Feb 2017 at 19:59

Saytan said:
I'm not sure what the fixation is with power unless you're racing (and training for), which it is great for. If you're riding for enjoyment, you either are, or are not. No number makes any difference.

x1000

Cycling Weekly etc have done a great job of selling them to people that don't need them though.

BennyC · 19 Feb 2017 at 20:27

^ to some extent I agree but even for the recreational cyclist it gives a (granted unnecessary) metric to gauge progress with in addition to speed, heart rate etc.

It does also remove the wild stab in the dark a lot of novices have at trying to structure effective training. Even those that ride for enjoyment will want to be able to climb more easily or ride harder or for longer - all which are helped by becoming more powerful (or lighter

) Granted though you absolutely do not need a PM to achieve this, it's just a nice luxury.

One More Solo · 19 Feb 2017 at 20:36

Agree, but most novices would improve by just following a structured training plan without a PM. A PM should follow once you stop progressing from that route.

SDK^ · 19 Feb 2017 at 21:51

Saytan said:
I'm not sure what the fixation is with power unless you're racing (and training for), which it is great for. If you're riding for enjoyment, you either are, or are not. No number makes any difference.

A power meter was the best thing I got for my bike. I would recommend one over upgrading anything else.

I've just read the review of the 4iiii dual sided unit and am thinking of upgrading from my one sided Stages unit. The only blocker is currently they only support Dura-Ace crankset, which adds £600 to the price

(if you don't already have one)

topgun06 · 20 Feb 2017 at 09:22

I got out for a few miles and hills yesterday. I was meeting a meeting mate in an adjacent village. Upon getting there, I noticed this:

Good job I did. After a swift drive home, I unpacked my summer bike from my bike bag (where it has lived since September), and finally got some miles in: https://www.strava.com/activities/872166872. It felt so good to get out for more than an hour with someone else. It has been a rarity recently. A slow speed, but hey, its hardly surprising.

touch · 20 Feb 2017 at 09:57

Saytan said:
I'm not sure what the fixation is with power unless you're racing (and training for), which it is great for. If you're riding for enjoyment, you either are, or are not. No number makes any difference.

You could apply that to anything though.
Why have a garmin? If you're only riding for enjoyment speed/distance numbers make no difference either.
Why even bother with a carbon bike, nice wheels, modern groupset, etc?

FrenchTart · 20 Feb 2017 at 10:34

touch said:
You could apply that to anything though.
Why have a garmin? If you're only riding for enjoyment speed/distance numbers make no difference either.
Why even bother with a carbon bike, nice wheels, modern groupset, etc?

Agreed.

I love having power to look at the figures. It's a luxury item but then again 90% of our choices when buying bike parts are.

Roady · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:14

hornetstinger said:
It is pretty funny when they try and get multiple discounts lol.

I've had multiple discounts/vouchers before. What's even funnier is the majority of my local Halfords staff not even knowing about the BC discount and looking confused when I show them my card. :rolleyes:

grudas said:
Question of the day... When is a disk worn? My fronts and rears have got a decent lip now after 5k all weather miles.. but there are no indicators or anything to tell me when it's time to replace?

FrenchTart said:
Some time before it does this:

Haha, I was going to say 'ask FT'!

I think they're similar to car disc rotors for showing wear, you'll see the surface picking up grooves and they'll wear quite unevenly around the outside edges of the pad area, leaving a lip. As mentioned, Shimano have a recommended minimum, but well worth checking specs for the manufacturer of your rotors as they may be different from 1 to another. I'd also be very cautious of any 'cracks', they were a good early indication on drilled & grooved car discs of wear, I'd imagine a crack on a cycling rotor to be a pretty early indicator of an imminent catastrophic failure similar to FT's!

IndigoGorilla said:
I'm going to go with the Mechanic. And quite possibly a chatterbox too.

Haha you're pretty spot on! Especially on the 'saturday social' rides as they're so easy paced! I can be a bit of a 'Heart Rate Bore' at the moment but with my PWM data, most of the time as I'm riding with guys who don't have one and are interested in how their/our efforts measure.

SoliD said:
Di2, 2 batteries turned up today, killed one by trying to update firmware. Left the other alone, something fundamentally wrong with either my laptop or Di2 system.

Worth asking a LBS to update the firmware for you to eliminate your laptop/interface? Then ask them to look at the killed battery?

SoliD said:
I rode my Felt today, omg I forgot how quick and effortless it is. Even quicker with the Zipps on it.

Felt is looking good mate!

Love how the camera angle makes your already slammed position look even more aggressive!

Is that the saddle rail mount for the TraceR? How have you found it? I bought one ages ago but never fitted/used it.

BennyC said:
Lost a bottle for the first time today

What cages are you using?!

lordrobs said:
One guy had a Genesis Croix de Fer Titanium. What a lovely looking machine.

There's at least 3 different guys in the local clubs who have Racelight Ti's, all in silver. Gorgeous frames! One day I'll have one in Blue (maybe)...

Saytan said:
I'm not sure what the fixation is with power unless you're racing (and training for), which it is great for. If you're riding for enjoyment, you either are, or are not. No number makes any difference.

The same argument could be used for carbon/aero wheels, race/road bikes and even gears over singlespeed.

kiteloopy · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:14

My FD is broken on my winter hack, meaning that I had to use my summer best yesterday.

Got 56 miles in yesterday and starting to get very excited about the incoming tri season.
Feeling stronger & stronger every ride now which is great.

grudas · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:19

Well, I've checked the thickness of the rotor and it's at 1.43mm ! Doesn't sound safe! But I can't find anything from trp website.. maybe my Google fu is not working today.. they're stock trp rotors but no PDF or any info attached to them so no idea where to find the minimum thickness.

SoliD · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:31

Roady,

Yeah, saddle mount, absolutely fine, bit fiddly getting off as it's tight up there. and going to be using the PCE-1 for updating the firmware, don't trust it currently.

touch · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:33

grudas said:
Well, I've checked the thickness of the rotor and it's at 1.43mm ! Doesn't sound safe! But I can't find anything from trp website.. maybe my Google fu is not working today.. they're stock trp rotors but no PDF or any info attached to them so no idea where to find the minimum thickness.

Does it say on the rotor itself?
Mine are all shimano but i'm sure they hae the min thckness stamped on them. As well as diameter, rotation direction, etc.

Roady · 20 Feb 2017 at 11:59

Saturday's club 'social saturday' ride was a good one, fantastic weather & even felt some sunshine!

https://www.strava.com/activities/870669747

I was running a little late so hammered it into town (average speed killed by traffic!), actual ride was very easy paced as we had such a mixed group (around 14 riders). I did some shepherding towards the back for the first part keeping things together and giving the slower riders my wheel into the headwinds. Once we'd stopped to regroup in Bredwardine we could've split into two groups, but the faster ones were more than happy with the slower pace and enjoying the weather, we did semi-split for a few miles over the two climbs for the day. I put real efforts into the steepest top part of Tin Hill (after being at the back of the group at the start jumped everyone but 1 guy to the summit) and the following climb to Mansel Gamage. We eased back to wait for some of the slower ones to catch up, although Simon sped off into the distance so I tested my sprint to try and catch him (not even close, but happy with 560W avg for 30s). After an easy ride back into town lending my wheel into more headwinds before some coffee and biscuits. I took a longer solo 13.5 mile loop back home afterwards to take in a couple of extra climbs, while getting annoyed by a rubbing mudguard.

51 miles total for the day, good mileage for me this early in the year and something I want to head towards (50+ miles on the weekend). My legs were pretty empty at the end so pushing my average weekly mileage over 100 is my primary aim at the moment!

One of the clubs from Abergavenny (who Becky James & George North occasionally ride with) did a large club run with Ned Boulting for a feature on the Bike Channel.

BennyC · 20 Feb 2017 at 13:00

Looks like £170 is the going rate for a set of Ultegra 6800 Brifters currently? Using the pair that came with the Propel on the Emonda ALR so need to replace them before selling. Will keep an eye out for something used in good condition but they seem to hold value well.

Merlin have them for £170 w/o cables, same price on CRC with cables by the looks of things.

(10% CRC discount, 12% Wiggle and Quidco in my arsenal)

Vonhelmet · 20 Feb 2017 at 13:08

touch said:
You could apply that to anything though.
Why have a garmin? If you're only riding for enjoyment speed/distance numbers make no difference either.
Why even bother with a carbon bike, nice wheels, modern groupset, etc?

I love my Garmin, but the main reason is that it allows me to plan where I'm going and then get the Garmin to satnav for me. Speed is secondary - I could get away with just putting a sticker on the stem that says "Too slow".

Vonhelmet · 20 Feb 2017 at 13:09

Roady said:
The same argument could be used for carbon/aero wheels, race/road bikes and even gears over singlespeed.

Meh, I actually own a single speed bike, and while it's grand for getting me to and from work, it would be no fun on any kind of serious hill, so it's not really in the same league.

grudas · 20 Feb 2017 at 13:14

touch said:
Does it say on the rotor itself?
Mine are all shimano but i'm sure they hae the min thckness stamped on them. As well as diameter, rotation direction, etc.

no, nothing

just diameter and rotation direction that's it.

bit annoying, guess I can just buy the two rotors 160/140mm and be done, they're not that expensive.

SoliD · 20 Feb 2017 at 13:54

1.5mm is minimum thickness I think.

booyaka · 20 Feb 2017 at 14:17

Another beasting with the coach today.

Warm up - followed by 7 x 4 mins @ just over FTP (I was tasked with averaging 250W for the 4 min efforts - managed it ok) with 3 minutes recovery in between. Idea being working on Aerobic Decoupling.

This metric simply compares how heart rate reacts to a steady power effort and is a fantastic reference of your fitness and an indicator for long climbs or time trialing. Your ability to maintain a steady application of power and keep “under control” will allow for a predictable duration of the application of power and energy usage.

Again some good information, good feedback and interesting to see all the numbers and data etc.

Next week sounds rank.........2 x 20 mins blocks to work on average max power (not FTP)......