What kind of turbo trainer are you using? Magnetic resistance by any chance?

molgrips – Member
I’ve been strictly dieting recently and doing only a couple of rides a week, and my power levels have suffered.

Can you elaborate?
How have they suffered? Which zones and by how much?

njee20 – Member

To be fair, you don’t know that. An N Gear Jump Stop (or similar) will help if it’s coming off the top, but if it’s doing that then a clutch won’t really help either – that’s only adding tension on the bottom run of the chain after all.

I suppose I don’t know for sure, but I have had a narrow wide + XT clutch on the XC race bike all year and hit a lot of things a lot harder than I hit that.

Will browse the usual places for a pair of SRAM Apex or Rival shifters for as cheap as I can, and until such times just use the set up as is. I was only ever competing for a top 10 placing so I certainly didn’t lose the race over it.

pixelmix – Member
Please do barrykellet.

Birdage – your experience sounds positive, but I see you are running an n-gear jump stop. Are you not running a bash? I’m keen to lose my bash as I find that mud gets jammed between bash and chainring in really muddy, grassy races. Hmm, maybe I should leave the n-gear as a fail safe on the inside, even with a narrow/wide chainring.

First race yesterday.
Worked flawlessly for the majority of the race, and a very fast race too. Didn’t miss a bigger ring at all. 38t was plenty for it.

Unfortunately in my battle with one guy, he was hopping the boards and I was running them, big time to be gained or lost there. Tried to recover the gap on the last lap and as we came together he nipped ahead of a lapped rider and I got stuck. Gave it all my beanz after getting past and launched a roll down at full pelt, the landing was rough, the chain came off!

Rider error. Lost 8 seconds of stopped time plus whatever time getting back up to speed. Wouldn’t have happened with a Clutch mech on there to be honest so I am a bit peeved. Think I will give it another chance. maybe fit a chain catcher on the inside to halve the possibility? Though if it is dropping off I guess a chain catcher will just stop it going inside and push it off the outside instead?

Blobby has addressed most of the points you need to think about.

I’ve done the Z2 thing.
I’ve worked out a better approach for myself now.

Z2 is all well and good. There are a few reasons why traditionally Pro’s do a lot of zone 2 base work. Pretty high on that list is the fact that its their job to ride a bike and they have 30 hours a week to ride.

Ask yourself how many hours a week you can/want to commit to training.
What are your goals? Are you racing? What discipline? How long is your longest race? Address the specific requirements of the goal event.

Alpkit Gourdon

Only you can decide.
Just do it.

I know a guy who regularly does just over 40 miles each way, on his rest days he drives part of the way and only does between 22 and 30 each way. What a waster.

I use the FlyBy functionality to see who the randomers I met on my last commute were, and give them kudos for this very reason :-)

Was going to change my whole set up to SRAM shifters, Type 2 mech and a thick thin ring… 38t 104BCD to fit my XT cranks swapped over from my XC bike for the purposes of getting to use my Stages PM on the CX race bike this winter.

However, money is tight, so I have just ordered the 38t ring for now and plan to test it out this weekend, or before, to see how it copes with chain retention using a plain old 105 rear mech.

Will report back with findings

Not read all the replies, so apologies if i am repeating someone else but…

Specificity

Just for illustration for anyone who tends to go balls out in the first couple of minutes and can’t hold on for the distance… Recent TT with Steady climbing start. Took almost 3 minutes to settle the heart rate at Threshold HR levels. And as it was only a 10, I rode it with target power of appx 105% of FTP. So, say for a 25 where I would start off a little easier, it would in theory take longer for the HR to reach the plateau.

[/url]
TTPacing[/url] by barry_kellett99[/url], on Flickr

warton – Member

I disagree. if you know what your threshold HR is, then surely getting up to that as quickly is possible is best? spending a minute getting up to threshold is a waste of a minute. sprint from the start and you’re hitting threshold in 20 secs (as long as you’re properly warmed up)

You might disagree but you’d still be wrong choosing to approach your pacing like that most of the time.
As I am sure everyone knows, Heart rate is a response to your output and takes quite a while to catch up. Aiming to hit your Heart rate threshold straight away is only possible by going straight past your threshold power and VO2max and into anaerobic territory.

Some people might cope but for a lot it can finish their TT before its even started. Stay there too long and by the time you recover with your power dawdling at z2 or 3 (but heart rate probably still sitting high) you will have lost masses of time. And in a 10, there is no chance of recovering that time elsewhere.

Training is free and will have more impact at this stage of your fledgling TT career.
I started with high 27’s and now down into the 24’s for lumpy rolly 10’s on a standard road bike, kit and helmet. Don’t bother with clip on bars. Three years of training and getting better at pacing them.

Can you hurry up and buy it and get a mate to buy the other one too please

Planet x have the same cranks for £99 on sale – so really – you don’t have to adapt. Insane price. Breaking my heart and mind thinking about it!!!

LS – Member

To be honest though, if you’ve got access to a PM most of the time, previous experience will tell you to within a few points what the TSS will be. After using a PM for 8+ years I can put the head unit in my back pocket and tell you the NP/IF/TSS for any given ride to 1 or 2% accuracy.

True
Except when it comes to the TSS out of a race for me. It always feels about 50% harder than the true figure 8O

Where hrTSS is pretty much useless too

I’ve used hrTSS on non powermeter equipped rides and as the guys have said, its accurate enough for a TSS figure to keep your data up to date.

It won’t cope well with a couple of sets of anaerobic intervals but for a long steady tempo ride or 2×20 it won’t be far off.

mtbmatt – Member
P2M is only one sided… as is SRM and Quarq.
I know the measure things differently, but one sided none the less.

it might be on one side – but it is not measuring one side.

I’m sure you can grasp the difference in measuring torque on a crank arm as opposed to the crank spider and are just trying to stir the pot with word play

Power2max without a doubt.
Why measure power on only one side make assumptions when you can have the real McCoy for almost the same money.

Speaking as a stages owner

That sounds like science

mrblobby – Member
Tried 12-23 on the TT bike and missed the 11t. Ended up fitting a 55t chainring, but 55/12 was still quite a bit less than 53/11. I reckon you do lose quite a lot if you ditch the 11t. 53/12 is about 31mph at 90rpm, which is pretty quick but quite doable and even on the road bike I reckon it would leave me wanting a bigger gear. Now want to go 11sp

But 90RPM can’t be anywhere near spinning out for you?
I don’t consider it to be spinning out until about 120rpm personally. I prefer to TT at about 85-90 myself, but will just spin faster when needed.
It is only for very short durations, as you pointed out its 30mph+ and if you are averaging that for a full 10 then Kudos to you squire!

All my Time trials are on undulating technical terrain. No Carriageway stuff.

Suppose it depends on rider and courses.

But you know Der Panzerwagen uses oversized chainrings so that he doesnt have to use the 11t sprocket much – you lose valuable watts with that selection!

dragon – Member
If you want to race then a 53/39 with a 12/25 block is perfect. If you can’t climb steep hills on the 39-25 they you’ll be out the back anyway.

For normal, general riding then a compact 50/34 with an 11/25 block is probably better.

What this bloke says

What would you be doing with an 11t sprocket anyway?

You already sold out when you fitted clip on bars to a road bike.

Its road bike or the full blown TT rig.

Yes
Email in profile

There isn’t much actual detail given on the tests done. How many test subjects? Controlled environment?
I tried to go and read the actual paper but it won’t allow access.

Ive had the carb cravings before and a massive fall off in power oomph

Actual or imagined?
How were you measuring this?
Over what sort of power output did you suffer the greatest loss and what sort of percentage are we talking?

Officially its in the UK
http://www.dromaracc.co.uk/mourne-sportive/

And you won’t be disappointed!

Must not post… Must not post… dammit

SD-253 – Member

So someone who eats 2500 calories a day and then increases his calorie consumption to 5000 calories a day BUT does not increase the amount of calories they use WILL NOT PUT ON WEIGHT?

molgrips – Member

Some people would yes. And also depends on the nature of those calories. This has been proven beyond all doubt. Search for the guy who ate 5000 calories a day.

http://live.smashthefat.com/why-i-got-a-bit-fat

Its only a single test subject, granted, but there is a lot more evidence to debunk what you are trying to ram down peoples throats here.

The Swedish Chef – Member

He had a gilet and arm warmers on, but yeah not that much else comapared to the others.

I must go look up photos of the event, but I was sure he was wearing a Gabba, UNDER his National Champs Jersey. Must check it out to be sure though.

EDIT – Maybe not, can’t see any photos like it now anyway.
But at least from this photo he started off with a jacket on over the gilet and skin suit:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/milan-san-remo/photos/297892

Anyone who buys a compressor to inflate a bike tyre has both too much money and too much “Can’t be arsed” attitude.

£100 or 9p for the Ghetto inflator which works every single time? I have never known anyone to try the Ghetto method and decide it wasn’t good enough. It has even inflated non tubeless tyres on non tubeless rims for me.

I’d be climbing them with a bow saw over my shoulder and cutting them down piece by piece from the top.

*Note to self – Never plant a tree near the house*

molgrips – Member

Hm.. yes.. but 10 or even 30s max can be important in MTBing for those short sharp hills, and in road for sprint finishes (I imagine anyway – not road raced )

But they won’t be maximal efforts, even for those durations, or else you will get to the top 2 seconds before the guys riding within themselves who will then cruise off into the distance as you cry at your legs…

Of course the same goes for road racing sprints. You need to be there for it to count so your aerobic ability is still key, but yes being able to produce the big numbers at the death is important. It still won’t be as big a number as you could produce fresh.

Anyway. This is all digression from the original question of whats causing the pain.
Its razor blades.

Footflaps – shame you didn’t continue to exhaustion on those. I’m not talking about ‘top end’ as in functional threshold, I’m talking about top-end as in absolute max burst power.

Absolute max means very little in terms of cycling performance.
Are you a track sprinter? Unless it is a very short event, aerobic fitness is always key.

Just going back to your original post as well…

because since running I am not breathing particularly hard at any point when cycling, it’s the leg pain that limits me.

Have you tried increasing your running pace or are you consistently running at the same effort over longer distances?

Leg pain in cycling, for me, comes in different forms.
Long threshold intervals @ 100% FTP are uncomfortable by their very nature. As are Vo2 efforts of appx 106%-120%, in much the same way. Its muscle exhaustion that limits how long your can output a set power for. The muscle can only do so much work.

Absolute maximal anaerobic efforts normally leave me unable to physically turn the cranks for a few minutes afterwards. Short 1 mile TT sprints, 1 minute hill climb TT sort of thing.

To me these feel like holding your breath sort of pain, like the muscles are being starved of oxygen, as ultimately they are. But at the end of the day it is still muscle exhaustion, just via a quicker route.

Lactate and Lactic acid are not the same thing.

Don’t worry about what is causing the burning sensation. The most commonly recommended appropriate course of action is to build your aerobic capabilties as best you can to avoid “the burn”

I’ve had 3 Moon shields. They all go at the USB charging port if you dont run full mudguards and its wet.

Using a KNogg blinder now, the USB interface seems immensely better. Absolutely no side visibility though.

I’ve been using it now for a couple of weeks, almost exclusively using Sufferfest videos. The Blender and ISLAGIATT are where my strengths lie and subsequently they weren’t so bad. I found Angels quite difficult and The Hunted agonisingly hard. The ramp ups above threshold while you are already at 100% are tough but I can cope ok, its the drop back down that nails me every time and trying to regain 100% effort.

Wanted to Introduce some anaerobic work once every 7-10 days now that CX season is over, to avoid “training myself slow”. What better way than revolver. Recovery from anaerobic work is my weakest part of my game so its ideal. Brutal though.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/705864-Sufferfest-Revolver

JCL – Member
Then on the last climb Sven was riding and Stybar got off and backed him up and forced him to dismount.

Nys has pulled that trick more times than I can remember.
He can have no arguments with that.

Here in Belgium there are some upset people (mainly Nys fans I guess) who are saying its unfair that Stybar only rides a limited cross season but I’m not buying that.

I totally agree with this, The best man won on the day. Attacked from the start right through to the finish. I do like Stybar. But I also like Nys and liked to see him congratulate Stybar afterwards. Mark of a real champion even if he didnt win yesterday.

JCL – Member
Stybar didn’t win it, Nijs lost it.

Don’t buy that at all, Nys attacked hard when Stybar crashed late on the second last lap and he managed to close it down again, he was already going for it when Nys then slipped at the fence and if it had have come down to a 1 on 1 sprint it’s hard to look past Stybar in that situation

Impact unflavoured whey in all my wee paleo inspired bakes, cakes and pancakes.

I sometimes mix a little of that much loved nesquik chocolate powder in for a milk shake too post workout, but only because i haven’t had time to sit and workout which carb source is best for me after a hard workout or race.

Nice workout chef

First proper go using software with the ANT+ stick
Makes all the difference. A hard workout just turned into a proper BallBuster
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/637481-Goethe

Need to find my missing laptop speaker though – Even the quiet Kurt Kinetic is a bit loud for the laptops internal speaker. Suppose the crap fan doesn’t help.