Official Road Cycling Thread

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Picked up the new bike on Saturday. Rode 28 miles then and 30 miles today. The bike is sweet. So light and so much power. I've been shaving many seconds off my PRs on Strava segments. Between the bike being 10lbs lighter than my old one and me being 63lbs lighter than I was when I started riding, miles and hills are a lot easier to deal with. The wind still sucks, though.

forgive my ignorance here don't know to much about it but just asking.

5k and no disc brakes?

[M_Six]

Yeah, they had to trim costs somewhere. Between the Di2 shifting and IsoSpeed, plus full carbon fiber, there's a lot to like about this bike. The brakes are still killer and I don't intentionally ride in the rain, so the lack of discs is something I can live with. To get the same specs with disc brakes, you need to go to the SLR series, and that's a price jump I couldn't justify.

[wdb]

Damn I am out of touch. When did disk brakes become a necessity? I've ridden fully loaded touring rigs with rim brakes and never had a problem. The only time I wanted more braking power was on the tandem, and we put a hub drum brake on that. Works a treat.

[M_Six]

They're not, really. I have them on my Crossrip 1 and they don't stop the bike any better than the rim brakes on my SL7, at least not in the dry. Maybe they would if it was raining. But then you might have a problem if they worked too well and it put you in a skid.

[mc-m3]

On a road bike, disc brakes are more about modulation and heat capacity. When going down hill at Tour de France speeds not melting your breaks or blowing a tire become real issues.

Most of us don't reach those kinds of speeds so it really isn't an issue for most of us. I have hit those kinds of speeds a couple of times briefly on a tandem and did wish for them at those times.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by mc-m3

On a road bike, disc brakes are more about modulation and heat capacity. When going down hill at Tour de France speeds not melting your breaks or blowing a tire become real issues.

Most of us don't reach those kinds of speeds so it really isn't an issue for most of us. I have hit those kinds of speeds a couple of times briefly on a tandem and did wish for them at those times.

I've only ever heard of tire blowouts from brake heat on tandems. Never on a single. There was a time when alpine descents caused enough heat to soften the glue holding sew-ups to the rim, which would then "roll" and cause a crash, but that was a long while ago.

As I mentioned earlier we have a drum brake on the back of our tandem. I use it as a "drag brake" on tricky descents, constantly engaged. I control it with a bar end shift lever. We've come down from the Blue Ridge Parkway with that setup without any drama whatsoever.

But then I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to bikes.

[dc503]

Originally Posted by wdb

I've only ever heard of tire blowouts from brake heat on tandems. Never on a single. There was a time when alpine descents caused enough heat to soften the glue holding sew-ups to the rim, which would then "roll" and cause a crash, but that was a long while ago.

As I mentioned earlier we have a drum brake on the back of our tandem. I use it as a "drag brake" on tricky descents, constantly engaged. I control it with a bar end shift lever. We've come down from the Blue Ridge Parkway with that setup without any drama whatsoever.

But then I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to bikes.

I think people do tend to exaggerate it, but temperature build up and management can be an issue with carbon wheels. It's not a real concern on aluminum wheels though. I don't own a disc brake road bike, but I do like the idea of it and more than likely will have one sooner rather than later. My CX bike has hydraulic discs and the consistency, confidence and precision they offer is hard to play down.

[M_Six]

Had a professional bike fitting done today. Took about 2-1/2 hours plus some time to fit a new CF handlebar. Big difference in how the bike feels now. Much more comfortable, especially with a narrower handlebar. It was snowing (!) here this afternoon when I got back, so I was stuck trying out the new fit on my trainer. But I set a bunch of new PRs on a Zwift course I've ridden dozens of times. If it feels and works this well out on the real roads, it'll will be money well spent.

[leo95se]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Had a professional bike fitting done today. Took about 2-1/2 hours plus some time to fit a new CF handlebar. Big difference in how the bike feels now. Much more comfortable, especially with a narrower handlebar. It was snowing (!) here this afternoon when I got back, so I was stuck trying out the new fit on my trainer. But I set a bunch of new PRs on a Zwift course I've ridden dozens of times. If it feels and works this well out on the real roads, it'll will be money well spent.

that is awesome. im long overdue for a pro fit. i know i need new bars, and am curious if they can get seat forward/aft adjustment better.

[M_Six]

These guys were serious about their work. They stuck dots on my shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles and video'd me peddling on this high-tech bike contraption. Then they used a program that sees the dots and calculates the angles. Adjust the bike settings, reshoot the video, check the angles, rinse and repeat until the angles are textbook. Then transfer the settings to my bike. I ended up with a new stem and CF bars. They also tested the position and motion of my sitz bones on the saddle. That seemed pretty decent, so no change in saddle. The program they used for that was very cool, though. I got some very comfy new shoes as well. Now if the blasted weather would cooperate and let me ride outside, I can get in a long ride and see how things work.

Speaking of which, did you get buried in CT? Nasty storm.

[leo95se]

Originally Posted by M_Six

These guys were serious about their work. They stuck dots on my shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles and video'd me peddling on this high-tech bike contraption. Then they used a program that sees the dots and calculates the angles. Adjust the bike settings, reshoot the video, check the angles, rinse and repeat until the angles are textbook. Then transfer the settings to my bike. I ended up with a new stem and CF bars. They also tested the position and motion of my sitz bones on the saddle. That seemed pretty decent, so no change in saddle. The program they used for that was very cool, though. I got some very comfy new shoes as well. Now if the blasted weather would cooperate and let me ride outside, I can get in a long ride and see how things work.

Speaking of which, did you get buried in CT? Nasty storm.

I’m hoping my lbs does the same!

Snow hasn’t been too bad. I missed the last two storms by about 20 miles. Benefit of being along the coast. Nothing here but a foot nearby. I’ll take it!

The weather is still killing me. I haven’t been able to motivate myself on the trainer. Goofing around with intervals and cadence drills but I get so bored out of my mind I’m not getting much distance at all. Hoping I find myself and get on it. Your rides are looking good!

[M_Six]

Have you tried Zwift? No substitute for outside riding, but it's better than staring at a Garmin and trying to burn up an hour.

[leo95se]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Have you tried Zwift? No substitute for outside riding, but it's better than staring at a Garmin and trying to burn up an hour.

no i havent, but do hear its worth it. ill play around with my ipad setup and see if itll work well for me.

[M_Six]

AppleTV is another cheap way to go. That's what I use. I bought the $149 AppleTV 4. Zwift has an AppleTV specific app. You have to use Bluetooth as opposed to ANT+, but most trainers are BT anyway and a BT HRM is cheap enough.

[montpier]

Wow, shocked to find some road cyclists here. My wife and I used to race in NYC area and part of early morning Central Park training rides but now in Nashville area. I'm still riding though much more infrequently and wife's now more into yoga. Our idea of a vacation used to be riding across southern France tackling Pyrenees TdF climbs.

My bucket list was/still is doing an ED pick-up and heading down to Tuscany with bikes but not able to leave for extended vacation with a couple of elderly dogs at home, so just picked up an F36 via PCD.

When planning for riding in Italy always found it amusing to read of BMW car enthusiasts on forums like this complaining about crazy cyclists on climb like the Stelvio while on the bike forums they ranted about gas guzzling jerks taking cars up mountains. Lot more fun on a bike but right now the only way I'll go back on Mt Ventoux via a bimmer unless I get back to racing weight.

[wdb]

Montpier, welcome. Glad you found the thread. My wife and I used to do stupid things like that too; on one trip we did an "Alps Pre-Tour" as warmup for Paris-Brest-Paris. We did some citizen racing but mostly it was long distance stuff, brevets mainly. The thing I remember most is the smell of diesel cars; I get nauseous at the scent to this day. The other thing I remember is how courteous the drivers were, being careful when overtaking on the way up and pulling over to the let the bikes by on the way down.

[M_Six]

Rode into the office this morning. 25F out there. Brrr. And I got a rude reminder that people in cars at this hour are too busy with coffee and their phones to pay much attention to fools on bikes. Be careful out there, folks.

[M_Six]

Off the bike for a few days or a week. Got a cortisone shot in the thumb for some arthritis relief. Man this shit hurts. Sucks getting old.

[M_Six]

Now this is messed up. Only 23. Damn.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180409-...-paris-roubaix

[///M Power-Belgium]

*Michael Goolaerts* dead : The Belgian cyclist dies aged 23 after suffering cardiac arrest in Paris-Roubaix !

May he RIP => https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-a8295266.html

[wdb]

Heart attack possibly = blood doping. It's a shame.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by wdb

Heart attack possibly = blood doping. It's a shame.

First elements from the autopsy seem to indicate heart failure .
Of course doping is a plague in professional cycling ..even in the youth categories !