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Official P&b Cycling Thread


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On 19/01/2023 at 18:47, juansebastianvernon said:

Yeah the long stage. Think there is a couple of days catch up at the end.

Hope so.  Did the long stage 4 today.  Not an inch of flat ground.  I was dropped on the first climb, which is not usually what happens, but I was slightly heartened when I saw it was a former Belgian TT champion that won. FTP of 6 w/kg. 🤪

23 hours ago, Archie McSquackle said:

I'm looking for some general advice on turbo trainers as I've been meaning to get one for a while now and I intend to signup for Zwift. My fitness drops off over the winter and I end up having to start from scratch again every Spring. I've got a bit of money set aside from various birthdays and Christmas so am looking in the £300-£500 range (roughly, certainly not in the £1k+ range I've seen some of them at).

Am I better with wheel on or wheel off trainers? I plan to use my old Decathlon Triban 300 with an eight ring cassette and won't need to be taking it off regularly as I now use a new bike for my rides.  I've seen adverts for the Zwift trainer - is that good value?

 

I can't speak for wheel on trainers, but I have a Wahoo Kickr and am very happy with it.  It was £600 a couple of years ago so maybe a little out of your price range.  If you go for wheel off, my advice would be to have a dedicated bike for the trainer, whichever trainer you use, as it is a bit of a hassle connecting them up.  Sounds like that's what you are planning.  I have an old hybrid with toe clips, which does me fine indoor, although I wouldn't be seen dead outdoors on it. 🤣

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10 minutes ago, Archie McSquackle said:

Does that just mean having to buy a cassette separately?

Presumably your bike has a cassette and you can use that. If you're going to use that bike just for the trainer then you don't need another.  Even if you do decide to use to use the bike outside at some point you can remove the cassette from the trainer and put it back on the bike. 

A mere 2 hour job for an expert technician like me. 🤔

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On 19/01/2023 at 09:37, juansebastianvernon said:

Any of you tried the Tour de Zwift routes? Stage 3 was a killer 🤣

Aye I've mostly done the first four.

I made the cardinal error of tackling La Reine the day after a gym sesh and playing football so sacked it at about 2500ft. I was absolutely fucked and frankly bored. La Reine/Vent-top is the shittest long climb on Zwift. La Reine only stops about 1000ft short of the full Vent-top so if you're collecting routes you're as well staying on it. I've been on Zwift nearly three years and done the whole thing once, compared to about 9 attempts on Road to the Sky.

Did Stage 4 yesterday - the long Surrey Hills is an absolute beast with a "lead in" of 500ft of climbing straight away. I somehow resisted the temptation to bin it off halfway to watch the football. 

The last TdZ stage is on the soon-to-be revealed Scotland map. It's going to be utterly shite no doubt with cartoon castles and folk in kilts spectating but it'll be interesting to see what routes they actually use. Bealach na Ba would be glorious, but highly unlikely. 

 

Edited by Benjamin_Nevis
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More in hope than expectation... does anyone know anything about pedal power meters?  I'm looking to get a duel sider that's Shimano SPD compatible, but the only one I can find that exists at all is the Garmin Rally RS / RK 200, which is close to £900.  

The Favero Assioma looks good and is £300 cheaper, but is only Look Keo compatible.  I don't want to have to change my entire set up to go with Look Keo.

Any thoughts?

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On 26/01/2023 at 08:11, Gnash said:

Just got an email about the new Scotland world in Zwift.  Why do they think the Giant's Causeway is in Scotland?

It's going to be twee shortbread tin shite with castle in ridiculous places and bystanders in kilts. And probably wee terriers cutting about playing bagpipes. 

16 hours ago, Gnash said:

More in hope than expectation... does anyone know anything about pedal power meters?  I'm looking to get a duel sider that's Shimano SPD compatible, but the only one I can find that exists at all is the Garmin Rally RS / RK 200, which is close to £900.  

The Favero Assioma looks good and is £300 cheaper, but is only Look Keo compatible.  I don't want to have to change my entire set up to go with Look Keo.

Any thoughts?

I've got the Favero Assioma which has been absolutely faultless over the last year. I got the set for £589 iirc. 

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3 hours ago, Benjamin_Nevis said:

I've got the Favero Assioma which has been absolutely faultless over the last year. I got the set for £589 iirc. 

Thanks, I see you can get spindle only Assioma, which may be a good compromise.

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A bit more info on the Scotland 'world' on Zwift and it has been designed from scratch rather than based on actual roads, which is really disappointing.  So in other words they could have swapped the highland cows for wagyu and Nessie for Mechagodzilla and called it Japan.  Or, it would have made more sense to make it an extension of Watopia.

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  • 1 month later...

Going to be volunteering at the UCI World Championships in July/Aug. Based at George Square. 

Selection process was ridiculously drawn out, but looking forward to it now.

Anyone else doing it?

 

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  • 1 month later...

I went on a bike for the first time in a decade on Thursday (e-bike for a couple of hours), and my inner arsecheeks are still sore (almost bruised) from the saddle three days on.  Same happens in the rare case I use an exercise bike, which is why I actively avoid them now.

Is this something that cyclists build up a resistance to (building up normally underused muscles or something)?  I couldn't wait to get off the thing for the final mile or two of just a five mile trip.  Saddle seemed a fine height and squidgy enough I thought 🙁.

Edited by Hedgecutter
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Probably because your muscles aren't used to cycling. 

 

If it doesn't ease up then maybe a wider saddle,  padded shorts or making sure that your positioned better on the bike. Sometimes a wee adjustment can make a difference. 

 

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1 hour ago, Hedgecutter said:

I went on a bike for the first time in a decade on Thursday (e-bike for a couple of hours), and my inner arsecheeks are still sore (almost bruised) from the saddle three days on.  Same happens in the rare case I use an exercise bike, which is why I actively avoid them now.

Is this something that cyclists build up a resistance to (building up normally underused muscles or something)?  I couldn't wait to get off the thing for the final mile or two of just a five mile trip.  Saddle seemed a fine height and squidgy enough I thought 🙁.

 

17 minutes ago, bennett said:

Probably because your muscles aren't used to cycling. 

If it doesn't ease up then maybe a wider saddle,  padded shorts or making sure that your positioned better on the bike. Sometimes a wee adjustment can make a difference. 

 

Pretty much this ^^^

Padded shorts and getting used to being on a bike again will make the biggest difference. When i first started cycling I quickly discovered that approx 6 miles was the cut off distance between normal shorts being OK and "fucking hell this is getting uncomfortable" 

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Etape Loch Ness is still a great event but the weather was pretty miserable. Pissing down and baltic. 

Had a great time, nonetheless. The descent off of Glendoe on closed roads will never, ever not be a right good laugh. Going full send into the bends as you get further down is delightful. 

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Anyone on the Kinross Sportive today? Fucking hell it was cold. Pretty decent route with only a 10 mile section of mental, raging drivers to deal with. Also kudos to the organisers for god-tier level trolling by sticking a food stop rammed with cream/fudge donuts and macaroni pies at the bottom of the climb up over Dunning Common. The descent was baltic and the last 10 miles into a headwind were monumentally shite. Cracking event though and will probably do it again next year. 

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