I’m getting a little fed up with Zwift racing, I still think it’s an amazing platform and enjoy riding it but there seems to be more and more inaccuracy between real life and Zwift results.

For example in last Tuesday’s CVR World Cup league race zone E; I raced and finished in 109th place, being 15th in Div D, and now up to 6th place overall. Then the rider who placed 108th liked my Strava log, so I popped over to his Strava log to do the same back, to be friendly. Then as I looked at his activity list I was amazed to see his FTP was significantly lower than mine, he has been clocking less than half the mileage I have this year. He hardly ever rides outside and no sign of any real races!

So given I’ve been racing XC all year and just done a couple of the Swedish CX cup rounds with good results, I’m amazed he can be faster than me!

Maybe I’m naive or just slow! But all this talk about variable trainer outputs and slower riders placing better in races takes a little of the competitive fun out of it. Maybe I should just buy a cheap trainer and sell my Neo to get faster lol.

Just checked and the smallest I have is the 441. The cheapy sits on top of the wood stack and is smaller, just used for splitting lighter pieces when filling the wood basket.

I have 2 Gränsfors axes, one being their smaller splitting hatchet. For me they are THE go to company for proper axes.

Fiskars is a high volume product company and sold in every local garden/type shop here in Sweden. For a Swede there is a clear difference in quality between Gränsfors and Fiskars, the former being much higher quality.

That said, I also have a £2 ish Biltema (aka Halfords of Sweden) that sits out in the rain/snow and I don’t care about it lol. The Gränsfors live in my warm garage tucked up nicely 😀

I need a new PC 😆 😯

Well, that’s was erm interesting 😆

Certainly a very strong field, goodness, after a mad first 10k ended up in a group of 5 riders and we pretty much rode together for the rest of the race.

Rode hard, 3.1w/kg, PB up Box Hill and average HR of 171, hitting a new record high of 195 in the final sprint 😯

Finished in place 118th, whatever that means 😆 where do they show the CVR results properly?

That will be me later tonight but the opposite way round, being dropped on the up and catching up on the decent. There should be a crazy value setting dependant on how mad you descend

I’m relatively new to Zwift racing so I think I’m still in the naive stage so not thinking about what course of distance before entering. Normally it’s incredibly hard for me to make the same time every week due to work and home life, so I normally just ride/race whatever event is up next when I have an hour or 2 spare.

This CVR will be my first attempt to attend any event on a more regular basis, time will tell if it’s actually fun lol

Yep, I’m signed up for tonight’s preseason CVR at 07:00 UK time. First time with CVR so placed in bracket D. My proper name is J.Stokes if you want to say hi 😀

Finally managed to get onto a WBR training ride with a good group, still annoyed I missed the Kiss race though 😡

Aaarrrrrhhhhhhh……

WTF is up with Zwift today? tried to join 4 races and failed each time, and now just missed the Kiss race!

How about going from the best day ever to the worst; this was mine back in 2007 😯

I was in that Kiss race last night at 8, was quite fast in C, finished with the leaders in the final sprint but don’t know where I placed as ZwiftPower seems to be down!?

During the race I didn’t notice anything odd happening as far as riders disappearing etc. Well, not more than normal lol.

Just answered my own question by reading the Sick thread: http://www.mi-tech.de/bike/tyke-p1-29-pinion/

Absolutely love my Stache, got me even thinking about a new custom build for next year. Does anyone make a 29+ frame with a Pinion gearbox?

Thought we were talking budget in-ears lol.

My SE215 are also used for training nowadays and I have a pair of SE315 for good use, my budget wouldn’t go to the SE535s.

Surprised to hear Bimbler’s comments about the Shures, maybe it’s a ear shape/fit thing. Over the years I’ve tried Sony, Bose, JVC and more recently tried the latest wireless Jaybirds. All of these were terrible, especially the Jaybirds, returned them next day!

Shure SE215, stunning sound and comfort at an ok price.

Driver only saved the day: Investigation[/url]

Some bad info above also, air disc brakes are far superior to any drum combo in every way, but drums are still favoured still by some operators/fleets. They can also be favoured for heavy off road applications but not always.

UK is mainly drums and trailers still having had bad experience with bad Meritor disc brakes back circa 2000. A bad product really hurt the technology. Compared to Europe who are 80%+ ADB.

Bloody lucky kid there, driver reaction and road conditions saved his life, almost perfect ? conditions. A split second driver delay or had it been wet then it would have been a different sad story.

The things that’s been boling my p’ss for the last few months is the fact that both Wiggle and CRC change the price dependant on your location. So I price a pair of Sidi Tigers up to deliver to my UK address and it’s say 300£, then I switch to my Swedish address and its 360£!

I contacted them about this and the reply was basically ‘we change prices to match the local competition, so you get the best deal!’ I disagreed and they just said tough.

So I now end up buying from elsewhere unless its going to my UK address, but really frustrating when it’s often easier coming direct to me in Sweden 😡

Perfect, thank you.

I run Zwift from an iPad, so login as normal, select ride and then once riding you see the coming race options in the top right corner, I then press join to enter. I don’t see any class options as such.

When I read the rules I thought I just had to put the class in my name in brackets!?

I’ve also been thinking about this, but can only imagine it working for low intensity stuff if at all. Like has been said, god knows how people can type and Zwift race at the same time, I can’t even reach the keyboard!

There was a film from a few years ago, maybe K2 where a fancy broker type had a climbing machine in his office. That’s what I’d like but with bike 😆

At home we have Islabike, Frog and Hoy already but last week I ordered an MX20 Team for my daughter after researching for months. In the end I just felt the Orbea offered the best balance and having seen a MX24 at a race recently I thought the build quality was good.

Not sure more excited, me or my daughter lol

Stache mega thread

I’m just back from Lisbon, never realised before what a beautiful city it was, so impressed I will definately be going back. And this time of year the weather was amazing 8)

Right, back from Portugal, had a great afternoon riding Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.

Have to give props to FunBike in Sintra, e-mailed these guys from Sweden last Tuesday lunch and they picked me up from my hotel in Lisbon less than 24hrs later! Wow…

The guide was really cool, 30 years of riding the area as a local, in fact I think he was the first MTB rider in the area, so an actual local legend.

The hire bike wasn’t anything to write home about but it worked, I think next season FunBike will have more higher end MTB kit for hire. Right now they mainly have high end carbon road bikes for hire.

Trails are different, mainly hard sand based, climbing on double track roads and then decending on technical trails; a classic being the Trail of Bridges and the DH/Enduro route Trilho da Pedra Branca. The latter being very interesting on a hardtail al low end bike with pogo forks 😆

Anyway, so so recommend FunBike in Sintra if you’re in the region and want to hire/ride MTB or Road 8)

Sorted thanks to Fun Bike in Sintra 8)

Can’t wait to ride tomorrow 😀

I’m flying down to Lisbon tomorrow morning and want to get out and ride Sintra tomorrow afternoon 😯

I’ve tried to contact the above companies but is there anyone else who could help me?

Last Sunday I managed to complete my first TrainerRoad workout actually on the road, actually made it quite fun to train with a planned power session whilst riding through the countryside.

Fitted a 4iiii PM to CdF and a decent iPhone holder, then wearing a HRM I could run TR. I could even run Strava in the background so I could track the mileage/course when it all uploaded in Strava and Connect.

Largest challenge was to keep constant power output with the ever changing road conditions, certainly was shifting gears much more than a normal road ride but I guess with a few more TR road sessions I’ll find a balance.

6 months later and I’ve not heard a thing, application still in process 😯

Bad luck that Kryton but kudos for fixing it and finishing.

And that’s my MTB season finished with the last round of the X-cup last Saturday at Orup, Höör. Heavy rain in the morning again turned the course into a bog in the muddy sections, combined with the lots of roots and rocks it made for a tough race, very technical and slippy.

After a good start I managed to break away at the lead after the first lap but was then reeled in by Andreas and couldn’t break away again. Well, not until the last quarter till the finish when I used a back marker passing opportunity to jump and managed to hold a 4 sec gap till the finish line.

So very happy with the win again in Start 2, question for next year is whether this old man should go up to Start 1 to compete with the best racers in Southern Sweden. Looking at the overall results I placed 31st last Saturday, so I think maybe with my new winter plan this year I could be placing top 20 next year, all things going well. Maybe it’s best to race Start 1 and have tough competition to push me harder, but is nice to be winning in Start 2 😆

Now to the CX season, quite short in Southern Sweden but I’m on the TrainerRoad CX plan and will race as much as possible 8)

I rode the 2nd last round of the X-cup last Sunday, luckily I avoided any mechanical problems this time and took the win 8)

The biggest challenge was the mud, goodness, never raced in anything like that before. I had to run up most steep ups (CX training has started 😆 )and tri-sledge the downs, madness, some of the less abled were sliding down the hills on their backside 😮

Final round is on the 16th Sept.

looking for new 20″ wheel bike options for my daugther at the mo.
Must admist the Canyon Offspring 20 looks really nice, but it comes with a heavy price tag 😯

How was the trip OP?

I’m going to Shanghai myself on the 3rd Sep, staying until the 8th but mainly travelling around.

Will be back in Shanghai on the evening os the 7th so have Friday the 8th free before my flight at 13:20.

360, what’s the chance of finding a ride out on Friday morning early? Is it even worth me trying?

Indeed mrmo, hope it clears in time.

My seasons continues from high to low, it seems either I do well or a DNF! Was leading the last race only to get another odd punture and unable to repair it to continue 🙄

Never had punctures whilst racing for many many years, and now 2 only this year is odd for me. Currently come down with a cold so training on hold, next race is on the 27th August so have a week now to shift it, hopefully!

Last Saturday saw round 4 of the X-Cup in southern Sweden, after my last success I was talking to myself to be prepared for less this time. Perfect start and race went well, never dropped lower than 2nd the whole race, attached with half a lap to go and won again start 2. Placed 26th overall, when including the elites and some 300 racers, so well happy again. Course was great, proper XC course through a forest with plenty to keep fun going.

Sorry to hear that Krypton, really bad luck, mend well quickly.

No more stock of 45NRTH until the 2018 delivery and they’ll be full retain price 😐

Charlie the Bikemonger is out of my size (EU46) for the 45Nrth boots, have dropped them a line if they’ll get more stock, hope so as they offer a great price.

I always like a walk around Skansen as well Djuregården, beautiful on a nice day. Just across the road from Vasamusset and Gröna Lund.