Cycling UK Forum

jawaka wrote: ↑9 Apr 2024, 12:23pm I'm not so keen now on cereal bars with the long list of ingredients.

Not wishing to get too preachy, but making your own cereal bars from suitably sourced ingredients is pretty straightforward. I use the rocket fuel recipe from somewhere on these pages. Dead easy, tasty and no wrappers to worry about...
viewtopic.php?p=1774773#p1774773

MrsHJ wrote: ↑9 Apr 2024, 10:08pm Geraint Thomas or Luke rowe suggested on their pod that maybe Pogacar should miss the giro so he’s on tiptop form to beat a not fully fit Jonas V at the tour. Seems unlikely to me.

Haha.
I'm pretty certain they were joking, as GT is down for the Giro, and obviously has no chance of winning if Pogi is in it.
On a more serious note, it was quite dark to hear Luke Rowe talking about the aftermath of his concussion, and how he is still feeling the aftereffects. Makes you wonder how many sports people carried on through these sorts of symptoms in less enlightened times and may eventually suffer the consequences.

There is a big balfe bike shop just outside Gatwick, if you need one locally.
Bike boxes are a bit big to tuck under your arm though!
https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/gatwick/

mattheus wrote: ↑9 Apr 2024, 10:55am

Pendodave wrote: ↑9 Apr 2024, 10:04am

Jezrant wrote: ↑8 Apr 2024, 11:09pm What, no chitchat about Paris-Roubaix? Ok, wasn't the most exciting edition, but blimey vdP was fast. Thought I read somewhere that he did the first 100km on 700 x 28c Vittorias and then switched to 32mm, but now only see 32c mentioned. Anyways, always interesting to see the kit used on P-R and what seems to work well and what doesn't.

Tbh, I was more surprised by how fast his number 1 domestique was (Vermeersch?), who pulled for miles at a record pace, shut down all the G2 moves after VdP got away and then finished in the top 10...

Don't forget they had a massive tail-wind. The last rider home - outside the time limit - was faster than Fabien's 2010 win. Only the worst tin-foil wackos will conclude that every rider was on magic juice.

Sadly - for the armchair spectator - MvDP is just that little bit better than everyone in this kind of race, and doesn't make mistakes. Gotta give the guy credit ...

Has every race this year had a massive tail wind?...
Given everything we know about all professional sports, and cycling in particular, "tin foil wackos" seems a tad hyperbolic.

The point about avoiding mistakes is a fair one though. Also, avoiding punctures. Given that Visma in particular seem afflicted by these, there seems to be some method in avoiding mechanicals that Alpecin have perfected.

Jezrant wrote: ↑8 Apr 2024, 11:09pm What, no chitchat about Paris-Roubaix? Ok, wasn't the most exciting edition, but blimey vdP was fast. Thought I read somewhere that he did the first 100km on 700 x 28c Vittorias and then switched to 32mm, but now only see 32c mentioned. Anyways, always interesting to see the kit used on P-R and what seems to work well and what doesn't.

Tbh, I was more surprised by how fast his number 1 domestique was (Vermeersch?), who pulled for miles at a record pace, shut down all the G2 moves after VdP got away and then finished in the top 10...

I'm very hypocritical about "surprising" performances. I enjoy them when a rider I like does well, or when everyone is equally "surprising" and it leads to a bit of excitement. Not so much when the big spring races are over by halftime...

Team updates as of 21:50 CEST

UAE: Vine has broken three vertebrae, no other major injuries or head trauma.

Visma: Vingegaard has a broken collarbone and several broken ribs, but he is stable and will remain in hospital for now

Soudal: Evenepoel has a broken collarbone and scapula

Lidl: abrasions but no fractures or concussion for Tesfatsion

Total: Cras has a punctured lung, broken ribs and broken vertebrae

EF: Cepeda and Quinn involved, Quinn abandon

Bora: Roglic involved, no further updates (he was able to walk to team car)

Alpecin: abrasions for Hermans, who finished the stage.

This is awful.
I'm coming round to the view that pro cycling needs to have a long hard look at itself. Now, I'm not a competitive cyclist, so I have no expertise to drop into the discussion, but people who know about these things need to consider the future of the sport imho. Everything is going faster and faster, but the human body is as fragile as ever. This is not sustainable.

It's a shame, as the combination of endurance, skill and tactics makes the sport wonderfully compelling.

Going to indulge myself with some Flanders today.
Very sad that WVA is out, as it takes out at least one layer of intrigue.

I remember having a minor back and forth with someone a few months back about the perils of professional cycling. I retain the belief that it probably shouldn't be allowed, but I'm glad that it is!

MrsHJ wrote: ↑24 Mar 2024, 9:19am I have continental contact plus. No punctures so far over a few years and many miles of touring (all though most of my mileage is touring so it’s going to be a few thousand miles) on varied surfaces from the USA to Italy including a lot of unsealed surfaces. My longest time ever puncture free (only puncture was on my other bike which has different tyres!).
So they have been astonishingly good and confidence inspiring. Am going to replace like for like this year. Are you tempted to go tubeless? I’m not atm- I’m not looking for the speed gains and as my current tyres have all the no puncture characteristics I want I’m happy with my current approach.

I'm also reluctant to go tubeless, but looking for every advantage...
I've just ordered some TPU inner tubes, which in theory knock a chunk off both weight and rolling resistance. Also pack a lot smaller as a spare.
I'm running Pirelli Cinturato velo (sp), and these have been pleasingly puncture resistant. I'll report back on my findings!

Could you also explain how to rotate the images (or link to foolproof guide).
Most of mine are OK, but every now and then they're not...

531colin wrote: ↑16 Mar 2024, 10:30am I think I’m right in saying you can get access to OS maps via Cycle.travel; cheaper than subscribing to OS on line.

Bing maps has OS maps as a free layer on my PC and tablet.
There's some other fres options out there, but I cba to trawl the internet for them.

Can't speak specifically for D+, as I use Eurosport, but I suspect the same applies...
For live coverage, there are 2 streams. One is "normal" with ads, the other is ad free. The commentary occasionally refers to the existence of both, so I imagine that a bit of digging around in D+ will reveal it.

I've never found the non-ad version of the highlights though. I wonder if it's because I normally watch them on catch-up rather than live.

Agree about highlight format. Although obviously it was perfect for MSR. I sometimes just use catch-up on the full coverage and ff through the quiet bits.

Https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ is your friend.
(Or your enemy if you are wont to disappear down rabbit holes).
Not surprisingly, the tension between comfort, speed, puncture resistance and price pulls the enthusiast in many directions at once.

For a road tyre which emphasises puncture resistance, I use the pirelli cinturato velo. It's robust without being crazy heavy, slow and inflexible.

As a general rule, current thinking is get as fat as your frame will allow - its more comfortable and there's no particular drop of in performance.

Apologies if this is a lot of egg-sucking instructions...

mattheus wrote: ↑18 Mar 2024, 9:14am

Pendodave wrote: ↑15 Mar 2024, 9:50pm

MrsHJ wrote: ↑14 Mar 2024, 7:53am Milan San Remo I this weekend. It’s a good one to just tune in for thé last half hour of the race. Unless pogacar goes away with 80km to go like in Strade bianche.

I'm curious what he'll try, as what he's done before certainly hasn't worked.
The good thing about MSR is that despite (or maybe because of) the previous several hours, the last 20 minutes are always entertaining.

Well, he tried to win a sprint finish this time, and he came pretty close!

I really admire his approach to TRYING to win these races that really don't play to his strengths. AND going for the Giro-Tour double this year - gotta love 'im!

Haha
Yep . really close.
Have to say, I thought it was a particularly good last 20 mins this time around. All sorts of people tried all sorts of stuff and the result was in the balance until the end.
I thought for a brief moment that pidcock might have got away, but there were two many 2 man teams working to reel him in and group 2 syndrome didn't really apply.
Looking forward to the next one.

Serendipitously, I was thinking of frame protection film/tape earlier today.
Saw that it's possible (at a cost) to get model/size specific tape (ridewrap). I wonder what the best bang/buck solution is?

MrsHJ wrote: ↑14 Mar 2024, 7:53am Milan San Remo I this weekend. It’s a good one to just tune in for thé last half hour of the race. Unless pogacar goes away with 80km to go like in Strade bianche.

I'm curious what he'll try, as what he's done before certainly hasn't worked.
The good thing about MSR is that despite (or maybe because of) the previous several hours, the last 20 minutes are always entertaining.