wru

I was the same, but Zwift makes a huge difference. Now, 24mph, that’s a different story!

ldamelio

The data would not work out on the road. 173 watts will get you roughly a 6 hour century at 16 - 17 mph on the road with 2000 feet of climbing. (Unless the rider weighs 90 pounds at that power output.) Nonetheless, 4 hours on the trainer at 173 watts is a commendable effort. I'm heading out for a couple of blustery road hours now. No power meter today, just running the engine.

sonorous

^^ Thanks guys... 20 years ago, riding my trainer for an hour was pure misery. But now with a really nice pain cave, music, and Zwift it takes 4 hours to be miserable... The other thing that helps is doing a group ride, not a solo ride. The comradery plus the chit chat really helps to pass the time and almost makes it fun. As for the comment on the validity of the data, well, it is just a game really. I was not giving an all out effort and this was an aerobic endurance ride as prescribed by my coach. I kept my average HR about 80% of max. But the other thing to consider is this was a group ride with 500+ other people, in a large peloton the entire time, and I was on a Venge with Zipp disc wheel, pretty much the fastest setup on a flat circuit. Obviously this is all virtual, and follows the rules of some algorithm in Zwift, but I have read that riding in the middle of a peloton can be 30% more efficient. So using that logic, 6 hours minus a 30% efficiency boost would be 4.2 hours, so maybe it is not too far off?

tasman

^^ Yeah zwift on a group ride really takes a lot of the pain out of trainer riding. Throw in some tunes and I can go for much longer than the old days. Heck of a lot better than icy rides outside in the 20s.

ldamelio

Blustery day around Bucks and Hunterdon counties. Put in a few hours with my teammate and friend beating up on each other to get some unstructured intervals. One of the rare days I could turn the screws on him. I'm a Spring Classics kind of rider - the colder, wetter, and windier the better. He's a Colombian climber who thrives in the heat. He'll thrash me in the summer, but I enjoyed today. Need some serious couch time.

LionelB

Even with Swift I am in misery after 2hours.

mooty

whoa, few days off and lots of great discussion posts.
I am out b/c my right eye blew up....
I am ok, not dead yet.
I will be back


VERY IMPORTANT. but very tricky. if you are new to cycling, you wont know it's wrong unless it is SERIOUSLY OFF.
if you been on bike a long time, you should already know the importance.
my levers have to be placed level to top of bar/hoop else my wrists hurt in 10 miles
if my saddle is up or down by more then 3mm, I know. the shop thought I was joking. but everytime I complained, it's off by 3-4mm.
fore and aft doesnt matter to me. I move A LOT on the saddle fore/aft so there is NO correct position for me (I mean with in 5-10mm)
I am not sure how to help newer riders on these issues other than the "traditional fit" knee placement etc etc.
but that doesnt always work. I been measured, sized for 20+ years and the "basic" numbers more or less equate me to a generic 54cm. but I am faster and more comfortable on a 52 with 100mm stem. go figure.


that is for sure. we in california lucked out.


YEP, my old MA40 (man I am old) and the original OPEN4CD or original CrossMax, none ever had issues. all alum.


totally and I will chat on the boutique stuff on your next post.
off road, CF has a lot more competitors in material than on road based on reason you stated.


mainly bx those guys 1) don't really ride, they just want the bike too going to cafe 2) it's faster to buy them, 1 week not 5 years for a Sachs 3) they don't know those brands. but that is not to say the mass produced "athletic equipment" while not collectable or display worthy, are bad bikes.


small manufactures often have insane crastmanshp: the single pass welds of Moots and double on Seven... the stuff that Richard Sachs put together..... and the IF crown jewel Ti... Steelman, land shark. when I raced on MTB zillions years ago, I would call up butch at moots every other week to chat. i had mootaineer, rigor mootis, ybb, smoothie, great great stuff.
I met Rob V when he left Merlin to start Seven and rode with him a few times. had merlin XLM then bought SEVEN Teres, Axiom, Sola, and another can't remember model, it was the first Ti-CF they made.
Richard Sachs stopped taking order when I wanted one
had crown jewel Ti.
all great, and the custom geometry is cool for some ppl
you can really custom build these frames into some really cool sh*t...
but I am not sure they are better, they do ride different.
strangely when I was younger, I didnt like OCLV, kestrel, and so forth, loved steel (also had miyata, ciocc, master steel colnago) and ti. but now I like the feel of CF. some find CF beat them up, but I really like them. don't feel harsh for ME.


I think my centuries are about 14mph, however that's with 11k vert and the rider is half century older. it isn't the speed or weight but rather the feel of the bike.


ur bike is 13#? now I know how you cheat hahaha
I am 188-185 lbs
I broke 3 RB500, 1 RB1k, 1 NK1K. never crashed them. lasted <3000 miles. they told me no rider wt limit. I have never broke any other frames ever.....


sorry, even I cannot decipher what I was trying to say....

bottomline is there are a lot of bikes out there. find the one you like
I used to have 15 or so bikes ready to go. but invariably there is no perfect bike so now I just buy one every year and on with it. as long as I am outside pedaling, it's all good.

idamelio and stig, pls do NOT take my rebuttal the wrong way. you guys have some really great points. but I think some of us are moving in different directions. I was steel > ti > CF.. who knows, I may get back to Ti/steel on day.

keep it coming

LionelB

A steel bike would look better on the 356

ldamelio

Mooty - agree with everything you wrote, I don't consider it a rebuttal. Even the master builders acknowledge the technical superiority of contemporary race bikes - RS will be the first one to say that. It's the eternal craftsmanship v. technology discussion. Just like air cooled v. water cooled, mechanical Swiss watch v. Apple watch, vinyl v. Spotify, etc. My point was your point - many just don't know that this world is out there and might be missing something.

My road racing days are over (60) - there's little Master's action for this group and I don't want to get killed in a sprint for 30th place in an open cat 4 crit - so I'm OK with my 'fast' bike being a 10 year old Parlee (14.9 lbs) on Bora tubulars. If I did get the itch to purchase those extra few watts, I would go for the SL-7. Like they say, one bike to rule them all. All that and a threaded BB! Since my Sachs came in Feb 2019; I've rarely had the urge to reach for the Parlee or the other oldies but goodies in the bike cave. My ti CX bike (Spectrum) costs me nothing performance wise. Hoping we have a season this fall post Covid. A lot of us gomers still like to get muddy.

Freier

What’s up with the eye Mooty? Hopefully nothing serious...

mooty

now that u mentioned it, it really is a CIRCLE.
I was big CD (compare disc, for those kids who don't know what they are hahaha), then I moved backward to tubes and vinyl, now I am lazy and only MP3
watch: use the phone... but now I collect Swiss mechanical watches, who knew.
big GT3 guy, now driving 73 hotrod, 70 914/6 and 58 356 ha


love and miss tubulars...
hate gluing them myself
today's shop can't glue sh*t right.


tell me about it, FINALLY a non squeaking BB


wow, that's a recent RS.
I should have ordered it years ago, but when I woke up, it was too late.


yes, no covid, we plan to drive and ride like we did just before covid shutdown.


oh.... gawd....
one day all of a sudden can't see out of right eye.
the world looked really funny....
went to doc
3 tear on retina,
retina detqched
macula detached.

I was doing nothing. off bike as I wanted some off time....
boom.... WTF...
they fixed it, I think. but wont really know until end of feb when the gas bubble in eye is out...
so you will see even more typo from me now, that I am an one eye wonder at the moment...

Jrtaylor9

^^^man, that sounds awful!

Benedict295

Nice day in Portland. May retreat back to SF for some riding.

Tubular tape is significantly better than glue these days and very easy to work with. I prefer Effetto Mariposa tape and their removal “carogna” remover for the little bits/residue left behind.

mander

I second the thumbs up for tape with tubulars. I can glue tubs just fine but what a pain.

Way back in the late 70s when I lived in CT I visited RS when I needed the bottom bracket on my Masi GC rethreaded. Carlsbad had crossthreaded the BB when they installed it. I got quite a lecture about buying "crap" frames but he redid it for me.

If only I had bought a frame from him back then... If only I bought a 73 911 back then...

needmoregarage

Good luck! I had macular surgery in 2018 and had to keep face down for a week until the bubble did it’s job. Very successful repair. Medical technology is amazing. I bet your chances for full recovery are excellent!