The rain has relented here for the time being, looks like it’ll be back before long though.

Castelli Sanremo 3.2

Agree with Yak, if you liked the Nic and you got 4000km out of it,replace it with another Nic

If you download the RedBullTV app on android it has a little reminder button that will add it into your google calendar and give you a notification.

Yes, some people are just better.
Yes, large (height and girth) have an advantage on a static bike or flat route (power scales with weight)
KM readings from static bikes are worthless, no 2 are ever the same (even the same make and model).

As a short and skinny rider, you are best suited to long climbs, something we are sadly lacking in the UK. Get yourself over to the alps and enjoy breezing past the larger riders on the climbs.

Not had to solve the problem myself, but dad uses finish line dry teflon lube on his cleats and it seems to work.

…from a training plan. Too much or not? I will do 2 X 12h events in August and October and although in reality they where unplanned, I can’t help but be competitive within them and feel as though I should extend my training. I’d like to “rest” during August, get fat on the family holiday and pootle about on any bike rides rather than be hammering hills and turbos.

My periodised plan is to be hitting a training plan hard Sept – March in prep for MTB & TT’s next year with a coach, so is this downtime merited?

Actually I’m not sure what I’m asking, I think I just find it hard to ride around and not try for good results.

A month ‘off’ (transition block) is a great idea after the first 12 and represents a natural end point of your racing season. If you’ve been training solidly for 6+ months you’ll be glad of the mental break and come back into proper training ready to go.
A solo 12 in October on the other hand doesn’t seem like a good idea within the context of a periodised 6 month plan from Sept-Mar. To do a solo 12 properly its going to destroy 3 weeks of training (approx 1 week taper and 2 weeks recovery)

You need to get that splotch off the wall, i keep wanting to clean it off my tablet screen

Seems reasonable to me.
Paid my parents £100pcm when i first got a job, and when i got a pay rise they did too.

kerley must live near me, lots of riders taking grumpy pills around here whatever bike you seem to be riding.

Lizzie.

@momo – only a few rides in, but loving the HD/RR combo so far.

If you’re getting SPDs get the multi-release cleats.
They come off a bit easier.

I would say “too easy” – anything fast and bumpy (doesn’t have to be anything technical – think about tractor track) and your feet will be unclipping uncontrollably.

Get normal SPD cleats and set the release screws on the pedals to the minimum.[/quote]

Agree with this, then gradually increase the pedal tension as you get used to it.
Shimano do a combined platform/spd pedal (m324) if thats what you want to try, although personally i’d just stick to dual sided spd.

I’m not aware of anything properly tough in a 2.1 width.
Best bets I can think of are Conti X-King Protection 2.2, Conti Mountain-KingII Protection 2.2 (both size up more like a 2.1) or the new Maxxis CrossmarkII Exo comes in a 2.1

All your tyres and all your kit is the correct answer.
Not done it myself, but my friend is a regular.
A) be prepared for all moving parts on bike to be destroyed.
A2) Take several sets of brake pads.
B) Take tyres that can deal with mud, and an ice spike as a minimum, something slicker as a 3rd option if you have it.
C) Take all your warm bike clothing.
D) Take all your warm off the bike clothing.
E) Take all your lights and batteries
E2) Take all the lights and batteries you can beg/borrow from friends.

Good luck!

Why is the guy at the side of the track squeezing out a no2 right in front of the marshal?

A) Got to ask why you really want to go faster if purely for recreational riding.
B) New Dura-ace in the works, possibility of C35’s and C50’s on good discount in the near future.

Altura pocket rocket
+Packs down small
+Waterproofing is good
-Excessively flappy
-Too short at the back

Nino’s tyres are certainly quite interesting.
Unbadged maxxis aspens – the interesting part is that aspens are made of paper whuch doesnt make them seem very suited to the rock gardens, and dont come in 3c compound. So does this make them an Aspen2 prototype?

@Shaggy, yes they need that range, the 50t allows a bigger chainring, which in turn gives higher top speed for tarmac finish line sprints.

No serious climbs by the looks of it.
Looks like a stage for Sagan or EBH

Finish line wet is a nice wet lube.
Using white lightning epic in the summer, doesn’t last as long as i’d like, but keeps things nice and clean.

Yes Leigh that is bad, dont use fabric conditioner on any of your technical clothing.
I wouldn’t tumble dry my cycling kit either, except some specific cases that recommend it to reactivate DWR treatments.

As others have said, Chillblast seem the best value at the moment. Got one from them on about the same budget earlier in the year and very pleased so far.

Watching the XC eliminator and XC team events from the world champs on UCI youtube channel

I’d just stick with what you have.
11km is not that long, and 6% is not that steep, and its only 1 hill, not a whole day riding hills.
You should also note that 6% on freshly laid TDF roads will feel more like 4% on UK roads.

That is indeed a seriously drool worthy bike.
The whole range looks great – only trouble is deciding which one to get.

Long (90+ mins) at low intensity are good at training your body to burn fat as fuel.

However for weight loss you should be more interested in caloric deficit, and you can better achieve this with high intensity intervals. Not only will you burn more calories during the ride, but they will boost your metabolism, and you’ll continue burning more calories for a few hours afterwards.

Be sure to include plenty of good quality protein in your diet to maintain your muscle mass whilst losing weight

‘…The problem for us light people is we need to get further behind the rear axle to raise the front of the bike…’

No. You shove the bike forward with your feet, resulting in an acceleration of the bike under you, which makes it rear up. You may have less mass to work with against the mass of the bike, but if you’re doing it like you say, you’re doing it wrong. I’m not surprised you find it difficult just leaning back. There’s plenty of this stuff on youtube just take a look.

Who said we were just leaning back?
Pushing the bike under you with your feet is just an additional way of getting your weight behind the rear axle whilst giving the bike a little extra momentum to help you out.
Its clearly not impossible, and its clearly mostly a skill problem, as there’s plenty of light riders out there that can do it. It’s just considerably more difficult when the bike is a larger % of your body-weight as everything needs to be exaggerated compared to a heavier rider.

I don’t think your weight makes it impossible, but it certainly doesn’t help. I weigh 128lb and find much the same problem with a 13kg trail bike, whereas things are much easier on a lighter bike. The problem for us light people is we need to get further behind the rear axle to raise the front of the bike.

Is your fork a coil fork or air? If its an air fork you need to drop the air pressure until you have around 20% sag.

3 bikes, 3 different forks, no creaking, so i’d go with not inevitable.

Grand Canyon AL SLX 7.9.
Not carbon, but lighter than most manufacturers entry level carbon bikes, and built up with quality kit.

More likely its to do with thicker/stiffer casings and inner tubes.

The area under your thumb which you use to press the tyre remains constant, so if the tyre is at the same pressure, it should require the same force to deform it by the same amount.

Agreed, six pack is an absolutely fabulous bit of kit, but as you point out, not very good value, and also leaves you without the flexibility of a separate helmet light.

With unlimited budget though i’d definitely be running exposure. Integrated batteries are so much nicer than cables and battery packs.

Very much recommend mtbbatteries or bikelightsuk for anyone shopping for 24hr lights on a budget. Both were great to communicate with by email before purchasing, and both offer well regarded products. Have been delighted with my beema/fluxient combo.

Oh hell no, will be doing Relentless as a pair this year, and hopefully solo again in 2017, but i’m not half crazy enough to try a 24 north of Inverness in January.

@flaps. Gravel/adventure bikes and CX bikes are not the same thing. The 2014 boardman puts you in a more aggressive position, and might be a bit tight on tyre clearance for larger volume gravel tyres.

Great bike, love mine, but best as a CX racer or winter/commuter bike on the road.

Looking at Sunset/Sunrise times for inverness it shows 08:38 and 16:19 on the dates for 2017. I’d budget for the full 17hrs of proper darkness and consider any extra minutes of daylight a bonus.

Yes, i’d get a piggy back cell and take a spare light. Batteries dont perform as well in cold weather, so extra and a spare light is a smart policy.

Depends how long you’ll be riding in the dark along with a bit of trial and error to see what works for you.

I went for the beema as-2000 on the bars and fluxient 1xU2 for the helmet – very similar to your setup, however the beema comes with an excellent battery as standard (7800mah).
I got an extra 7800mah battery too.

I then ran the helmet light on one of the large batteries, leaving me a 7800mah + 4400mah for the bar light. This gave me enough to run the helmet light on low setting all night long (15hrs) and the bar light on low for climbing and medium for descending.

I chose that way round because a lot of the relentless descent is narrow/rocky/twisty, so i valued a stronger flood in front of the front wheel. If the descents had been smoother and faster i may have used the extra battery for the helmet light.

If you are doing a summer 24hr then obviously you can run longer on higher modes, or with lower capacity batteries.

@Kryton. I did a lot of research into the same thing last year before my first 24 attempt. You already have a really nice combo of lights there. Absolutely swap them over though. Wide beam on the bars, narrow on the lid.

Mtbbatteries will do you a good reliable spare battery.
Also check out the spare beema battery from bikelightsuk.

Make sure you know what events you have in mind. Lighting requirements are vastly different between mountain mayhem and relentless for example.

@bongo, yes, i’ll grant you that pulling on an England shirt seems to instantly diminish any skill they may have had to begin with.

Don’t particularly blame Roy, he doesn’t really have a quality squad to work with. England should have won 2002 world cup, but team has been on a gradual downward spiral since then. Might be decades before a squad with potential to win tournaments comes around again.

Do you need them for racing?
If not, get a quality set of training tyres instead. You’ll go 0.5mph slower and save yourself time at the side of the road fitting new tubes.

Been running pro4 endurance (rebadged krylion carbon) for years for everything from fast(22mph) group rides to sportives to the alps. Never felt they’ve held me back, and 2 punctures in around 10k miles. They tend to square off and get a bit slower around 3k miles so get changed then.