https://www.strava.com/activities/2629359089
After fitting the 50/34 saturday I had the chance to ride sunday. Legs felt heavy so my plan of Gospel pass was put in doubt. When the heavens opened as I was starting my way up I decided to take a different,
not as long climb through to Craswell (still a damn long one!). Still tough and similar to Gospel, but only really 2 main parts of it. Glad I had my packable but by the time I was 3/4 the way up the rain had stopped and the sun came out. Was fairly cooked by then, so the next couple of ramps at Craswell really sapped my strength. Amazing scenery and really good roads around Michaelchurch helped things, but so many horse riders around and traffic on singletrack had to slow/stop loads. Really enjoyed the ride back, even with a few wrong turns. I kept the effort fairly z2/z3 on the ride out & back with efforts/sustained power on the climbs so legs felt pretty good afterwards. Really strange riding without power though... I will hunt down a Stages/4iiii as soon as possible, as pacing the climbs I found really horrible - my HR seems really slow to react, slower than I remember, so I ride hard, think I can sustain it, then realise I'm blowing up! Not something I generally find with riding to power. Maybe the extra few KG I'm carrying and the lack of hilly riding I've done really contributed to this, even with the recent feeling of form and slight bump in FTP. TLDR; HTFU Roady.
Guy I 'know' from Zwift was riding a Sportive the same day. He messaged me the night before asking for chip shop recommendations as was staying in a Travellodge about 3 miles from my house! FFS! If I'd have known I'd have ridden it with him and met him for a beer, but didn't get back from the Safari park until late...
Brutal ride/route, maybe I'll do it next year.
Mixed bag of weather this weekend means club ride on saturday is off as someone wants to go to the safari park... Have been given the green light to go out on sunday instead (weather still ok, just not as good as saturday). Part of me wants to change BB/cranks so I've got lower gearing to attempt Gospel Pass north side again, just to cross it off after the failure/abandon there during the really hot weather. I'm utterly convinced I now have the fitness and power to get up there, especially with lower gearing. Although in a bit of a mindset - to cross it off without changing crankset.
Replacement Wheelsmfg BB30 came yesterday. Have confirmed sizing is different to the PF30 (peace of mind!) and will be fitting it this weekend. Probably going to also buy new pedals (opportunity to replace ~3 year old keo's & I know I've not removed existing from my Praxis cranks for far too long) and going to a new Ultegra R8000 cassette too (along with chain change) as I'm changing chainrings (new R8000 crankset). Don't have the cassette/pedals ready so will just use existing for now but need to change before causing too much wear on new chainrings. As I'm going from 53/39 to 50/34 considering going for a 28t as opposed to my usual 32t. Really don't think I'll need the 32t like I have done on the current 53/39 and previous 52/36.
Fitted BB & cranks on saturday. Took around 1 hr 20 mins. Plenty of practice now lol. Wheelsmfg BB30 Went in a dream, didn't even need any spacers (which came with the BB, nor those Specialized I ordered...). Although how do you tell for sure? The dust cover over each bearing, the crank spindle through, then the R8000 NDS crank on leaving around 2-3mm thread 'gap' from the top of the crank spindle to top of pedal body (internal). No gap between crank/dust cover/BB either side externally. Looked fine for me, but what's recommended!? Chainline is good, barely a tweak needed to eliminate rub from the previous cranks so fairly sure the rings are in the right place.
Wheelmfg 'instructions' say '
no spacers needed' or to '
refer to your crankset instructions for exact crank spindle spacers and wave washer placement'.
Shimano documents I found have zero info about even dust covers, never-mind spacers/recommendations. As I'm not using any spacers or wave washers is that ok!? Preload ok on the bearings just by me pressing the two together and fitting crankarm?
Also the plastic dust cap thing, anyone bother with
tightening it up with these, or is finger tight enough to keep it in place? Actually, are you meant to add pressure to the crank with it, before tightening the bolts, then back it off? Like a Topcap & stem?
Maybe this image will help explain things...
I managed to drop part of the compressor into my steerer and it got stuck near my fork. I spent a long time trying to fish it out with a coat-hanger. Eventually I rescued it but I had damaged it with all the poking and now it won't thread onto the other end.
Argh, what a 'mare! I'd have been paranoid about damaging the forks! Must be soft alloy if you damaged it that easily.
picture was a single rear tyre, and the thread bare patches extend for ~25% discontinuous sections of sidewall ... treated kindly and no sliding or significant lock-ups.
(I wouldn't be skilled enough to slide on a sidewall )
I did wonder about over-inflation since sidewall being thinner might be stressed more, or, not having used the bike for maybe 2 months over winter.
... maybe I'll ring the michelin help line
edit: its like centre band is de-laminating / untsticking
edit2: looks like it maybe a known failure mode,
I have the pink speckles too.
michelin pro4 endurance failure
Wow yeah, it does look like that from that close up. Although almost looks as though it's melted?! The wear seems to be outside-in, which would be the reverse to wear...? You've not used it on a wheel-on turbo with burning rubber smells have you?
Got there eventually with a new outer and some Anglo Saxon. New question - my right shifter doesn’t always catch when going to a smaller rear cog so what needs some WD40?
Pivots on the RD, spray some in all of them to free things up. Clear gunk from the internal spring too. It can all get gunked up, but I wouldn't recommend soaking the thing in degreaser. Maybe clear what you can with a light spray of degreaser and then use a stiff brush to clear what you can.
I'd tend to use GT85 rather than WD40 though.
In a Lezyne Caddy? Really?
And never underestimate the potential for snobbery!
Lezyne pump here in a Lezyne caddy. Living the dream.
Peasants.
