Dec 20, 2013 at 11:04 PM
Gentleman's blend. And it worked quite well (just stay away from your eyes if your silly enough to try this).mugwump said:and you should ask Josh what he put on his face.
Bicycle Tech/Gear Discussion Thread
Dec 25, 2013 at 02:23 PM
I have never used the Zaffiro, and so cannot comment on those tires. I did use Conti 4 seasons and while they never flatted I was unimpressed with the ride quality (unless i kept the tire pressures low). However the biggest issue I had with them was installing them in the first place. I snapped a bunch of tire levers and eventually resorted to a big flat blade screwdriver.
As another option: I like Schwalbe Durano. The have good road feel, stick well in the dry and are great in the wet. They last well, don't cut up too quickly,
As another option: I like Schwalbe Durano. The have good road feel, stick well in the dry and are great in the wet. They last well, don't cut up too quickly,
Dec 25, 2013 at 09:02 PM
Regarding the conti 4 seasons (I think there is even an "armadillo" version of them); the only thing more impressive than their difficulty of getting on is their durability.
Dec 26, 2013 at 01:21 AM
I run conti 4 seasons year round. I race on them. 25's. I have not had issues with getting them on. I don't know what the eff you guys are talking about.
Full disclosure, in the winter training slop I'll run my tubeless Hutchinson setup.
Dec 26, 2013 at 02:39 AM
+1 to vlad; the 4 seasons almost fall onto my rims. no levers required! i race the 25s.
Dec 26, 2013 at 04:22 AM
It depends on the rim/tire combo.
Dec 26, 2013 at 03:51 PM
I had 28mm Zaffiro pros on my bar bike (before it was stolen). I put a lot of miles on those suckers and I never once got a flat. And a lot of those miles were ridden at night, when road debris was very difficult to see. They were cut up all to hell, but nothing ever got through to the inner tube.
The ride wasn't great, but for winter training nobody should care about that even a little.
Dec 26, 2013 at 05:26 PM
stokes is right, tire fit is a question of rim sizing and tire sizing. absent information about my rim sizing, my experience is irrelevant!
my rims are marked ERTRO 622x15.7. continental 4seasons and 4000s's fit easily, but michelin pro3's are hard to get on. i haven't tried any others.
Dec 27, 2013 at 01:10 AM
i use strava and would like to get an HR monitor. my new phone has ANT+ and bluetooth LE capability.
my only options are the HR monitors in Strava's store? i can't just grab any old bluetooth strap?
any word on when they're going to support ant+?
Dec 27, 2013 at 02:00 AM
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Dec 27, 2013 at 02:36 AM
Oh Mr. Rigby...you have strolled right into my parlor. Buy a Cyelops Powercal strap...these can be found for $100 retail or cheaper on ebay. The strap is Ant+ and wait for it.....it gives you an estimated power reading as well. I don't use the power numbers while riding as they jump around too much...but I geek on them after a ride or race. It works well enough for longer intervals and average wattage...at least for me it does. It is a nice gateway drug to a direct force power meter. Really for $100 it is only $50 more than a regular ant + strap.
Dec 27, 2013 at 02:57 AM
I try to pin the computrainer at 250 watts for 20 minutes for an interval...the power reading from these 2 Strava files is from my power cal strap...
if you go down and look at 20 minute power in file 1 = 251 watts 171 hr. avg
the 2nd file = 268 watts 179 hr. avg.
now computrainer wattage varies depending on the calibration...I set it and do the same intervals yet some days I am clearly working way harder...this could be calibration issues or I physiological issues...either way I'm getting a sick workout. I tend to look at my hr #'s more after a heavy interval session to see how hard the effort was on my cardio system. Anywho...somethin to chew on
Dec 27, 2013 at 03:21 AM
Dec 30, 2013 at 03:14 AM
Am I correct that a standard Shimano/SRAM freehub body will not work with a SRAM red cassette?
Dec 30, 2013 at 03:35 AM
@Ryan, that should not be correct. I've used SRAM red cassettes on Shimano freehubs many times with no problems.
Dec 30, 2013 at 03:41 AM
Yeah, the fact that the splines look different threw me for a minute when it wouldn't go on; but it turns out it's just a chewed up cassette body
Jan 03, 2014 at 04:51 AM
It's January; time for the annual tire width freak out...
http://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/
Jan 03, 2014 at 06:15 AM
Argh....jerks. How do they go and wind-tunnel test wide--er tires and not test the 42s? We're supposed to be happy with their untested statement, 42mm does not "appear" to be too wide.Jules said:It's January; time for the annual tire width freak out... http://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/
But yeah, it's a question that I've had since this debate started out in public about 3 or 4 years ago. So good job...almost.
Jan 03, 2014 at 01:22 PM
I want to see their data and know how they controlled for variables. Without a chart and a discussion, it's hard to take the analysis seriously.
Jan 03, 2014 at 01:38 PM
And this bleeds into the whole topic of crap cycling journalism. Can I get a big WTF? Another fascinating headline from the folks at Cyclingnews (although feel free to insert the name ANY cycling publication of popularity here):mugwump said:I want to see their data and know how they controlled for variables. Without a chart and a discussion, it's hard to take the analysis seriously.
Contador: I'm going to the Tour de France to win
Really? Fascinating. I'm riveted. Go on...
I mean FUCK. Why doesn't someone ask him, WTF happened to him since his doping bust? Why, if he was clean before, clean after, doesn't he dominate the way he once did? And if you are too much of sissy to ask real doping questions, why don't you at least ask, "What the hell are you going to do differently this year than you did last year?"
So irritated. I need to go out in the snow and play some-more.
Jan 03, 2014 at 01:44 PM
They responded in the comments section:mugwump said:I want to see their data and know how they controlled for variables. Without a chart and a discussion, it's hard to take the analysis seriously.
The raw data was published in the Bicycle Quarterly articles that are mentioned under “Further Reading.”
And the links lead to pages telling you to order BQ back issues.
I think this comment exchange is very telling:
The rider is crucial in the whole setup. Without a rider, you don’t get suspension losses that are absorbed as heat in the rider’s body; you don’t get the legs churning the wind… Testing without a rider would be meaningless.
To distinguish noise from true results, we always do a rigorous statistical analysis. That shows you whether the variability within the dataset is greater than the differences you are seeing between different setups (like 25 vs. 31 mm tires).
The 1% difference was that wider tires are slower. I only mentioned it because it runs counter the argument I am making about wider tires being faster. Statistically, it wasn’t significant, which may indicate that it’s just noise in the data, or it may be too small to be measurable with our testing approach. The results that 25 mm tires roll faster than 21 mm tires and 23 mm tires was highly statistically significant.
The raw data was published in the Bicycle Quarterly articles that are mentioned under “Further Reading.”
Jan 03, 2014 at 03:22 PM
Jan 03, 2014 at 03:47 PM
I disdain to comment.
Jan 04, 2014 at 04:53 PM
So, I notice that BTBtv has done a round-up of "clincher" CX tires, which leads me to the Challenge site, because I see the BTBtv lists their Chicane as a clincher, and I'm like, "NO WAY. I TOTALLY WANT THAT TIRE AND I THOUGHT THEY ONLY MADE A TUBULAR VERSION OF IT." And when I get to the site, I see that it is listed under something called "open tubular" and they only have one tire listed under "clincher" and I'm like so confusee because I have two sets of Challenge clinchers, neither of which are listed on the Challenge site, and while I'm not exactly tech savvy, I do know that I have been riding my Challenge clinchers to for 2 seasons now and...
What the hell is the difference between an "open tubular" and a "clincher" and why is Challenge separating them out on their website?
Jan 04, 2014 at 06:41 PM
An open tubular has all the construction elements of their tubulars....ie thread count, maybe hand made etc. I'm guessing the only ones Challenge refers to as clinchers are the all black Grifos?
I think it's mostly just a marketing thing
Jan 04, 2014 at 06:53 PM
Thanks Rick...that makes sense. FWIW, I'm a big fan of the Challenge "open tubulars." Very, supple and instantly made a difference in my race performances. Next year I'm planning on buying tubulars for the first time ever. I'm going full tubular baby, and my shit is going to grip. So look out for my grippy shit.
I just wonder, what $100+ dollar tires I should glue onto those rims. An all-purpose? Or mud tire? Is the Chicane the perfect compromise?
Jan 04, 2014 at 07:09 PM
The Chicane is pretty awesome I think. Albeit I'm basing my opinion on only two races , one with icy conditions and dry snow falling, the other on dry but sticky grass with a couple of slightly muddy turns. It worked pretty well for me in both. There's a learning curve associated with it. You have to commit to leaning it over to get the limus treads to grab when the ground is slick. But I think it would get you through most of the season probably. I think my "open tubular" versions are going to be my go to tires a good 75% of the time next season.
Get the Chicane.
I can loan you mine if you want to check out the tread for yourself
Jan 04, 2014 at 07:25 PM
"open tubular" is a fairly old term. It means they take a tubular casing and wrap it around two beads and thus make a clincher tire.
All the fancy Vittoria Open CX, CG, etc. are made this way. As are all the expensive Challenge, Gommitalia, Clement and several other brand tires.
Jan 06, 2014 at 02:47 PM
Jan 07, 2014 at 01:26 PM
That wheel idea is actually pretty cool. Seems easy to retrofit an existing bike. The one feature that seems to be lacking (that the specialized e-bike and other e-bikes have) is the ability to manually add some power... e.g. having a throttle or a push button. To me, that's the most appealing feature of having non-human power added to a bike, the ability to add some watts for a quick pass or on an wide open straightaway or up a hill.
To be honest, I think that in order to do this kind of testing right you should build a test robot where you eliminate any external factors – run a test in a wind tunnel, controlled environment, with no rider but an electric motor of known output powering the wheel, etc. Only then the results may be considered real. When you are seeing changes of ~1% – that’s ridiculously low to claim any bold statements that wider is better. It would be good to see raw data where human perception of riding comfort is not a factor, i.e. no rider in test the next time.