Nice looking light!
Hope you’ve got some monster battery packs though!

On the other hand i do the opposite. Less road over the winter as they are likely to be frosty/icy. Mostly non-technical mtb rides and turbo sessions.

@tinas, agreed on the FS260, i have one of the first ones with windproof front, must be 5-6yrs old now, starting to look a bit tatty, but still works just as well.

@sefton Mortirolo is the one you are thinking of. Can be had on a good discount atm in some size/colour combo’s. Has been replaced by Paaso Giau for this season.

@mrblobby, agree that gabba isn’t really a jersey, although in long sleeve, might acheive what the OP wants.

@gav, you get colder on a road bike as you are moving faster, and usually less shelter compared to a mtb. That’s why so many tops (even spring/summer ones) are now featuring windproof fronts. The new fs260 may be understated enough for you.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/endura-fs260-pro-jetstream-long-sleeve-jersey/

Merino is a nice enough material, but not sure why you’d pick it for an outer layer – better suited to base layers for properly cold days.
Any reason you are discounting the millions of variants of jersey with the great combo of windproof front and brushed back?

I eat both sugar and fat – no idea how i’m still alive

Mostly not, although i have used 0% for one bike.
Got it shortly after buying a house and a car, so was a bit tight on cash.
I knew i could afford the monthly outgoings, and didn’t want to miss what was a very good deal.
Would never use finance other than 0% though.

New Scott Spark
460mm Reach
490mm Seat Tube
438mm Chainstay
67.2° HA

I did back then but I wonder how much is due to age vs training – the only reference I could find on the internet was one indicating a 0.5% drop in ftp for every year over age of 35. I would appreciate any other experiences/info on this

That is indeed interesting, but unless very highly trained to begin with, i’d suggest it shouldn’t be much of a concern. For the vast majority of us, we have so much potential to unlock by improving our training/diet etc we can improve at a faster rate than we decline.
My dad’s turned 60 this year, getting into his 6th year on the bike, and still improving.

Even if you’re not racing, being fitter can make riding more enjoyable. Don’t discount the ability to go further, faster, higher, feel less knackered and carry more kit.

So much this.
I’ve often wondered at people that find even the smallest incline exhausting, and a moderate ride leaves them totally obliterated – how can they actually be enjoying themselves?
Being a little fitter just makes everything a bit more accessible and enjoyable.

How’s your current levels of fitness ?

Currently unknown – i’m carrying a monster pile of fatigue from 6 back to back centuries round Corsica 10 days back. However I was on great form for the holiday.

How do you gauge it?

Some cocktail of average speed vs feeling powerful on hard efforts vs perceived effort vs known segment times.
Also had fitness/freshness chart on Strava premium, but that is now cancelled – useful, but tended to believe what my body told me rather than the chart.

What changes ?

When i’m going well my average speed of Z2 rides tends to go up, and HR tends to edge towards the bottom of Z2 despite the increased pace.
When making efforts, feels like i’m pushing strongly on the pedals (for me) and threshold efforts somehow seem just a bit easier.

Trailblazers roll just great. I wouldn’t want to use them for a ride that was exclusively road, but for a mixed surface commute they’ll be just fine.

Bicycles

The pedal tension I have un-wound all the way (which does make me question if this a cause)

Quite likely with them backed all the way off it doesn’t take much wear to pedal or cleat to start getting occasional clipouts.
Also make sure you are not using the bi-directional cleats (sh56)

For a ‘just in case’ light, look at the fluxient U2 mini from torchy.

Well yeah, rosso corsa line is supposed to be race fit on racing snakes.
I can fit in a small, so don’t need to feel too guilty about the large bag of toffee popcorn i’m getting stuck into 😀

For reference, sizing in louis garneau is the same, and the endura is maybe half a size bigger

Any reason you want dynamo over battery?
You can get some pretty good run-times on a large battery pack.

Lets face it, XC/Light Trail are pretty much incompatible with Enduro/DH.
Regardless of the frame, the tyres and suspension setup that work for one, just wont work for the other.

A big part of it is what else you do with the car I suppose… I have my car permanently with the seats down and a tarp in it, if you can do that then estate = win basically, you get some security unlike racks, you can jump in the back and get changed, or sit on the boot under the tailgate and stay dry (assuming it has a proper flat entrance…). I still get van envy mind.

Ditto, my rear seats actually see seat duty about twice a year.
Recently took 2 bike bags, 2 suitcases and 2 carryons to the airport – good luck doing that in a saloon.

Strip it and sell parts seperately?
Some nice bits on there for sure, but very much a buyers market for miniature wheels.

i should really refresh tab before posting 🙄

If you think your phantom isn’t breathing as well as it used to try giving it a wash (or 2) with tech wash. Long term build up of regular detergent can reduce breathability as the facing materials begin to hold water more readily

Depressingly, just got in from a ride where i felt a bit underdressed at times in my Gabba. Time to dig out the heavier warmer softshells 🙁

Depends on the tape.
Spongy foam stuff is prone to getting small chunks ripped out and cant be cleaned, so needs replacing quite regularly.
On the other hand i’ve got some unpadded fake leather stuff on one bike and all it takes to make it like new is a paper towel and some fairy liquid – its 6yrs old now.

@tilly, true, and not true both at the same time.

Absolutely true you can put a terrible descender on any bike you like and they will still be terrible.

But even a noob like me can see a slacker HA, dropper post and large knobby tyre are more confidence inspiring on steeper stuff than a more racey setup.

Overall its a hard question to get an objective answer to on this forum, as you only need to compare segment times of the STW forumites strava group with the overall leaderboard to see ‘average’ here is massively above the true ‘average’.

The correct tool for the average rider would be an XC race bike with a slacker head angle.
I rate myself as a bit of a Sh*t descender, but given what i see at endurance races, a good proportion of the field are worse.
And its probably also a decent bet that people signing up for events (even endurance ones) are above the overall average.

Enduro/EWS stages are totally irrelevant to the average rider as they’d either hospitalise themselves or soil themselves the first time it got steep.

edit long, low, slack and long travel are all pretty much meaningless to the average rider as they are riding mundane trails so slowly that none of it makes any difference.

@benp1

No reason at all to save the gabba for best. Windstopper and the polartec equivalent seem very durable. I wouldnt however wear them with a backpack as it’ll wear the DWR off.
The Endura version strikes me as a little more fragile, but no proof behind that theory as yet.

Perfect for use in non-rainy conditions. Given the ‘summer’ we’ve had here in Fife the last couple of years i’m basically replacing all my normal riding tops with weatherproof ones.

The best way to consider them is like a normal jersey that removes the need to carry a gilet or light jacket on short to mid length rides.

You just need to look at the bikes the pro XC riders are using to tackle some fairly big features to know that near enough everyone you see down the local trail centre is massively overbiked.

Most people buy full suspension for comfort rather than traction/tracking which is backwards unless you are racing endurance events.

I’m as guilty as anyone, i’ve got 140mm FS which is waaay more bike than i need. I bought it to help me push my boundaries, but its really the slacker HA and larger front tyre i need not the travel.

I’m quite dissapointed, i thought the thread was going to have an innovative new use for cheese.

Yes and no and yes.

Dad had some really cheap wheels on his first road bike, rolling downhill it was obvious they were MILES slower.

Then anything half decent will be much the same.

Then ceramic bearings at the top end will be quicker.

No, its not permanent.
‘Best’ bike lives on trainer from start of October to end of March, then come out to play again in Spring/Summer.

2010 bike though, so suspect Summer 2017 maybe be its last hurrah.

Yes.
The endura one is in a very strange stretchy rubbery(ish) material, but if you can get over the feel of it, it works well.
Breathability is on a par with gabba, maybe very slightly less. Windproofing is good. Not been with it in prolonged rain, but seemed very water resistant from the few spots of drizzle its seen so far. Slightly less insulating than a Gabba, so maybe better in slightly warmer conditions.
Included arm warmers could better be described as arm covers – not insulated at all, but in the same wind/showerproof material. Tops of arm warmers are a bit baggy if you have chicken arms like me, but the rubbery material seems to stop them sliding down, so no complaints.
Fit is not quite as good as a gabba. The endura is slightly big round the waist – more performance fit than race fit. The off centre zip also feels a bit odd.
IMO at that price if its in your size its a no brainer. I’ll be picking up the 2016 model in bright green if i see a good deal on it.

Depends on how warm you run and where you live, but overall i’d say SS + arm warmers is by far the most versatile. I find mine great, would buy again – BUT, its not as water resistant as it should be. Aparantly the waterproofing is a bit hit and miss, almost as though they have quality control issues applying the DWR at the factory. Totally windproof and warm even when wet though.

If you can find the louis garneau powershield version its a better top imo, more breathable and better waterproofing. Think the polartec material is just superior to Windstopper.

As @Rorschach linked, the 2015 endura version is a bargain at that price. Fit isnt quite as good, and material is a bit odd, but it works a treat.

I took my free month Netflix during last years post season break. In that month i watched about 10 movies, all of breaking bad, and all of prison break. Best free trial ever.

Screw the dishes, get paper plates and binge away.

Hmm, might be worth activating 30 days free to check out. And the annual sub isn’t actually that expensive.

On the other hand that £80 could be spent on bike kit.

#FirstWorldProblems

we don’t have “nothing”, we have the road network which is generally accessible, well-surfaced, direct, sign-posted, not littered with obstacles, gritted and swept

What sort of utopian part of the country do you live in to find these conditions? Would love some of that round here – sometimes hard to tell the difference between road/forest road.

If you live in a hilly area, HR zones are hard work since as soon as you come to a hill your HR rises quite dramatically – I’ve been in bottom gear almost track-standing trying to keep my HR down – you are best coasting in to the hill and taking it as easy as possible. Conversely heading downhill it’s nearly impossible to keep your HR high enough.

Very true – it takes a while to get into planning routes that combine with the training goal for the day. Throwing the bike in the car for a short drive is quite valid for one key session a week if it can improve the quality of the session.

Get a copy of Friel’s Training Bible – start at the start – read to the end.
Repeat.

In the meantime – do a 30min LTHR test – yes it hurts – enjoy.
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones

Option 3b: Marathons in the non-plus flavour (why does everyone always forget these?)
Option 4: GP4Seasons – grippier compound and doubled up puncture layer.
Option 5: If your rims can do tubeless then g-one tubeless.

I feel a bit sorry for Hazel the rabbit

Because they are raving lunatics and its worth dying to move 5 places up the bunch.

This is like on of those threads where folk complain about their local trail centre but aren’t willing to help pay for, or assist with, trail repairs. The situation in this country is that every pound spent on cycling infrastructure has to be won from central/local government. How many of the haterz have gone out and campaigned for more funding, put this near the top of their list whilst choosing political parties or gone out and helped look after the current routes?

Fair point to be honest.
Problem is as a country we don’t actually have any money for anything right now.
I’d far rather in the short term we got in a position to not spend £43bn/yr interest payments. Then all of a sudden we have plenty of cash to re-invest in path networks etc.