Soldato
Yeah, i'm aiming to mainly just try as many as i can and hoping buying through ebay as i see them pop up at a decent price will mean i don't churn through too much!
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
Told you it was narrow! I was able to get a good price when I sold mine.
Stuck to metal rail saddles now as the cost/benefit for a carbon one just doesn’t add up.
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Good hit out on Tuesday with my usual weekend club. Social ride with a beer stop afterwards, I don't normally attend as short of time on most weeknights but blagged the other half as it's 'too hot to ride Zwift inside several times this week'. Great fun ride, bunch of riders out including a guy I'd not seen for a few years. He had good legs so a good smash up chasing him a few times on the run back towards town. At one point I did a pull to drag the group towards a little bit of a kicker, he blazed past me and I stupidly gave chase - then gassed myself on the kicker. But a good test of recovery, as a bit of a drag after, then did a pull towards home, followed by a couple of more surges with short recoveries. With the last race towards our beer stop came I was gassed and just couldn't quite close the 5m gap to his wheel after an effort chasing him down. I had good legs so it was fun to use them, but his where obviously better! I needed that beer!
The fact they seated and inflated with a track pump first try is usually a good sign the tyre is going to seal well. I'm on the Muc off 'No hassle' stuff and really like it. Previously used Stans and liked it, but was a pain to clean off and more expensive. Can't comment on the sealing properties of the Muc off as not had a tyre off with it and counted the thorns (my usual with the Stans to 'see' how good it has been) - but I've had no unsealable punctures with it. Stuff my LBS uses is Cafe latex and that was quite nice too, less thick than the Stans and Muc off, seemed to seal well, but also left far less 'tyre bogies' around the rim like the Stans did (which made it a pain to re-seat a tyre). I'm probably due sorting out my winter wheels before refitting them when the autumn turns wet, I'll replace the sealant then and count the thorns (good reminder actually as I had toyed with the idea of some new winter tyres this time around...)
Nice, where from & good price? Would be a shame it doesn't come with some integrated bars if you paid near that RRP (hope you didn't!)It's this one.
Roadmachine THREE | CARBON / WHITE
The Roadmachine’s frame and fork are constructed with our Premium Carbon, using TCC Endurance technology. Internal cable routing replaces the Roadmachine 01’s ICS technology, but the Premium Carbon D-Shape seatpost remains, for optimum seated compliance. The Roadmachine THREE’s compact aluminium...www.bmc-switzerland.com
Not the most exciting of colours I know, but options are VERY limited at the moment. The build date is the 18th (next week) so I won't be off the road too long.
I'm quite determined to sort myself out a summer bike this season/next when I spot a deal or the opportunity arises. Anyone have a friend/clubmate wanting to shift a Giant TCR disc, Tarmac Pro disc or even a Canyon Ultimate disc let me know. I've nearly a full di2 groupset and wheels to go on it so just after a tidy frame/something I can strip down & rebuild.
Good test to ride it extra tired/fatigued to see how it feels, but you need to get a good 3+ hours in at some point as a test too. That's really where some decisions have to be made! A 'racey' saddle can feel great for a couple of hours and then can feel like sitting on razorblades when you really test your arses resilience!
Yup great advice, especially some of the 'premium' type saddles people rave about. Going the alloy/metal route to save a few quid for something else is well worth it! There's only a few grams to be saved, but quite a bit of cash!
Arione 00 vs R1 vs R3 - £325 & 140g vs £180 & 163g vs £135 & 200g
Power S-Works vs Expert vs Comp - £255 & 159g vs £115 & 233g vs £95 & 247g
Yes there are other minor differences and other models in those ranges doing different things, but realistically any of us buying a saddle at those prices is not going to worry about 'saving' 40-50g and spending over £100 just to swap it and directly compare. We'd made our choice at purchase stage and then stick with it.
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Soldato
Nice, where from & good price? Would be a shame it doesn't come with some integrated bars if you paid near that RRP (hope you didn't!)
I've ordered it from Sigma, their site says it's 15% off but it's pretty much the same price everywhere to be fair. It was a toss-up between this and waiting for a Canyon Endurace CF SL 8 Di2, which is £250 less (ETA is Nov, Dec) Neither comes with a completely integrated cockpit which is a shame. It seems you have to go to the BMC 01 models to get all the hidden cables. Which whilst nice, it's 2k more, which is a crazy amount to pay to hide a couple of cables.
Right guys - help me be sensible... (@fez - your influence isn't needed now! 
)
I am but a casual bike rider. I don't really train other than doing the Zwift training plans but I am a sucker for more data. Powermeters. I have one in my checkout and while I want one I don't know if I'm being silly and would be better satisfying my need for something new and shiny by getting a bike radar.
Over the autumn/winter I'll be doing most of my riding indoors on the turbo trainer but on the dry days I will go out. I do like the idea of having powermeter pedals and having consistent power numbers both on the Kickr and out in the real world but I'm not sure how much I'll really utilise it? Part of me thinks it'll make me be more structured both indoors and out but I don't know.
I feel I've 70/30 made my mind up that I do want them but I don't know if I need them. Any of you in a similar position to myself where you got them without really needing them and if so, how do you feel about now having it?
/ramblings of a mad-man
)I am but a casual bike rider. I don't really train other than doing the Zwift training plans but I am a sucker for more data. Powermeters. I have one in my checkout and while I want one I don't know if I'm being silly and would be better satisfying my need for something new and shiny by getting a bike radar.
Over the autumn/winter I'll be doing most of my riding indoors on the turbo trainer but on the dry days I will go out. I do like the idea of having powermeter pedals and having consistent power numbers both on the Kickr and out in the real world but I'm not sure how much I'll really utilise it? Part of me thinks it'll make me be more structured both indoors and out but I don't know.
I feel I've 70/30 made my mind up that I do want them but I don't know if I need them. Any of you in a similar position to myself where you got them without really needing them and if so, how do you feel about now having it?
/ramblings of a mad-man
Soldato
I think they're fantastic. I specifically chose a bike which had them as i guess like you it's harder to justify the outright purchase.
I guess no-one ever really needs them, but personally i find it really useful. I'm not going out pushing hard doing specific training either, but it's a much better motivation to push yourself seeing the power numbers as it's consistent report of effort whereas speed is dictated by so many other factors.
I guess no-one ever really needs them, but personally i find it really useful. I'm not going out pushing hard doing specific training either, but it's a much better motivation to push yourself seeing the power numbers as it's consistent report of effort whereas speed is dictated by so many other factors.
Caporegime
Right guys - help me be sensible... (@fez - your influence isn't needed now!
I am but a casual bike rider. I don't really train other than doing the Zwift training plans but I am a sucker for more data. Powermeters. I have one in my checkout and while I want one I don't know if I'm being silly and would be better satisfying my need for something new and shiny by getting a bike radar.
Over the autumn/winter I'll be doing most of my riding indoors on the turbo trainer but on the dry days I will go out. I do like the idea of having powermeter pedals and having consistent power numbers both on the Kickr and out in the real world but I'm not sure how much I'll really utilise it? Part of me thinks it'll make me be more structured both indoors and out but I don't know.
I feel I've 70/30 made my mind up that I do want them but I don't know if I need them. Any of you in a similar position to myself where you got them without really needing them and if so, how do you feel about now having it?
/ramblings of a mad-man
I heard my name!
I have the garmin varia and love it. I don't think you can put a price on safety improvements and I feel like the varia is a biggie. As we are coming up to the tail end of the summer, getting a power metre that won't get as much use after the next few months until the spring seems frivolous. You already have one on the kickr for indoors...
That being said, I would quite like a power metre. I just know that my mate who takes the **** out of my bike and kit already would have a field day if I rocked up with one!
Soldato
I guess I would say I just find them interesting. Things like, I rode last week and felt like I had no power... sure enough, 160W ave. I rode on Wednesday, it felt better... sure enough 209W ave. I use wattsboard and either intentionally or just doing a climb, it's fun to see when you set a new 2 min, 5 min, 7 min... power record. (**EDIT** Like I've just seen, a couple of weekends back I set a new 3 min record for myself, going over Ivinghoe climb. It's nice because I often feel like I was fitter and faster a couple of years back...)
I think they can be really useful for pacing yourself. I remember my first 100 mile ride, I tried not to go over 270W very often. Or if you're doing a proper climb it can really help. When I did Alp d'Huez last month, I decided I could manage 280W all the way up... I got up there with an ave of 272W (I guess the little rests on the turns account for the small drop) and I felt really good, all the way up.
I think they can be really useful for pacing yourself. I remember my first 100 mile ride, I tried not to go over 270W very often. Or if you're doing a proper climb it can really help. When I did Alp d'Huez last month, I decided I could manage 280W all the way up... I got up there with an ave of 272W (I guess the little rests on the turns account for the small drop) and I felt really good, all the way up.
Right guys - help me be sensible... (@fez - your influence isn't needed now!
I am but a casual bike rider. I don't really train other than doing the Zwift training plans but I am a sucker for more data. Powermeters. I have one in my checkout and while I want one I don't know if I'm being silly and would be better satisfying my need for something new and shiny by getting a bike radar.
Over the autumn/winter I'll be doing most of my riding indoors on the turbo trainer but on the dry days I will go out. I do like the idea of having powermeter pedals and having consistent power numbers both on the Kickr and out in the real world but I'm not sure how much I'll really utilise it? Part of me thinks it'll make me be more structured both indoors and out but I don't know.
I feel I've 70/30 made my mind up that I do want them but I don't know if I need them. Any of you in a similar position to myself where you got them without really needing them and if so, how do you feel about now having it?
/ramblings of a mad-man
I 100% don't regret getting a powermeter. It did take a little bit of time to understand how the numbers relate to me but I get use from it during and after every ride. Like Andy, when doing long rides, using it as a power limiter is the key to success. Or if on a fast one, using it to keep encouragement high when doing sprint or a climb.
This was my first week with the Varia and I am not yet 100% set on it, but I think that is because I spend a fair amount of time on busy roads.
Yesterdays ride was interesting. I went out with no particular performance target, just enjoy the ride. An hour in, suffering with a horrific headache, my average speed was dreadful. A 15 minute stop in the shade allowed me to recover enough and managed to bring the average speed up a bit on the return against the wind. Consumed all of the 1.5L I took over 36 miles. Garmin quoted 72 hours for recovery despite fairly ordinary free ride power levels, it must have known it was tough in other ways, but should be fine for a spin tomorrow as I've had a easy day today.
Caporegime
I think that its less useful on super busy roads (or at least more annoying). I cycle entirely for leisure and 95% of it is country lanes and quieter roads. For that I think its amazing but I have heard plenty of people say that its less useful the more built up the area is.
Pedals or cranks?
I was looking at the assiomo duo-shi but the massive q-factor increase was a dealbreaker. I might be OK with it but its an expensive gamble.
The Assiomo duo but the the ones with the Look cleats. I was tempted by the Shimano ones but getting the look ones mean I can give my ultegra pedals to my partner and she can ditch the SPD ones she's not really getting along with
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 10,646
First race in ages today, boy was it a warm one.
Managed to avoid a crash after the first two hard laps, break for a lap at 3 to go which got brought back pretty much at the same point.
Went too deep at the last left hand bend trying to follow a strong guy forgetting there's plenty of strong guys chasing it back got a good position for the sprint (whilst making enemies with a young ribble rider but heyho) but the legs couldn't do what my head wanted 
Boy, racing is hard but so much fun. https://www.strava.com/activities/7630981554/overview
Managed to avoid a crash after the first two hard laps, break for a lap at 3 to go which got brought back pretty much at the same point.
Went too deep at the last left hand bend trying to follow a strong guy forgetting there's plenty of strong guys chasing it back
got a good position for the sprint (whilst making enemies with a young ribble rider but heyho) but the legs couldn't do what my head wanted Boy, racing is hard but so much fun. https://www.strava.com/activities/7630981554/overview
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Soldato
I really like my Assiomas, they feel really well made and haven’t skipped a beat.
On powermeters in general, I was a big proponent of them in the past but my views have changed a bit and these days I mostly use them for data gathering and very rarely pacing, so I don’t have numbers on screen anymore unless I’m doing specific efforts in training. For endurance rides and races I just go on feel and look at the data after.
If I was just going out for general rides then personally I wouldn’t bother, but for structured training they are fairly essential. That said even with structured stuff there’s also a lot to be said for pacing some sessions on feel but that does require some experience or knowledge of what a given effort feels like.
Soldato
My Assioma Duos have also been flawless. I originally got them to use both on a dumb turbo and also out on the road. Now I have a smart turbo, they live on my summer bike.
I do use the power to help pace efforts out on the road. My "home" Garmin includes 3 and 30 second power averages and I find that helps pace longer efforts (alongside HR).
I do use the power to help pace efforts out on the road. My "home" Garmin includes 3 and 30 second power averages and I find that helps pace longer efforts (alongside HR).
I'm going to nip up to wheelbase this week to have a look for a roadbike under £1500 through cycle to work, just wondering if there's any particular brands or models to avoid? I know i won't get anything amazing at the price but want to allow for getting accessories and bits under budget.
Thanks
Thanks
Caporegime
Do the likes of Ribble and Canyon not do cycle to work? Honestly have no idea. I would just avoid the brands that are poor value for money i.e. you are paying for the name.
Popped over to the IoW for a spin then rode back up to London: https://www.strava.com/activities/7639235413
I forgot how smooth the roads are on the island. ToB on the 11th September - gonna be a good stage to watch I think!
I forgot how smooth the roads are on the island. ToB on the 11th September - gonna be a good stage to watch I think!
Ribble accept them, i think brand wise i'd end up with something like this https://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product/cube/attain/cube-attain-race-2022/ or one of the scott bikes. With Ribble it looks like i can get a carbon frame for similar price.
I've wanted a canyon for quite a wile but they use a different scheme. Are Ribble decent value?
Edit- Looking at ribble they have quite a lead time on their bikes at the moment
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