Also I thought Wiggins’ “I’ll never ride le tour again” interview read more like “I realise it was a unique set of circumstances that gave me the chance to win last year, and as that will never happen again what’s the point in trying?”

I thought that too but couldn’t have put it better. Having said that I can only imagine how much dedication and effort it takes to not only compete in a Grand Tour but to win it. Don’t forget Wiggo also had his eye on the Olympics last year as well. I guess winning the TdF, a gold medal in a home Olympic time trial and then being made a knight of the realm, there’s not much more to motivate you.

I just think he could have delayed that announcement until maybe next season. It looks a little like sour grapes leading up to the Tour and that his heart wasn’t really in it this year.

There’s a lot to be said for quitting at the top. Maybe if he’d achieved that a few years ago we’d have seen a bit more from him but he is getting a bit long in the tooth now! 🙂

You can’t call Wiggins a one trick pony when he won the Tour last year.
One trick ponies win the other jerseys

As Junkyard said he didn’t crack last year when he properly prepared and was ‘ready’ for the tour where Froome struggled on some stages in the Vueletta.

Maybe I could have phrased it better. I meant that Wiggo seems to have just one pace based on his time trial and track abilities and I think would struggle under similar conditions to what Froome faced yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong, I also think Wiggo’s win the the Tour last year is the greatest performance by a British sportsperson in my lifetime, possibly ever. I was rooting for him every day and didn’t really subscribe to the idea that Froome would necessarily have beaten him last year. In most cases there can only be one team leader and teams perform best when their focus is on getting one guy to the finish line rather than several.

I think last year’s Vuelta was one of the most incredible tours I have ever seen. With multiple mountain top finishes and even the one time trial going over a Cat 1 climb I think, it was obviously designed for the likes of Contador, Valverde and Ridriquez.

The fact that Froome was even in there with a shout says volumes about his ability and he may have understandably failed on some of the brutal stages the way those three seemed to be ganging up on him at times.

I think atlaz and DaveRambo both make good points which I agree with. At the end of the day it’s pure conjecture on a forum but just a bit of fun.

One thing that does occur to me though is I can’t recall Chris Froome cracking that badly on the major tours I have seen him ride in recent years but Wiggins, yes.

I think Froome is a much better all-round rider rather than just just a one-trick pony like Wiggins. One thing’s for sure though, if Movistar et al continue attacking Froome it’s going to be a much more interesting tour than of late.

Just to stoke the embers of this thread a bit more…

How would Wiggins have coped in Froome’s place today without any team mates to support him? Very badly I suspect.

I know Froome would have been with Wiggins but I can’t help thinking the Movistar attacks would have been too much for Wiggins.

Sky totally caught with their pants down today and questions whether they have the right team selection for this tour. Froome never looked troubled though and probably rode a very similar race to if he had had two or three teammates round him.

I thought when Quintana attacked he was acting under Valverde’s orders to soften Froome up for a Valverde attack but it never materialised. Just shows I think that although Movistar had strength in numbers today, they didn’t have a GC rider to trouble Froome.

Barring any unusual disasters Sky and Froome should have a relatively straighforward run to the first time trial where Froome should almost certainly put significant more time into his rivals.

Tough day for Richie Porte but it’s probably for the best for Froome and the team. He can just concentrate on supporting Froome rather than expending any more effort defending a GC podium place.

Highlights repeated Sunday morning at 11:00

Apologies for my insensitivity not to include spoiler in the title, it wasn’t a deliberate act designed to spoil anyone’s enjoyment.

As others have said though I would have thought with Chris Froome’s name mentioned in the title it might have been a hint that the thread was relating to some event he was involved in today.

pop larkin,

Very droll… 🙂

All over bar the shouting I’d say. I didn’t see anyone who could challenge Froome in the mountains today and don’t forget he can time trial as well.

Poxy ITV4 advert break as well just as the stage was obviously kicking off.

Shimano build 29er wheels with UST rims like the XT M785. I don’t know if you can buy the rim separately but an option might be to tear down the wheels and sell on the hubs. An expensive option admittedly.

Thanks for the info bartimaeus.

I don’t know the area but I know that I cleaned that Upwaltham climb because I didn’t have hordes of “pushers” getting in the way like some of the earlier climbs.

The descent after that made the whole ride worthwhile. :o)

Thanks for all the suggestions, quite a few options to consider there. I hadn’t realised that it’s possible to get a train back from certain locations so maybe I’ll look at that solution. Whenever I’d looked at the trains in the past it always looked like the only option was in to London and back out again.

Coming from Essex so didn’t really want all the faff of going in to London to get the train down and back at this point.

We did the Wiggle South Downs Epic yesterday (39 miles) and found it okay and could probably have managed 50 miles reasonably comfortably so the whole route would be doable at some time.

mine from on-one were holed out the box!

Not good. I was thinking of ordering some of these myself. How many did you order and how many had holes?

£1.99 at On-One

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TUOO26MTB/on_one_26_mtb_inner_tube

I did the Epic route with 4 mates. A great route with some very testing climbs and brilliant descents, especially the last one.

Bloody hot though, I think I drank about 5 litres of energy drink on the ride plus at least another couple of litres post ride.

Crossing the bean field was surreal though!

Highly recommended.

I’m doing it with four mates. Driving down from Essex, leaving at 05:30.

We did it a couple of years ago and it was bloody hot then too. I got a bit dehydrated on one section and spent the rest of the ride trying to get enough liquid back in. Still enjoyed the ride though.

Have a good one.

Yet again the Police target softer crime to get their performance figures up when they are so ineffective against more serious offences.

I love it when the maintenance-hating muppet in our group is asking nicely to borrow tools as his bike fails for the Xth time during the ride, as he’s not carrying any tools or spares. Hilarious.

Why would he need to when he obviously has a domestique to carry them for him? 🙂

I find it hard to believe that pads need some sort of heating process to harden up, especially baking in an oven. If that were the case then the manufacturers of the pads would do it as part of their process.

No doubt some conspiracy theorist will now pop up and argue “Why should they? Wearing down quickly will help them sell more pads.” I’m pretty certain that pads which wear down quickly and don’t stop too well would very quickly get an adverse rep and affect sales.

A slight increase in braking efficiency caused by bedding in to the disc I can believe but not some miraculous transformation of the pad material.

I’ve had one for a couple of years now and use it most of the time instead of a back pack. I don’t notice it moving about and holds all the stuff I need in a couple of largish pockets.

It also keeps the weight low down on the back and obviously no pull from shoulder straps. Bladder only 1.5l so obviously no good for all-day rides with no refuelling stops. Only other niggle is the tube is slightly short to comfortably drink on the move. I am 6′ 4″ though so might be okay if you are a bit shorter. No problem to drink at stops though.

I also have a couple of “normal” back packs but would buy another one of these in preference if this one goes.

are the type of workout where an HRM is probably least effective, because of the lag in HR response.

I agree kcr, I only use it as a matter of interest to see where my heartrate is going and how quick my recovery is before the next interval.

I also think HRMs are really useful in time trials as well. Without one the temptation is to push maybe just a little bit too hard. With one you can stay in your ideal zone and maximise your performance.

It depends what you intend using it for or should I say expect from it. Heart rate monitors have now been shown to be a bit of a blunt tool when trying to monitor athletes’ performance improvements over time. This is because your heart rate can vary up or down on any particular day depending on a number of circumstances.

Coaches these days usually prefer power meters for gauging improvements in athlete performance over time and tailor specific training regimes to meet their performance goals. Power meters are horrendously expensive though and as such are usually overkill for the amateur athlete, which I assume you are.

That said, I use my heart rate monitor to try and ensure that I keep within the relevant zone for the type of workout that I may be doing on any particular day. For instance, I tend to regularly do short, repetitive sprint workouts on a spin bike in the gym where I push my heart rate to about 90% max for a very short period and then recover for a bit and then repeat. This is known High Intensity Interval Training and you will find a lot of references on the web if you Google that.

Alternatively, I have also trained for long rides in the Alps where you need to restrict your heart rate below a certain level otherwise you will blow up and stop so I find the HRM useful for that also when training.

I have never bothered to download my HRM to a computer because as I said previously you will probably find that performance data may fluctuate wildly over time and may not give you the smooth upward trend that you may be looking for. As a general training aid it is very useful however and I would advise to buy the most basic i.e. least functions, of a good quality make like Polar that you can.

I also find upper and lower warning bands can be annoying but others may find them useful.

afaik it’s not safe to charge or discharge LiIon batteries without some kind of circuit, like you could with NiMH ok. going too high or low kills them or blows them up. then you’ve got sealing and durability to worry about.

In general that may be true but in reality there are a lot of circumstances where this is not the case and there are a lot of scare stories about li-ion cells which to a certain extent are exagerated. I think a lot of those are also down to confusion between li-ion and lithium polymer cells which are a lot more volatile and hence dangerous.

For instance you can buy 18650 cells with an individual protection circuit on each cell which will protect each cell in a pack from over or under charging. I have successfully created several packs of varying configurations by just leaving the individual protection circuits on and (carefully) soldering the cells together so as not to destroy them.

I’m not saying this is an ideal solution but it is possible and amounts to the same thing as creating a pack using one of the multiple holders and charging and discharging them as a whole. I would always use a decent charger in this case as well, one that cuts off at the required voltage and doesn’t over charge the pack causing one or other cell to cut out.

If you have a light with a decent controller on board as well it will monitor the battery voltage and give some warning of low voltage at least before cutting out to prevent the battery pack from over-discharge. In that case you wouldn’t really require any sort of protection circuit to protect the battery other than maybe for peace of mind.

I have built several of my own lights and batteries in various configurations including soldering up 18650 li-ion directly or using cell holders like those suggested by mark90.

Each method has its own pros and cons but I would also agree with other posters that if you have very little soldering experience, not to try soldering your own pack.

I don’t know the light you are referring to but assume that you have got the size requirements correct i.e. 8,4V. What you need is usually referred to as 2S2P or two pairs of serially connected cell connected in parallel, as you rightly concluded.

It would be easier to create a DIY pack using something like one of the cell holders suggested above but that one is from a supplier in the US and you will probably find the postage prohibitively expensive. In addition it will still require some soldering of a suitable connector to the light and a charger as well.

All-in-all I think you would probably be better off contacting Smudge at mtb batteries and detailing your requirements and being guided by him. In the long run, by the time you have tooled up and bought all the bits, that will probably still work out as the best option.

I have a Smart Lunar R2 but I agree with other posters that these modern LEDs are blindingly bright for following riders or drivers if mounted high on the seatpost or saddle bag. As such I mount mine low down on the seat stay and pointing horizontally so that drivers can see me me from some way off but it doesn’t blind them or my riding mates close up.

I use a much dimmer light on constant higher up as well.

Goodbye Mr. Chips – Robert Donat, Greer Garson
Random Harvest – Ronald Colman, Greer Garson
Hobson’s Choice – Charles Laughton, John Mills

and so many more.

Nice bike. You will let us know when the frame cracks though won’t you? 😀

I’ve broken three (originally Airborne, now Van Nicholas) titanium road frames, all replaced under warranty. All have gone in the same spot – the seat tube down by the bottom bracket weld so no seatpost issues there.

I’m currently on my fourth frame (waiting for it to go) but wouldn’t buy a titanium frame of any persuasion or make in future. They are not bullet-proof and because of the difficulty in building them they are necessarily over-priced.

Wipperman Connex. I have never ever broken one on all my bikes including both geared and SS, on and off-road.

Best quick link on the market as well, bar none. Comes apart much easier than SRAM or KMC.

Your body can’t turn non fats into fat, all it will do is store some of the excess fat in your diet which isn’t needed. So if you eat a diet high in fat & sugar, sugar gets used first to restore glycogen and then the fat gets stored (as its excess calories). If you ate just fat (and not too much) that would get burnt and used to restore glycogen and no excess fat would be stored.

I’m afraid that’s just not right at all. Did you not see the recent series on BBC “The Men Who Made Us Fat”?

Fructose in our normal sedentary diets is now thought to be a bigger problem than saturated fat. That’s not including the fructose naturally found in fruit by the way. Watch this YouTube video for the complete lowdown.

Basically it’s because the muscles use predominantly carbohydrate rather than fat when working hard in an activity like cycling. Our bodies can only store so much carbohydrate as glycogen in the muscles and the liver I think.

Roughly enough for about 2 hours of active cycling depending on the level at which you are riding. After that the body will start to burn more fat but your energy levels will be severely depleted and you will hit the wall or ‘bonk’ as cyclists traditionally describe it.

There are many resources on line that can explain it a lot more fully than I can but basically depending on the level of cycling that you are doing you should look to replace about 50-60g of carbohydrate per hour of activity. This should also be high glycemic index sources of carbohydrate which get absorbed by the gut relatively quickly for use by the muscles.

I can’t answer the rest of your queries about food turning to fat I’m afraid but as I said before there are mega amounts of resources on line which should be able to answer your queries if you Google for them.

I used to use a bottle on shorter rides but it invariably got covered on muddy rides. Now I use a CamelBak FlashFlo hydration bumbag. It works really well and you have room for a few bits and pieces like mobile phone, wallet etc.

http://www.camelbak.com/Sports-Recreation/Packs/2012-FlashFlo-LR.aspx

I had tears in my eyes. The yellow jersey once more leading out the sprinters.

Big Wig mullers them all tomorrow and then leads out Cav to a win on the Champs Elysees will be the icing and cherry on a very big cake.

Boring TdF? The greatest ever IMHO.

Thanks shortcut me and my mate are mostly intrested in dh.

It’s Deliverance you’ll be wanting then!

Seriously though, if DH is really your bag then I would suggest that Pitch Hill, a bit further West might actually more suitable. Park up at Peaslake village and take the long drag up from the car park. There’s quite a few nice descents in that area.

You should be able to find a few like-minded souls in the area of the village to point you in the right direction if you can’t find what you are looking for.

There’s a Bell End in Worcestershire as well…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_End

Do you write for the sun (see second pic caption)?

LOL! It’s catching on already! 🙂

His team mates call him ‘Sticks’.

I did think “Big Twig” might be a viable alternative based on his physique.

I’ve got a Five and just looked at the FTM carbon recommended by chillidave. That looks really nice and great VFM.

I do love the Five though…

I think it’s been compelling.
– Cav’s win
– Sagan
– Greipel
– Voeckler
– Millar
– Pinot
The Cadel/ TJ saga.
Four British stage winners.
The hilltop finish that Froome won.
The crashes in the first week.
Wiggo swearing at cameramen and journos.

We’ve had one boring stage – on Monday.

And most amazing of all, we have P1 and P2 in the GC because of an amazing Sky team who have dominated and crushed the opposition. In my opinion, that’s not boring.

brakes +1

I think a lot of people are either too young to remember or have short memories of how the likes of Miguel Indurain’s and Lance Armstrong’s teams controlled past tour wins.

Big Wig and his team are just making sure of their first win and maybe saving the fireworks for next year. Just rejoice in the fact that we have our first British TdF winner however it comes about.

I personally think it has been fascinating.

I saw on TV some time ago that oranges have an insect repellent in their skin to prevent the fruit being attacked. They recommended squeezing the zest from the peel onto your skin as a cheap repellent. You can eat the fruit as well!

It worked for me when I tried it but then again I’m not one of those people who gets bitten all that often.

Riding in the mud is considered fun for a couple of months of the year. Doing it all year round is tedious .

You hit the nail on the head there sputnik.

We’ve just come back from a week’s road riding in the Alps. There were three of us with three bikes on the back of a Volvo V70 estate, so quite a spacious car. Even so, I don’t think we would have been all that happy with a fourth in the car as we were pretty packed out as it was.

It depends how far you are going to go as well I guess. For us it was a 12 hour drive basically which would have been a lot more stressful with four.