As some of the readers may know I've recently got tickets to ride the 2013 Megavalanche in Alp d'Huez, 30km of insanely difficult downhill trails interspersed with some short but steep climbs in case we find it too easy - fat chance!
As a result I've decided some serious training is in order to make sure I can enjoy the race and with that in mind I signed up to a gym yesterday and completed my first spin session there. A class basically consists of a group of sweating people hunched over exercise bikes whilst a piece of lycra carrying a woman screams abuse (read words of encouragement) loudly at you. The clear upside of this is that little of her words make it through to you over the overwhelming pounding of the music that although designed to motivate us to push harder, only succeeded in deafening all those involved.
Having said all this and shown an apparent dislike to the event my experience was in fact the polar opposite. I found the instructions of the leader to be handy, and more effective than just plodding along in the same gear, whilst the music did seem to help phase out the screams of agony from my legs! All in all I found I pushed far harder than I would have on a normal bike ride, sweating multiple gallons and was eager to do it again.
So what's next? Well I plan to spin twice a week and go to the gym at least once, maybe more dependent on cost/free time etc and hopefully will find my local Sunday rides to get easier, more fun and faster; ready for the Megavalanche in July - bring it on!
Thursday 28 February 2013
Wednesday 13 February 2013
One of those days...
Occasionally every cyclist will have "one of those days" where you should have left the bike in the shed and just watched a bit of telly with a nice warm drink. Sunday's ride was one of those days. The ride had serious potential to go wrong from the moment I opened the front door with pouring rain and an evil wind greeting me in conditions of 2 degree above 0.
Half an hours drive later we parked close to the trails and got the bikes out, gearing up ready to go. As we began to climb towards the trails the ominous sight of a river running through the uplift path should have been a large warning sign! Regardless we pushed on and soon arrived at the trailhead after eyeing up some rather large (read 20ft+) drops and deciding to "hit them next time". We began to pedal down the trail which although chalky and wet was running surprisingly well however we soon had to stop to remove our goggles that had become overwhelmed in the appalling conditions rather quickly! The rest of the trail passed without incident and we got to the bottom coated in mud and feeling like Danny Hart after his race run at Champery (google it!) having ridden at a fair pace over wet and new terrain.
Soon after things began going downhill quickly as we got soaked to the skin and began to cool down. Despite out best efforts our temperatures continued to plummet and after a couple more runs we called it a day. The final descent was by far the best as we plastered down the footpath we had climbed earlier that now resembled a river, grinning from ear to ear and smashing it flat out! We reached the bottom to find out the road we'd ridden was also rather lake-like and so we plastered down that doing our best to soak each other in the process!
We grabbed lunch from Truffles in Steyning (who deserve a big thanks for not minding 2 muddy mtb'ers coating their shop in gunk) which was completely delicious and much needed but we were still freezing and not really enjoying ourselves. At this point we called it a day as a legendary, memorable ride but one that would have got dangerous had we continued it!
Overall, Steyning downhill was great fun to ride and I can't wait to go again once the weather improves: there are some big jumps there I want to perfect but in the freezing rain it's less than fun!
Half an hours drive later we parked close to the trails and got the bikes out, gearing up ready to go. As we began to climb towards the trails the ominous sight of a river running through the uplift path should have been a large warning sign! Regardless we pushed on and soon arrived at the trailhead after eyeing up some rather large (read 20ft+) drops and deciding to "hit them next time". We began to pedal down the trail which although chalky and wet was running surprisingly well however we soon had to stop to remove our goggles that had become overwhelmed in the appalling conditions rather quickly! The rest of the trail passed without incident and we got to the bottom coated in mud and feeling like Danny Hart after his race run at Champery (google it!) having ridden at a fair pace over wet and new terrain.
Soon after things began going downhill quickly as we got soaked to the skin and began to cool down. Despite out best efforts our temperatures continued to plummet and after a couple more runs we called it a day. The final descent was by far the best as we plastered down the footpath we had climbed earlier that now resembled a river, grinning from ear to ear and smashing it flat out! We reached the bottom to find out the road we'd ridden was also rather lake-like and so we plastered down that doing our best to soak each other in the process!
We grabbed lunch from Truffles in Steyning (who deserve a big thanks for not minding 2 muddy mtb'ers coating their shop in gunk) which was completely delicious and much needed but we were still freezing and not really enjoying ourselves. At this point we called it a day as a legendary, memorable ride but one that would have got dangerous had we continued it!
Overall, Steyning downhill was great fun to ride and I can't wait to go again once the weather improves: there are some big jumps there I want to perfect but in the freezing rain it's less than fun!
Tuesday 12 February 2013
Going tubeless
As far as changes to my bike go, it's all been rather manic! After writing off my previous 6 year old rim I decided to update my wheel/tyre system to something far lighter and a bit more up to date. Some online research and a few phone calls later and a lovely set of Hope Hoops were on their way to me: their uber-reliable Pro2 Evo hubs laced up to Stans No Tubes Flow Ex rims. I chose this wheelset as I wanted reliability and strength matched with relatively light weight (1880g), something this wheelset gave in spades. Whilst I was at it, I decided to refresh my tyre choice as well moving away from my trusty high rollers, instead fitting a set of Schwalbe Hans Dampfs. This is Schwalbes brand new all condition tyre, something I was excited to try out.
I decided to go tubeless at the same time, using the Hope/NoTubes conversion kit for the Flow rims. This is a fantastic piece of kit and proved laughably easy to set up. It was a case of sticking the tape firmly down in the rim bed (I left the original cloth rim tape on), fitting the valve stem and seating the tyre sans sealant and finally adding sealant and inflating. The whole procedure was trouble free and simple but that could well have been down to both the tyres and rims being brand new.
I am running the Hans Dampf tyres at roughly 30psi at the moment however I expect I will drop them down further but my initial impressions were very good! The first proper ride was at some local (ish) downhill trails where the conditions were muddy, chalky, wet and horrible! The tyres gripped well and slid predictably whilst staying composed on roots, everything I wanted from a tyre! I dropped pressures steadily throughout the day yet never experience burping. Having said that we stayed clear of the big jumps due to the conditions.
Overall both the wheels and the tyres are very good: they're reliable, strong, light and easy to set up tubeless. If you're looking for a reliable and relatively lightweight wheelset for less than £350 then you can't go far wrong with the Hope Hoops for all mountain riding, but more XC orientated riders could get lighter if they are willing to sacrifice strength! A few months down the line I'll post up a long term review, to see what shape the components are in after some serious hammering!
I decided to go tubeless at the same time, using the Hope/NoTubes conversion kit for the Flow rims. This is a fantastic piece of kit and proved laughably easy to set up. It was a case of sticking the tape firmly down in the rim bed (I left the original cloth rim tape on), fitting the valve stem and seating the tyre sans sealant and finally adding sealant and inflating. The whole procedure was trouble free and simple but that could well have been down to both the tyres and rims being brand new.
I am running the Hans Dampf tyres at roughly 30psi at the moment however I expect I will drop them down further but my initial impressions were very good! The first proper ride was at some local (ish) downhill trails where the conditions were muddy, chalky, wet and horrible! The tyres gripped well and slid predictably whilst staying composed on roots, everything I wanted from a tyre! I dropped pressures steadily throughout the day yet never experience burping. Having said that we stayed clear of the big jumps due to the conditions.
Overall both the wheels and the tyres are very good: they're reliable, strong, light and easy to set up tubeless. If you're looking for a reliable and relatively lightweight wheelset for less than £350 then you can't go far wrong with the Hope Hoops for all mountain riding, but more XC orientated riders could get lighter if they are willing to sacrifice strength! A few months down the line I'll post up a long term review, to see what shape the components are in after some serious hammering!
Sunday 3 February 2013
Long term product review: Shimano Zee mech/shifter
Shimano's latest groupset, Zee, is aimed at the gravity/enduro market bringing an affordable, efficient and hard wearing 1x10speed drivetrain to the masses. Having written off both mechs and mech hangers using a widespread cassette with a long arm derailleur I jumped at the chance to do a long term test of the new shifting equipment.
There are two key qualities I look for when purchasing drivetrain components, namely functionality and long life. If a mech has incredible shifting action that means nothing to me if the first time it collides with a rock I have a long walk back to the car! In that respect the Zee parts have been faultless. Running a complete outer cable to prevent grime ruining the shifter seems to be working so far. I've been using the same cable (both inner and outer) since fitting way back in August of last year, meaning it's survived 7 months of riding including most of winter, not a regular occurrence!
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| Still running sweet after a hammering at PORC |
Since the setting up the gears with the wide range 11-36 cassette (Deore grade) they've remained maintenance free, somewhat of a rarity and a key reason why I love this set-up. A combination of work, studies and college mean what free time I have I want to enjoy riding my bike not fixing it. As a result the reliable and solid nature of the Zee gear more than makes up for the minimal weight increase over XT (12 grams for the derailleur) which can be saved elsewhere by having a smaller breakfast prior to riding!
The most anticipated feature for me was without doubt the Shadow+ rear mech essentially a clutch system designed to stiffen the cage to quieten down the bike. Although something you don't initially notice when riding the bike, the moment you hop aboard one without a clutch-mech fitted the difference is noticeable. It sounds as if you are riding with a bag of spanners dragging behind!
Moving on to the shifter it is a well thought out desig, with comfortable ergonomics and a dimpled thumb release for extra grip with gloved hands. Although perhaps lacking the "snap" of a SRAM shifter, the gear change is both definite and smooth, with the multiple downshift being a handy feature when a climb sneaks up on you!
Overall the both the mech and the shifter are well thought out and neatly executed however very much aimed at the gravity market and those wanting more than a double and bash at the front would want to look elsewhere. Shimano Zee is a bombproof, value for money alternative for those not wanting to shell out for Saint, keeping most of the features but not the hefty pricetag!
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