@falkirk-mark – sorry for being thick but surely the torque setting is a direct measure of the force you have to apply/have applied (force moment to be precise)? How can the force need to vary for a specific torque setting?

I recently bought a 500g tub of Carlube copper paste in GSF Car Parts for about £6 IIRC.

I’m in the middle of knee rehab after an ACL recon in june. Surgeon is dead keen on cycling for rehab so I started off using my old Rockhopper on a turbo then out on the road. I was interested to try and find out what gears on the MTB would be equivalent to my compact road bike so i made up a very basic spreadsheet to look at gear ratios and how that translated into road metres for each crank turn.

You can have a look at it here.

Should be self explanatory. Replace the red numbers for your own front and rear set ups and wheel size, then read across to the tables on the right for ratios, gear inches, and road metres. It’s interesting to see where up the cassette the crossovers occur.

It’s only my second ever go at a spreadsheet so no laughing, and no doubt there are slicker versions around.

ps, first go at using dropbox too so hope it works.

Is this poor form or is it OK to warm up for particular segments?

So the pre-ride dump doesn’t count then?

Better even than a trainer tyre is a whole spare rear wheel – an old wheel you’ve upgraded from is ideal. It’s one less excuse, changing tyres is too much of a faff!

That’s exactly what I’ve done! Makes it all dead easy.

I’ve got Kurt Kinetic Road Machine that I got from Planet X a few years back for a daft price, I think £100 when they retail nearer £400 now.

That was a blimmin’ bargain Ben! Mine was $300 ish in the states but as you say it’s a really good quality bit of kit. Lifetime guarantee on the fluid resistance unit too which is magnetically driven through the housing so no seals to wear out and leak. It’s been brill for my knee rehab.

Another thread from a month or so ago here. I bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine on the advice of a neighbour who’s a bit good on a road bike and haven’t been disappointed. V quiet especially when using a trainer tyre. See here. HTH

I sometimes go for a road ride with a neighbour who’s dead into recording everything via a Garmin 800. At the end of a recent outing he noticed that I record nothing at all and don’t even have a Halfords type cheapo basic computer. Conversation went something like.

Him (thick French accent) – Adrian. zat was just under blah kms and blahdiblah of elevation on mine, how about yours?
Me – I don’t have one Patrick, I don’t know
Him – But how do you know how far you have been?
Me – I don’t
Him – how about ze speed and ze heart rate?
Me – no idea.
Him – error, error, does not compute
Me – 1664 as usual mate ??

Anyway, wtf is Strava?

Or it’s about a 2 hour drive from Geneva through the Mt Blanc tunnel. Just been there for the day from Annecy. Not riding unfortunately – wife is Italian so had a lovely lunch in town then stocked up on Italian food/booze in the hypermarket at the bottom of the Pila gondola!

Actually I did ride for an hour, but just the free tourist bikes around down with my daughter – **** me they must be made of lead!

I’ve swapped 2 of mine and yep, they won’t line up! As you say it’s no big deal.

Or you can elect to pay in dollars and have your credit card do the conversion, which certainly with my card gets me a much better rate.

Actually I was pleasantly surprised that my deore m590 middle ring cost €12!

I’d go for the old stretched chain wearing out the cassette on the most used cogs – sorry! Did you check the old one with a stretch measurer?

I recently changed the chain on my old Rockhopper after….er…hum 10 years!! Ended up also replacing the cassette and the middle chainring.

I’ve got the digital IGN French Alps (from Memory Map). I bought them primarily for walking but can a section be downloaded onto a Garmin type device? If yes I might be tempted to buy one!

I really like the Thule 591. I’ve got slotted aerobars and the racks are a sinch to get on and off. Muddy bikes are on in no time. Don’t think the locks are up to much though so never leave bike on there unattended.

I’ve recently done it too in order have easier gears for climbing after undergoing knee surgery in June – I’ve got 10spd Ultegra shifters, a “9 spd” XTR M952 rear mech, and an 11-32 SRAM rear cassette on my road bike. Compact 34/50 up front. All works like a dream.

Pedant Alert

It’s energy that’s being stored rather than power – power is a measure of the rate of energy release. 1 Watt is 1 Joule per Second. In fact battery capacities are written as the amount of charge they hold (mAh or Ah) to give an idea of how long they will last for a given current draw. Putting batteries in parallel will not increase the current (for the same load) as the voltage is the same , but the the same current can be drawn for longer as the capacity is bigger.

…..I’ll get my coat…. :-)

My 7 year old daughter has been making Daddy proud by “exploring the envelope” doing jumps on her Kona Makena. A couple of crashes later and I was in the market for a new hanger and rear mech. Shimano FT-30 RD – £8.50. Kona hanger – £10!!! (with some places wanting £17). How does that work? It’s only a friggin’ small piece of cast metal.

+1 for the Trek Fuel EX. I recently bought a 2nd hand 2008 EX9 and am loving it as an all rounder.

Or, looking at the problem from the other way round, why not keep an iron and board at work and give them a quick once-over before putting them on?

I treated myself to a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine a few months ago. I bought it after borrowing one from a neighbour to help with rehab after a knee op and was very impressed. Fluid resistance for great feel, and the resistance unit is magnetically driven so no seals to leak. I was lucky to get one on a trip to the States for about $330, probably dearer in the UK unfortunately.

I impulse purchased a Feedback Sports Pro Elite whilst on a trip to the States last year. (about $200) and it’s the mutt’s nuts. Light, stable, folds easily, and has a really easy to use ratcheting clamp. A joy to use, and with 8 bikes in the family it gets used a lot!!

Just out of hospital after ACL recon surgery so fancied easier gears on my road bike for when I can ride again. After a bit of “Caracticus Potts” in the garage I’ve now got the original Ultegra 10 spd shifters, a 2nd hand XTR M952 long cage rear mech, and a SRAM pg1050 11-32 running on the back of my compact Roubaix and it works like a dream – faultless shifting across the entire range. My neighbour is a “serious” road cyclist and has just done a 30 or so mile test ride on it for me today with no issues at all.