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Zwift for me has become a sort of "competition platform", my best friend and I are constantly outdoing each other's PRs (Linked with Strava) and so we always have a challenge with bragging rights attached when we ride. Early on, I did the 10 week FTP builder, and while it didn't increase my FTP as much as I thought it would, it significantly increased my endurance - which then led to pretty solid FTP increases after I started free-rides again. In about 6 months time I've started toughening up my weak-sauce a bit, going from 150w FTP to now at 212w riding 2-3 days /week.
When I free-ride, I generally start with a goal in mind as opposed to just pedaling while the world goes by - climb a hill; do two laps; set a new FTP; etc., I could see just pedaling as being pretty boring.
Anyone here use supplements? I've been using Whey protein shakes but that's it. Just saw Phil Gaimon's show about supplements and might buy some of this:
Reviews seem good enough and if it works great, if not maybe I can cash in on their 100% money back guarantee. lol.
Also FTP'ed on Friday during my rest week after a solid month of build phase:
After a solid 1500 miles and several attempts to get the BB to stop clicking, my CAAD12 is getting parted out, we are done here. I'm going to just ride the Stigmata everywhere. I tried everything under the sun to fix this short of line-boring the BB which is not round, I'm just going to move on.
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.
Trainer Road is working on a huge update that's supposed to be more like Training Peaks.
Even better idea:
Is there a steel CX bike out there with a threaded BB that takes 40mm tires and Di2? I'm guessing that part of the 40mm tire option is press-fit bracket.
Even better idea:
Is there a steel CX bike out there with a threaded BB that takes 40mm tires and Di2? I'm guessing that part of the 40mm tire option is press-fit bracket.
Soma Double-Cross Disk - unsure about DI2 though
Rock Lobster might have something
Shamrock cycles should also have what you want
After a solid 1500 miles and several attempts to get the BB to stop clicking, my CAAD12 is getting parted out, we are done here. I'm going to just ride the Stigmata everywhere. I tried everything under the sun to fix this short of line-boring the BB which is not round, I'm just going to move on.
electrical tape around the bearings then hammer in? I always had to do that on carbon trek frames with press fit bb's.
After a solid 1500 miles and several attempts to get the BB to stop clicking, my CAAD12 is getting parted out, we are done here. I'm going to just ride the Stigmata everywhere. I tried everything under the sun to fix this short of line-boring the BB which is not round, I'm just going to move on.
Did you try Loctite 609? I'm guessing that you have, but thought I'd check.
Amsoil2000 Grease on the BB30 spindle (i.e. bearing ID) is enough to keep my BB30 cranks quiet. If your BB30 bracket itself is not-round to the point that the bearing is a slip fit (or not enough of a press fit) inside the bottom bracket, then I'd try loctite 641. http://na.henkel-adhesives.com/us/co...Brochure_F.pdf
Your darling Stigmata is PF30. That is theoretically more likely to creak than BB30.
Why would wide tires require a press fit bottom bracket? If anything it would make it worse. BB30 is 68mm wide just like traditional road threaded BBs (chain stays in the same spot) but larger in OD which takes away clearance.
Ugh, although I a torque wrench on everything my fitter use some weird pedal washers. Not the BB, just stupid ****. CAAD12 and BB30A is holy.
As I understand it:
Pressing the bearings into the shell eliminates the 10mm on each side for the threaded cups. Remove that 10mm and you can push the stays further our to clear tires, or make the stays way longer:
This is how bikes like the Stigmata can run 40s in the rear with chain-stay lengths similar to those of the traditional 33mm tire width bikes, and how bikes like the Open UP can run huge 27.5+ rubber with short stays via a dropped-drive-stay.
From your pic: there's no good reason why those stays cannot be welded to right about the edge of the bottom bracket, less whatever you want for the weld bead, maybe.
EDIT: I'm talking BB30 vs 68mm threaded road stuff here. If you're talking about 68mm road threaded vs BB86/91, that's another thing all together.
I did 4x5min this morning at the top of your Z1 range.
Don't worry about that... I've been at this hard for a number of years and am right near my all time best. Been riding 6 days a week, eating well and drinking zero alcohol.
RE: Zwift vs trainerroad. Why not both! I found the new 'alpe du zwift' route to be a very good distraction for the 5x10min @ 95%FTP trainerroad workout. After 90 min I still wasn't at the top.
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