The long and pedally Spring Classics thread. Gent Wevelgem sportive

[Ditchfinder]

@weeksy Have you checked the rear derailleur hanger alignment?

If it's not that is your gear cable outer in good condition and are there any kinks in the gear inner cable?

[Ditchfinder]

If you need a 3x front shifter there's probably a SRAM one in my spares box you can have

[weeksy]

It's never left the house, so i'm guessing the hanger is straight...i can't promise that, but the odds are high.

It's a split outer with none on the downtube. All seems fine. Brand new inner fitted today, no kinks.

I think it's basically down to running the old mech.... but i don't have a spare one to test it with.

Don't forget this was an 8 speed setup as stock and i've just grabbed a load of bits out of the spares box and mix and matched it all to get where we are..

The reason i don't want to go back to completely stock 8 speed is due to the shifters which have 1 part on the underside and the other part of the shifter on the top of the bars, which i just found completely bizarre when i first got the bike.

[weeksy]

If you need a 3x front shifter there's probably a SRAM one in my spares box you can have

Awww that's very kind mate... i'll work on the cassette/shifter/mech/etc issue first before worrying about the 3X.

[Ditchfinder]

No problem, all my MTB's are 1 x now so they are just gathering dust. If the hanger is straight and the mech can reach the lowest cog and the highest cog OK without a cable installed and your cable & outer is fine (assuming you have routed it the right side of the nut on the rear mech - I did this wrong once and wasted half a day swearing at something that was my fault) then there will need to be noticeable play in the pivots on the parallelogram of the mech for it not to work.

It's a shame SRAM weren't allowed to fit floaty top jockey wheels because of Shimano's patent, most of the time that would sort this kind of issue.

[Ditchfinder]

The reason the hanger might be bent is because it's easy to snot them up getting them on and off the turbo

[weeksy]

I went out to the farm shop and decided i'd go 8 speed.

So a new chain. £9.99
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371863268945 ... BMjpjDwNNf

Then a pair of shifters
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165074916399 ... BMzo21wNNf

They're only £13.... so for £23 i've got a full setup on it's way. I'll then run 3x8 speed with the mech that came with the bike..if i can't get it set up then.... i'll do more digging

edit.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144242684415 ... BMsrXkwNNf

Cassette for the 2nd wheel was £15 too.

[weeksy]

Looks like I should finish January with not far off 900km. It's not exact as I don't Strava my outdoor stuff. But yeah right up there. Should be about 40 hours, which again is pretty good. I've lowered the intensity this month but certainly upped the time.
Still need to work on shifting weight, but tbh I'm not unhappy

[Crosshair]

Well done! That’s solid training.
You may not notice the effects immediately as it’s not the kind of feel-good fitness you get from hard VO2 sessions like Zwift racing.

But you will suddenly notice you can do more in a week or have more energy to blast a hill at the end of a long ride etc.

I only managed 22h this month but a fair bit of that was intensity. February is back to the grindstone and try and push the volume up.

Let me know if you want some long ones outdoors

[weeksy]

Well done! That’s solid training.
You may not notice the effects immediately as it’s not the kind of feel-good fitness you get from hard VO2 sessions like Zwift racing.

But you will suddenly notice you can do more in a week or have more energy to blast a hill at the end of a long ride etc.

I only managed 22h this month but a fair bit of that was intensity. February is back to the grindstone and try and push the volume up.

Let me know if you want some long ones outdoors

I can't keep up with you on your worst days, let alone now you've been pushing on. But I do need some test road stuff, I can likely squeeze 2 hours starting 2ish pretty much any days

[weeksy]

The 8 speed chain and shifters arrived today, so a quick 30 mins later and it's sitting nicely with 24 gears now.

2022-01-31_01-55-13 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2022-01-31_01-55-05 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It's all a bit cheap and basic of course, but lets be honest, for 1 ride outside and a bit of Zwifting, that's all it needs to be really. It shifts nicely, smoothly and all of the gears.... Which is what i really wanted. I got fed up with 'trimming' the gears on the fly on the 10 speed, clicky gears, not quite right, i just want, click gear, click gear.... simple...

[Crosshair]

I can't keep up with you on your worst days, let alone now you've been pushing on. But I do need some test road stuff, I can likely squeeze 2 hours starting 2ish pretty much any days

Might be able to do tomorrow at 14:00

[weeksy]

Oh can't see me having legs, I did a Crit race at 1:35 and the the 7:30 single-track world race too. 2 races in a day and legs are tirrrrrrred

[Crosshair]

That’s the whole point of training
I did KISS last night and 12k off-road steps at work yesterday.

[weeksy]

That’s the whole point of training
I did KISS last night and 12k off-road steps at work yesterday.

true.

[weeksy]

Just seen that in last nights race i hit a new high of 184bpm.... i think i've only had a 183 before... eeek !

[weeksy]

Went out playing with @Crosshair today, we were cruising for large chunks of it so only did an average of 22.5kph. that included a pee stop and not going nuts, keeping everything to a low HR and watt. So more than happy with that.

Things I noticed,
He corners quicker than me
My gears are slight out on that wheel
My brake levers need moving in on the bars
The shifters are not as terrible as I thought
The cheap donkey can hold its own in a gentle ride.

[Crosshair]

It was fun thanks
I love the geo on the Diverge, gives me so much confidence. And the monster truck tyres
Power was 158w which would have been ballpark very similar for you

I need to get some carbon paste on my seat post

[weeksy]

It was fun thanks
I love the geo on the Diverge, gives me so much confidence. And the monster truck tyres
Power was 158w which would have been ballpark very similar for you

I need to get some carbon paste on my seat post

Yeah what are those tyres ?

[Crosshair]

Specialised pathfinder pro’s.