Bicycle Brahs Part 3 - Riding is our leg day (literally bicycle)

[Cadet4life]

Been a long time since I have been up in the mountains. Eventually I will probably venture up there. Lots of good riding from what I understand . . . I just haven't investigated it much. A few years ago I went up to Deer Creek Canyon with a buddy and rode that, which was pretty cool. There's supposed to be some pretty nice trails over here in Highlands Ranch that I need to build up to and check out.

I'm still very much a noob with the mountain biking. I've dabbled with riding a little bit here and there over the years but just never really did more that that, despite intentions to do so. Other things just seemed to get in the way, including procrastination. I have friends who are pretty serious about it and they have taken me on a couple adventures. One was a weekend trip to Fruita several years back, which was awesome--but I am so far below their level that I couldn't keep up and just kind of did what I could.

Those same guys later that year convinced me to to to Moab with them. They took me on Porcupine Rim, which was WAY above my level. I fought through it and actually fractured my wrist in a over-the-bars wreck with before we hit the single track portion. Thought I just jammed it really bad, but I rode all the way down and didn't know I broke it til we got back to Denver a few days later.

i started riding 3 years ago on a hardtail. id get blasted after a 5 mile loop. now i can ride up to 5 hours, longest ride ive done is 23 miles with 4k elevation. just be consistent with it and slowly stretch your miles.
when i became able to ride for long periods of time, that was when mtb got very enjoyable. then i upgraded my bike and its been a better experience.

the best thing is the cardio. i leaned out a ton since i starting riding mtb and my legs look great lmao.

[Num3n]

What Ironman course are you doing? What's your training look like?

whistler. I did it last year as well. However I'm honestly not going to be taking it that seriously. I tore my calf at the end of may and I haven't been able to train essentially. Literally only swam 3 possibly 4 times since last summer. I'm just going to have fun with it though and I want to do well on the bike leg of the race. And overall I really enjoy cycling and ride 4 to 6 days a week. Also looking to do some races eventually perhaps.

[kethnaab]

starting to think the brooks b17 isn't for me , i've got 100 miles on it and between my azz and nuts still kills me after 30 miles or so

even in the rapha, which i read really shouldn't be worn when trying to break it in

think i'm gonna have bike shop measure my sit bones

I can't fathom the whole Brooks saddle thing. I know there are some people who swear by it, but I just don't understand.
That said, I've never once sat on a Brooks, so I have zero knowledge.

My best luck has been with Fabric saddles (made by Cannondale) and a few of the Specialized Power saddles with the big deep slit in the middle to keep your junk from getting squashed.

[wasp9166]

I can't fathom the whole Brooks saddle thing. I know there are some people who swear by it, but I just don't understand.
That said, I've never once sat on a Brooks, so I have zero knowledge.

My best luck has been with Fabric saddles (made by Cannondale) and a few of the Specialized Power saddles with the big deep slit in the middle to keep your junk from getting squashed.

yeah, my nuts are getting hammered , my bike shop is a specialized dealer , may have to get measured and try one of those , is power saddle the model?

[SkepticalOne]

yeah, my nuts are getting hammered , my bike shop is a specialized dealer , may have to get measured and try one of those , is power saddle the model?

Power is the general model - Can be bought in Comp, Pro, or S-Works level. I have Power Pro on both my bikes.

Other popular Specialized saddles with as many fans as the Power are the Toupe and Romin.

A good Specialized dealer will let you try the saddle for a number of weeks before committing to it. Do note that you really need to have fit dialled in, in conjunction with the right saddle. You may mistakenly write-off a saddle in the event that you aren't well positioned on it. Also, be very careful to get the right size saddle. The Power comes in 143 and 155 widths. There are often measuring instruments in-store to assist in choosing the right one.

Good luck!

[Num3n]

yeah, my nuts are getting hammered , my bike shop is a specialized dealer , may have to get measured and try one of those , is power saddle the model?

BRAAAH I cannot say enough good things about this saddle. I have tried cutout saddles and all types and yes it comes down to the individual but this saddle has really taken me to another level no lie. Your ass bones basically sit on those forks and then your junk hangs off the front. Actual game changer for me. I posted about it before swearing bloody murder with the initial setup (as you have to set the saddle way lower than expected) but once that was done it's been great.



[


if you are from the states you can get it for reasonably cheap on clever training. they regularly have 20% off coupons just have to google it.





Also still waiting for wheel recommendations!

[RobParks2M]

Do you fellas really have issues with your junk hitting the seat? If I have spandex mine chill close enough to my body they don't get mashed. Although I misjudged where I was relative to my seat one time and took the pointy part of the seat to the gooch trying to put my weight back. That was unpleasant.

[Idioteque]

Never understood the Brooks thing either...Unless you like riding a horse or want to look hipster on a fixie, I dont see the point.

I've tried ISM, Selle Superflow, Fizik Antares, New Fizik Antares with cutout, and none worked compared to the comfort I get from a Specialized Power.

2nd best was the Selle Superflow - Its on my CX bike which is fine for 1-2hr rides.

[asdf12125]

ok peeps.

I'm 1 week out from a 200-miler. It occurred to me that neither my garmin nor my phone will last that long, as I plan on using the mapping and the location beacon so my wife can be my "directeur sportif" and know where I'm at during the ride.

anyone here confident in a good portable battery-pack to charge these devices (or at least, keep them charged) for what should be a 12-14 hour ride (I'll be riding with some friends so I'll be moving at their pace)
Ideally, it'll be a simple USB type thing that I can just charge ahead of time, and then keep in a top tube bag during the ride

STP I assume? I'm doing it for the first time this year with my fiancee and her dad who's done it a few times. We're planning to do ~120 miles on day 1 and 80 on day 2.

[wasp9166]

Power is the general model - Can be bought in Comp, Pro, or S-Works level. I have Power Pro on both my bikes.

Other popular Specialized saddles with as many fans as the Power are the Toupe and Romin.

A good Specialized dealer will let you try the saddle for a number of weeks before committing to it. Do note that you really need to have fit dialled in, in conjunction with the right saddle. You may mistakenly write-off a saddle in the event that you aren't well positioned on it. Also, be very careful to get the right size saddle. The Power comes in 143 and 155 widths. There are often measuring instruments in-store to assist in choosing the right one.

Good luck!

Yes ,had fit done by shop ,seat had to come up and move forward ,he said the Brooks was as far forward as it could be due to rails ,dropping off today to get rear der adjusted and inner front sprocket removed ,will ask them to measure me and throw a seat on before I pick it up ,throw the Brooks on eBay unless anyone wants it ,it's black ,pm me

[HMFIC_BROWSIN]

I'm back on Craigslist searching for a "like new" giant defy.

My current bike is a 570mm top tube, 100mm stem.

A 'M/L' defy is a 560mm top tube & 100mm stem.

The giant website says I should be on a size 'L' because I'm 6'1", but that chit seems so big; tall head tube, 575mm top tube.... I don't know.

Now that I'm typing this out I pretty much realize I need the M/L size based on all the specs. The L size is just too huge.

[ErikTheElectric]

I'd go with a size smaller, so the M/L.

[kethnaab]

yeah, my nuts are getting hammered , my bike shop is a specialized dealer , may have to get measured and try one of those , is power saddle the model?

Power is the general model - Can be bought in Comp, Pro, or S-Works level. I have Power Pro on both my bikes.

Other popular Specialized saddles with as many fans as the Power are the Toupe and Romin.

A good Specialized dealer will let you try the saddle for a number of weeks before committing to it. Do note that you really need to have fit dialled in, in conjunction with the right saddle. You may mistakenly write-off a saddle in the event that you aren't well positioned on it. Also, be very careful to get the right size saddle. The Power comes in 143 and 155 widths. There are often measuring instruments in-store to assist in choosing the right one.

Good luck!

what SkepticalOne said, you HAVE to be positioned properly or the seat is very uncomfortable. I'm also a big fan of the Power Pro and it'll be the saddle on the bike that I'll be riding for the 200-mile STP this weekend

I also have a Power Pro Elaston on my other road bike, but the fit on that is VERY specific. If your position is even a few mm's off, then it is misery, but once you hit the sweet spot, it is perfect.

Do you fellas really have issues with your junk hitting the seat? If I have spandex mine chill close enough to my body they don't get mashed. Although I misjudged where I was relative to my seat one time and took the pointy part of the seat to the gooch trying to put my weight back. That was unpleasant.

road bike, definitely. MTB? Nah.

STP I assume? I'm doing it for the first time this year with my fiancee and her dad who's done it a few times. We're planning to do ~120 miles on day 1 and 80 on day 2.

Yep, STP this Saturday, my first time. I'm going to ride with a few others, so they will keep me sane, i.e. they'll keep me from trying to hammer and break the sub-11 hour mark. *eyeroll* I tend to not make good decisions on my own, I need adult supervision rather frequently. So you guys are going to pass Chehailis and catch a hotel south of there?

[HMFIC_BROWSIN]

I'd go with a size smaller, so the M/L.

Ok cool.

Thoughts on the contend? Seems really poorly spec'd. I want 105.

[FitnessJake]

I can’t seem to choose a road ride over MTB’ing anymore, it’s just so much more fun, if you have good trails nearby.

Anyone else feel this way?

[HMFIC_BROWSIN]

I can’t seem to choose a road ride over MTB’ing anymore, it’s just so much more fun, if you have good trails nearby.

Anyone else feel this way?

I ride both, but my road bike inevitably gets waaay more total use yearly because of convenience.

If I had trails close enough that I didn't need to drive to them, id totally ride my mountain bike more.

Mtb requires a 30 minute commute 1-way, loading/unloading of gear, etc.

My road bike requires 2 minutes of prep and boom im riding.

[ErikTheElectric]

Ok cool.

Thoughts on the contend? Seems really poorly spec'd. I want 105.

I debated going with it when I bought my Defy in 2016, ended up going with the Defy. Mainly due to specs, but the frame is just so much better for my liking.

[tcpombomb]

Anyone here own a road bike they converted to a gravel bike or vise versa? I have a Giant defy that can support up to 32mm tires and thinking of picking up a 2nd wheel set for those rides that are increasingly climbing fire roads.

[Nocturnal310]

Anyone here own a road bike they converted to a gravel bike or vise versa? I have a Giant defy that can support up to 32mm tires and thinking of picking up a 2nd wheel set for those rides that are increasingly climbing fire roads.

giant defy with 32c tires? are u sure? because one of my reservations with that awesome bike has been i read it can barely fit 28c tires and touches frame on bumps. riding in nyc with 25c tires is going to be uncomfortable


i ride through city streets so been debating if i should compromise with a more practical gravel bike as my main road bike.

Ok cool.

Thoughts on the contend? Seems really poorly spec'd. I want 105.

i think contend doesnt have thru-axle and has disc brakes...not the best combination as lot more stress is exerted on axle with disc brakes.

been reading really good things about giant defy advanced which offers full carbon frame with 105 groupset under $2k.

only small problem is its got giant conduct braking system which is 'cable actuated hydraulic'...not a fan of cables and discs in one sentence.

[ErikTheElectric]

Newer Defy's can accommodate 32s. I trained for BWR on my defy and 32s were crucial.

[HMFIC_BROWSIN]

Today was my first MTB ride since June 27...

I was going to start my ride with some skill practice on manuals for 30 minutes or so before I hit the trail. Having not tried these in a couple weeks, I expected the absolute worst. My prediction was that I'd be close to square 1 at least in regards to warm up.

to my surprise, by the 2nd lap, I had found the balance point. MIND=BLOWN. Later in the ride I was even taking them around a wide sloping left hand turn on a different road. It's like I leveled up while not practicing LOL.

anyways. Here's footage after about 8 minutes of warm up, and I was crushing it fully again. Maybe I'll have to film myself going around that turn the next time I'm out. Feels so good lol. I think I'm going to be doing these in my sleep if I can keep picking up where I left off like this with my practice.


https://youtu.be/LB8Rb7kUHhA

[Auxe]

dope video

Back to riding 70+ miles a week. Hard to find time honestly. Ignored the gym for about a year too. I had a cold winter of a depressing drive commute

[kethnaab]

I can’t seem to choose a road ride over MTB’ing anymore, it’s just so much more fun, if you have good trails nearby.
Anyone else feel this way?

Closest trails to me take at least 30-45 mintues of driving through traffic, at a minimum. If I had good trails that were close, I'd be there almost everyday. MTB is way more fun, but road riding builds (a different kind of) fitness

Anyone here own a road bike they converted to a gravel bike or vise versa? I have a Giant defy that can support up to 32mm tires and thinking of picking up a 2nd wheel set for those rides that are increasingly climbing fire roads.

my wife has a new Cannondale Synapse that handles 35c tires, and she uses that for moderate gravel roads. I'm spoiled with bigass tires on my Cutthroat to the point that the 40c tires I put on my Diverge still seem tiny.

giant defy with 32c tires? are u sure? because one of my reservations with that awesome bike has been i read it can barely fit 28c tires and touches frame on bumps. riding in nyc with 25c tires is going to be uncomfortable

most of the new disc brake endurance bikes fit 32c tires. It's just too easy with disc brakes to fit larger tires, and the endurance bikes are designed for 'comfort' as much as super speed, so they are getting spec'd with better tire clearance.

Honestly, not sure I'll ever go back to anything smaller than 32c and DEFINITELY nothing smaller than 28c (unless I get into track racing or something weird)

[quote=i ride through city streets so been debating if i should compromise with a more practical gravel bike as my main road bike.[/quote]

Yes. You should, if your city streets are a bit jacked up

[ChewYourFood]

July has been so good for me. Sitting right around 180 miles since the 1st. Had a couple days I couldn't fit a ride in during daylight and wished I had a trainer.

CycleOps Fluid 2, SuperMagneto Pro, or better suggestion?

[ErikTheElectric]

Always had good luck with cyclops trainers!

[Idioteque]

Wahoo Kickr

Also you could probably pick up a $150 Kurt Kinetic Fluid Trainer on CL and then buy their new Power Add-on they just released, for $49 . Those trainers are built like tanks and portable if you ever want to take to a race to warm-up on. $200 bucks and you have a power-Fluid Trainer.

DCRainmaker did a positive review on the Power Add-on

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/06/...oth-smart.html

[ChewYourFood]

Always had good luck with cyclops trainers!

Any insight into which Cycleops is better between the Fluid 2 and the magneto pro? I'm leaning towards the magneto because it's adjustable, but all the reviews says that people stick with the road setting 95% of the time.

Wahoo Kickr

Also you could probably pick up a $150 Kurt Kinetic Fluid Trainer on CL and then buy their new Power Add-on they just released, for $49 . Those trainers are built like tanks and portable if you ever want to take to a race to warm-up on. $200 bucks and you have a power-Fluid Trainer.

DCRainmaker did a positive review on the Power Add-on

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/06/...oth-smart.html

Kickr is nice but way too much money. I've seen they have some competition now, so hopefully the price will come down.

I'll check out the Kurt. Thanks!

[Idioteque]

Any insight into which Cycleops is better between the Fluid 2 and the magneto pro? I'm leaning towards the magneto because it's adjustable, but all the reviews says that people stick with the road setting 95% of the time.



Kickr is nice but way too much money. I've seen they have some competition now, so hopefully the price will come down.

I'll check out the Kurt. Thanks!

You could get a snap for $600 thats the cheapest they make.

[ErikTheElectric]

I'd go with the cyclops over the Kickr (snap) any day of the week just because of the durability of the snap (I've heard lots of stories about breaks on that thing).

If you're able to shell out ~1k, just get the Kickr Power Trainer.

[kethnaab]

Wahoo Kickr

If you're able to shell out ~1k, just get the Kickr Power Trainer.

Yep. It's worth it to save the $$$ and get the power trainer. Makes such a tremendous difference in your riding (and the fun aspect), plus it makes things like Zwift and Trainer Road orders of magnitude more effective for your fitness and riding