Paul Ruinaard

Very nice

Very nice will share it with my friend who is riding for the first time so will no doubt help her. She was asking about the N2 and the climb up Signal Hill so hopefully this alleviates some of the issues ????

Thanks

okay agreed. I think wrt racing and at that level where it's seriously being ridden the rider still wants control. But this is the fine line use case again. Active suspension for road use is agreed. The point is the rules in motogp also prohibit it being automatic but if they didn't racing would be like F1 rather than Motogp. Just have a look at how much tech there is on a bike and how many rules there are limiting the use of automated devices and traction controls etc which they then spend times to get around (through things like ignition timing etc). If we had to have kept it all standard then you would still be setting points and using coil to generate spark. Something like the UCI tries to do in cycling.

BTW does someone have a GPS file for the route for a Garmin - asking for a friend.

Ummm - do you watch motogp at all? If so you will know its only because of the rules that no automated devices are allowed - all have to be rider controlled. Otherwise they would be there as there is no way the wetware on a bike can make a decision thousands of times a second and optimise for conditions. Same thing in F1 - the only reason they arent there is because they are banned otherwise the rider would just be a bit academic and it would be one rider v another based on how good their software is. Have a look at the era of active suspension in F1 and the Williams - the withdrawal of which was possibly a factor in Senna's death as the cars were too fast for mechanical suspension which they were then downgraded to Motogp Ride height adjustments for launch corner exit aren't allowed to be automatic, they have to be hydraulic and rider operated. Watch some of Simon Crafar's videos on Youtube where he goes through all of this in detail. Launch control is the same - has to be rider activated by a Stoppie at the line - otherwise it would be very simple to make all this automatic. So no the only reason they arent there is not because they dont work but because the rules ban them.

Agreed but the percentage of cyclists who are pro's is the same as the percentage of drivers who have a super license for F1. Very low. But its not focused on them as they dont need it. It's the 99,5% of the average riders out there who will have a much better day because of this. Just like software in the average supercar makes it drivable if your name isn't Alonso, Vettel or Verstappen, this will make it accessible. And i still dont get the obsession with riding pro level stuff when you are a weekend warrior.

Like all high end features they start at a premium and filter down to the masses as the tech gets adopted. Think ABS for cars, airbags, stability controls - at first only on high end cars with massive price tags. Now it's pretty much a feature we expect on every car. Motorbikes didn't have any of it. Now you buy with traction control, wheelie control, different setups for power outputs etc. I can see a future world with advanced terrain sensing software built in to the forks and shocks which adjust much faster and electronic valvlng as its still using motors. Active suspension with ABS for MTB will start to mean the type of stuff that required real skill to ride is now looked after by software. Remember the massive debates about disc brakes on road bikes and flying knives etc. Ho hum look now. Wider tyres and disc brakes the norm. I cant imagine what this will start to look like integrated in to a really good ebike package with big tyres etc. But then again i am in tech and love tech so this is so cool. Can't wait

Mooi Foto. Just hope it holds. Yo now i cant wait to get there. I am ready

Yo weather looks positively amazing right now i think the forecasters are doing it to create false hope and then will pull the rug from under all of us hopefuls the day before....

you raining on my parade? Okay would be interesting to see - why you saying that - haas there been something published?

Nope just using the Garmin connect software. So agreed its not totally accurate. But it's best we have got. And its got tons of data in it from the years of riding. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king. As long as the errors are consistent then its useful.

I can't explain it TBH. Also saw an increase in max HR post vaccine , even the Garmin graphs show it and the max HR goes up. I am an old diesel i.e. 152 beats is like max seen once in the last 5 years. After vaccine Garmin starts to show max HR increases. Looking at training load its lower than last year and i haven't been doing anything other than low intensity. I am not a serious rider any more - just like the data and a Saturday and Sunday ride but its unexplainable. VO2 Max increases but prior to that max HR increases? Its the same VO2 max i. had when i was properly fit and serious about riding. The thing is i cant find what changed - sleeping better and maybe less stressed but yeah its all pretty subjective.

Whats a gaming chair and where do i get one - I spend way too much time in front of monitors and keyboards as well. Eventually money is not the object its comfort. I honestly know that at the end of a Friday my back is bad so Sat ride is always with tight shoulders and then Sunday i feel normal again. Now we are on office chairs ????

And BTW thanks for all the help. Eyes have been opened.

how or where do i measure pelvic width BTW?

Very interesting. TBH Richard said similair which was surprising as i was not aware that its that material. I was looking at the Garmin PCO stats as well. They are improved but still i am 17mm off of centre so like i said next step is maybe a wider shoe like a Lake TBH which has a wider bottom. Who runs the Shimano setup software locally? Maybe i need to go and see them. Historically I have ridden races where once i have finished i have had such pain in the outside of my feet that i cant walk the next day so i KNOW i push off the side. Secondly i am built like a brick outhouse and should be in the front row of most scrums so why i decided to get in to cycling i have no idea but thats just part of the history. The thing is that i have always had hassles with walking on the edges of my shoes - as a lighty they corrected my step as i was pigeon toed so they built up the inside of my shoes. Seems like they over corrected. So the new setup will take time to bed in but i definitely feel that the pedals are much more under my feet. What do you think of the Garmin data that comes from the Vector 3's ? Thats what i am basing a lot of this on.

Agreed. I just dont know how the dutch do it - they aren't the smallest folks in the world.....

Okay so had a bike fit done by Richard Baxter on wednesday at Dunkeld. I was a bit worried as i am riding CTCT this weekend so wasn't sure but WTH if it fixes shoulder and back pain then its worth it and he came highly recommended off this string. So far the changes have been great. Seat height wasn't an issue but saddle width and softness was and i was too far forward, also cleat location and Q Factor which i will discuss below. So just FYI being on the downhill slope to 58, 105 kgs (should be about 90) and have been riding for about 25 years so have some Kms under my belt. However the bars were too narrow (41 cm bars shipped on a large Roubaix - they were Specialized standard bars - not sure why they used such narrow bars as standard). Tick - new wider bars. Stem up a bit and aligned with Saddle height. Softer and wider saddle. tick. Pressure removed from seat area and then also off hands by raising bars. The big change was where i had always struggled and found no answers. So i have always had hassles with getting wide enough Q factor for my stance. Richard looked at it and added 20mm spacers on to my pedal axles. this was radical compared to the 2 mm spacers i had in there. I also showed him how on the PCO measurements on the Garmin software i pedal 25 mm off the outside of the pedals and also have a problem with shoes etc (always have). So 20 mm was huge - i didnt even know if you could do it or should but i have for example got extra axle length Shimano pedals but when i went to the Garmin Vector pedals i couldnt get so was using small spacers. So feedback after 3 x rides (2 x indoor and about 50 km yesterday ) has been interesting. Definitely my back and shoulders are much less painful as i am much less hunched over so that seems to have fixed the primary problem. However i am also pedalling down directly and even though the PCO is still high i am able to correct it much better. Next step would be a set of wide platform Lake road shoes but i am not changing that prior to the race on Sunday. The crazy thing is now i feel like i can put more power down and therefore it seems like my HR is lower but the most bizarre thing on my training data is that my VO2 max has shot up, coincidentally since July when i had my first vaccine. By a lot. Since mid July from 42 to 48 yesterday and it went from 45 to 48 yesterday and has been consistently increasing. I don't know if its related i.e. i am more efficient in the pedal stroke so HR is lower but i would be interested in the observations of others. My only major change hasnt really been an increase in training (up a little) but why would your VO2 max go up by 20% and then after the vaccine. Given its the highest its been in 10 years i cant really attribute it to much and i cant see what else i changed. Had a vaccine and got a setup. Something is different. So HR at a given power is lower. I suppose i need to do an FTP test to prove it but Gramin told me about a month ago when i started to ramp up training that my FTP was down about 10 watts from 230 to 220. Would be keen to hear theories. But overall much happier, this was a great outcome and i am glad i questioned you guys as i assumed my discomfort was par for the course related to become and old fart and not having enough core strength and too heavy so just live with it. Notch one up to the hub gurus. Oh and i posted many times on Q factor and no one replied so i thought i was unique but it turns out that its a pretty common problem and that pedal extensions should be used a lot more. I used to crush the sides of my feet after a long race so badly i often couldnt walk for days.

The RTL 515 is a great piece of kit. I hesitated at the price but TBH its really great having it now especially the feature which shows me how far behind me the cars are. Would not ride without it.

Booked him for tomorrow so i am going to tell him about this string.

you just a little OCD?

Okay so everyone is talking in riddles like these bike fitters are secretive people you need to know the handshake for. Spit it out..... Names and locations. I am in Fourways. Like i said i just assumed that this couldn't be fixed. Sitting her now hunched over a keyboard i can still feel the aches in my upper back and neck and shoulders from yesterday.

Sure i may take you up on that :-). What sort of framework or method on setup do you use though. NOT being an arse - just interested as this is something i just assumed was age related.

Okay that's subjective. Personally I am a lot worse off after a long ride around the cradle than i am after the CTCT, especially neck and shoulders. Ache for days. But like i said if there was a way to fix that via setup i am interested. I am 57 though so i just assumed its normal.