There is, there’s better textures, shadows and increased detail but whether any of it matters only you can decide?

If you’re thinking of buying a half decent graphics card purely for Zwift I’d probably look at a 4K Apple TV instead.

but what company is selling the Exploro bikes?

https://www.base-camp.bike/en/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1987825698123290/permalink/2021463928092800/

A company posted on the Dirty Reiver facebook group selling of their fleet of hardly used 3T Exploros.

I reckon a team should be under budget.

Group workout too?  Never done one of those, not sure if I see the point tbh.

It’s to provide motivation to complete the session.

What power your putting out doesn’t affect the speed your going so each person is doing there own workout but riding as a group. If you start failing intervals you get dropped.

https://oxfam.nutickets.com/32823

Yes, unless they’ve made a massive error on the website.

The declaration you’ve have to fill in as part of the application even says £50

<span style=”color: #444444; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”> It makes it totally exclusive because it prevents the poorest, who don’t have loads of friends etc who can afford to sponsor them, unable to take part. Perfect for fat IT middle managers though doing their annual sporting event who can pass the sponsor form around the office.</span>

Oxfam have places for £50 entry plus £50 minimum sponsorship so hardly a great leap from the £69 the ballot costs.

<span style=”color: #444444; font-family: ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>It’s not the bolt but an oval shaped nut that fits a recess within the frame – same as this but sadly different size, </span>https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mondraker-MB-099-12114-Pivot-Nut-M10-x-5-75/162067483644?epid=1868877114&hash=item25bbf98bfc:g:tHQAAOSwt7pXM1Vp<span style=”color: #444444; font-family: ‘Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: #eeeeee;”>.</span>

I might have one in a spares tin somewhere. I’ll let you know when I’m home from work.

From memory the one in the ebay link is for the lower linkage and I’m guessing you need the upper linkage to rear triangle one?

I’m also certain I bought them individually from Silverfish via my LBS.

How do you get an 11-36 out back on a road bike?

SRAM PG1170 11-36 cassette is £54 @ CRC

I run one with a Rival 1 medium cage mech on my CX/Gravel bike. I’ve no idea what Shimano you would need to make it work.

626-2RS – 6id x 19od x 6w

I’ve got’em saved in my ebay basket

Will try again next year

Yeah me too. I guarantee I’ll get in the year I’ve done no training and carrying an extra 10kg!

Ballot results are out and…..I’m out!

I also can’t get the reserve list entry to work either???

Did the met-5 race today which was 7 laps of Richmond flat, i hated every single pedal stroke…….

Sounds alot like mine. Did the Final WKG winter league race Saturday. 15 Laps of the volcano CCW 66km.

Started fast and I got into a group of 12 which led from start to finish. You couldn’t take your eye off it for a second or you’d be off the back and 500w sprinting to get back on. I was having to use powerups every lap on the short ramp near the finish. Every time I got xp I thought this is it I’m dropped.

I got a feather on the last lap so hit it as late as possible and found myself at the front but got mobbed on the line by everyone with areo’s!

7th overall, identical on time to 6th and less than 2 seconds covering the top 12. 279W average for 1hr 30!

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=38649

(bike shop taking 6 hrs!)

It’s a Mondraker Dune so lots of small fiddly pieces. I’m guessing it would be nowhere near that for a hardtail.

If they charge a low amount then they will expect the poor underpaid mechanic to do it in his half hour lunch break. This will mean you get a really bad job.

Mines perfect. Just because I’d have to pay £72 for a kit doesn’t mean they have to.

Voltz Bikes if anyone’s near North Nottinghamshire and needs it doing. Highly recommended.

does anyone pay to have it done and not do it home…?

Yes my LBS charged £100 to supply and fit and commented that it took 6hrs!!!

It would be £72 for me to buy the kit. I value my time at more than £4.66 an hour plus they do a decent cup of coffee hour so it was a no brainer.

there is a gran fondo on sunday which has thrown a spanner in the works…unlocks a limited edition jersey which i think i must have. Anyone else doing it? Gonna do the bambino route for time purposes

If the forecast snow arrives then I’ll probably end up doing this.

The bambino is the 3 sisters which I actually quite enjoy. Takes roughly a hour and a half.

not sure i fancy a 20km TT though

I immediately regretted it. An FTP test with Box Hill thrown in!

looks like you’d be holding your own in cat A easy enough with that power.

Hmmm never quite managed 4w/kg. I like my eat crap and un-structured training lifestyle too much to improve anymore.

On the subject of average speed group rides. The pack rides led by Steve Clogg, he messages out the speed (IIRC it’s 38kmph on the flat) and manages to keep the bunch together.

WKG London Pretzel race Saturday morning on what’s probably my least favourite course I’ve raced on Zwift!

Got in the front bunch from the start but up Northumberland Av. 5km in I just missed a break of 5 A’s I couldn’t get across so decided to drop back to the main B pack and try to recover whilst they pulled out over a minute lead.

35km in at the bottom of Fox hill people start attacking so I hit the feather powerup and before I know it I’m at the front of the group with a couple of seconds lead. I bury myself to the top in a PB of 6:28. My leads now nearly a minute and luckily for me the chasers are all spread out so no bunch working to catch me. A painful solo TT effort for the last 20km including nearly cramping up the escalators and I made it home with a 1:22 lead for my first B cat win.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=38032

11x cycling (3 road, 2 flat, 4 mtb spd, 1 cx, 1 winter)
23x trainers
3x gym shoes (weightlifting, crossfit, treadmill)
3x desert boots
2x formal
3x site visit stuff (riggers, steel toe boots, steel toe wellies)
2x flipflops

I need a clearout! Saying that most get worn, though some of the trainers fairly infrequently.

It’s best to use Google maps/Bing/Geograph alongside whichever mapping program/site you prefer.

Or just use bikehike.co.uk.

It’s 170 miles and 2000m+ climbing.

Answers depend on if you plan doing it in a day, a week or somewhere in between.

Plenty of advice on this site http://wayoftheroses.info/route/preparation/%5B/url%5D

Well I completed this on boxing day so thought I’d do a write up. Apologies in advance for the post length. My aim was to try to do as many offroad as possible

Jan – Inspired by reading this thread on the last weekend of the month I plotted a route via local woods and cycle route 6. User error meant the route never got put on the Garmin so rather than waste time in the morning I made it up as I went along. I ended up getting slightly lost then very lost and by navigating on a tiny garmin screen, unlost. Totally different to my usual riding style of following someone who knows where they’re going or trail centre arrows. Biblical downpour 20 minutes from home but loved every minute of it. 106km CX bike.

Feb – Another last weekend of the month! After the success of using cycle route 6 another variation picking up 647 then home on 64. Got lost again adding an unnecessary 5km loop and the schoolboy error of tailwind out meant a headwind for the last 50km home. Knackered and speed down to 8mph mean’t I was close to abandoning and a phone call to get picked up. Luckily I bumped into a mate I wheelsucked for the last 30km home. 122km CX bike.

Mar – Last weekend of the month again and short on time but weather decent so decided to smash this one out on my road training loop. Quick enough for a detour to the local for a quick pint and make up the mileage. 100km road bike.

April – The Dirty Reiver. Only ever planned to do the 130 but got to the split feeling ok. 9hrs 56min. 200km CX Bike.

May – Singletrack7. I’d never done an xc race of any type but after April I thought this was going to be easy…! It was however great fun. My only aim was to do the 100km so beer was consumed and many breaks were taken and 22 out of 76 was a nice surprise. 110km mtb hardtail.

June – I occasionally ride to Sherwood Pines (my local trail centre) which there, a lap of the 9 mile red, then back is 35ish miles so I figured 4 laps would make up the required distance. It didn’t but a minor detour to the local for a quick pint added just enough. 100km mtb hardtail.

July – A month taken up by a mtb holiday in Les Arcs so another last possible weekend and out with the lads for the Sunday morning road ride. 102km road bike.

Aug – More road riding. A variation of the 2014 TDF stage 1 but made into a loop starting and finishing in Harrogate and missing out the busy section of bypass around Skipton. Stupidly made more difficult by the incorrect fitting of a Campag crank. It started coming loose up the Buttertubs and 80 miles in at the bike shop in Reeth it turned out I’d added an extra bearing seal. I reckon the drag must’ve been at least 20 watts extra! 207km road bike. (my Garmin died just before finishing but a mates recorded the full ride)

Sept – 3 of us followed the Peak Pioneer sportive route from Bakewell. Running late mean’t no breakfast, surviving on a couple of emergency gels for the first 70km then overeating at the cafe and heartburn for the remainder. A perfect example of how not to fuel a ride. Rain caused us to cut it (slightly) short. 105km CX Bike.

Oct – I’d noticed from my Strava feed that a few mates were using a lap of Rutland water as an after work 22 mile training blast. So on yet another last weekend of the month 3 laps mean’t a relatively easy and well surfaced way to tick the box. 108km CX bike.

Nov – The first weekend of the month! Leicestershire 50/50 gravel sportive short route. Heavy rain the night before turned sections into a hike-a-bike mudbath. I rode with the guy who topped the results list and he shortcut it due to needing to catch a flight. Technically I won a sportive! My palmares is complete! 😉 105km CX bike.

Dec – Early in the month plans for this ride were abandoned due to snow (do I get bonus points for doing 25 laps of the Watopia Volcano?) and subsequently rearranged for NYE but a quick look at the boxing day weather forecast and permission from the wife mean’t I could get this done with time to spare. The queue at the Clumber park coffee van and a puncture (the only one in all 12 rides) being the only downsides of a pleasant ride. 115km CX bike.

TL;DR version
Job done!
9 offroad – 7 CX bike, 2 mtb. 3 road rides
2 doubles (200km)
Got wet twice, 1 puncture. 6 solo, 3 paid events, 3 with mates.
Did I enjoy it, yes. Would I do it again, probably not!

I can’t believe I’m even considering it as I hate Apple with a passion but an ipad could be a useful tool for music production.

iPad 9.7 32gb is currently £299 at Argos

Just an air shaft change. About £30 and takes about 10 minutes.

The service manual showing how is available from the SRAM website

I’m guessing the 140mm was custom made?

If you want a descent time, say sub 10 hrs then you need regular training at 20kph and above with lots of climbing blocks built in, say 400m every 20k. And slowly build up your distance whilst maintaining pace. Try do do at least one long ride of 160k before the event

Before the fear kicks back in again I did a 9:56 this year on 2 x 2hr mountain bike rides a week and one 100km ride a month in the three month run up (Jan-Mar)

Surely if your entering this you do so with a reasonable level of fitness and it’s more about getting your setup comfortable and eating strategy right?

I can’t find my digital scales so on a cheap set of analogue luggage scales with 2 elite bottle cages, a pair of 520 SPD’s and a Garmin mount about 19lbs.

My wife’s got an XS 2015 advanced 2 I can weigh if it’s any use to you?

WKG 3 sisters league race last night.

Strategy of not going out too fast and a freebie bag of Haribo on the epic decent seemed to pay off. 6th!

Yesterday was the WKG race over Waptopia flat, 3 lapper

I was in that as well 17th out of 26 B’s and only just managed to out sprint the C winner to be the last B not over taken.

I only just scrape into B’s so I’m happy with mid table mediocrity.

Anybody still bothering with this?

I’m 10 for 10 so far with 7 offroad and 1 of the on road a 205km ride.

I’ve got a gravel sportive booked for next week so November’s will be taken care of nice and early then just have to hope for a day with decent weather in December.

Just curious as to why you need a £750 computer to run a game with graphics that wouldn’t look out of place on a PS2.

As people above have proved you don’t but like with any PC game if you want to up the detail, textures, resolution, etc the necessary budget also needs to go up.

I’m guessing the screenshot above is not ultra settings?

It’s the graphics card that matters most with Zwift so that means gaming laptop which unfortunately means expensive.

I was in the same situation and just kept checking HUKD daily. I ended up with a HP Pavilion (i5, 8GB, GTX1050, SSD) that’ll run Zwift in ultra at 1080p from PC World for £500. (slightly lower spec model is currently back to £750)

https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks is the place to check any potential purchase.

Azera Americano

Varilight

I’ve got a couple of the more expensive LED dimming versions that I’ve had no issues with.

Any recommendations where I can buy an pair of 32/32, flat front, slim fit chinos that are of a reasonable quality but don’t cost 80 or a 100 quid? Something that keeps their colour after a few washes?

Ralph Lauren outlet stores.

Usually pay about £40 a pair

Just committed to the Elite Direto. The LBS discount signed the deal.

What discount did you manage to get?

I know you can get 10% with the DC Rainmaker code and assume Wiggle will stock them for a platinum discount 12%.

I was pretty much set on a Flux but this looks like the better option if I can minimise the budget creep.

Wife’s got a BA one that she uses for Business spends.

£10k a year gets you a 2 for 1 companion voucher combine that with the accumulated Avios points and turning left becomes almost reasonable.

We usually pay around £1k (mostly in taxes) for a pair of return business long haul flights whereas they should be around £8k!!!

Currently on a poverty spec version and always wonder how much better it would be with top end bouncy bits?

I know it fails the 2018 and carbon criteria but a 2017 Orange Segment RS with Fox Factory upgrades (34’s & DPS) is currently £2880 at Start Cycles.

I had a similar issue with a PG1170 11-36 and you can’t make it work.

The road 11 speed freehub is longer so the shell on compatible hubs is narrower to accommodate this.

It’s either the Shimano cassette mentioned above if your rear mech has the capacity or new hub time.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1009768773

This lap takes in LC’s, Stanage and Blacka moor and if you miss out the bit through the Longshaw Estate (carry on up the road at the Foxhouse) should be 2ish hours.