Bicycle ERA |OT| This Is Why

studyguy · Nov 25, 2019

So it's been like 4mo since I got my bike. In that time I've changed quite a few things about it, but yesterday was one of the single biggest upgrades I've made. Changed out the stock WTB Ranger tires for a tubeless setup (got my second flat after a night ride and was getting frustrated). Put an Assegai on the front and DHR II on the back. Front was 27.5x2.5 back was 27.5x2.4 I think, blanking out. Anyway, went for a ride through a chunkier track that previously caused me serious issues since I'm on a hardtail. Immediately two things stood out, first being that the Rangers were absolutely lightweight and holy fuck these two tires are H E A V Y. I used to be a mountain goat on the climbs and now it's a lot more legwork, not a big deal, get to shoot the shit with people more as I now stop with them for a rest. Secondly, these tires fucking eat rocks for breakfast, bite like hell on corners and roll infinitely faster. Feels like a dream going down that chunky section, before I felt like I was on a real rough rollercoaster where my back tire would bounce so much it was hard to gain grip for braking, now it'll stay much more planted, if I do hit something it just takes it like a champ and going down fire trails it feels like I'm flying.

Heard tires would make a huge difference but wasn't aware of just how much of a difference it would make. Absolutely in love with my setup now. I mean would also credit experience, first few times I went down this trail I was super green, but the tires alone inspire so much more confidence, it's wild. Used to worry so much about picking my lines due to chance of flats, now it's no worry. Next up is trying out being clipped in, seems scary lmao

Hitmeneer · Nov 25, 2019

FondsNL said:
So I went ahead and got myself a Rapha membership.
They've significantly reduced the price to €85.
Its become a no brainer when it comes to renting abroad in Hong Kong now.
Wonder how the rest of the service is and wether I'll use the community often for group rides.

I also got the email of Rapha, where they announced their new membership plan. It's really tempting for that price, even though I mostly get stuff from ASSOS, mostly for their exclusive RCC line that looks really good and the special collaborations that they have. I am sure they get loads of new members.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 25, 2019

studyguy said:
So it's been like 4mo since I got my bike. In that time I've changed quite a few things about it, but yesterday was one of the single biggest upgrades I've made. Changed out the stock WTB Ranger tires for a tubeless setup (got my second flat after a night ride and was getting frustrated). Put an Assegai on the front and DHR II on the back. Front was 27.5x2.5 back was 27.5x2.4 I think, blanking out. Anyway, went for a ride through a chunkier track that previously caused me serious issues since I'm on a hardtail. Immediately two things stood out, first being that the Rangers were absolutely lightweight and holy fuck these two tires are H E A V Y. I used to be a mountain goat on the climbs and now it's a lot more legwork, not a big deal, get to shoot the shit with people more as I now stop with them for a rest. Secondly, these tires fucking eat rocks for breakfast, bite like hell on corners and roll infinitely faster. Feels like a dream going down that chunky section, before I felt like I was on a real rough rollercoaster where my back tire would bounce so much it was hard to gain grip for braking, now it'll stay much more planted, if I do hit something it just takes it like a champ and going down fire trails it feels like I'm flying.

Heard tires would make a huge difference but wasn't aware of just how much of a difference it would make. Absolutely in love with my setup now. I mean would also credit experience, first few times I went down this trail I was super green, but the tires alone inspire so much more confidence, it's wild. Used to worry so much about picking my lines due to chance of flats, now it's no worry. Next up is trying out being clipped in, seems scary lmao

You essentially went from an XC to an Enduro tire, so it's def going to be more in the chunkiness of the tire. That Assegai looks meaty as all hell and I know the Minion is chunky itself

That said, it's all relative. I have an Ardent on the back, or Recon, and rode a bike with Minion's the other day. I'd take the more oomph of the Minion any day of the week for the amount of control and bite it gives in the corner over a faster tire like the Rekon. It's something that you just gotta get moving but once you do you're golden.

phazedplasma · Nov 25, 2019

studyguy said:
So it's been like 4mo since I got my bike. In that time I've changed quite a few things about it, but yesterday was one of the single biggest upgrades I've made. Changed out the stock WTB Ranger tires for a tubeless setup (got my second flat after a night ride and was getting frustrated). Put an Assegai on the front and DHR II on the back. Front was 27.5x2.5 back was 27.5x2.4 I think, blanking out. Anyway, went for a ride through a chunkier track that previously caused me serious issues since I'm on a hardtail. Immediately two things stood out, first being that the Rangers were absolutely lightweight and holy fuck these two tires are H E A V Y. I used to be a mountain goat on the climbs and now it's a lot more legwork, not a big deal, get to shoot the shit with people more as I now stop with them for a rest. Secondly, these tires fucking eat rocks for breakfast, bite like hell on corners and roll infinitely faster. Feels like a dream going down that chunky section, before I felt like I was on a real rough rollercoaster where my back tire would bounce so much it was hard to gain grip for braking, now it'll stay much more planted, if I do hit something it just takes it like a champ and going down fire trails it feels like I'm flying.

Heard tires would make a huge difference but wasn't aware of just how much of a difference it would make. Absolutely in love with my setup now. I mean would also credit experience, first few times I went down this trail I was super green, but the tires alone inspire so much more confidence, it's wild. Used to worry so much about picking my lines due to chance of flats, now it's no worry. Next up is trying out being clipped in, seems scary lmao

Hell yeah dude. Thats my tire setup too. Hopefully you got the assegai in exo casing cause that dh version is a monster

studyguy · Nov 25, 2019

phazedplasma said:
Hell yeah dude. Thats my tire setup too. Hopefully you got the assegai in exo casing cause that dh version is a monster

Yeah I went exo, a friend of mine thought it'd be great to go with a double down DHR when he got his some time ago so I was aware, those are so god damn stiff and heavy for just trails, seems like beyond overkill.

TarpitCarnivore said:
You essentially went from an XC to an Enduro tire, so it's def going to be more in the chunkiness of the tire. That Assegai looks meaty as all hell and I know the Minion is chunky itself

That said, it's all relative. I have an Ardent on the back, or Recon, and rode a bike with Minion's the other day. I'd take the more oomph of the Minion any day of the week for the amount of control and bite it gives in the corner over a faster tire like the Rekon. It's something that you just gotta get moving but once you do you're golden.

Yeah, my main worry was just control since everything out here is chunky, dry trail, always felt like I was getting beat up on chunk so this just gives me some confidence to really pick some aggressive lines.

phazedplasma · Nov 25, 2019

studyguy said:
Yeah I went exo, a friend of mine thought it'd be great to go with a double down DHR when he got his some time ago so I was aware, those are so god damn stiff and heavy for just trails, seems like beyond overkill.

Yeah i have DD dhr2 for big bike park days/moab

Usually exo/cushcore in more than enough

Teggy · Nov 25, 2019

That 90 minutes of over unders is rough

I must have my ftp dialed in pretty well because I can do the workouts but it suuuuuuuuucks

Psychotext · Nov 25, 2019

Yeah, I fucking hate that. To be honest, when I was at my peak I'd spend most of the day dreading the evening's trainer session. Can't be healthy. =/

Unrelated, the fuck is a Rapha membership? Do you have to be a member to buy their overpriced fashion statements now?

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 25, 2019

Psychotext said:
Yeah, I fucking hate that. To be honest, when I was at my peak I'd spend most of the day dreading the evening's trainer session. Can't be healthy. =/

Unrelated, the fuck is a Rapha membership? Do you have to be a member to buy their overpriced fashion statements now?

Well good news (?), while you were away their parent company is putting their foot down and making them stop will all the ridiculous lines of BS

The Club is basically what it says, a club. The membership allows you to do specific group rides and get shop perks like discounts on clothing, food or coffee

FondsNL · Nov 26, 2019

Psychotext said:
Yeah, I fucking hate that. To be honest, when I was at my peak I'd spend most of the day dreading the evening's trainer session. Can't be healthy. =/

Unrelated, the fuck is a Rapha membership? Do you have to be a member to buy their overpriced fashion statements now?

TarpitCarnivore said:
Well good news (?), while you were away their parent company is putting their foot down and making them stop will all the ridiculous lines of BS

The Club is basically what it says, a club. The membership allows you to do specific group rides and get shop perks like discounts on clothing, food or coffee

Yeah the main goal of the club is to organize grouprides and give you easy and quality options for bike hire abroad.
The group rides (at least in Amsterdam) are really well organized and often accompanied with a coffee/ food stop somewhere halfway.
You could also buy their (granted) expensive outfits at a somewhat discounted price with the membership or have early acces to sales. The membership also comes with a cycling insurance, covering medical costs/ travel fees/ loss of gadgets etc.
Pretty good value imho.

I've tried quite a few brands but I do have to defend Rapha on quality and customer service. Yes they are more expensive but I'm still wearing my first pair of bibs I bought from them while castelli or assos bibs have worn out in a few seasons.

Psychotext · Nov 26, 2019

I can't really speak for them on customer service, but I have bibs that are just as high quality which cost me literally a quarter of the price.

I will accept that bibs are an extremely personal thing though. What works for one person might be utterly terrible for others.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 26, 2019

In my quest for a new mountain bike I rode a Kona Process 111 (discontinued in favor of the 134) and man that thing RIPPED. Obv it was very in line with my Kona Honzo slack wise, but it just felt so much nicer to ride than when I tried the Tallboy.

Psychotext · Nov 26, 2019

For the mountain bikers here...

phazedplasma · Nov 26, 2019

lol wtf

We just got 2 feet of snow here so mountain biking is officially over for now.

Psychotext · Nov 26, 2019

All they need is to throw some mud / water and have it throw me off at the end and that's basically my mountain biking experience last time out.

TarpitCarnivore · Nov 26, 2019

Psychotext said:
For the mountain bikers here...

Normally I'd make fun of someone doing this but she's a beast of a XC rider

Psychotext · Nov 26, 2019

I'd love to give that a go. Well, when I've healed up a bit anyway.

Hitmeneer · Nov 26, 2019

FondsNL said:
Yeah the main goal of the club is to organize grouprides and give you easy and quality options for bike hire abroad.
The group rides (at least in Amsterdam) are really well organized and often accompanied with a coffee/ food stop somewhere halfway.
You could also buy their (granted) expensive outfits at a somewhat discounted price with the membership or have early acces to sales. The membership also comes with a cycling insurance, covering medical costs/ travel fees/ loss of gadgets etc.
Pretty good value imho.

I've tried quite a few brands but I do have to defend Rapha on quality and customer service. Yes they are more expensive but I'm still wearing my first pair of bibs I bought from them while castelli or assos bibs have worn out in a few seasons.

I can't say anything on the durability, as I just started using both ASSOS and Rapha, but I actually really had bad experience with Rapha customer service. I was actually wondering if they use bots for their chat, because their replies were super standard and often not helpful. Via email Rapha customer service was a bit better.

ASSOS (Italy atleast) customer care is amazing. I think I spent a few hours in total with them on the chat discussing sizes and the climate conditions for different pieces and they were super helpful and friendly.

Teggy · Nov 27, 2019

Looks like she's training to ride a horse.

Ignoring the fact that bike screws should have part numbers and be easy to replace, I emailed specialized and they got back to me within a day to say they would mail me the bolt I wanted.

studyguy · Nov 27, 2019

We're planning to do a rainy day session early Thanksgiving morning tomorrow, it's currently pouring buckets outside, hoping tomorrow is lighter rain. First time I've gone out in the mud, real excited.

Psychotext · Nov 27, 2019

I hope you get the right sort of mud. The wrong sort you just get completely stuck in.

Sqrt · Nov 29, 2019

Are one sided power metters worth the money?

phazedplasma · Nov 29, 2019

Bought my first Abbey tool

time to make a rad toolbox

FondsNL · Nov 29, 2019

Lonely1 said:
Are one sided power metters worth the money?

Cyclist article on power meters

I think this article did a good job on explaining the difference and wether its worth it for you.
Myself I'd be fine with a one sided power meter.
I'm all for the argument that consistency in measurements is more important than how far off they'd be off the actual mark.
As long as it's consistent, you can improve by those numbers.

Sqrt · Nov 29, 2019

So, I went ahead and used Ebay's black friday promotion to buy a Velocomp powerpod power meter. I might regret that in the close future, but at least is not that expensive. I did it considering the following:

Price
I do most of my training on my other bicycles, so buying a bicycle specific power meter for my road bicycle would be of diminished value.
Price
I read FondsNL article and seems like that the other power meters need to be calibrated before every ride to account for temperature changes.
Price
Sensitivity to temperatures changes is a big one where I live. Temperatures changes during the day rival the ones we have over the year. More importantly, one of my training routes has a 1100M climb and the peak can be 20c colder than when I start.
Price.
The powerpod seems like a neat device that can have some interesting applications beyond cycling. What would happen if I set it up on a car!? :D
Price.
And finally, price.

What do you guys think?

FondsNL · Nov 29, 2019

Lonely1 said:
So, I went ahead and used Ebay's black friday promotion to buy a Velocomp powerpod power meter. I might regret that in the close future, but at least is not that expensive. I did it considering the following:

Price

I do most of my training on my other bicycles, so buying a bicycle specific power meter for my road bicycle would be of diminished value.

Price

I read FondsNL article and seems like that the other power meters need to be calibrated before every ride to account for temperature changes.

Price

Sensitivity to temperatures changes is a big one where I live. Temperatures changes during the day rival the ones we have over the year. More importantly, one of my training routes has a 1100M climb and the peak can be 20c colder than when I start.

Price.

The powerpod seems like a neat device that can have some interesting applications beyond cycling. What would happen if I set it up on a car!? :D

Price.

And finally, price.

What do you guys think?

Judging from your situation with multiple bikes that seems like a really valid option.
Never wouldve thought about approaching power meters in the way they did!

Nice!

Psychotext · Nov 29, 2019

FondsNL said:
Cyclist article on power meters

I think this article did a good job on explaining the difference and wether its worth it for you.
Myself I'd be fine with a one sided power meter.
I'm all for the argument that consistency in measurements is more important than how far off they'd be off the actual mark.
As long as it's consistent, you can improve by those numbers.

Counterpoint... I'd almost certainly want to be getting a 2 sided one now. =/

But yeah, you'd only really want to be considering 2 sided if you have reason to believe you're significantly out of balance.

Teggy · Nov 29, 2019

Got out for a turkey burning ride today. A bit harder than I would have preferred (there was certainly time off the bike getting here), but fun.

A guy on a Canyon broke his seat stay on a branch that got caught in his spokes, so maybe there is an advantage to having a heavy-ass aluminum frame.

Psychotext · Nov 29, 2019

Ouch... that's an expensive branch.

Teggy · Nov 29, 2019

Psychotext said:
Ouch... that's an expensive branch.

Titanium gravel bikes make a lot more sense now.

Sqrt · Nov 29, 2019

No love for steel here!?

Teggy · Nov 29, 2019

Lonely1 said:
No love for steel here!?

too heavy!

Sqrt · Nov 29, 2019

Teggy said:
too heavy!

But its as hard as... well, steel.

phazedplasma · Nov 30, 2019

Steel is real

I want a starling mtb. Those UK steel builders are rad.

TarpitCarnivore · Dec 1, 2019

Lonely1 said:
No love for steel here!?

My road bikes are steel

Teggy said:
too heavy!

I'll take steel over aluminum any day of the week

bawjaws · Dec 1, 2019

Horses for courses, innit? I do love steel but alu has its place too.

And I'd rather have a good aluminium frame than a bad carbon one.

FondsNL · Dec 2, 2019

Tiptoed my way to work this morning.

Sub zero temperatures and icy patches on the roads here and there.
I had a few sketchy moments where the front wheel broke out. Luckily I was able to adjust and not break my precious Aeroad.

Might've been a bit over confident in taking the bike to work today. Guess it's time to work on a more sturdy commuter.

Psychotext · Dec 2, 2019

Road riding in the ice is terrifying. Especially on descents.

TarpitCarnivore · Dec 2, 2019

Going to try a Yeti SB130 next, but right now a Process 134 is in the lead. My main fear is the 111 I rode has a different front center than the 134, but I can't demo the 134.

Teggy · Dec 2, 2019

FondsNL said:
Tiptoed my way to work this morning.

Sub zero temperatures and icy patches on the roads here and there.
I had a few sketchy moments where the front wheel broke out. Luckily I was able to adjust and not break my precious Aeroad.

Might've been a bit over confident in taking the bike to work today. Guess it's time to work on a more sturdy commuter.

Can you get studded tires?

FondsNL · Dec 2, 2019

Psychotext said:
Road riding in the ice is terrifying. Especially on descents.

Luckily Holland is flat as a pancake, but still... those corners were horrible (especially since it was pitch black)

TarpitCarnivore said:
Going to try a Yeti SB130 next, but right now a Process 134 is in the lead. My main fear is the 111 I rode has a different front center than the 134, but I can't demo the 134.

I think that should get me to work safely without risk of falling over :P

Teggy said:
Can you get studded tires?

Well there is clearance for about 30mm rubber which could give me a bit more confidence, but the rear wheel hugs the frame very tightly so I can't imagine anything knobby working there sadly.

nelsonqos · Dec 2, 2019

Lonely1 said:
No love for steel here!?

Currently have a Genesis Croix du Fer and my god do love that bike. I'll take steel everyday. Such a comfy ride and sturdy as.

FondsNL said:
Tiptoed my way to work this morning.

Sub zero temperatures and icy patches on the roads here and there.
I had a few sketchy moments where the front wheel broke out. Luckily I was able to adjust and not break my precious Aeroad.

Might've been a bit over confident in taking the bike to work today. Guess it's time to work on a more sturdy commuter.

Yep me too. Small bit of rain in the morning over last nights frost. Was a skating rink in parts. I need go over a cobbled bridge over to get work. Everyone was falling over trying to push our bikes over it.

Psychotext · Dec 2, 2019

Had a horrible crash turning onto an icy wooden bridge once. Went down like a sack of sh*t.

bawjaws · Dec 2, 2019

I saw a guy on an ebike have a mega crash on the ice the other day. It had actually warmed slightly overnight but there was some black ice in a dip on the cycle path at a corner. The guy must have been doing 20mph (he blasted past me, as I was proceeding cautiously), hit the dip and went right over instantly. He slid about fifteen meters on the tarmac, which was like a sheet of glass with the ice. He left a lot of paint on the surface. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but was definitely shaken up.

I had a heavy fall in exactly the same spot last winter. It's a section of the path that they resurfaced relatively recently, so it's pretty smooth - too smooth, when it's icy.

Teggy · Dec 2, 2019

I have my eyes on a pair of 38mm studded tires because the place that hosts gravel rides does winter rides too, but I also need to get boots and since I'm still unemployed it's not a great use of my savings right now. Maybe next year.

Sqrt · Dec 2, 2019

How do you guys ride in snow and ice? Fat bikes time to shine?

bawjaws · Dec 2, 2019

Lonely1 said:
How do you guys ride in snow and ice? Fat bikes time to shine?

Slowly and carefully!

Psychotext · Dec 2, 2019

I'll be hiring a fatbike for Scotand, but I'm hoping I don't need to go anywhere near the roads as the tyres wont be studded.

nelsonqos · Dec 3, 2019

Lonely1 said:
How do you guys ride in snow and ice? Fat bikes time to shine?

I think I must be lucky because the local Council do a really good job of gritting the cycle paths on my way to work in Stirling. I can also just go on the main roads which makes life easier.

One of my favourite things is cycling home from work through the Glen Road in winter. Pitch black, no cars, no people, just silence...except for occasional pheasant, goose and owl. Absolute bliss.

Psychotext · Dec 5, 2019

So that you can look your best for that Peloton session...

https://cyclingtips.com/2019/12/rapha-launches-indoor-cycling-clothing-range/