Psychotext
Member
It sucks. I'd pretty much just about got to competitive fitness levels and then this hits. Stupid wanker body.
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Bicycle age
- Thread starter elrechazado
- Start date
LeroyPantwether
Member
awesome, just noticed my front wheel is missing one of the bolts on the axle. Forgot my wallet and have to ride about 5 miles. If I die, avenge my death, bike-gaf.
jakonovski
Member
Anyone here with experience on 12mm rear axle and 15mm front axle? How much difference do they really make compared to regular QR?
Stiffness. Probably placebo for the most part.
Psychotext
Member
Depends a lot on the fork you've got / rear triangle you're running.
To be honest, you've got to be REALLY carving the shit out of the bike to notice. I've only recently started picking up on the flex, and that's when I'm down in the top third of numbers on descents.
That said, I don't weigh much, so I guess heavier riders might notice sooner.
To be honest, you've got to be REALLY carving the shit out of the bike to notice. I've only recently started picking up on the flex, and that's when I'm down in the top third of numbers on descents.
That said, I don't weigh much, so I guess heavier riders might notice sooner.
Gray Matter
Member
Probably not as bad your injury Psychotext, but my right knee has been bothering me since last week. I should probably go easy this week.
jakonovski
Member
I'm quite heavy but I don't have a point of comparison. The Trek just goes and so far no issues with QRs. I should test ride some stuff but I don't think most shops would appreciate me bombing down a rocky hill on a tester.
Psychotext
Member
I thought I was going easy.
Stupid jogger with overly loud music and no spatial awareness.
Psychotext
Member
Classic bike auction: http://m.dorotheum.com/en/auctions/...-from-the-embacher-collection.html?firstLot=0
I cannot make up my mind on those Y-foils. Are they crazy cool or just crazy?
Psychotext
Member
There are a few there that I'm tempted to bid on. Madness.
jakonovski
Member
Man, those y-foils are like sailboats, a bit of wind and you're on the opposite lane.
Holy shit, it's the Jimmy version of my old carbon Y-11 Fs.
I didn't even know it was a thing.
I used to want a Y-foil so bad, especially after they appeared on Pacific Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh82-UKk6Xs. Not sure I'd ride a road version though
Ha ha... that looks like an awesome show.
My Y-11 was blue with yellow forks.
Ah... the 1990s.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Aren't those basically the wheels that will shatter when the right force is applied?
It was rainy this morning and my booties didn't keep up their side of the bargain so I had some wet shoes. I usually wear them upstairs and then change into my dress shoes but I didn't want wet socks so I was carrying them on the elevator. Another person got on and looked at me and asked, "Are those soccer cleats? Or maybe baseball?" I'm in an elevator in a downtown building getting ready to go up to work. I just laughed and said they were bicycle cleats. He turned red and said, "Oh, yeah, that makes more sense."
:lol
TarpitCarnivore
Member
This is such a bad bad bad idea.
Psychotext
Member
Today I've been looking into ways to add weight to my bike so as to slow me down when I'm out with (much) slower friends. So far the best suggestions seem to be water bottles filled with lead shot, and ankle weights.
There were other suggestions like putting on DH tyres / tubes but I don't really want to have to mess around too much swapping bits in and out.
There were other suggestions like putting on DH tyres / tubes but I don't really want to have to mess around too much swapping bits in and out.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
I just move my gears around so I'm going the same speed as my son when we go on rides. So almost like I'm going up a hill but all the time. Got him a CX/road bike though so it's a lot harder to stay complacent lately.
What the hell is this.
Sadly I cannot link images.
What the hell is this.
Sadly I cannot link images.
Psychotext
Member
Because they don't navigate, I do, and they've complained about it feeling like a solo ride when I either give them a headstart or when I just go off at my pace.
As for being patient, no-one wants someone going up a hill next to them happily chatting away when they're blowing out their arse dying trying to get up the hill. Even with that aside, it's bastard hard trying to slow down to someone else's pace when you're used to a particular rhythm on a hill.
All that aside, I have very limited ride time, and I can't just go out without it having at least some training benefit. This is the best solution to drag me back to their speeds without making them feel useless or frustrating the hell out of me.
Edit - To be clear, I'm not talking about riding with people that are say 10-20% slower than me... I'm talking about riding with people who are 50% slower than me. They tend to ride maybe once every couple of months, whereas I ride at least once a week and train at least every other day.
Looks like bollocks to me.
No need to swap bits in and out if you N+1. Obviously what you need is a heavy old fatbike with underinflated tubes.
Psychotext
Member
Ha. yeah that was a suggestion too. Spending a grand or more to go slower isn't ideal though.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Or you could go to a rummage sale and buy someone's old (heavy af) steel bike from the 80's.
Gray Matter
Member
There's definitely something wrong with my right knee. It hurts and it's swollen.
Psychotext
Member
They come with their own problems though. I still want to be able to monster the descents.
jakonovski
Member
Something got caught in my shirt sleeve on the way home:
First rider report: full sussers are weird! But I was taking wayyyy more risks already, with the plush ride and all.
First rider report: full sussers are weird! But I was taking wayyyy more risks already, with the plush ride and all.
Psychotext
Member
Shiny. Awful lot of seat post on show there, I assume the frame is towards the small side for you?
jakonovski
Member
I have silly long legs and short arms and pedaling on trail height felt really weird outside of the trail. The bike itself is actually slightly longer than the Trek. Shorter top tube, longer reach and wheelbase.
edit: I have some footage of my ride here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tUKHMCCg6E
edit: 90cm inseam at 187cm height for context.
edit: I have some footage of my ride here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tUKHMCCg6E
edit: 90cm inseam at 187cm height for context.
Psychotext
Member
Don't mean to be that guy, but you should probably work on your trail skills a bit. Weak.
jakonovski
Member
Fun fact, I bought the bike (Scott Genius 750 for those interested) from a big chain store because it was cheap, and naturally the gears were set up all wrong. Could've taken it back to get them sorted, but instead I finally learned to index gears. Wasn't nearly as hard as I thought!
Christoff Yurievich
Member
That goes for just about everything on the bike. Except for trueing. Oh man that's difficult. Which sucks because a project cruiser that "runs great, just needs the rear axle adjusted" turns out to have half of the rear spokes broken and needing replaced. How the guy didn't notice I have no idea. Maybe he did and just wanted it gone? Anyway, it would appear that I get to build a wheel in the next few weeks.
Psychotext
Member
I don't bother with truing. I have someone who charges me £10 ($16) for it. It's really not worth the stress to consider doing myself.
I do re-tensioning if I notice a spoke is particularly loose though.
I do re-tensioning if I notice a spoke is particularly loose though.
Yes, drafting makes an absolutely astronomical difference.
It has a large impact even in lower-speed sports like running. Someone leads a group for the first 7 laps of a 3200m race? They'll often get horribly dropped around the start of the final lap when people start their kick.
I'm going to use this to justify not bothering to do any centuries in preparation for STP. If I get to the point where I feel okay doing solo ~70s on two days in a row, a couple of centuries in the slipstream should work out okay.
Yeah, it was remarkable how effective it was even on steep climbs. Part of it is of course because I had a higher speed than usual coming into the climb, so I had higher momentum on the way up. But there's also a strong psychological effect in having someone just in front of you on a climb. Makes it easier to kick in an extra gear or two.
yeah, lesson learned.
Just curious - how cheap is cheap?
In other news, my new derailleur didn't arrive yesterday. Son of a...
Psychotext
Member
Shouldn't imagine so. Additional battery pain aside.
jakonovski
Member
About 2k. It can't compete with Canyons of the world, but the spec is good and the frame is great.
jakonovski
Member
God dammit I've ordered all sorts of crap from Wiggle and I never get Haribos!
Psychotext
Member
Really? They're in every single box in the UK. Sometimes I get two.
jakonovski
Member
Two, huh. The conclusion here is inevitable and perfidious.
Really? They're in every single box in the UK. Sometimes I get two.
Yep - I was quite disappointed to only get a "oner".
Might contact customer services...
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Last year on the STP I got to the part that's on a bike path and no one would go as fast as I wanted. I mean, it's a dedicated path, you don't have to worry about usual bike lane hurdles, so go. Anyway, I said 'fuck it' and started passing everyone. After a mile or two I notice that I have a pace line formed behind me. Assholes. Anyway, I led that thing for the duration of the bike path and then they all passed me because I my second wind was gone and I went back to my normal pace.
The hardest part of the ride was the rolling hills on 30 just outside of Portland. I hate those things on normal rides around the area so having to do them after 160+ miles already was a PITA.
When I started bicycling again as an adult I thought that the harder I worked my muscles the stronger they'd get (like weight lifting) but all that earned me was some really sore knees. I read a few books and it turns out that cadence is where you get your strength so you should always be in a gear that grants you the 80-90 magic number. You should never be 'working' for your ride for great lengths of time. Sprints and climbing? Yeah. Everything else? Nah.
TarpitCarnivore
Member
It's a combination of two things: power and cadence. Ideally you're trying to train your legs to spin at a speed for which you maximize your power. 90-100 is actually more preferable on flatter areas and 70-80 for some climbs. Now, there is a caveat to climbing too where people may be more efficient spinning at 90 on a climb versus trudging at say 80. Climbing is really a fickle beast and every person needs to figure out what works for them (in vs out of saddle for one).
Power meters are really the ideal way to properly train on the bike, but they're expensive and require a bit more learning to properly utilize. For 99% of people who ride their bikes it's complete overkill.
The only correct way to climb is sporadic inadvertent wheelies.
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