Did You Ride Today?
- Thread starter Mr. Beanz
- Start date
Ah! I thought perhaps you were riding the dirt roads in the Australian Outback!
The roads here in Ohio are not really muddy,but our road crews use tons and tons of grit and salt to cambat the, so far this Winter, minimal amount of snow and ice we've received. We have had about 6" of snow so far and it is 95% melted away leaving...enough **** on the pavement that fast cornering is risky and bike cleaning and chain cleaning is mandatory.
Cheers!
The roads here in Ohio are not really muddy,but our road crews use tons and tons of grit and salt to cambat the, so far this Winter, minimal amount of snow and ice we've received. We have had about 6" of snow so far and it is 95% melted away leaving...enough **** on the pavement that fast cornering is risky and bike cleaning and chain cleaning is mandatory.
Cheers!
The tacx neo is nice. I picked one up during the middle of the year and it's been dormant ever since... Well, I have done a few rides on it and really like it. I haven't hooked up the PC to it so I can ride Alpe d'Huez or the Galibier on the videos and so far I use it for TrainerRoad sessions.
The Neo is the closest to trainer perfection since the Kingcycle trainer we used to use back in the 90's. The fact it looks like a murdered out Imperial Shuttle is even better. To ride, it is more like riding out on the road than any other trainer but it's not exactly like it. Using the adjustable load and the ability of the unit to recreate riding downhill means that it'd be ace for doing intervals just like you'd be coming out of the slipstream at 30 mph and nailing it. That'd take a bit of doing with the Tacx software but nothing that someone that can fudge their way through 12,962 pages of Campag manuals to install a crank couldn't figure out.
Heh. I think it's kind of ugly and typically French in design...with maybe a touch of Swedish modern angularity thrown in for extra fugliness. More damned compound angles and hinges on that thing than a Lambo Gallardo. That said, every review I've read has been very positive. The built-in motor/brake was a good idea IMO. Still got to wonder how fast I could tear a carbon frame apart on it...ass end as rigid as most other trainers I assume?
It's not a small investment in indoor training, but probably worth it over a 3 to 5 year period. Another grand I can toss at Winter travel to warmer locales...
I got to ask...does anyone use a trainer in Caleefornya? It's going to hit 34-35 degrees here todays and I hope to get outside again today. Yeah, no way is that quality training, but I need a slack season anyway.
I might just get a Zwift subscription this Winter and use the track bike with the Garmin 520 and no power meter. I've got a couple of spare PC's sitting around and would only need a bigger monitor and maybe a tripod mount for it if I get fancy.
I was using some 3-D virtual reality goggles yesterday that held a 2-screen smart phone that was playing VR movies available for download and with good headphones they could put you right in the middle of a race...absolutely astounding the sense of being right inside that computer generated reality. I wonder what they would be like to wear on a trainer.
I'm still alive and sort of cycling. My dads been sick and I've been busy. Have only had time for short rides on the trainer. Have been using my new cycleops magnus smart trainer with zwift 2 times a week for 30 minutes. Need to do more research on understanding avg power now that I can get that data. For the 30 minute rides, i've been averaging around 275 watts at 165 pounds.
Good power, U. I did an easy road ride of 19 miles today and averaged a whopping 172 Watts. I get a much better workout in 40 minutes on the fluid trainer than double that time on the road. When it is cold outside...around 35-38 degrees this afternoon...I tend to keep the throttle down and just keep the conditioning up through the Winter months. Outdoor riding is probably my recovery time. Trainer time beats the **** out of me. I have no power meter on the trainer so can only guesstimate.
I really need to set up a computer downstairs and get a Zwift subscription.
Around 600' of climbing today under an overcast sky. The wind was 8 to 12 MPH, but not bothersome.
Best of luck with your father. I hope he is feeling better and has a Merry Christmas!
I really need to set up a computer downstairs and get a Zwift subscription.
Around 600' of climbing today under an overcast sky. The wind was 8 to 12 MPH, but not bothersome.
Best of luck with your father. I hope he is feeling better and has a Merry Christmas!
The neo is not stiff. There's an almost unnerving side to side wobble but if hazard a guess and say that the trainer internals don't flex around in the unit itself.
As an investment, the neo isn't cheap but it's quality and "value" based upon what I've experienced so far makes it worth it.
I ride on the trainer mainly because most of my training time is in the evening and if I do ride on the weekends the training I want to do now is a pita on the road. It's more about getting ready to have fun during the summer than having fun getting fit. I'm getting to the point where just riding is getting kinda blah - I want to get to the point again where smashing it in the mountains on a 100 mile ride is fun.
Yeah, the Neo is a worthwhile expenditure if you are into it...an I am! Zwift, here I come...take me into the Giro and abuse me!
I knocked off a bunch of Century rides this Summer and they were all easy enough with the exception of the one I had to stay near max the entire ride to avoid a nasty monsoon storm that was predicted to hit the area in the early afternoon. I made it with minutes to spare and it dumped 4" or more of hard rain on a lot of riders.
Light rain all day, today so I did the rough build on the Ribble R872 and then did 40 minutes on the trainer. Semi-tough workout and it felt good to hammer on the old track bike.
I knocked off a bunch of Century rides this Summer and they were all easy enough with the exception of the one I had to stay near max the entire ride to avoid a nasty monsoon storm that was predicted to hit the area in the early afternoon. I made it with minutes to spare and it dumped 4" or more of hard rain on a lot of riders.
Light rain all day, today so I did the rough build on the Ribble R872 and then did 40 minutes on the trainer. Semi-tough workout and it felt good to hammer on the old track bike.
You don't need an Italian race to abuse you - I know a cute Italian woman that'll do that for a fee... LOL
A lot of my friends had Ribble frames back in the day when you had to go to Preston in England to get them.
Once I figure out which one of the house PC's to cannibalize, I'll probably buy some of the tacx movies that have Alpe dHuez and the Galibier in it. When I get fitter I'll buy some of the Pyrenees!
A lot of my friends had Ribble frames back in the day when you had to go to Preston in England to get them.
Once I figure out which one of the house PC's to cannibalize, I'll probably buy some of the tacx movies that have Alpe dHuez and the Galibier in it. When I get fitter I'll buy some of the Pyrenees!
Preston is still offered as a pickup point, as is Cardiff, Wales. I posted the details of the deal in the Equipment Forum. Under $1200 + $114 shipping for an all Ultegra carbon throw away race bike? DEAL! Ribble has a Boxing Day sale going on right now, but that sounds like some sort of Celtic pagan thing...no clue.
40 minutes on the trainer this morning after an early morning hunt. Kicked ass and got my ass kicked. Good workout.
Check out the Zwift thing, Swami. All the cool kids are using it and I'm going to have to give it a try. They all say a laptop screen will work, but I'm thinking a 27" or 32" would be better. Dunno what kinds of soundtrack they offer, but I'm going to need headphones or the old Pioneer bookshelf speakers mounted at eardrum height or there's no motivation chasing silent CG competitors for me.
Be careful joining group rides. They seem to go by Watts/Kg with maybe a speed suggested, and then it all blows apart like horses headed for the barn. You're riding against real people, but for all I know I'll jump in with a bunch only to find a bunch of Cat. 1's out to humiliate the ride.
40 minutes on the trainer this morning after an early morning hunt. Kicked ass and got my ass kicked. Good workout.
Check out the Zwift thing, Swami. All the cool kids are using it and I'm going to have to give it a try. They all say a laptop screen will work, but I'm thinking a 27" or 32" would be better. Dunno what kinds of soundtrack they offer, but I'm going to need headphones or the old Pioneer bookshelf speakers mounted at eardrum height or there's no motivation chasing silent CG competitors for me.
Be careful joining group rides. They seem to go by Watts/Kg with maybe a speed suggested, and then it all blows apart like horses headed for the barn. You're riding against real people, but for all I know I'll jump in with a bunch only to find a bunch of Cat. 1's out to humiliate the ride.
Nice! Good to hear that you're outside! 56 degrees...we hit 40 today. Tomorrow it will be near 56, but rain all day! Damnit!
What's the deal with the top tube on that Fondriest? And your tires...they look all...BLUE! At least you were smart enough to buy a Lexus at a lot the sold Land Rovers. Dunno how their reliability stacks up in 2016, but for years the absolute worst vehicle sold in America was the English Rover line of fall-apart vehicles. Lexus are pretty damned solid. Very nice!
I took the Ribble R872S out for its maiden ride of 17 miles. It was 34 degrees and the wind was running 8 to 13 MPH, but at least the sun was shining!
I stopped once to raise the saddle 1/8" and once to rotate the bars a little. 17 miles in cold weather is hardly anything to judge a new bike on, but this one feels pretty good. The OEM saddle is decent enough with shorts and tights that it will stay for now at least. Shifting was good at the rear, but I think I have a tiny bit too much cable tension on the front derailleur. I have to trim it where as I have no need to trim the same gear combinations on the Emonda. Front shifting was crisp and accurate, if typically somewhat slower than Campagnolo changes.
No way am I going to judge the handling on one short ride or get involved in rating the comfort, but it did ride smoothly over the already deteriorating roads. I had the 25 MM tires at my usual 23 MM pressure and I really could not tell any difference in ride quality I would attribute to the wider tires.
The shimaNO RS33 wheels actually accelerated faster than I thought they would. I can't wait to ditch these heave Continental training class tires and slap some Michelin race rubber on. That should improve responsiveness.
The Weird thing of the ride was that the Ultegra brakes kind of sucked. They didn't haul it down as fast or with as little grip pressure as the 105's on the Emonda.
I stopped once to raise the saddle 1/8" and once to rotate the bars a little. 17 miles in cold weather is hardly anything to judge a new bike on, but this one feels pretty good. The OEM saddle is decent enough with shorts and tights that it will stay for now at least. Shifting was good at the rear, but I think I have a tiny bit too much cable tension on the front derailleur. I have to trim it where as I have no need to trim the same gear combinations on the Emonda. Front shifting was crisp and accurate, if typically somewhat slower than Campagnolo changes.
No way am I going to judge the handling on one short ride or get involved in rating the comfort, but it did ride smoothly over the already deteriorating roads. I had the 25 MM tires at my usual 23 MM pressure and I really could not tell any difference in ride quality I would attribute to the wider tires.
The shimaNO RS33 wheels actually accelerated faster than I thought they would. I can't wait to ditch these heave Continental training class tires and slap some Michelin race rubber on. That should improve responsiveness.
The Weird thing of the ride was that the Ultegra brakes kind of sucked. They didn't haul it down as fast or with as little grip pressure as the 105's on the Emonda.
I know that guys like Lauren Ten Dam use Zwift and apparently he gets his ass whipped on that. I think there's some shenanigans going on there!
I've signed up to TrainerRoad for the next 12 months. I'm also going to mess around with the Tacx software, their videos and other stuff - but I need to get a PC for that and between the S1000RR and Tacx Neo purchases I think I've dropped enough coin on toys recently.
As for the Ultegra brakes being a bit naff that is weird. Degrease the rims, check the pads for lube/grease and make sure the brakes are bolted on properly... Preston is too close to Liverpool for my liking which means that honorary scousers built your bike, so it's no wonder than things don't work right. They probably stole the real Shimano brake blocks and glued on some pencil erasers instead.
If I kicked LTD's ass on Zwift, trust me, you would never hear the end of it! Back to reality...
I guess if I screwed with my weight setting and disabled the motor brake on the Neo and took some EPO and drank a pot of coffee I could hold his wheel. What am I saying?! The only place I could hold LTD's wheel is at the the side of the road after a mechanical.
Yeah, my 105 brakes are pretty solid. They land with a hard thud and grip well. I chalked the Ultegra's up to the new rims, but they didn't get any better during the ride and they lacked the solid rim hit the 105's have. I set the brake pad height on all 4 pads, mounted the front brake on the fork (Loctite), checked the rear mounting bolt and re-wired the brakes from Wrong Side Driving Engrish to to Correct Side Driving 'Murica!. I already wiped down the rims and pads, so no slick stuff where it shouldn't be.
Lever actuation is light and pad clearance is maybe a bit past 1 MM. They just don't seem to hit as hard or grip as well. Really weird as they should be identical the way I see it.
I'm betting dollars both lines of brakes and crank arms are identical materials and forgings. They probably have different surface finishes to match the group finish level as their main difference. 105 stuff is made in Japan (in shimaNO's oldest factory) and IIRC Ultegra is sourced from factories in Malaysia or Taiwan (or a combination for the various components in the group). The 105 chainrings actually 'look' to be a stiffer design, but boy are they a ***** to clean! Ultegra chainrings are...smoother...obviously a lighter design.
The front derailleurs are pretty closely matched. There are some noticeable differences between a 105 rear derailleur and an Ultegra. I keep hearing that the guts of an Ultegra shifter are superior to the 105 internals, but they feel identical when shifting on the stand or on the road.
I have no clue what level drug addict or pro tour mechanic built up the Ribble R872S, but they did a good job. Grease was oozing every place it should have been, torque values were right on the money with my tooling and nothing was boogered up.
BTW, Dura-Ass was the fugliest of all the shimaNO groups in my opinion...up until now. They finally did away with most of that retarded 'Two Tone' silver & black look and went all black. A big improvement IMO.
I guess if I screwed with my weight setting and disabled the motor brake on the Neo and took some EPO and drank a pot of coffee I could hold his wheel. What am I saying?! The only place I could hold LTD's wheel is at the the side of the road after a mechanical.
Yeah, my 105 brakes are pretty solid. They land with a hard thud and grip well. I chalked the Ultegra's up to the new rims, but they didn't get any better during the ride and they lacked the solid rim hit the 105's have. I set the brake pad height on all 4 pads, mounted the front brake on the fork (Loctite), checked the rear mounting bolt and re-wired the brakes from Wrong Side Driving Engrish to to Correct Side Driving 'Murica!. I already wiped down the rims and pads, so no slick stuff where it shouldn't be.
Lever actuation is light and pad clearance is maybe a bit past 1 MM. They just don't seem to hit as hard or grip as well. Really weird as they should be identical the way I see it.
I'm betting dollars both lines of brakes and crank arms are identical materials and forgings. They probably have different surface finishes to match the group finish level as their main difference. 105 stuff is made in Japan (in shimaNO's oldest factory) and IIRC Ultegra is sourced from factories in Malaysia or Taiwan (or a combination for the various components in the group). The 105 chainrings actually 'look' to be a stiffer design, but boy are they a ***** to clean! Ultegra chainrings are...smoother...obviously a lighter design.
The front derailleurs are pretty closely matched. There are some noticeable differences between a 105 rear derailleur and an Ultegra. I keep hearing that the guts of an Ultegra shifter are superior to the 105 internals, but they feel identical when shifting on the stand or on the road.
I have no clue what level drug addict or pro tour mechanic built up the Ribble R872S, but they did a good job. Grease was oozing every place it should have been, torque values were right on the money with my tooling and nothing was boogered up.
BTW, Dura-Ass was the fugliest of all the shimaNO groups in my opinion...up until now. They finally did away with most of that retarded 'Two Tone' silver & black look and went all black. A big improvement IMO.
11 miles as fast as I could go. Not all that fast, but a good effort for me and for this time of the year. 39 degrees, so almost warm! The sun was out and the wind a steady 8 to 10 MPH. I barreled arounf the farm roads and found this in a harvested bean field about 5' off the edge of the road. Drove the car back and picked it up. Everything works! The record player, the CD player and the AM/FM radio.Score!
The one I found is black, but identical otherwise! Sweet! New tunes for the trainer!
The one I found is black, but identical otherwise! Sweet! New tunes for the trainer!
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