turbo bike does not need brakes – most turbos have a caution not to brake as it can damage the resistance unit.
You should be fine with 135mm spacing.
Only problem using a mtb is you might not have a tall enough gear for hard efforts.

I (58kg) have similar problem with my 2014 Talas, if i drop the pressure low enough to get it plush it ends up being 120/100 travel rather than 140/120. In the end i settled somewhere in the middle.
My factory float 32 on the XC bike is lovely though, so may try and get my talas internals swapped at some point.

On your GF’s bike is there any way to imporve the feeling of being pitched forward with a tall riser bar and/or extreme stem angle?

Hydro tabs i’d keep, gels i’d chuck out

Only slightly ridiculous?

@hora
An i40 1.7 crdi, about as bland to drive as it gets.
Got rid of the warm hatch when i moved house to somewhere less conducive to fun driving.
Hence why i asked the question.

Trying to resist a Six Pack @ £280.
Really don’t need one, but have a bit of a light fetish

Do you live somewhere you can realistically use the performance?

Despite being performance line, i found Schwalbe rapid robs pretty good, don’t break the bank either. Only thing i didnt like is they wore out really quicky.

@wilbert, check out recent studies into polarised training. Results show that not only has volume of easy riding in winter not been discredited, but suggests we should also be doing it throughout the rest of the year.

And apologies for the mini novel – came out longer than intended 😕

Not sure about Coggan’s chart as I range from Cat 2 to off the bottom of the page on some columns.

That is a very generic version of the chart.
If you dig around on the web there’s modified versions to suit different ‘types’ of rider.

Please don’t waste time trying to tell Weeksy to periodise his training- I’ve been trying since 2012 and it hasn’t sunk in yet

Well traditional periodisation isn’t the only effective way to train (although it is the easiest to read up on). For me the more important thing is to have some sort of goal setting. Having a goal helps in two ways, it helps with motivation, and it helps identify the type of sessions you want to do to perform well in your event.

And right now, he’s seeing great results from Zwifting, and clearly enjoying it, so with perhaps a caution to keep an eye on fatigue levels, then i’d say crack on 🙂

Stuff that works from the lock screen is infuriating.
Went looking on the photo library on my phone for something the other day only to find 300 photos of the inside of my pocket……..

They are all evil she witches, give up chasing them and devote your time to your bike(s) instead.

Haha, I can beat this one.

Coming back from Corsica on holiday – got on plane – about half way to Gatwick I realise my car keys aren’t in pocket – I realise i’ve left them in the little box of lights/chargers/cables etc in my main luggage.
Needless to say, really hoping my luggage makes it as its a long way to Scotland from Gatwick with no car.
Luggage arrives, shuttle bus to car park, arrive at car and open up case, fish out the little box – no keys – ****
Rummage around bottom of case – no keys – double ****!
Start unpacking whole case in middle of car park, checking pockets, even opening the bag of sweaty bike kit – no keys – ****, ****, ****, ****!!
Finally lift out the last pair of socks from the case – KEYS! phew!! 😳

I think ‘untrained’ may be a bit harsh

Sorry, in my defence, it’s not my chart!

You chart linked saddens me greatly

I think that applies to most of us 😉

Go on… i’ll bite… tell me more/how
………..
Surely that can only be a good thing ? My waistline and general riding fitness seems to imply so anyway.

Without wanting to be disrespectful, you were starting from a point of more or less completely untrained – Coggan chart
For someone untrained in any sport be it cycling, shot putting, or badminton, regular participation in any form is going to see good initial improvements.
I think this is obviously a huge bonus of zwift, as it has got you riding more regularly than you may have otherwise.

However, from an actual training perspective, you are working far too hard far too often. A 75min race should be taking a full 48hrs to recover from in which time you can do no other useful training, and if you try to, you just end up compromising the quality of the session.

A proper training plan would include ‘base building’ which is generally lower intensity rides that focus on your ability to burn fat as fuel, along with some physiological changes in the muscles. The idea is to be riding as quickly and efficiently as possible without trying hard. This concept is often described as LSD (long slow distance), and traditionally, you wouldn’t mix it with any intensity at all. A more modern approach does include a little intensity in the mix, and at this time of year would be looking to build on other fundamental abilities (like force production either via big gear intervals or in the weight room).
As you progress through the year and get closer to a target event, usually more intensity is added, but typically an experienced racer on a 10hr/wk training plan will probably only spend 2hrs working at the intensity you are doing for 6hrs a week.

Someone attempting to follow a scientific approach will probably have a plan that has a carefully measured volume in specific training zones designed to give maximum improvement on a targeted energy system for the minimum amount of fatigue (less fatigue means we can train more regularly). So as you can imagine, with all this planning in place, chasing random riders that go past or taking part in races every couple of days seems somewhat wasteful.

How does all this fit in with building a steady winter base

Clearly it doesn’t, but if its getting folk off the sofa that would otherwise be spending their evenings watching TV then i guess its a good thing.

It does seem a waste of riding time though to those of us who are more inclined towards a scientific training model.

Challenger 2 should do the job – few days of firing at will on badly parked cars would get the message across

Ah yes, just what the world needs – saddle mounted 4000lm rear light 😕

Not sure on this one, might be taking it a little too far.
Really approve of the WMP scheme, but would be more in favour of 1 year driving ban before crushing.

Seems to be seriously laggy for me at the moment, although wouldn’t rule out that being my connection.

It looks awesome though – will certainly be having a good long play with this.

!!! how hard is that test??

It’s pretty much one of the most horrible things you could ever do to yourself.

I don’t see why he shouldn’t get the job. He’s not going to do any better or worse than anyone else – the problem is the players.

Well, this isn’t much in the way of advice, but despite the fact my shins are covered in battle scars inflicted by hungry bad tempered pedals, I decided to stick with just knee pads and leave the shins.
The concept of riding in knee pads already seems uncomfortable enough – I really just cant imagine riding in shin pads too

Had a wisdom tooth out last year – pretty sure it was ~£15

I’m not really the most daring rider so I normally stick to less technical, fast & flowy type stuff

Surely with those requirements your list should be 29er race bikes not 650b agro hardtails?

Trek Superfly,
Canyon Exceed,
BMC Teamelite,
Scott Scale,
Specialized Epic HT

old school natural xc orientated rider like myself who likes riding uphill

Finding it hard to comprehend how you didn’t instantly fall in love with 29er.
Was tubeless mainstream in 2008? And have you gone tubeless? If not, you should.

Endura’s sizing is terrible

I see this said quite often, but having just taken delivery of a pile of Endura stuff for a variety of people in different shapes/sizes from racing snake to 100kg rugby player build, its all fitted well with the exception (maybe) of my elbow pads. Must be 30+ items a mix of shorts/tights/jerseys/jackets.

Are people complaining just not reading the sizing chart?

The only trails within rideable distance from my door are Pollock park, which are really not worth bothering and even Cathkins Brae is a 20 min drive from sunny Paisley. If I wanna ride, gotta drive…but if I want to climb, I’ve got to get in the car also.

Surely you can ride Pollock park on the way to Cathkin and on the way home again? That 20min drive is only ~1hr ride. The neds would be more of a deterrent than the distance.

Coming back from a long break after injury you are probably going to have some muscle imbalances.
If it were me i’d take it pretty cautiously for the first few months, just building a nice base of easy riding. Plenty of time to build some top end when spring rolls around.

@gaz, no, in that mode the motor brake just simulates a hill, it doesn’t make you produce more power.

So on a smart turbo you are pedalling along at 200w at 90rpm, then the hill kicks in, so you are still doing 200w, but now at 60rpm – unless you change down a couple of gears, then you are back to 90rpm again.

On a non smart turbo, you are still pedalling 200w at 90rpm, you just don’t have to change gear.

Have you ridden a 130mm 29er?

Not a 29er, but yes I own a 140mm trail bike.
I don’t regret buying it at all, but with couple more years of riding/experience under my belt, I wouldn’t buy again without it being significantly lighter and with remote locking rear sus.
Tyres are of course up to personal preference, but like with suspension travel, Mr Average is prone to having way more tyre than needed.

130-140mm bikes are supposed to be all day up/down versatile bikes, but as they stand currently, they make very hard work of going up – which given the nature of average speeds, is what we find ourselves doing for the majority of each ride.

I’m on there at 96kg, so in the larger side of things and from what i can gather from my times/mates, i flat speed better than i climb. I’m not sure which aspect of it is the reason, whether it’s my actual watts or my w/kg, but i personally think when i’m powering at 2.7w/kg on the flat i seem to go better than other riders putting out roughly the same power.

Flat is where as a bigger guy you have all the advantage – raw power is everything on the flat.
To match your power at 2.7W/kg i’d have to be putting out 4.5W/kg…..

However, come to a climb, and to match my ~220W FTP you’d need to put out 370W!

I can only assume you are a dogger or a ned with a pit bull

29er roll over can deal with both those obstacles 😛

light weight mid travel 29″ trail bikes are spot on for Mr Average

Sadly these are about as common as unicorns unless you’ve ~£5k to spend on top of the range. IMO manufacturers are still making miniature enduro bikes where what Mr Average really needs is a slacker XC bike.
Until then, i’d find it pretty hard to recommend a 130-140mm bike as they carry all the disadvantages of a full enduro bike and none of the advantages of an XC bike.

it really does. Not only do they wear out faster. They lose all grip and spray molten shredded rubber all over the wall.

Never had that. May be an issue with softer compound racing tyres (i’ve also heard of them heating up and blowing the tube), but usually just stick an old partly squared off training tyre (Rubino, Krylion etc) on there and i’ve never had any sign of one disintegrating.

Spare cheap wheel for the turbo is of course invaluable.

(Cathkin XC course is a 10 minute ride or 5 minute drive, but it’s barely worth it….)

I wish I could have that course a 10 min ride from me, would be on it loads.

Do the drive once a week and ride from the door focussing on fitness the rest of the time.

Really finding this thread quite interesting.

Seems loads of people are interested from a purely motivational viewpoint which is pretty alien to me since the only motivation I need is being able to ride strongly next spring/summer.

Would be an interesting Strava stat to find out what % of rides between Nov/Feb take place in Watopia.

Like a mars bar?

They are probably why a 32T was needed in the first place 😛