[IanEdward]

So much commentary on
So much commentary on websites, magazines and forums would have you believe it’s impossible to train without smart trainers and Zwift or equivalent.

Also look at how much Zwift advertises (anyone else sick of hearing commentators having to say ‘Tour de France femme Avec Zwift’, every time?)

I think for anyone new in particular there is probably a massive fear of missing out if you’re not on Zwift and therefore some sort of Smart turbo.

I still use rollers for all my training but I have the Arion Mag with resistance so at least can do FTP and threshold workouts. I think I could have managed these on my old rollers too with careful gear and tyre pressure choice but the prevailing wisdom is you can’t do hard workouts on basic rollers.

Haven’t they always been a bit niche anyway? Am sure there’s always a set or two of barely used Tax rollers on the various for sale pages I go to

[IanEdward]

https://www.pro-tecathletics
https://www.pro-tecathletics.com/product/theorb/

Even more deliciously painfull, a massage ball seems to get right into the calf where a roller can’t. Available in the UK also.

[IanEdward]

Just to be the annoying
Just to be the annoying purist, a decent set of rollers costs 1/4 of what a Smart trainer would cost, resistance is dependent on speed (and to a lesser degree tyre choice/pressure) and you can practice technique/cadence etc. whilst recuperating. Mine will easily hold up to 500W so are good enough for most interval workouts that I want to do.

If you’re nursing an Achilles tear though I’d get the Tacx rollers with the stand for your front wheel, falling off rollers tends to involve a sideways topple on to an outstretched foot…

[IanEdward]

Quote:

As for the claims about rim wear, I’ve never worn rims out yet.

 

I honestly wonder if that’s down to the Swissstop pads as well, I’ve only replaced rims on my gravel bike after 4000km because I’ve dinged them off rocks (something I’m hoping a set of inserts will prevent). On my all-conditions road bike I’ve only replaced wheels because the cheap OEM wheels were snapping too many spokes, after 6000km the rims had plenty of life left.

I guess if I could actually afford carbon rims I’d maybe be looking at it differently, but the only bike I would put carbon wheels on doesn’t come out in the rain anyway so it’s a moot point! 

[IanEdward]

Quote:

hydraulic brakes are a quantum leap better than anything that went before

I mean, granted, I’m a veteran Disc-brake-cloud-shouter and even I accept that people seem to like them and that they’re here to stay, but quantum leap? No chance. Compared with an OEM set of Tektro callipers with good pads (Swissstop blue) and mid-quality DT aluminium rims, they are merely a marginal gain at best (at the expense of more time bedding in, reduced pad clearance in gritty conditions, squealing in the wet, extra weight, pads that get contaminated by road spray, and well, extra expense!). I swear if more stock bikes had come with decent callipers, pads and rims to begin with then less people would be so infatuated with discs.

Rim brakes will make a come-back in years to come when manufacturers have run out of people to sell expensive new disc brake bikes to. They’re just trying to figure out a new way to market them (“light, cheap, effective, pick three?”)

[IanEdward]

Yep, I won’t use another
Yep, I won’t use another brand now just thanks to predictably easy tubeless installation!

[IanEdward]

I’d be tempted by one of the
I’d be tempted by one of the Vittoria Terreno variants, the Terreno wet is a bona-fide CX mud tyre, rolls pretty well on harder surfaces though.

The Mix rolls better still, probably won’t grip as well in a straight line but still seems to corner well, I did a few training sessions on wet grass and mud with the Mix, seemed good

[IanEdward]

I started that thread on STW 

I started that thread on STW 

Real shame as I’ll be in the market for a light(ish) rim brake road frame in the next year or so and they are now few and far between.

Don’t really fancy carbon but depending on how my first Rourke custom build experience goes I might just *have* to invest in a 953 road build as well, hard times!

Shame though, the Palace 3C looked ideal, I even liked the lemon sherbert paint job

edit: actually having said that the new Basso Venta looks pretty lovely in the blue colour, could persuade me to go carbon after all!

[IanEdward]

I did two years on latex
I did two years on latex tubes and only went tubeless after a run off bad luck with Hawthorne clippings and paper thin race tyres.

I can report I’ve had just as many (well, just as few) punctures tubeless as I had with latex tubes. Basically I reckon if your tyre is soft enough that you can bang your rim then you’re just as likely to pinch the tyre as you are to pinch the tube!

[IanEdward]

My Pacenti rims are 20mm
My Pacenti rims are 20mm internal and Pacenti recommend 25mm tape. I always give it two wraps to be sure. Once the tyres have seated (a different battle…) they’ve always stayed up.

Also someone mentioned MucOff sealant, I think that is universally considered to be the worst of the lot! Too thick to distribute properly.

[IanEdward]

I use them as part of the
I use them as part of the bigger picture when fuelling longer harder rides, I try to follow the rule of thumb 60-90g of carbohydrate an hour advice and a gel contributes 20-40g of that.

I use them along side mini soreen, bananas, Clif Bloks etc just to keep my nutrition varied and tasty! The caffeinated ones give me such a kick it doesn’t seem legal sonetimes ? I save them for ‘last big climb’ or particularly tough gravel sections.

Edit: don’t even bother trying to sip and re-use, even when I think I’ve squeezed out every last drop out of one the empty wrapper still comes back out of my pocket a sticky mess!

[IanEdward]

I’ve got to admit, as a 2x

I’ve got to admit, as a 2x drivetrain die hard (“how hard can it be to set up a front mech”?) I find Shimano’s new front mechs really challenging, the trim feature on a GRX 812 front mech and existing 105 R7000 front mech basically stopped working fairly quickly.

In fact, in 20 years spannering I don’t think I’ve ever struggled as much with front mechs as I have with most recent generation Shimano.

Would suggest making sure all cables are new, clean, routed as smoothly as possible and ideally highest quality, I think this is the only thing that has really worked for me, and even then the ‘least rubby’ set up is also the ‘only grudgingly shifts into big ring’ set up 

[IanEdward]

I would say absolutely go

I would say absolutely go wider but keep it a slick tread.

I’m currently 87kg and running Vittoria Terreno Dry 38mm (measure up 40mm) in the grey TNT carcass. They’re slick enough that they roll along on road happily, but they are equally confident off road (yeah OK, on loose stuff you need to lean over to find the edge knobs more).

The carcass seems really robust also, I’ve learned to trust them more and more and there are some quite frightening noises coming from the wheels (and my downtube!) on some descents as I just sort of float and clatter over decent sized stones and rocks.

And, for what it’s worth, Vittoria seem to be some of the better tyres in terms of going up tubeless, I can fit and remove them by hand although I still need to seat them first with a tube before popping one bead off, removing tube, installing valve and finishing off with a tubeless inflator. 

[IanEdward]

Oban Sportive entered for mid

Oban Sportive entered for mid-May but not optimistic. The organisers have been very open about their September contingency plan. 

Saturday is just an afternoon hill climb event up a closed road to the Cruachan reservoir, but to get my money’s worth out of the weekend away I’ll probably do a wee ride in the morning around the Cowal Peninsula.

Next day is the Sportive proper, basically a glorified loop of Loch Awe featuring some beuatiful roads and punchy wee climbs although the surfaces are pretty poor in places.

I’d much rather not be surrounded by cyclists whom I don’t know the capabilities of… …and plan cafe stops in beautiful country villages rather than get handfuls of sugary gels and cakes from a gazebo… …and it doesn’t cost an entry fee to get said gels and have some luminous yellow arrows to follow, and some tatty ‘medal’ that will just sit in a drawer reminding me that I did it.

each to their own

Indeed, some of us actually enjoy the company of other cyclists and get a kick from riding with hundreds of other people on the same road, not having to carry loads of extra food and water because somebody is thoughtfully laying it on for you every 30-40km, and also having some sort of after-party to return to. I even quite like the free Oban Sportive buff and bottle I got last year 

[IanEdward]

I’d want to be able to do it

I’d want to be able to do it myself, would hate to have to resort to going to a shop every time I wanted to change tyres or fix punctures!

I resisted for the longest time, even riding gravel/CX with latex tubes and 40psi in 40mm tyres I was having fewer punctures and problems than friends with tubeless set ups.

Then Hawthorne cutting season started and I was repairing two or three punctures after every ride (in defense of the latex tubes, they typically didn’t flat on the ride). 

Going tubeless turned out to be a bit of a nightmare, even with a purpose design Beto inflation tank. I learned the following:

1) Install new tyres with tubes first and leave for a day or two somewhere warm (indoors) to ‘stretch’ out any kinks in the bead.

2) Try and inflate with just a track pump, you might get lucky.

3) If that doesn’t work, valve cores out! 

4) Try again with track pump and if that doesn’t work it’s air-tank/inflator time and maybe lubricating the beads (I try to resist this, the less mess the better!).

5) Once you can get them seated, pop one side off furthest from valve to put sealant in, but be neat! I slopped too much in and splashed it over the side of the bead and I must also have got it on the rim. This seemed to make it harded to get the tyre to seat again e.g. a tyre which had previously seated straight away with a track pump now needed multiple attempts with the valve core out and the inflation tank.

6) Don’t go crazy with the lower pressures, I still prefer to keep them inflated such that rim strike is rare. I’ve seen mates pinch flat their tyres such that they couldn’t be repaired again. Low pressures are a big advantage of tubeless but I definitely think you can go too low.

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