The training thread: How was yours? (today/yesterday/etc)

[foo on patrol]

Entered the Brissie to Bay today - just a 128km/1100m odd charity ride, mainly to see if I could overcome my uselessness at pack riding and eating during events.

Pretty happy with how things turned out - though lost a faster group because a crash in front of me blocked the road, solo'd for 20km and then snapped an RD cable with 50km to go so did the hilly bit with 11th and 22nd.

Weirdly that didn't slow me down - I ended up dropping my group because I had to keep up the momentum. Normalised power of just under 4W/kg for just under 4 hours has never been so slow!

Really need Di2 next. On the positive side nutrition strategy was on point and my power didn't fade in the slightest over the four hours. And I didn't hallucinate from lack of sugar, which is also nice.

Why? They stuff up also and you can adjust the derailleur with a screw driver so that it's not in your talles gear anyway, hence why you should always carry a multi tool with you.

Foo

[Mr Purple]

Getting sick of snapping shifter cables almost exactly every 3000km. Or somehow 1700km in this case. 'Surprise'.

No time to stop and fiddle with the derailleur in a fast-ish group.

[foo on patrol]

Getting sick of snapping shifter cables almost exactly every 3000km. Or somehow 1700km in this case. 'Surprise'.

No time to stop and fiddle with the derailleur in a fast-ish group.

I don't understand that, there is something seriously wrong if you're doing that, all the time. I have cables that have done over 10,000klm and only replaced them because I though it was time. Even in my younger days at Elite level, I never snapped cables and I trained and raced on the same bike.

That to me says you have to much tension on the cable/cables to start with.

Foo

[Mr Purple]

Three different mechanics, three different frames, always consistent, always breaking at the same place.

Pretty sure it’s not me, that one. Plenty of other riders on the newer Shimano hydraulic shifters have said the same.

[jasonc]

Three different mechanics, three different frames, always consistent, always breaking at the same place.

Pretty sure it’s not me, that one. Plenty of other riders on the newer Shimano hydraulic shifters have said the same.

I know AndrewCowley has a similar problem

[warthog1]

I have Grx 11s shifters. 21,200km. On its' second rear derailleur cable. Hasn't broken one yet.
Reminds me I prob should change it though.
No worse than my 11s rim brake cables though.

Edit, nope on its' third rear derailleur cable. Changed at just over 19k km

[g-boaf]

Three different mechanics, three different frames, always consistent, always breaking at the same place.

Pretty sure it’s not me, that one. Plenty of other riders on the newer Shimano hydraulic shifters have said the same.

I would suggest ditching the mechanical shifting completely. I know it's a big thing to go electronic shifting but it just works all the time.

I never ever muck around with tweaking the shifting on my bikes - I can't remember the last time I had to do anything like that.


I did 1 hour on Zwift this morning because it was so cold outside and didn't want to chance with my injury getting stuck outside. So far things seem okay. Fingers crossed.

[blizzard]

Getting sick of snapping shifter cables almost exactly every 3000km. Or somehow 1700km in this case. 'Surprise'.

No time to stop and fiddle with the derailleur in a fast-ish group.

That does seem low KMs to snap a cable but you seem to be quite hard on the gear, I guess it's due to lots of shifting under load.

Di2 or AXS would be beneficial for you, as long as you remember to charge the battery.

[Mr Purple]

Yep, I think that's all it is. Lots of threshold climbing, lots of gearchanges under some load and that particular cable had done 110km in the TdB and 85km in that event, so a bit more brutality than usual.

After picking the shrapnel out of the destroyed cable on the shifter and now finding the RD seems out of alignment and I can't index it properly I'd be happy to not have to do that every 2000-3000km.

I did have several other riders come up and shake my hand at making it through the hillier part of the course with two gears at least. And one comment 'that's a brave gear' as I went past on an 8-9% climb in 11th. And now I'm pretty good at track style uphill starts!

[g-boaf]

Getting sick of snapping shifter cables almost exactly every 3000km. Or somehow 1700km in this case. 'Surprise'.

No time to stop and fiddle with the derailleur in a fast-ish group.

That does seem low KMs to snap a cable but you seem to be quite hard on the gear, I guess it's due to lots of shifting under load.

Di2 or AXS would be beneficial for you, as long as you remember to charge the battery.

The great thing with e-tap AXS is you can take a spare battery easily because they are so small. Aside from that the only other thing is a couple of CR2032 batteries spare for the shifters and a ten cent coin to open the shifter batter compartment.

11 speed etap worked fine but changing shifter batteries was a massive PITA. You needed two people to do that, one person to hold the hood back, another person to undo the THREE screws holding the battery lid in place.

[warthog1]

12s Ultegra di2 on my new bike.
It is nice, but not a must have for me.

Still getting used to the di2. Plenty of shifts going the wrong way
An ageing and less plastic brain that has spent so long on cable I guess.

[Mr Purple]

Yep. Ultegra 12 speed Di2 will be the goal, thought I'd almost consider 105 if running a second aero road bike. Not sure I really want to run SRAM given the gravel and trainer bike will be Shimano still.

I think the first step will be to get a proper bike fit though. Might do that while I'm considering things. Plus everything complete new road bike seems to have a fatal flaw somewhere so I may end up doing another custom build because I'm fussy.

[blizzard]

Yep. Ultegra 12 speed Di2 will be the goal, thought I'd almost consider 105 if running a second aero road bike. Not sure I really want to run SRAM given the gravel and trainer bike will be Shimano still.

I think the first step will be to get a proper bike fit though. Might do that while I'm considering things. Plus everything complete new road bike seems to have a fatal flaw somewhere so I may end up doing another custom build because I'm fussy.

There are some pretty awesome sales on the outgoing TCR, the Advanced SL w/ Ultegra is down to $6400ish. No internal cable routing, but does have a seat mast.

[jasonc]

Yep. Ultegra 12 speed Di2 will be the goal, thought I'd almost consider 105 if running a second aero road bike. Not sure I really want to run SRAM given the gravel and trainer bike will be Shimano still.

I think the first step will be to get a proper bike fit though. Might do that while I'm considering things. Plus everything complete new road bike seems to have a fatal flaw somewhere so I may end up doing another custom build because I'm fussy.

There are some pretty awesome sales on the outgoing TCR, the Advanced SL w/ Ultegra is down to $6400ish. No internal cable routing, but does have a seat mast.

aethos is the other option. threaded bottom bracket, 27.2 seat post, no cable routing through the headset

[Mr Purple]

Yep, Aethos and TCR are on the list. The new SL8 looks pretty good as well, though serviceability may be an issue (not so much an issue with Di2 and hydraulic discs).

I think I'll sort out a bike fit first to see if it's a bit 'forget the fast bikes, old man' first. But I'm pretty comfortable on my old Izalco Max which is the comfort equivalent of being stabbed in the eye repeatedly so will probably be ok.

Will also have a talk to my mechanic who I'm sure will have a strong opinion on the issue. Which may or may not be the complete opposite of everyone else's opinion.

[warthog1]

Very happy with the speed and comfort of my Reacto. Hard to beat for value given the 60mm cf wheels it came with. I love deep carbon but some don't. Winds aint an issue for me on it anyway.
Fsa smr acr stem has the brake hoses under it covered by plastic clips.

[blizzard]

I have a Sl6 Tarmac and really like but I find Specialized pricing offensive $11-$12k (not sure what discount dealers are offering) for their second tier frame with Ultegra bike. Especially compared to Giant, Canyon, Merida.

Also I don't have anything against headset cable routing with disc brakes and electronic shifting - if you can get correct bar stem setup initially. So potentially add a few hundred dollars more to your new bike to get it too fit. Size 54 tarmacs come with a 42cm bar and 100mm stem, I currently use a 38cm bar and 110cm stem so potentially would have to change both straight away.

Routing through the stem does seem silly IMO.

[Mr Purple]

Yeah, that's what's holding me back on the Specialized as well - initial cost and lack of customisation options. I'll be running 38cm bars as I do now, I suspect.

The Merida spec sheet does look good but I'm not sure I like the look of the bike itself! I'm fully prepared to be fussy on this one - Ultegra Di2, aero-ish and light-ish, tubeless ready carbon wheelset with no tape, 28mm tyres and threaded BB. No weird proprietary seatposts, bars or bb standards.

Even then the real trick is going to be convincing the other half. 'This bike which is two years and two framesets old is no good, I need a better one'. Not sure if the better tactic will be to keep the Focus as a climbing bike and do an aero build, or just sell and upgrade! Suspect n+1 will of course be the best option.

[warthog1]

The Merida is not light, so not a climbers bike I guess.
The seatpost has a cutout supposedly for comfort. Dunno if it is the reason, but stand and jump on the pedals and it is certainly stiff, still comfy though.
Merida own half of Specialised I believe and make their bikes I assume. They seem an unnecessary markup in price given that.

Cannondale supersix evo may be worth a look too. https://www.cannondale.com/en/bikes/roa ... ltegra-di2

[blizzard]

The Merida spec sheet does look good but I'm not sure I like the look of the bike itself! I'm fully prepared to be fussy on this one - Ultegra Di2, aero-ish and light-ish, tubeless ready carbon wheelset with no tape, 28mm tyres and threaded BB. No weird proprietary seatposts, bars or bb standards.

Going to be hard to hit everything, almost all new higher end bikes have proprietary seat posts. The Merida Scultura uses a standard round seat post but pretty sure it's press fit and comes again with a integrated bar that I'm not sure you can change.

Another bike that looks good on paper is the Cervelo Soloist, T47 Bbright BB and internal routing but pretty sure it uses a standard steerer.

Cannondale uses triangle steerers, Giant uses D shape steerers on the new TCR, Propel and Defy and press fit BBS. Canyon has their weird Aeroad bar system and pressfit BBs.

[vbplease]

Congrats on another epic ride Mr purple! And great effort grinding those hills in 2 gears!

Do second hand bikes get on your radar?
Other than an outgoing tcr for $6.2k, I couldn’t justify buying a brand new bike.
I managed to pick up an SL6 with dura ace di2, and cl38 roval wheels for $5k. It should be my forever bike now that I’m in love with the groupset and I’m not good enough to tell the difference between this and an SL8.

As mentioned above, my biggest gripe with new bikes is the lack of customisation in the cockpit. You can pay $20k for a new bike but still have to fork out another $1k to swap the integrated stem/bar..

It seems only the very top of the line BMC can you get the flared handlebar 38 on the hoods, 42 in the drops, which is what I’d want if forking out big bucks for a new bike

[warthog1]

One thing I forgot to mention in the discussion of gear cables and shifting, is the front shifting on the ultegra di2 on my Reacto.
It is sublime!
Just tap the shifter and it shifts up sooo crisply and cleanly everytime. Never ridden anything remotely near as good. All 12s shimano, ie rings and chain.
Shifts down better than mechanical too as it doesn't use a spring to slap the chain down as hard it seems. Very happy with it.

[Mr Purple]

Congrats on another epic ride Mr purple! And great effort grinding those hills in 2 gears!

Do second hand bikes get on your radar?
Other than an outgoing tcr for $6.2k, I couldn’t justify buying a brand new bike.
I managed to pick up an SL6 with dura ace di2, and cl38 roval wheels for $5k. It should be my forever bike now that I’m in love with the groupset and I’m not good enough to tell the difference between this and an SL8.

Thanks mate! Actually pretty happy with that one - ended up taking 17th overall on the segment for the event on the day, though it was a bit annoying the group about half an hour faster than me had lower average power. Not turning up with a bunch of competent mates and traffic lights probably explain that one though! Just happy my power didn't taper off in the slightest over four hours which means I probably finally got the fuelling right.

Power curve looked like this for the event - I'm pretty happy with that! Was barely tired at the end of it as well, which bodes well for the BVRT E2E in August.



I've been keeping an eye out secondhand but would prefer to buy new. I'll get the bike fit first and take it from there.

[vbplease]

ugh to tell the difference between this and an SL8.

Just happy my power didn't taper off in the slightest over four hours which means I probably finally got the fuelling right.

Power curve looked like this for the event - I'm pretty happy with that! Was barely tired at the end of it as well, which bodes well for the BVRT E2E in August.
[/quote]
It sounds like your fitness and fuelling is dialled in now, well done! Got a goal for the E2E?

[Mr Purple]

Depends on the group I’m in but suspect it’ll be the first chase group - not sure if I can keep up with Chady and Clinton who may well push under five hours this year (32.2km/hr average).

Last year the goal was six hours which I got by 50 seconds. This year I think I’ll target 30km/hr average which should get me close to the current KOM which is 5:20 or so. I’ll never actually get it though - the trail is so improved that it’ll be beaten by half an hour on the day!

This time I won’t hit refresh on Strava once everyone gets into reception and get to hold the KOMs a little longer…

Mind you one puncture and the whole plan goes out the window. I got lucky last time.