Bicycle ERA |OT| This Is Why

Daedardus · Jan 25, 2019

So I bought a 'new' race bike after having not owned a race bike for seven years since I left the house. Can I join Bicycle ERA now?

Don't mind the pic too much, colours are slightly altered since there wasn't a single good spot in the house to take a neutral pic and I had to whiten the floor a bit. The bike's colour is exactly the same though.

Bought it second hand, 11 months old, only need to put on new pedals (the one that's still attached needs to be removed but I'm going to need a bigger tool for that.) Already bought new clothes and all necessities, just need some new shoes and also replace the tires. Time to get in full shape! Once the weather is drier I'll post a proper pic of it on the road with my proper attire. :D

HTupolev · Jan 25, 2019

Lonely1 said:
That treatment you did to the tape did wonders to the looks of your bicycle, HTupolev . But how confy it is? it looks kinda hard.

The shellac certainly didn't make it softer, but cotton cloth tape is very thin and firm to begin with.

I don't mind the wrap being fairly thin and hard. I feel like I can get a firm hold on the bars with a light grip, so for stuff like riding out of the saddle it's great. Also, because the bones of the hand can't "sink into" the surface, there's no pressure on the soft tissues of the hand.
Obviously the bar tape isn't providing me any suspension, but I don't think that's very necessary if the rest of the system is appropriate, particularly tire pressure.

That's not to say that I dislike the modern stuff. Most of my bikes are currently using cork wrap. But I don't seem to need the padding for road riding, either.

FondsNL · Jan 27, 2019

So, I've hardly been able to do 4 rides outside this month. Lots and lots of rain. Lots of indoor riding.

I did an FTP test today though.
Averaged 273 watts in 20 minutes. Makes my FTP 260 watts at the moment.
Improved 16 watts over last years test.
Happy with that.

HTupolev · Jan 27, 2019

I was wondering why I felt like crap after this weekend's riding. Stepped on a scale, saw that I'm down about six pounds from 48 hours ago.

Yep, that'll do it.

I need to be more diligent about hydration management in winter.

ShapeGSX · Jan 28, 2019

I ordered a Tacx Neo 2 back in November (20% off at Clever Training) and got it in late December. This thing has really transformed my winter riding. I think I've already done more Zwift rides this year than I did all last year on my Tacx Flux.

First huge difference is that the Neo 2's case is actually flexible and the bike can rock. They make it out of the stuff that police riot shields are made of. That little bit of flex is a huge relief on my back side. I used to be ready to get off the bike after 40 minutes. But now I'm riding for over an hour and a half with no issues. I know that people build or buy rockers to help with this, but the Neo 2 is perfect on its own.

The next big difference is the virtual flywheel. Since the mass of the "wheel" is so low, the Neo 2 uses magnets and electromagnets to simulate a flywheel by driving the wheel as a motor. With my old trainer, with a 15lb equivalent flywheel, there was always a high resistance floor as you pedaled. So when you crested a hill, you wouldn't get that "effortless" feeling. If you stop pedaling going down hill, the Neo 2 will actually coast at up to 35mph. These little things really help you to recover more naturally when you're riding indoors.

And lastly, you never have to calibrate the Neo. That's huge. My Flux needed to be calibrated after like 10 minutes of riding. My old wheel-on trainer needed to be calibrated after riding for a while, and also adjusted for wheel tension, which took several tries. Despite the lack of calibration the Neo is one of the most accurate power number trainers on the market.

Riding indoors is a chore, so the easier it is to get set up and riding, the better, and the lack of calibration makes it as easy as possible.

It also has road surface simulation, which is certainly fun, but not as much of a game changer as these others.

If you are looking to buy a trainer, I'd certainly recommend the Neo or Neo 2. I jumped around from trainer to trainer and I should have just bought the Neo right from the start.

Wolfapo · Jan 28, 2019

I am actually interested in a Smart Trainer, but since I use my bike every day to commute I would like to have something that is really easy to setup in the evening and getting on it in the morning again. Also, I am not sure if I want to spend above 1000€ as the Neo 2 mentioned in the previous post, so something cheaper to get a feel if indoor training is something for me would be great.

In summer, I usually do some extra km after work but with that shitty weather right now ... bleh.

Also, I recently got some tubeless tires and am pretty happy with them!

HTupolev · Jan 28, 2019

TarpitCarnivore · Jan 28, 2019

ShapeGSX said:
I ordered a Tacx Neo 2 back in November (20% off at Clever Training) and got it in late December. This thing has really transformed my winter riding. I think I've already done more Zwift rides this year than I did all last year on my Tacx Flux.

First huge difference is that the Neo 2's case is actually flexible and the bike can rock. They make it out of the stuff that police riot shields are made of. That little bit of flex is a huge relief on my back side. I used to be ready to get off the bike after 40 minutes. But now I'm riding for over an hour and a half with no issues. I know that people build or buy rockers to help with this, but the Neo 2 is perfect on its own.

The next big difference is the virtual flywheel. Since the mass of the "wheel" is so low, the Neo 2 uses magnets and electromagnets to simulate a flywheel by driving the wheel as a motor. With my old trainer, with a 15lb equivalent flywheel, there was always a high resistance floor as you pedaled. So when you crested a hill, you wouldn't get that "effortless" feeling. If you stop pedaling going down hill, the Neo 2 will actually coast at up to 35mph. These little things really help you to recover more naturally when you're riding indoors.

And lastly, you never have to calibrate the Neo. That's huge. My Flux needed to be calibrated after like 10 minutes of riding. My old wheel-on trainer needed to be calibrated after riding for a while, and also adjusted for wheel tension, which took several tries. Despite the lack of calibration the Neo is one of the most accurate power number trainers on the market.

Riding indoors is a chore, so the easier it is to get set up and riding, the better, and the lack of calibration makes it as easy as possible.

It also has road surface simulation, which is certainly fun, but not as much of a game changer as these others.

If you are looking to buy a trainer, I'd certainly recommend the Neo or Neo 2. I jumped around from trainer to trainer and I should have just bought the Neo right from the start.

Direct Drive trainers should still be calibrated. Not as frequent as a wheel-on trainer, but the still need to be every week to 2 weeks

FondsNL · Jan 29, 2019

HTupolev said:

That's a gnarly photo man. Really loving the look of that bike.

On trainers:
I've got a tacx bushido smart.
At the moment it suits my purpose, mainly just being able to ride inside during winter months and getting a feel for my power lvls and training goals.

I'm a bit hesitant to spend north of €1k for a trainer. Especially if it's mainly comfort that I'm getting back.
I'd rather save that money and spend it on parts or a saving goal for a new bike.

TarpitCarnivore · Jan 29, 2019

Been officially 4 weeks since I put in my order on a custom frame and each week feels longer than the previous. Can't wait to get the "here's your invoice, it's off to paint" email.

ShapeGSX · Jan 29, 2019

TarpitCarnivore said:
Direct Drive trainers should still be calibrated. Not as frequent as a wheel-on trainer, but the still need to be every week to 2 weeks

Nope, not the Neo. It doesn't have a belt that can stretch or wear out. Tacx doesn't even provide a way to calibrate it.

https://support.tacx.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000455705-Calibration-and-power-measurement
"The Tacx NEO Smart measures your power with incredible precision, making sure you that your data is accurate and reliable. This Smart trainer is the only trainer that doesn't require a calibration process. The NEO Smart measures your power with a maximum deviation of 1%.

The NEO Smart is designed that it doesn't have any internal wearing parts, transmission or parts that are influenced by temperature, meaning that the power accuracy will not drift over time. "

https://support.thesufferfest.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001429783--Connecting-TACX-Trainers
" Those of you who are using the TACX Neo, will not need to do this calibration. The TACX Neo requires no spin down calibration. For the Neo, you only need the TACX Utility App to ensure your firmware from your trainer is up to date. "

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/09/trainer-everything-wanted.html

"It doesn't actually support any calibration feature (unlike all their past trainers). It remains to be seen how over time that'll work. The theory here being that there's no moving parts and thus nothing to get out of alignment, nor to warm-up such as a fluid trainer. "

The only moving part is the disc with the neodymium magnets mounted to it, on the outside of the electromagnetic coils:

TarpitCarnivore · Jan 29, 2019

Well shit, that's nuts.

If Wahoo continued to fuck me I was going to just ask for refund and get a Tacx.

broony · Jan 29, 2019

Very happy so far with my elite direto If you are looking for something cheaper.

HTupolev · Feb 1, 2019

Psychotext · Feb 1, 2019

Ugh, you literally couldn't pay me to do it.

TarpitCarnivore · Feb 1, 2019

I want to learn how to do more shit on my bike, but lacing wheels is the very bottom of the cavern of things on the list.

Also my final frame design came in, they're hoping to begin build next week.

Sqrt · Feb 1, 2019

So, how fast can you normally lose proficiency with one of your rides? I took my Brompton to a ride for first time since early December and... now I think I finally understand what stiffness is all about. The Brompton (with several Titanium parts) really felt 'like noodles' compared to my carbon road bike and my steel fixie. But what worries me is the following: I no longer feel conformable riding it!

The story is the following. Since one the Monday night urban riding group was going to do a ride full will steep climbs, I opted to ride my Brompton instead of the fixie. However, what was upon a time a very confident vehicle now felt flimsy! What was previously nimbleness and agility now felt like instability. The comfortable flexibility was now replaced with floppiness. And, after several near misses, it finally happened... I crashed, hard.

To be fair, it wasn't (mostly) my fault. My front wheel got stuck on a very badly positioned sewer grid on an steep descent. But what worries me is what happened after. After getting help from my riding partners I decided to continue the ride and then... I crashed on a (fairly big) speed bump. Needless to say that my confidence was shattered for the rest of the night.

After resting my wounds for a couple of days I decided to take my normal training route. I have done this ride for at least a hundred times with this vehicle and I was scared the whole time... How can this happen? Sure, I have been neglecting it for some weeks but this has been my main mode of transportation for more than 3 years now. Is it all on my mind, Bicycle ERA?

TarpitCarnivore · Feb 1, 2019

Well you're still relatively new to the world of it all, but yes it's all in your head. Switching between bikes becomes easier the more confident you become in riding in general. I can move between my road, mountain, and fixed without any hiccups and hop onto a townie beach cruiser or citi bike without a thought. They all ride differently, but my overall confidence in my ability is what makes it just second nature.

Psychotext · Feb 2, 2019

Muppets all round: https://cyclingtips.com/2019/02/the-keisse-crisis-dumb-mistakes-and-a-sport-that-needs-to-grow-up/

Psychotext · Feb 3, 2019

Blake is a nutter, I love it.

Edit - I'd not be comfortable with that drop on my hardtail, let alone fully rigid!

TarpitCarnivore · Feb 3, 2019

Pretty cool seeing him riding such wide, flared bars too. I know some fitters are very against them, but they're so comfortable.

broony · Feb 3, 2019

Just entered this for the end of April . 65 miles 6000ft climbing. Will be a good thing to train for and get up to speed a bit for the summer. It's over a load of ministry of defence land that's not usually open to the public.

https://youtu.be/_40uhDNvj0g

http://www.themodrocker.cc

Psychotext · Feb 3, 2019

Looks good. Nice to be able to access completely new ground for cycling.

hom3land · Feb 3, 2019

Has anyone done the Pittsburgh to DC trail (Gap and C&O)? looking to do it this summer. First attempt at touring. Figured it would be an easy one to start with. Currently have an escape 2 but going to upgrade to either the salsa journeyman or the giant toughroad slrgx 1 so I can get drop bars and do road riding.

TarpitCarnivore · Feb 4, 2019

hom3land said:
Has anyone done the Pittsburgh to DC trail (Gap and C&O)? looking to do it this summer. First attempt at touring. Figured it would be an easy one to start with. Currently have an escape 2 but going to upgrade to either the salsa journeyman or the giant toughroad slrgx 1 so I can get drop bars and do road riding.

From what I understand it's very easy and a good starting point to try a mini bike tour

Sqrt · Feb 7, 2019

So, I have today an appointment for an sports physician that will look at my aching knees. Wish me luck cycling-ERA!

BTW, Even thought is mighty fun, is generally not a good idea to run a BMX circuit on a fixie with 23mm track tires...

BabyMurloc · Feb 7, 2019

edit: Oops, wrong thread. I'm eagerly awaiting spring. We had a bit of a snowpocalypse which made cycling a hassle, even on a fatbike. So I've been snowskating until it thaws and refreezes, making all the trails awesome.

Get well soon Lonely1!

Frontieruk · Feb 7, 2019

Get well soon Lonely1!

I've had a week and a bit off the bike... couldn't be bothered with the crappy weather, back on it next week.

Frontieruk · Feb 9, 2019

It's that time of month...

FondsNL · Feb 10, 2019

Pretty happy with that for a January.
One ride wasnt included for some reason, so just shy of 500k is the actual number for the month.

Had an absolutely insane ride yesterday. Windgusts of up to 90km an hour. Decided to brave it and did a 65k ride in what can only be described as somewhat unsafe conditions.
Tailwind parts were fun though :D

Psychotext · Feb 10, 2019

I have an admission to make... I've sort of cheated at this year's Tour of Sufferlandria.

I've eaten so much whilst doing it (9 days) that I've put on about 2.5kg. Has meant that unlike normal, I've actually been able to increase the intensity as time has gone on, rather than decrease it.

I'm so fat right now, lol.

Frontieruk · Feb 10, 2019

Psychotext said:
I have an admission to make... I've sort of cheated at this year's Tour of Sufferlandria.

I've eaten so much whilst doing it (9 days) that I've put on about 2.5kg. Has meant that unlike normal, I've actually been able to increase the intensity as time has gone on, rather than decrease it.

I'm so fat right now, lol.

Right im taking away your badge for extreme riding...

Psychotext · Feb 10, 2019

Right now, even persuading myself to get on the trainer seems fairly extreme.

Things really haven't been going well for me.

Frontieruk · Feb 10, 2019

I know ..

Psychotext said:
Right now, even persuading myself to get on the trainer seems fairly extreme.

Things really haven't been going well for me.

I'll be honest I was surprised you'd attempted it as you've been struggling to motivate yourself into the bike for a while now.

Hopefully its a sign things are improving.

Psychotext · Feb 10, 2019

Hopefully it'll be a bit of a springboard. If nothing else, I need to lose this extra weight now. lol

WedgeX · Feb 10, 2019

Had my first ride of the year. First cold weather ride. Dressed appropriately, but gosh the head winds along the river got me. Averaged 10mph, an all time low for me. Having started running again this week didn't help. But glad to be on my bike.

hom3land said:
Has anyone done the Pittsburgh to DC trail (Gap and C&O)? looking to do it this summer. First attempt at touring. Figured it would be an easy one to start with. Currently have an escape 2 but going to upgrade to either the salsa journeyman or the giant toughroad slrgx 1 so I can get drop bars and do road riding.

I've always wanted to do this ride. Love to hear how this turns out.

Astandahl · Feb 14, 2019

Didn't know where to write it , but today is the 15th anniversary of Pantani death. Easily one of the best cimber of all time and a living legend. The last cyclist to win Giro and Tour in the same year. Miss him so much.

Psychotext · Feb 14, 2019

Terrible how things ended for him.

Psychotext · Feb 20, 2019

This is an interesting read: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/47278392

I've definitely been to the dark places a few times, so I know what it's like when all that's left is pain and a desperation to keep going.

Annoying Old Party Man · Feb 22, 2019

Psychotext said:
This is an interesting read: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/47278392

I've definitely been to the dark places a few times, so I know what it's like when all that's left is pain and a desperation to keep going.

This has happened to the Brevet races I've participated. The struggle is real, but that's what makes it really special when you reach your goal.

On a side note, I present to Cycling Era two cool pictures of Greek cycling history from late 50's. They're pretty personal but I think they look really cool :D

Psychotext · Feb 22, 2019

Good pain faces. :)

Sqrt · Feb 23, 2019

The most brutal ride I have done so far. Up to 30% climbs. :S

FondsNL · Feb 24, 2019

Lonely1 said:
The most brutal ride I have done so far. Up to 30% climbs. :S

That's brutal. I did a ride with a 30% climb in Gran Canaria last summer, but that wasn't near 145km long.
Nice job mate!

ChrisR · Feb 24, 2019

Thinking it might be time to replace my old bike, because the shop quoted me almost $100 in service due this year (new tires, tune up, ect) I could probably get $200 on a trade for it, no reason to not drop a few extra hundred to jump into a nicer newer bike then right?

Blackpuppy · Feb 24, 2019

ChrisR said:
Thinking it might be time to replace my old bike, because the shop quoted me almost $100 in service due this year (new tires, tune up, ect) I could probably get $200 on a trade for it, no reason to not drop a few extra hundred to jump into a nicer newer bike then right?

What kind of bike is it?

Facism · Feb 24, 2019

took the bike out for a long ride today and halfway in i hear a loud crack from the bottom bracket and my front derailleur has shifted out of alignment. Had to limp it back home :(

Frontieruk · Feb 24, 2019

Facism said:
took the bike out for a long ride today and halfway in i hear a loud crack from the bottom bracket and my front derailleur has shifted out of alignment. Had to limp it back home :(

:( hopefully you'll be back out soon.

This creates a nice wheat to ask is anyone using MainTrack to keep track of their bikes maintenance history?

Only iOS atm sorry Android users.

Facism · Feb 24, 2019

Frontieruk said:
:( hopefully you'll be back out soon.

This creates a nice wheat to ask is anyone using MainTrack to keep track of their bikes maintenance history?

Only iOS atm sorry Android users.

Thankfully the mechanism doesn't look like it's damaged outside of the plastic trim, the cable has lost some tension so hopefully just needs a readjustment. Will take it to my shop tomorrow and have it looked it.

bit annoyed as i was looking forward to chilling at Draycote Water with a coffee, such nice weather.

Frontieruk · Feb 24, 2019

Facism said:
Thankfully the mechanism doesn't look like it's damaged outside of the plastic trim, the cable has lost some tension so hopefully just needs a readjustment. Will take it to my shop tomorrow and have it looked it.

bit annoyed as i was looking forward to chilling at Draycote Water with a coffee, such nice weather.

I've had a 52hr migraine so far this weekend so being on the bike has been out of reach :(

Have replaced the brakes for the new ones I bought last year but couldn't find the time, cables and chain so not totally wasted time.

Deleted member 1478 · Feb 24, 2019

Planning on getting myself a bike soon and taking up cycling to help lose some weight.

I was looking elsewhere and the suggestion for let's say, "larger folk" 😜, are hybrid bikes so you get the suspension and slightly larger wheels. Does that sound right to you guys?

Bicycle ERA |OT| This Is Why

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