dexterdent

After getting very frustrated with punctures (literally half the races I have ever been in), took the plunge and got GP5000 TL with Orangeseal. Man it felt great, so comfortable, fast and grippy. Hit a small bump after 70 odd km at lowish speeds, sidewall hole so small you can't see it, basically just pumped out sealant without sealing. Stuck on the side of the road pumping for ages but no luck. Should have brought a plug. Now back home after an emergency call to the wife, and will probably try and do a tubeless patch on the inside (if I can get the tyres off that is). I'm getting so frustrated with road punctures I think I might just go back to MTB for a while.

Have a look at this thread, I think most of it is still relevant.

Last year was horrible. So excited to finally get an ok seeding, got a friend to come down from JHB, new carbon bike all sorted. Wet on the way down to the start. Wet and cold all the way to Ocean view. Puncture and take 12 mins to get the stupid GP4000's off my bontrager rims. Solo'd to the end. No celebrations afterwards, we were too cold and just wanted to ride back home. It was awesome, can't wait to do it again.

This peer-reviewed, but limited, study shows pretty significant performance benefits in a 20min TT: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/tramadol-found-enhance-cycling-performance-study-finds-357365 Interestingly, and perhaps counter-intuitively, it did not show mental function decline under these specific testing conditions, but I would not want to ride in a peloton on Tramadol. It feels pretty strange that it is not a WADA banned substance.

Yes, except if WvA also shows up at the Vuelta then anything goes

Thanks Block, always good to be safe and this advice might save someone's life. I believe I am fine but will get my doctor/wife (helps that they are the same person) to have a listen anyway. I'm very glad you are doing better on medication!

Ah cool - shows me I need to read a bit better. I'll try the resetting, thanks

Thanks for all the inputs. I actually got the Tickr based on a DCrainmaker review: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/05/wahoos-new-2020-tickr-tickr-x-in-depth-review.html "TICKR vs Any Other Strap For Basic HR: If all you need is transmission of ANT+/Bluetooth Smart heart rate data for your app/device, I don’t think there’s any device that beats the base TICKR at this price point – since everyone else is more expensive and has less Bluetooth Smart channels. It’s a no-brainer to me…" I suppose if I can't get this to work (and I'm hoping that somehow it's the battery issue as that is the easiest to solve) I'll just have to try one of the other brands.

Yeah maybe I got a weird bunch of batteries somehow - even though I checked their voltage. Will try a new different brand as another test. I'm also planning to get conductive ECG gel and try that, but not expecting great results (it's fine at the start, and fine on very easy ride, so very much seems sweat related).

Thanks - yeah Tickr, but also a Sigma unit (strap AND pod) changed. Multiple different batteries between the two as well

I'm getting this really annoying thing where some way into rides, my heart rate data from a chest strap starts dopping off: It starts by showing lower numbers than it should, and then ends up showing zero as the time goes on (and I start to sweat more). Here are things I have tried: 1. Checked the receiver - it does the same for my zwift activities through and ANT+ dongle, and through my bike computer when outside 2. Got a new strap/pod - same result with both (Sigma and Tickr) 3. Cleaned everything thoroughly 4. Made sure to wet electrodes sufficiently before starting. Also tried not doing this. Didn't really have any effect at the start. 5. Fiddle with strap tightness and position 6. Different jerseys/no jerseys to eliminate static So what I am basically left with is that either my sweat is magically VERY unconductive and when it starts to build up it blocks the signal somehow (this seems unlikely), or I sweat too much and the electrodes start "shorting" (for want of a better word"). Any tips or ideas of what I can do to fix this? It's pretty annoying as the HR data is worthwhile in zwift races to make sure I don't actually kill myself (and yes I have reached 210 max HR before and my doctor says it's ok, I just rev high).

Update to my saga (mostly to document this so that if someone else goes through the same experience): Spoke to the team that brought the bike in initially - this is a known problem and partly why they stopped brining them in. The stem clamp breaks the handlebar, and then you are stuck. He suggested using an alloy bar, which I am not opposed to at all. From my browsing, it looks like the Deda Superzero Alloy DCR might work with the existing stem (if I could get it fixed), and if not, I could potentially go with the Deda Vinci stem, but not entirely sure about if that is compatible with the internals (will probably need a new headset). Anyone have any experience with the Deda DCR system?

OK, suitably convinced not to ride the bar - thanks for potentially saving my life This is the steerer side of the stem: The cables come in on the front side of the steerer tube. I think the Giant ones go in the back. I'm not opening that up any more - will just have to take it to the bike shop and hope they have a solution. I feel like this might be an expensive exercise in the end

Thanks everyone, already some really good feedback and things I haven't though of. I'm going to try the heli-coil route first (its by far the least effort) and move on the the other suggested responses after that. How worried should I be about that handlebar crack? It doesn't feel substantial at all, but I don't have a good feel for carbon.

Looking for some advice, as I'm not really sure where to go from here. I bought an SRT 1.19 (https://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/183739-srt-carbon-premium-bicycle-products-unrivalled-value/) second hand from a hubber - it's a pretty awesome bike and when I get to ride it, I love it. There is however a problem with the stem, with at least one of the bolts on the handlebar side not gripping properly anymore. This results in the handlebars rotating as soon as a hard bump is hit, making it unsafe to ride. The handlebar and stem use internal cabling (partly what makes the bike look so great). The inside of the stem looks like this: (I'm aware of the small crack in the handlebar - will probably need to replace soon). The part that goes over this to lock in the handlebar looks like this: Here is what I have done so far: 1. A bike shop helped me by drilling out one of the holes are rethreading it, this worked for a while. One of the other bolts is pulling loose now, but there is not a lot of space left to drill further 2. Carbon assembly paste - obvious, but thought I would mention it 3. Loctite on the bolts Problems/potential solutions: 1. Easy answer is buy a new stem, but the supplier does not answer emails and I'm not sure if they exist anymore. I figured they might have been importing/rebranding chinese parts, but my chinese part-finding skills aren't good enough to find the supplier 2. Buy a new different stem that also works with internal cabling - not sure of compatibility, might result in needing a new headset as well? - also seems very hard to find 3. Buy a whole new handlebar/stem combo - the frame does not have ports for internal cabling or outside routing. 4. Get a machine shop to fix the top part thing - redrilling/machining - this would be the least effort solution, but I'm not sure who would even be able to take this on (I'm in Cape Town, if anyone knows of someone who can help) This is a really great bike, I just want to be able to ride it! Any advice would be appreciated.

Yeah, lots of gravel options around - the route up the river is a leg killer with constant small, steep up and downs. Also the option to ride through to Vermaakliheid from Jongens. The only really "fun" stuff is off the gravel road from Stilbaai East to the airport. You used to be able to take 4-odd single track bits down to the tar road, but last time I was there they had banned MTB from the first three (they are hiking trails to be fair). This leaves the last one, just across the runway and up a bit, which is actually not a bad bit of single track (https://www.trailforks.com/trails/fundango-423800/).

Punctured next to Ocean view and took me 12 minutes to get the new tube in due to a very cold tyre being stubborn, and a bomb freezing itself to my hand (seriously, had to tilt my bike to get my hand into the river flowing down the side of the road so I could get it loose). Not my favourite day ever on the bike but at least a funny story came from it.

Just to make sure - is there nice secure parking like usual for your bike if you want to ride down for registration?

I think it ends up being a risk/reward thing. It's not going to cost me that much to get a new power meter after selling the shorter one, and someone will get a nice deal on an almost new perfectly working one. That would have been the medium term plan anyway (the engineer in me struggles with purposefully unbalancing a load like that) but was really thinking how nice it would be to have some power data to prove to my friends that my slower CTCT time is due to wind and not lack of effort. The alternative is that I might or might not cause some permanent damage, and on the balance of this thread I'm not sure of the likelihood of that, but I am sure that it's definitely possible. I'm also very aware that the power meter is mostly just a fun bit of data analysis I get to play with after some rides, and not really adding any specific value to my riding (which is about 6 hours a week, lets say half on zwift). This is the answer I got to for me, and I'm sure that someone else, looking at the same responses, might get to another answer. That's cool too, please report back on your results so we can add to the collective knowledge when another person googles this kinda niche problem.

Wouldn't a non-round chainring have zero affect on your foot travel-circle/oval? wait I think I get the joke now.

That's how I understand it as well, as my horrible powerpoint drawing hopefully shows:

Thanks - this is what I was looking for! Figured it would be hard to feel the difference (which is what comes up a little when you google it) but might have long-term consequences. Case closed for me. Hopefully this thread comes up when someone else googles this stupid idea. Anyone want to buy a 2-month old 4iiii 105 172.5mm power meter?

Thanks for the inputs - It's an Ultegra 6800 series, compact. I think I kindoff know that you are both right and that's definitely the correct plan. I guess it's a bit of an academic question - genuinely interested if I would feel the difference.

So, I think I know the answer to this one, but might as well ask as the few online answers I found differ. How bad of an idea would it be to install a 172.5mm crank arm power meter on a 175mm crankset? Resulting in one side being 2.5mm shorter than the other. And you can't fix it with a shim as that both "shortens" and "lengthens" the crank depending on where you are in the pedal stroke. Answers typically vary from "You won't even feel it" to "You will walk like an 90-year old within a week". I'm leaning towards bad idea?

The bit from Noordhoek to about Bakoven might just be the best piece of road to cycle in the country, and is the bit that convinced me maybe road cycling isn't that bad. Even going in the other direction, over Black Hill to Smuts, is pretty cool. On this weekend there will be more cyclists than cars, and potentially more cyclists than whatever is the second biggest road cycling event in the cape. There are so many cyclists that for a few brief wonderful hours cars tend to have to take a backseat and just chill.