Road Cycling

[Phil99]

I keep considering going tubeless. If I had tubeless compatible rims I'd already be using them but I'm not sure whether converting my Khamsins is A) possible and B) a good idea.

I think people in the MTB world have had success in converting non-tubeless rims with wide/low pressure tyres, but ghetto road tubeless seems to be a very bad idea from the accounts I've read (unless you enjoy getting in to situations like this).

It's probably not worth going out and buying new wheels just to go tubeless, but next time you're in the market for a new set of wheels I'd say it's well worth considering a pair with tubeless compatible rims.

 

[lordrobs]

I think people in the MTB world have had success in converting non-tubeless rims with wide/low pressure tyres, but ghetto road tubeless seems to be a very bad idea from the accounts I've read (unless you enjoy getting in to situations like this).

It's probably not worth going out and buying new wheels just to go tubeless, but next time you're in the market for a new set of wheels I'd say it's well worth considering a pair with tubeless compatible rims.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that when I last read up on it a conversion was a bad idea as the rim wasn't designed with a tubeless bead in mind. Might be an option for the gravel/winter bike as that has a pretty nasty set of wheels on it at the moment.

 

[SoliD]

Expensive day yesterday and painful today.

Came off my tt bike whilst warming up at about 30mph, as front wheel caught a cross wind on a bump... ripped my sportful jacket and my nopinz tripsuit to pieces.

Leg and hip got some skin missing but scabbing up nicely already. But proper achey and sore today. Minor tasks just have that annoying hurting. Somehow the bike came out with a minor scratch to the bars only. Everything else unscathed even tho it landed on the drive train side.

Then on the warm down my garmin mount snapped and I've scratched the screen. Thank God for screen protectors tho...

 

[Jonny ///M]

Sounds like you got lucky. Most TT bikes don't have replaceable mech hangers.

I get to see loads of broken bikes as you can imagine. Replaced a few sets of ultegra 6800 shifters the past week. They have not a lot of plastic holding them together it seems.

Had a wee spin on the turbo to loosen the legs up for tomorrow nights ride. Sore since I haven't ridden in a week.

 

[xdcx]

Expensive day yesterday and painful today.

Came off my tt bike whilst warming up at about 30mph, as front wheel caught a cross wind on a bump... ripped my sportful jacket and my nopinz tripsuit to pieces.

Leg and hip got some skin missing but scabbing up nicely already. But proper achey and sore today. Minor tasks just have that annoying hurting. Somehow the bike came out with a minor scratch to the bars only. Everything else unscathed even tho it landed on the drive train side.

Then on the warm down my garmin mount snapped and I've scratched the screen. Thank God for screen protectors tho...

****! Glad you are mostly alright pal. Really glad your bike is OK.
Not a great time of year to be crashing as everything is picking up now race wise. Rest up a couple days and get better before pushing it, it could always be much worse!

 

[SoliD]

Yeah, quite lucky with it, rubbish night sleep last night but aches are dying away and grazes are getting less tender. Next few weeks aren't too bad as most of the TTs I've targetted are early/late season, little gap coming up in our local leagues for counting races following this Sunday.

Went for a spin yesterday and everything felt ok, just up out the saddle on the palm of my hand where I've cut myself.

Some evidence in this shot, I won't show you my hip...

https://goo.gl/photos/NVYC6qBYR5cGPmTeA

 

[Roady]

https://www.strava.com/activities/962596563

Went out on saturday and had a really enjoyable social/club ride, lots of people out (15/16!) but we all still rode as 1 group. Really thought things would break up but for a big group we had a good pace, only needing to stop & regroup twice. I wasn't sure how my legs were going to be after the hard ride on thursday night but they actually felt ok.

I lost a few miles at the start - my ELEMNT resumed but was very sluggish then when I glanced down it had powered off (& not sure why). I put a good effort into the 'Golf course' climb as I'd not done a real effort on it yet this year, PR'ed it by 20s trying to chase down Adam, closed him on the steep but he rode away from me afterwards on the drag to the top (don't feel too bad, he's half my age & weight!). Later we had a 'rip up' towards town (Kiwi ride leader!) and I jumped into the block headwind before 5 others passed me, each of them fading into it. I managed to hold Charlie's wheel as he came past before closing Mark down, the 3 of us then doing a 3up until the junction. We've ridden through winter on much of these saturday rides together so we're really of a similar speed/power now - planning to ride the 50 mile spring charity ride with them next weekend, so should be a good one!

Probably close to my fastest mile yet, although not as flat as I'd like! Actually also put an effort in a segment on the solo ride home (as traffic was flowing) to empty the legs. Felt good, but 100 miles in 3 days had really taken it's toll on my nether regions so I enjoyed 2 days off the bike! Going to be a week of commuting to save myself for the charity ride, after that I really need to get some hill reps done!

https://www.strava.com/activities/961765251

First proper ride tonight. Really enjoyed it, roads were quiet which helped as I'm still not feeling confident on the bike.

Good start & well done! Confidence will come, as will the stamina for gradients! Then you can start to worry about power and speed...

https://www.strava.com/activities/966275924

First ride of a decent length (for a newbie ) today. Really enjoyed it, must say it was a lot more comfortable than I expected. The last 2 miles however were brutal, rain and headwind combined with the fact that my novice bottom had completely given up, I could barely sit and pedal and legs were too tired to stand and pedal.

You've done well progressing up to that mileage already, the arse and leg stamina will come! Chamois cream (if you don't have some already, the Assos is about the best I've tried) along with trying some different types of shorts/pads to figure out what works best for you (we're all individuals in that department!).

 

[Roady]

EDIT: split post up.

I think maybe I'll wait until the hangover clears before I arrange a courier, just in case...

Just make sure payment totally clears as well! So many time wasters on the 'bay these days.

Joined the club today

https://www.strava.com/activities/962843942

Good fun! Smashed most of my PBs despite not trying as I was getting used to the bike. Who knew a road bike was so much faster than a mountain bike on tarmac

Great riding, welcome to the road! You're in an amazing part of the country for riding!

I think you have to pay to get ridewithgps to write directly to a garmin these days. I download the raw tcx then feed it into bikehike to add the turns and then write that to the garmin from there.

I thought that RWGPS had turn-by-turn?

One of the most important things for navigating with the ELEMNT is getting the turns as Strava doesn't have them (ELEMNT doesn't 'auto' add them for junctions). RWGPS does have them (is recommended by Wahoo).

Annual 'Lap' today, again equally windy in places. Lots of treasure though on last year, 6 miles further with a few more hundred feet all solo and 25 minutes quicker than last year. Elemnt said 18mph avg so I'll go with that

Didn't actually see OneMorePunk or our other friend as I rode off the front after about 10 minutes :X had the car key though so was fully reclined and snoozing whilst they unfortunately got caught in a bit of a downpoor :/

Who knew car bumpers make for quite a good angle?

Spoiler

Great ride & looks like you guys had fun, bit harsh dropping them and not waiting! I mean, how do you give them any grief for being slow if you're not around?! lol

i'm injured!
Suspect Patella Tendinitis. Started two weeks ago off the back of a hectic Easter weekend incorporating 141 miles 3 rides in 4 days at over 19mph average. Still sore last weekend so only did 50 miles at 18mph of which a lot was quite one legged. Rested it all week but no good today and bailed out after 25 miles. Can;t push any more than 200W without it being uncomfortable. Not sure whats caused it other than pushing a bit hard. Needless to say I am ****** off not being able to ride my bike!!

Ouch! Sounds brutal! Would some easy pace/recovery pedalling, maybe even the turbo help with it? Or only total rest?

Warning, boring sportive report coming up

First of two 100 mile Sportives for the year yesterday. I was riding with a couple of people from work and after being told that we would all be losing our jobs earlier in the week we didn't really feel like it. Still, with the event all paid up we thought what the hell and went into it physically sort of ready but a bit mentally drained.

Great ride & well done in those conditions. A team/group effort is much more rewarding for something like that (especially in those conditions). Shame about the job side of things, good luck & I'm sure things will work out

If anyone is thinking about running tubeless but hasn't quite taken the plunge yet, see below for a great reason to just get on and
switch:

Spoiler

I have absolutely no idea how long that nail was in the tyre, but what I do know is that the pressure had hardly dropped at all (tyre still felt very firm). Took the nail out, sealant started spraying out for a bit, and by the time it had sealed most of the air had escaped. So I just pumped it back up and went out for a ride. 20 miles later, still more than enough air in the tyre to ride on. I've since applied a standard inner tube patch to the inside of the tyre as it was leaking a tiny amount of air from one of the holes when pumped up to 90+ psi (it's a 28mm tyre so no need for any more) and now it's held 100psi for the last 24hrs+.

Spoiler

First Sportive of the year yesterday, the Cambridge 100. Well, more like the Cambridge 94. Probably a good job it was shorter though as there wasn't much left in the tank when I crossed the line! Lovely tail wind for the first 35 miles or so, I think I was averaging something like 22mph without too much trouble. When we turned in to the wind that dropped off quite rapidly though! I've done this one for the last 3-4 years, but this year they changed the route, and for the better I think. Far fewer stints on busy/fast roads which made for a pretty stress-free ride. Finished in 4hr57, which I think might be the fastest time on the day - the chip timing results show 4 riders with times 30min+ faster than me, but I spotted one of them on the Strava segment for the 50 mile ride, so they probably started on the 100 and dropped down to the 50.

Wow! That's impressive! Tubeless is something I'm thinking of in future... Maybe not for the road though...

I keep considering going tubeless. If I had tubeless compatible rims I'd already be using them but I'm not sure whether converting my Khamsins is A) possible and B) a good idea.

Bad idea! Tubeless you defo need a tubeless rim! The AXIS 4.0 on my Diverge are not listed as tubeless, but reading around online lots of people have replaced the rim tape and used them as so. I'm still sceptical as I've read enough horror stories... One guy even ruining a rim when he couldn't get a tyre seated and it blew off at 120psi leaving the rim badly dinged (and Specialized not covering it as the rims are not listed as compatible). The tyres I've fitted to mine do 'snap' on & off the rim when fitted/removed (much more than all of the other non-tubeless rims I have)... Jury is still out before I attempt it lol!

Expensive day yesterday and painful today.

Ouch! Glad to hear bike mostly ok & you're mostly unscathed, shame about the kit and hope the rash heals ok.

 

[Roady]

https://www.strava.com/activities/963228271 - Some of the guys I know out in Majorca joined in on the 'Majorca 321'.

EDIT: Check out the first picture on this ride for a pimp shot of Dan's colour changing Venge (weather being warm & sunny enough to change colour) while he was away near Benidorm: https://www.strava.com/activities/953291129

How did you find the riding? The roads and routes look superb! We have a friend who owns a holiday apartment in Los Alcazares a little more to the south. Will be going there for a week next year but I also quite fancy seeing what prices she'll do for over the winter/spring (once I investigate what the weathers like) for some riding.

 

[Skillmister]

Great riding, welcome to the road! You're in an amazing part of the country for riding!

Thanks, and sure am. Looking forward to it . Although first I need to train my legs for the steeper climbs, couldn't even get up this in one as I'm used to sitting in granny gear on the MTB and just spinning it out rather than needing to put proper effort in all the way And there's a lot more than that to go at nearby..

 

[Roady]

Ordered one of these from Tredz: http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Tacx-Trainer-Axle-for-E-Thru_74089.htm

Recieved one of these: http://i.imgur.com/3mjHMnl.jpg

FFS. Looks like someone else already screwed them over with a swap & return and I ended up getting it!

Thanks, and sure am. Looking forward to it . Although first I need to train my legs for the steeper climbs, couldn't even get up this in one as I'm used to sitting in granny gear on the MTB and just spinning it out rather than needing to put proper effort in all the way And there's a lot more than that to go at nearby..

I wouldn't stress too much, anything over 10% is really all power and techniques you'll soon pick up if you keep trying! Although it might be worth asking your LBS to change your cassette to an 11-32 if you don't have one already and are going to be riding lots of gradients like that! I would probably struggle to sit and spin those 15% ramps, it would tax my legs much less to stand it. You don't have to be outputting lots of power when stood - just concentrating on pacing and maintaining the effort...!

That gradient/distance average is not far off one of the steepest around here (supposedly the steepest tarmaced road in the midlands): https://www.strava.com/segments/2401463 . No chance I can sit that on a road bike, but I can maintain the really low cadence while stood to climb it. Totally different scale of ramps on it though so don't draw too many comparisons!

 

[Steedie]

You've done well progressing up to that mileage already, the arse and leg stamina will come! Chamois cream (if you don't have some already, the Assos is about the best I've tried) along with trying some different types of shorts/pads to figure out what works best for you (we're all individuals in that department!).

Thank you

Will definitely pick up some cream. The shorts I have now were the budget B'Twin ones at Decathlon, that I bought when picking up the bike just so I could get out there, definitely going to look at getting some better ones now. Also need to get some proper shoes and pedals, currently using the stock pedals with my Converse (they're comfortable but far from practical) so I quite often find myself having to adjust my feet

 

[Skillmister]

I wouldn't stress too much, anything over 10% is really all power and techniques you'll soon pick up if you keep trying! Although it might be worth asking your LBS to change your cassette to an 11-32 if you don't have one already and are going to be riding lots of gradients like that!

I think its almost certain I'll end up doing plenty of gradients like that, they are everywhere I go round here

Managed this on the MTB, although if it had gone on any longer I may have died, think average heart rate was about 188 .

Is such a thing even possible? Walked it and even that was a struggle! The full thing was a bitch.

It's gonna be a painful summer

 

[FrenchTart]

Thank you

Will definitely pick up some cream. The shorts I have now were the budget B'Twin ones at Decathlon, that I bought when picking up the bike just so I could get out there, definitely going to look at getting some better ones now. Also need to get some proper shoes and pedals, currently using the stock pedals with my Converse (they're comfortable but far from practical) so I quite often find myself having to adjust my feet

Good work

Rather than cycling-specific stuff, get some sudocrem and use that. Cheaper and just as effective. Ask Benny so show you ho to apply it :eeK:

Proper shoes, shorts and pedals will improve your comfort massively too so good choice on that front.

 

[Steedie]

Good work

Rather than cycling-specific stuff, get some sudocrem and use that. Cheaper and just as effective. Ask Benny so show you ho to apply it :eeK:

Proper shoes, shorts and pedals will improve your comfort massively too so good choice on that front.

Would these be ok? The pad in their range of bib shorts seem to get a lot of good reviews, so I'm assuming it's good even for a few hours on the bike?

Or is it worth the extra £13 on these?

 

[BennyC]

Bib-shorts are subjective, much like trousers between brands the cut, leg grippers, pad quality, pad placement, shoulder strap length etc will all vary. Can't go wrong with Castelli generally. Buy a few different brands and see which you get on with best.

I'd recommend a 'low cut' front for nature breaks unless you want to **** on your own chin.

 

[Vonhelmet]

Woo, ordered the last bits for my new CX bike. Should be with me later this week, so all being well I can get building at the weekend.

 

[kiteloopy]

https://www.strava.com/activities/963228271 - Some of the guys I know out in Majorca joined in on the 'Majorca 321'.

I really want to do the 312 but I dont think I have it in me.
...and if I did id prefer to go around the whole island.

 

[MM-Seat]

Thank you

Will definitely pick up some cream. The shorts I have now were the budget B'Twin ones at Decathlon, that I bought when picking up the bike just so I could get out there, definitely going to look at getting some better ones now. Also need to get some proper shoes and pedals, currently using the stock pedals with my Converse (they're comfortable but far from practical) so I quite often find myself having to adjust my feet

Clipless pedals improved my cycling no end. Really worth it!

 

[Jono]

Had a bad weekend of cycling. Thought I'd go out for about 50ish as it was a nice day. Got about 12 miles and started feeling not especially strong. Really struggled up to 15, then decided to call it a day and cut the ride short. Did about 32 in the end, the last half of which was pretty slow.

I don't know if I started off too fast because I felt good, or what.

Didn't ride Sunday or Yesterday. :/