Road Cycling

[merlin]

The wet surface really slows you down I find.

You're a lot stronger than that Jonny?

Here's my last full on track session:

1 hour non stop, no drafting allowed. I'm not a super strong rider, certainly not when it comes to endurance type stuff, so that hour hurt.

That said I really want to do the same using my track bike to see which is quicker.

 

[Jonny ///M]

I dunno? 311w for half an hour was enough for me.

Not sure how it would feel to ride in a proper banked velodrome but i wouldn't feel comfortable going much faster on this flat wet track.

Not as flat as it looks in the dark to be fair.

 

[merlin]

Ah, gotcha, it's not banked. Yes on a velodrome you don't "corner" at all - so that helps.

Big thumbs up for the high cadence.

 

[Roady]

Isn't the Netherlands Michael Jackson's place anyway?

Can't you measure it?

I've tried it's just so damn small my gauges make it almost impossible, they're really short grubs, like 5-6 threads.

Thinking about it I could just order a couple of cheap ones in various sizes and try them, but that's wasteful and really not the way my brain works lol

In my mind Specialized being the huge company they are would have the associated documentation/info/plans/manuals etc with this stuff noted in there and readily available at least to their own service guys, if not their partners and customers. Seems not!

Got dragged out tonight in the rain by my mate.

Wee outdoor track in the wet, went for a 30 minute effort. Happy with that power and was a good guage for when we both enter a 2up in February.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1953817869/analysis/834/2639

Good stuff, impressive averages! Good gauge of fitness even with the conditions

 

[merlin]

Got damn it I feel slow in this weather. Got a few hours ride time tomorrow morning, if this morning's commute is anything to go by then absolutely no trees are going to get pulled up tomorrow.

My legs have just completely switched off. Maybe it's the body's way of just saying it wants time to rest/repair/recuperate?

 

[floatindolphin]

Fitted my new Hope brakes and Mavic carbon wheels to my Major Jake earlier. Went out for a quick spin, it flies on road tyres now!


https://imgur.com/gallery/YElO2QJ

Ignore the massive spacer pile! That will be chopped down once I get a new headset

 

[Jonny ///M]

Lools good! I imagine those brakes are proper powerful.

The hole is usually for water to run out of the hollow structure of the wheel as per the other thread.

 

[BennyC]

Not sure how it would feel to ride in a proper banked velodrome but i wouldn't feel comfortable going much faster on this flat wet track.

It is unnerving initially, as you think and feel like you will get to 'lean in' to the bend but the reality is the speed required to do this is unobtainable. You are essentially riding not far off 'upright' on a surface sloped like this ' / '.

It feels a bit like it defies physics at first! But tyres 'gon grip.

Had a 2hr closed session with the club at Lee Valley earlier in the year, was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Saytan]

Hope are now offering calipers designed to work with Shimano and SRAM hydraulic brifters. From memory this is the first time they've produced a brake designed for mineral oil use.

 

[UTmaniac]

Who would have thought that a heavyweight bso with sit up and beg geometry would feel so hard on a slight incline and feel so alien to ride?

... Short test ride after some basic maintenance including fixing a puncture, during a visit to family, but at least it got me some time on a bike!

 

[SoliD]

Wekkend off racing this weekend so spent some time rain dodging.

2 hour session on the cx bike yesterday trying to get some confidence up on it by riding some mtb trails local to me. Managed to only have one off and pace was hugely quicker on my later laps. Also managed to stay relatively dry too!

Then out this morning, weather forecast completely wrong. Bright blue skies first thing which was frustrating as I would have got up early and got out. Oh well got out and within 10 mins it started to rain.... Luckily didn't last long and continued on. Stopped at a remembrance Sunday parade and said hello to a few friends then battled the wind for another few hours.

I'm currently riding my Ridley as I've had to return a caliper under warranty on my pinnacle. So when it rained again I got drenched. Got a mega slow puncture thya I changed and then had puncture paranoia for the rest of the ride. Gonna change the tyre on it as its definitely had better days. Been lucky with the weather for now but suspect I'll be using the turbo as the weather gets more grim.

Finished up with 66.6 miles which is my longest ride for about 2 months since cx season started.

 

[floatindolphin]

Hope are now offering calipers designed to work with Shimano and SRAM hydraulic brifters. From memory this is the first time they've produced a brake designed for mineral oil use.

gah!!! I should have waited before pulling the trigger on these ones. They're still good though...

 

[Berger]

I got back on it this weekend too, an hour Zwift race yesterday to get the legs going and then 90 mins on the road this afternoon.

After raining all morning the sun made an appearance and there was a dry line, nice to get out and autumn leaves are good.

The cheap Rally tubular rides alright, grip and wear rate both seem good, no complaints so far.

Most km since August, and only did 130 this week!

 

[Jonny ///M]

Sounds like we all had it bad!

I was meeting up with guys that had planned a 100 miler, 126 for me door to door, but upon leaving the house got drenched and I think out of the 3 hours we did about half an hour was without rain. Just under 50 miles for a slower paced Sunday ride still ticked the box for me and took me over 100 miles for the week.

That's me just ticked over 5k miles for this year which is higher than last year with less actual rides and with me not commuting anymore as I moved a mile from the shop so probably more specific/quality rides too.

 

[Roady]

Finally got my rear tubeless done. Thinner 10mm tape didn't arrive in time so continued with my 21mm. Good job I got a 66m long reel of tape!

First time stretching it into the rim bed I ended up with the tape stuck on itself and then a kink I couldn't happily solve. Started again. This time holding tight and really pushing/stretching the centre down, split the tape. Did it again. Split. Got pished off and did it with slacker tape and it seemed to seat into the rim bed more, using thumb edges all the way around, friction of my thumbs seeming to heat the tape into moulding it to shape in the bed. Perfect! Poked a small hole into it for the valve (rather than cutting), pushing the valve through and tightening prompting split the tape next to the hole. F%%$%*^%! Started again. This time got it done and cut a teeny tiny * shape rather than an X. Seemed to hold...! Putting some air in it begins to leak at around 90psi from somewhere around the hole. GAH! Left it while I did some other chores and checked pressure after an hour or so, only down to 60psi. Thought sod it and added sealant, pumped it up to 90psi again and left it overnight. No sealant on the floor in the morning (left valve at the bottom of the wheel) but some pressure loss, only down to around 60psi again. Added more sealant (must be 100ml in there now!) and shaking it around, no leaks. Pumped back up to 80psi and left it. Fully expected to put air in it this morning, thinking I could put +10psi into it before riding each time until I get the thinner tape and retape it. No need! Still felt pretty near to 80psi and rode fine this morning! Reserving judgement until a few days have passed... Am fully expecting to re-tape it with the thinner tape to resolve, then make a judgement call about redoing the front.

How 'good' is sealant once used, should I be 'safe' to reuse it as it'll only be a week or two old? Any suggestions on how I get it out the tyre?!

Bonus: have utterly ruined my right thumb. Thought I'd maybe cut it next to the thumbnail, but could actually be burnt from all the friction and pressure of fitting the tape. Will be too painful to do the same for a few days at least! The edge is a blacky-swelled-red mess

My legs have just completely switched off. Maybe it's the body's way of just saying it wants time to rest/repair/recuperate?

Probably, no big sessions recently with a reduction in volume? Then it's just a loss of form/edge.

I know it's flawed, I know it's very basic and I shouldn't use it to judge my fitness. But the Strava Fitness & Freshness chart thing I actually like using and am finding it a very useful basic judge of where I am - I've got premium/summit and I'm too tight to pay for something else, while also being too stupid to use something better! I also really don't have the time to plough into another system to get meaningful data out, so for me the simple idea of it works well for me.

Fitted my new Hope brakes and Mavic carbon wheels to my Major Jake earlier. Went out for a quick spin, it flies on road tyres now!


https://imgur.com/gallery/YElO2QJ

Ignore the massive spacer pile! That will be chopped down once I get a new headset

They look proper fancy! Makes the Shimano ones look huge! What's that below your handlebars/stem? At first I thought it was a DI2 box but doesn't look like it?

 

[Saytan]

They look proper fancy! Makes the Shimano ones look huge! What's that below your handlebars/stem? At first I thought it was a DI2 box but doesn't look like it?

it's cable-actuated hydraulic master cylinder. It was hope's first solution for getting their brakes onto road oriented bikes

https://www.hopetech.com/product/v-twin-brake/

they now also offer RX4 calipers in shimano and SRAM compatible versions so you can use hydro brifters

 

[Jonny ///M]

How many layers did you do Roady?

I'd probably batter on two full layers and overlap at the valve leaving the valve hole with 3 x the thickness of the tape. Assuming you can get the tyre on and off at that.

 

[Roady]

it's cable-actuated hydraulic master cylinder. It was hope's first solution for getting their brakes onto road oriented bikes

https://www.hopetech.com/product/v-twin-brake/

Ahhh, explains it. Thanks! Very interesting!

How many layers did you do Roady?

I'd probably batter on two full layers and overlap at the valve leaving the valve hole with 3 x the thickness of the tape. Assuming you can get the tyre on and off at that.

Mostly 1 layer, I've found with 2 layers that my tyre is so tight in the centre of the bed that 2 layers is too thick that the pressure then unseals an edge of the tape. Can't solve that as I'm unable to get the tape into the bottom of the rim bed while also enough pressure to keep the spoke holes covered. If I can keep the tape in place I can get the tyre on. It's tough getting it over the rim & takes 3-4 levers and around 10 minutes, but once on it'll seat well/easily. I found multiple layers of tape around the hole made things worse - more pressure on the valve. The way it's taped at the moment my tape overlap isn't even over the valve hole. Did have a thought to burn a hole in the tape with a soldering iron for the valve but need to test that the tape will melt and not burn! If it melts - perfect! I'll be able to get a hole with less chance of it splitting!

Pretty sure the 10mm tape is the best solution (thanks!), as I'll hopefully be able to get all of the tape in the rim bed (off the shoulders).

 

[SoliD]

Sealant I have reused before I just assumed until it dries up it's still doing the job.

Your rims sound a nightmare. Got all of mine to go first time even with my new ghetto solution of gorilla tape and lifeline valves on non tubeless rims, but then I'm running lower pressure for CX which is probably the main difference.

 

[Roady]

Sealant I have reused before I just assumed until it dries up it's still doing the job.

Your rims sound a nightmare. Got all of mine to go first time even with my new ghetto solution of gorilla tape and lifeline valves on non tubeless rims, but then I'm running lower pressure for CX which is probably the main difference.

Good, at least that's one less thing to worry about! Assuming just clean it up with a rag, or wash the rim down to clear then clean it?

Yeah, having a bit of a mare but quite a good experience in how the whole principle works! Hadn't realised the rim bed would dictate things quite so much, also assumed tubeless rim tape was something special rather than how this stuff feels!

Saturdays antics:

Spoiler

First taping with small hole made with tiny phillips screwdriver:

Valve fitted and tightened, splitting the tape:


Taping with slacker tape (so can pretty much reach the rim bed) but splitting the tape due to pressure of trying to get it in there...:

Slacker tape with less pressure, less tape stuck to rim bed and seemingly perfect valve:

In those pics you can see the differences of the tape in how it looks stuck to the shoulders and stuck to the rim bed.

At the bottom of the last image you can see how a spoke hole is covered by the tape hovvering over the bed, but the cutout is into the shoulder so thin tape will probably need 2 layers, one each side of the rim bed.

My thinner tape is here, depending on how my pressure feels later will depend if I get to taping it later. My injured thumb is just telling me to stick a tube in until the weekend!