My LBS is now on some weird contract with Trek and they are dropping Cannondale. This is very sad for me, will have to buy the next road bike from some dumb shop. :(

 

Or just upgrade to an Emonda SLR H1

 

Quick shot from my last ride. Lots of Walter White/John Travolta/Hazmat jokes ensued, but I was nice and warm on a 30 degree ride so whatever

 

Did you cockfags see this?

 

Saw on FB this morning. Extremely sexy.

 

It also says "Santa Cruz" on the down-tube, making it excellent.

 

I've had a new Blur for about a month- got it for some product testing. I think this was a journalist demo frame or something. I like it.


Garbage build from old bike (those are Rasta colored Trek stickers from some other bike- you love it):



Super clean mounted accessories and a Deity dirt jump stem from about 10 years ago. haha
I can confirm it rides really well and is 8 lbs lighter than my enduro bike.

 

Got my FTP up to 240w. I guess I'm almost a mamal

 

Nice. 240 is about as far as I ever got back when I had 8-10hrs/week to donate to pedaling.

I am relieved at how fast my FTP has come back up. 6 months off the bike was crippling, my FTP was somewhere in the 140 ballpark when I started back up. In 4 weeks of really moderate training, 15 total hours, it's back up to at least 190 or so. Annoyingly, it appears that interval training is remarkably effective. I'd be totally happy with maintaining it at 220 or so, just enough fitness to actually enjoy group rides and longer MTB rides without feeling like I'm on the verge of cardiac arrest the entire time, without feeling like I have to ride 15hrs a week just to keep my current fitness.

 

I am really slacking this year, only have 470 miles and 29 hours in total for 2018. Really want to get to at least 250 this summer for my FTP. Hopefully with the new MTB I will have some more motivation to do more trail rides since those are more fun for me. Road riding has always been fun but I feel like especially since I got my PM on the bike, I've been more concerned with the numbers at the end of the ride, rather than enjoying myself. On the trail, having the Wahoo in my pocket and just doing what I want no matter what the numbers say, that's where the joy of cycling comes in.

Now if I can even lose 5lbs and get back to 170, I'm sure that would help too. I have a dumb trainer at home so I'm not as consistent with my workouts inside simply because of how boring the dumb trainers are to ride. I started watching The Vegan Cyclist's videos on youtube and the race breakdowns are really cool, makes me want to get out there this summer to see what i can do

 

@dcamp2

Any insight on if the new lyric RC2 damper will fit into an existing boost pike? I know the release docs said that you could upgrade an existing yari or lyric fork with the new damper. I dropped a push acs3 kit into my pike and I'm quite happy with it but I'd love to have some HSC and better LSC adjustability. I already re-shimmed my rc damper to get rid of some of the pre-load on the compression stack. I don't need the full lockout that the rc damper provides cranked all the way down. I have currently have a modified version of the rct3 shim stack which already had less preload then the rc.

 

I'm on week 5 of trainerroad. Mid volume base work. My garmin watch has my FTP lowering by a point/week for the last few weeks, I'm down to 196. hahaha silly watch.

However, I feel like I'm going to destroy the next FTP text at week 7. This is my first time doing 'base' work 3x20min sorta stuff, it is boring but that builds mental toughness, I tell myself. I can't wait to get back into (shorter) interval workouts though. I enjoy the 5x9min over/unders more.

I was 250 this time last year (zwifts 10week builder) and 235 2 years ago (zwifts 6 week builder). I had a late start this winter.

We could all lose 5 lbs for sure.

 

99% sure it would fit. Top-cap threads and bottom bolt threads should be fine, my only concern is a Lyrik specific damper tube being too long to fit in a Pike chassis. Easiest way to check would be get a damper and install in your fork and gently try to bottom it with no air in the spring side (maybe your bike shop would let you pull one out of a floor bike?)

If it bottoms early you have a problem. I can measure one if you need.

 

Even though I wanted 250w, it's still nice to get to the 3w/kg barrier, now have to get over it

 

What service do you all recommend for a smart trainer?

I bought a Tacx Neo and have been trying Zwift for the past week. I like the trainer but don't see the $15/month value in Zwift. I find myself just using erg mode and watching videos. The 3D world doesn't seem to be much more than a gimmick after the first few rides, unless I'm missing something.

I have started to ride again after a long break and I am starting from nothing, so structure/progression is nice. I did my ftp test first thing after getting it and find the erg mode really time effective.

 

Zwift and TrainerRoad user here. Trainerroad's structured workout plan is another level above zwift's. $99/year is cheap.

For me, a planned zwift short ride tends to ultimately be much longer, as I will hook up with another rider(s) that are putting out about the same w/kg and start to go at it. Before you know it, you're on the trainer for 90 min. That part is fun. Also fun for me is the varied terrain (there's a route for whatever your looking for, at least on watopia) and trying to get PR's on the various timed sprints or climbs. I started to get into group workouts & rides which help keep you motivated to stay with the pack. I did a hare/hound race too and got destroyed. Damn fun.

If you're just running a zwift 'workout' while watching netflix, Trainerroad is a much better solution. You're looking at 6+ months to do a whole training plan though.

EDIT: The Tacx Neo can supposedly simulate the road surface (cobbles, etc) in zwift, how's that?

 

Trainer road for me all the way. I'm not a roadie so I don't identify with any of the roadie tie backs that zwift provides. I have a little microphone stand style thinger that holds a 7" tablet and I run trainer road on that and put mountain bike movies on in the background. Trainerroad does deep dives on pedal stroke and the training is extremely targeted. While zwift is more fun, trainerroad is shockingly effective and targeted.

I basically zwift as indoor riding which is pretty awesome because it can feel like an actual ride scenario... Trainerroad however is focused, targeted training that at times, is not fun at all, but amazingly effective.

 

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like I should give trainer road a try. I think, for me, that the unstructured indoor training ride isn't what I am looking for right now. I see that benefit of Zwift but I am more time limited rather than outdoor riding limited. I really want to try the super-structured approach. I know what I am capable of (couple years ago) with unlimited time, and I want to see how close I can get with very limited time. I started the year about 100 watts down on peak FTP and now am about 80 watts down. It will be interesting to see what is possible with 4-5 hrs on the trainer plus riding on the weekends.

I do have a small complaint for Zwift and its open-world. The baseline "reality" isn't there. Everyone has different equipment for measuring effort and therefore the dynamics are different. I think they need to move away from the "flatness" of run what you have and move towards a tiered system of riders who can meet the minimum amount of data to match the virtual world to the real-world.

Tacx mini-review: Bought it on Amazon and got it for $1400 (w/prime+no tax+5% back). It is a solid design. It connects to all of my devices easily. It requires a third-party application ($) to really have any benefit, which is means that $1400 only gets you started (major con). The top benefits are: totally silent with true direct drive, accurate+precise wattage, good road feel. The simulated road condition is fun. It is not very sophisticated, but I think the promise is there. It doesn't seem to vary with conditions like you would expect from riding on the road and is more of a repeated pattern. I think it is really on Zwift to incorporate it better. Overall, I would recommend the Neo.

 

I prefer The Sufferfest, their training plans are really good, and includes yoga and a mental training program. They also support as much or more equipment than the other two. I get bored with Trainer Road, and Zwift feels a little gimmicky to me. YMMV

 

I have been using Zwift's training plans and sort of ignoring the "real-world" stuff. Has anyone tried both? Is TrainerRoad worth switching to?