Infographics! Man they’re cool (even if this one is more US centric). This one is wild, illustrating your chances of dying from doing anything from skiing to playing football to smoking to driving. Which activity do you think is the most deadly? Scroll down…
Digital EPO is a website that allows you to ‘enhance’ your ride data before you share it with your friends, teammates and so on. It lets you cheat, basically.
Countless riders have gone to great lengths over the years to convince people that they’re better than they actually are. Often that involves drugs, but drugs cost money, they’re potentially dangerous, and you run the risk of a ban. If you’re going to cheat, Digital EPO is an altogether less hazardous way of doing it.
Why go to all the trouble and pain of training and actually working up a sweat? You simply need to go for a ride at whatever intensity you like, upload your ride to GarminConnect or a similar performance-tracking website, then export it out as a TCX file.
Then you upload it to the Digital EPO website, entering the amount of ‘juice’ you want to add to your ride. So, you can increase your speed, lower your heart rate, or increase the amount of climbing you’ve done. Then you can upload the file to Strava or something similar and bask in your undeserved glory.
As an exercise in Mickey taking, we reckon it’s quite funny. They say that you know you’ve made it when people start lampooning you, so we guess that means Strava has definitely hit the big time.
We can’t see it going down too well with people who take their KOMs seriously, though. In fact, we’d urge you not to get involved. Cheats never prosper – ask multi-millionaire Lance Armstrong. Oh no, hang on, that doesn’t work.
Anyway, check it out here: http://digitalepo.com/
[Apologies if you saw this months ago, by the way, but it’s a new one on us and well worth sharing].
Yesterday bike ride and a surprising KOM status – then today gone – oh the fleeting fame.
Now this from Brian Lockhart HERE sums it up nicely
By now, most semi-serious cyclists have at least heard of Strava – the online application + community service that allows you to upload your GPS data from cycling and running workouts in order to see them mapped out, segmented, timed, and compared against the results of others who have covered the same terrain in the past. For cyclists and runners who are also gadget geeks, the service is an excellent way to gain additional insights into your workouts.
But if (in addition to being athletic and gadget / technology addicted) you also happen to be a competitive sort, Strava offers a whole additional level of entertainment. For those who train solo (which I do more often than not, via bicycle commuting), Strava allows you to answer the age-old nagging question in your head “wow, I wonder how fast I went up that hill compared to X”. (Where “X” can be anyone from your riding buddies to all of humanity.) Now, so long as the object of your aggression is also a Strava user, you can “race” against them and compare best times on a given section of road, regardless of whether or not you were there at the same time.
For anyone who has ever played a video game with a leaderboard, this is the same idea but in real life. I work in the videogame industry (I helped stand up the Xbox Live online gaming service and I’ve helped make a few racing games) and I’m keenly aware of the fun factor involved in adding the element of a public leaderboard to a game; it makes the fun of the game itself somehow feel more “purposeful” because you’re motivated to improve your standing on that list. The holy grail of leaderboards, of course, is the coveted #1 position. On Strava, that’s the “KOM” – short for “King of the Mountain“, a term reserved for climbs in major stage races where points are awarded to the top finishers of those individual stages. KOM points earn Climber’s Jerseys in real life. On Strava, they earn you online glory and bragging rights among your riding buddies. Plus it helps paint a giant bullseye on your back because those same Strava buddies will want to knock you off the top of that leaderboard.
The most mercinary Strava users engage in the sport of “KOM Hunting” – ruthlessly searching out climbs and their corresponding segments on Strava, then posting up top times and bagging the KOM medals accordingly. As of May 2012, Strava encourages this now more than ever, recently they added KOM achievements to their notifications stream. So now KOM hunting prowess is even more widely recognized. But KOM tropies remain elusive beats, how best to stalk and bag them for maximum glory? Well, I’m not much of a climber myself and can only watch in admiration of the true KOM cut-throats in my world, but I am a competition junkie and am always looking for ways to win. Even though at 6’4″ and 185lbs I can hardly expect to ever wear a climber’s jersey, I can still find KOM candidates for my trophy case if I look hard enough. Here’s how I KOM hunt:
1) Find a suitable target
Not everyone can climb like Contador, Schleck, Armstrong, Pantani, etc. so I’m mostly talking to the rest of us. For the not-so-skinny, it’s important to know what kind of terrain you do best on. TT monster? Find a nice stretch of road with no intersections or stoplights, and have at it. Power climber / sprinter? Focus on short ‘n brutal climbs that aren’t long enough to allow the real climbers to really shine through. Mad-skills MTB downhill champion? Yes, you can have a “reverse KOM” for the fastest time down a hill also!
2) Make sure it’s a “meaningful” segment.
Don’t just go make a segment on some super-secret road to nowhere that nobody else ever rides on, what’s the fun of being the king of a leaderboard with only 1 entry? To be a real King, you need subjects to rule over. Pick a segment that’s already got some traffic on it, the healthier ones already have a good number of Strava junkies making runs on them so it’s a fair “race” to attack.
Here’s a perfect target for me, for example. A short and semi-steep segment along my normal daily commute, that gets a decent amount of traffic from a wide variety of riders including several folks I race with. It’s not L’Alpe De Huez, but for anyone who commutes along this route in the Seattle Eastside region, it’s enough to get your heartrate up every morning for sure.
http://app.strava.com/segments/636278
3) Scope out your competition
Ideally the segment of your affection is one you ride often (and therefore see often on Stravawhen you upload your data). This allows you to keep a close eye on the leaderboard, to see who the “big dogs” are. In my case, the leaderboard has been fairly static at the #1 position, held by a former racing teammate of mine (John Sindell, from Garage Racing here in Seattle) who is a MUCH stronger rider than me. There’s been a lot of churn below that #1 slot, and as of 5/15/2012 there have been 175 individual Strava riders on that segment, and 1278 runs up that hill. But for nearly a year, John’s held the KOM. I decided he’d had it long enough, and plotted a short term fitness peak that would allow me to potentially steal the KOM crown from him. He’s got plenty of others, he won’t mind losing one, right?
4) Strike without warning
All was going according to plan. After a winter and spring with very little training, I finally got in a few weeks of semi-regular riding and felt that I was ready to make an attempt on one of my morning commutes. But then the day before I planned to hit it with everything I had, I noticed a change at the top; someone had stolen the KOM from John and it wasn’t me!!! KOM hunting is merciless business, and another shark had entered the pool without my even knowing it. Who was this KOM ninja?!?!?
This KOM hunter had never before appeared on the leaderboard, but was clearly in the game. John’s record was 1:01, and this usurper beat it by 1 second for a new record of 1:00 even. So be it, this is the way of the hunt! The only problem (from my perspective) was that now John would eventually notice via Strava that he had lost his #1 on that segment. That would increase the likelihood of a retort, which (I feared) would push the top time out of my reach. I took notice of my new enemy, who was being praised online by his own subjects:
Oh yes, they will stand for quite some time. IF YOU ONLY MEASURE TIME IN HOURS!!!! BWUAHAHAHAHA!!!! <rubs hands together and laughs menacingly >
My new quarry had employed rule #4 and had struck without warning, but I knew that rule also. The next morning I had an extra scoop of EPO in my coffee before heading out for my own surprise attack: a 59 second long assault on the segment to take the crown. I had intended to steal it from John, but stealing it from the one who stole it is almost as much fun.
5) Taunt and heckle the vanquished mercilessly
A gentleman may not subscribe to rule #5, but as a longtime fan of the world of videogames I find it absolutely necessary to finish off a victory with a wee bit of smacktalkery. In this case I took to the internets, first via an loud and proclamatory email to my friends and teammates on that leaderboard who deserved to hear of my victory (including John, the original target of my attack). Some may feel this is disrespectful, and that KOMs are a private affair. To that I say “go back to France, Loser McLoserface!” because that’s a whole lot of loser talk. The whole point of the #1 spot on the leaderboard is to unlock the happy dance. And you better damn well believe I danced.
But what of the usurper, the surpise attacker from the day before who only managed to hold onto the crown for a day? I don’t know him personally, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give him a friendly jab from out of nowhere to serve as salt for his fresh wounds:
(I’m a big fan of http://sadtrombone.com – I suggest you become one as well.)
6) Await the inevitable counterattacks
If merely taking over the KOM isn’t action enough to ensure the swarm of enemies ramping up in your face to try to steal it away from you, then properly following step #5 above will guarantee it. This is the nervous and sweaty palmed dark side of KOM hunting – living in fear with a bullseye on your back. The pressure is too much for most people, but luckily for you dear KOM hunter you are NOT most people or you would’t be reading this. Just weather the storm from high atop your throne carved from a solid block of awesome, and enjoy your new KOM as long as you can. As of this writing, I still hold the crown from the KOM battle described in this post. I’ll update it if (when) the hoard takes me down. On that note, you’ve nearly reached the end of this tutorial, we’re on the the 7th and final step!
Update: hah, that was fast – my taunting stirred up the hornet’s nest and I was quickly relegated to 3rd on the leaderboard; my rule only lasted ~ 7 hours. 🙂
7) Repeat from step #1
What are you still here for? Get back to #1 ASAP!!! You’ve got riding to do, KOM hunter! Get cracking, your enemies are out riding RIGHT NOW. The KOM crown isn’t welded to your skull, keep moving or someone will grab it!
So long as I have breath in my lungs I shall wheeze my tired fat ass up climbs as fast as I can, in search of KOM points. A great fictional warrior once belched forth “Every rider dies, not every rider lives.” KOM hunters truly know life because they breathe harder and deeper – for increased oxygen, for increased power, and for more Strava KOM glory!!!
Related reading:
Found a good article on KOM hunting over at CyclingTips!
Updated 06/21/2012 with more related reading:
Old news to some (but was new to me) – William “Kim” Flint was killed in 2010 going after a downhill road KOM segment, when he lost control while braking to avoid a car. GPS data from his bike showed he was traveling faster than the posted speed limit. Yesterday (2 years after the incident), the family of that rider filed a lawsuit in San Francisco against Strava, claiming they were negligent and therefore partially responsible for the cyclist’s death.
http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2012/06/strava-lawsuit/
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/06/news/family-sues-strava-over-descending-death_224889
As I am any time I hear about a cyclist dying in a riding accident, I’m saddened that someone lost their life while participating in a sport they love. But at the same time, in this particular incident I’m disappointed that his family is attempting to go after Strava for this. The rider owns responsibility for how they ride. That means you have personal responsibility for obeying the speed limits, traffic signals, stop signs, etc. If you ignore those rules then get hurt or killed as a result of ignoring those rules, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself. Cycling is dangerous enough already, you’re taking risks every time you head out for a ride. Manage those risks accordingly to maximize your odds of having a good time and minimize your chances for injury or death. Going after a downhill road KOM on Strava is (in my opinion) a ridiculous risk, one I’d never try myself even though I’m a pretty good descender. It’s just way too risky (not to mention illegal if you’re speeding) on roads that aren’t closed to traffic – if you really want to go for downhill KOM attempts leave it to offroad (MTB) or closed-course riding sessions if available. Me, I’m sticking to traditional KOM work – going UPhill.
My condolences go out to William Flint’s family. But please don’t blame Strava for the excessive risk taking of some of its users. William took those risks all on his own, and paid dearly for them.
There’s a nice blog entry on the Strava site that makes a lot of sense when thinking about this incident:
http://blog.strava.com/stand-with-us-4927/
”We know the rules. Laws and rules are created for our protection. Cycling, running and swimming are inherently dangerous and following the law, and common sense, when it comes to traffic, weather, or conditions, reduces our odds of getting hurt or hurting others. It’s as simple as that.”
Great news, runners: your new run activity page on Strava.com is now live. We spoke to tons of you about what’s important when viewing your activities and those of others, and have incorporated your needs and experiences as runners into this new page. Get more background around our redesigned run activity pages here.
See Your Race Results Like Never Before
Layered on top of the new run activity page is Strava’s Premium Pace Analysis, available now to Premium members for just $6 per month or $59 per year. In addition to Pace Distribution and Heart Rate Analysis, runners can now tag their run as a “Race,” giving runners interactive and granular pace data at every point during the race.
With Race Analysis, Premium members can now enjoy:
A pace bar graph showing your pace fluctuation, as well as your mile/km trends
Visualization of your meaningful race splits, such as 5K splits for a marathon
Pace scrubbing data to analyze every critical point during the race
Projected finish time data based on your performance throughout the race
see your race performance in all its glory.
Headed out this morning with the meetup road cycling crew and headed up to campsies and up the Crow Road. Nice banter – Paul joined us for the first time in 5 months – confessed to smoking 30 a day again and immediately was off the tail. On the 3rd stop he caught up and said ‘on ya go’ so we did.
Other Paul stormed up the Crow – I was 300m behind and tried to catch him on climb and by the end didnt even see him until the car park at the top ….
So nice to get out on the bike – was using my new rapha gear today – so well made and put together – I think I could become a fan.
Came back and went to the lovely Siempre Bike Cafe for a post ride coffee and soup … lovely
In conjunction with Eurobike 2012 and the release of his new bike model, Mario Cipollini released a featurette film showcasing…. well, the big cippo himself…. and to some extent the bike too. Here’s a quick synopsis: Evil competitors, who seem to be modern day right winger German 5 axix (or republicans) but live in Shanghai, are on the hunt to steal Mario’s patented, new bike design, the BOND-ATOMLINK. It’s up to Mario to save the day, get the girl and keep the plans safe. To find out how it unfolds, you’ll have to watch the film for yourself.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/48071362 w=600&h=338]What strikes us most about the film, besides the fantastic performances, is that the film really does sell the image of Mario more that it sells the bike itself. If you’ve been following some of Cipollini’s previous forays into bike films, you’ll realize that he is as much about the brand as the bike is. The same showmanship and bravado that he so famously exhibited during his years as a professional rider haven’t faded with the years. He seems as fit and suave as ever. Is he flamboyant and over the top? Sure. But he’s stayed true to his image and built a bike company on that image. So when you look to buy one of his bikes, you’re also buying (into) a bit of the overall Mario Cipollini “brand”.
And if you can cast your gaze away from Mario for long enough to look at his bikes, you’ll find a beautifully, well constructed machine. Would we want one? You bet.
I am just up to the computer now after doing the Glasgow Half Marathon 1:30:36 – having a massage (very nice too) and a spot of lunch.
This morning cousin Benji came across to race as well – he did a 1:38 3 weeks ago and has a PB of 1:28 but both of us thought a 1:35 time was on the cards so we were probably going to run together.
Glasgow was mobbed – we must have been a good 100m from the front – luckily in the first group to go – so the off was more like a slow amble and then the first 2km were just weaving through people / runners I suspect not entirely truthful about their finish times and maybe a bit closer to the front than they should have been. Well actually maybe it was simply that i was too far back because in 21km only a handful of runners passed me and I must have overtaken a good 1000 others.
Perhaps the euphoria of always overtaking explains my time … I felt great and was feeling very fast and steady. Ran with cousin for the first 5km and then gradually edged forward and lost him about the 9km mark. Whenever there was a corner I looked back figuring he would reappear at some point but it wasn’t to be today. As I was crossing the bridge a few km from the finish i figured i was doing well and thought it may be possible to pass the 1H30 mark easily besting my PB of 1:31:27 …. well as it happens it wasnt to be. Still managed to leg the last section past a Mr Weavy – one of those runners doing the weave of fatigue we have seen in old marathon films. Then as i crossed the line felt great then looked ahead as a runner was emptying a bright orange stomach content a few foot away – I did not need to have seen that ….
The glasgow course is great – pretty flat and apart from my little moan about the crowded start was a fun event. Well marshalled good water points and managed to see a few faces i knew ….
At the end my gps (and cousin Benji’s said it was over HM distance … his said 13.3miles and mine said 21.3km – so only a bit over. If so I broke my record for the official HM distance. HUZZAH
Did you run Glasgow today? If so let me know
CRITICAL FILM – A documentary about a very special weekend in July of 2010. A weekend of unconventional cyclocross racing. It only took 126 km of dirt, gravel and cobblestones devided in 4 stages between Dresden and Leipzig, 80 racers, 9 hours, 35°C, 600 liters of water, a ton of food, a world cup quarterfinal and many many enthusiastic souls, to make this an unbelievable experience.
They call it “CRITICAL DIRT – A study in crossification”.
e r t z u i ° film has captured this event along the dirt with our very own perspective.
Thanks to 12rec Netlabel, Earstroke Records & Karl-Marx-Stadt for the musical support.
criticaldirt.com
12rec.net
earstroke.com
ertzui.deSponsors of Critical Dirt:
Independent Fabrication (Ken Bloomer of Crema Cycles)
ifbikes.com
Fixie Inc.
cycles-for-heroes.com
Dailybread
dailybreadcycles.com
Retrovelo
retrovelo.de
Chris King
chrisking.com
fahrstil
fahrstil-magazin.de
Cosmic Sports
cosmicsports.de
Bike Department Ost Leipzig
bdoleipzig.de
It hadn’t started out to well – I had pulled my calf last week doing hill repeats and it didn’t seem to clear up – it was niggling and I had avoided running for a whole week … did a slow 5km yesterday just to feel it and it was painful. I had doubts as to whether it might make me pull out of the race so it was weighing on my mind.
Last nights sleep was also pretty awful woke up 3 times with the kids and nightmares then the youngest stomped in a 6am in far from the best mood … so I did what any sensible person would do and I went downstairs for a leisurely porridge and honey breakfast.
Picked up Steven my brother in law at 7:40am then headed down to Ayr for the Duathlon … we arrived pretty early and registered looking out at the clear blue sky and the fact the air temp was only 6 degrees C. there was a fair share of TRI bike – saw at least 3 Cervelo P3’s and other TRI bikes. Also glad to see another plain ti Racer like mine … (a van nicholas but any ti bride is good)
I decided to do the whole race wearing running tights (the compression i figured would help my calf) and a long sleeve cycling top. A pretty relaxed briefing then we were off …. a short run around the school where the run was based and then off to the coast road – a dirt track with its fair share of potholes. It is an out and back run so by the half way point the leaders were already 500m ahead.
By transition I had my first attempt at doing transitions on my Polar RCX5 (which allows you to change sport in the same workout which is great and it also allows you to export separate gps .gpx files for each part) By the time I had my bike shoes on and was gulping down a gel Steven was also in transition. I left about 20 seconds in front of him and then looked down to see that i hadn’t restarted the watch – so add 30 sec and 300 metres to the time on this leg.
The ride was great – although I think the boys and girls on their all carbon TRI bikes must have queried their decision as the road was pretty tatty and the route was quite hilly. You could definitely hear them as the carbon rattled over every bump and hole … I could see sense in an aero machine on a flat well surfaced road but South Ayrshire obviously hasn’t spent money on resurfacing in years and they must have flt every bump. There were a couple of uphills where I stood to climb as the lack of padding despite the lovely ti frame was very much felt.
There were great views and lovely sweep descents and the car drivers were passing very carefully which was great. At one stage I was getting a bit tired but sucked down another gel and then some water (they sure are gloopy) but then suddenly I was back at transition.
2nd transition was quick although my legs felt like they belonged to someone else.
Second run was identical and after exiting I got to see the first person storming down the hill to the finish – so a 18min lead over what I would do. There is a little hill just in the first km and I was struggling … but after that first km I felt steady although my calf was pulling so just kept up with my pace. After the turn around i was heading back and saw Steven again about a km behind me. Had a mid road high 5 that nearly took me off my feet and then was aiming for the guy in front but could make no gain on him.
finished feeling good – just really happy that calf felt no worse … chatted briefly to chap in from then just waited for Steven … Watched a guy come in that was at least 60 and looked in better shape than I have ever been in my life and then another man just behind Steven that must have been at least 70 …. really inspiring.
So my first Duathlon finished and i loved it … big shout out to the Marshals who did a great job and the organisers …. I will be be back hopefully with a good calf and a better transition strategy.
Despite having my road bike and my MTB up in Orkney i knew that roadie stuff would probably be better … Orkney is not known for it’s mtb trails with no dedicated trails like you find further south like Wolftraxx, dalbeatie, kirroughtree, 7 Staines and Selkirk … still Colin my cousin in law was keen for me to bing the mtb up and go for a ride …. here is the ride on ridewithgps
So on Wednesday we headed west into the dark mass of pissing rain that threatened to ruin the ride … luckily the rain stopped after 20 mins. I put the GoPro HD onto a bar mount to test it out for bigger days as well as wearing the chest harness to see how it would look with mtb’ing. have some video footage I will try put together at some point …. bar i think worked better as I am too over the bars with the chest mount meaning most of the time it looks downwards – not great when with other bikes …. The best position is probably going to be around the seat post so you bike gives you a static reference point for scenery and for rider movement on the bike (as well as a bit protected from mud ….)
The ride was fine – lots of fields and climbing over walls to get to the top point ….
Colin got two punctures on the ride – a rare dealing for me having run UST tyres since 2001 at least …. rode to the cairn then back across the mixed shale, slate, crazy paving, cairns, peat and bogs. Only 11km and yet took an hour and a half – but think Colin may have died if it was a very quick ride and i was told not to kill him ….
Nice to be on the Carver Ti96er again it really is a fantastic bike – it felt so squishy and soft after all the miles i have been doing on the road bike ….
yesterday was supposed to be a run day in light of the upcoming duathlon but I couldn’t face it (as opposed to today when I am forced to face the sleet and cold later)
So the plan was this:
10min warm up then
4 MIN at +85% MHR
4 MIN recovery at 65% MHR
Repeat 4 times
Then cool down for 10 min
But was watching the iPad – a doccie about the Yom Kippur war with John Snow daddy and son and kind of lost track of timings ….
Here is the Garmin read out showing speed
The intervals are not so easy to see on this graph – esp the 2nd interval where I went for nearly 7.5 minutes ….
Here is the polar Heart rate Graph from Polar Personal Trainer which shows the intervals clearer. Normally I program the RCX5 so that it beeps to remind me and beeps when HR is too high (rare) or too low ….. Think I should stick to that is it is less forgetful than me doing it manually.
not working today so off to the cinema at lunchtime – how decadent ….
my plan over the next 3 and a bit weeks and the training load as mapped out on my Polar software below
For those who train with heart rate monitors, you have probably encountered a session where your HR graph just doesn’t make sense. With my garmin it used to start fine then my HR would skyrocket up to the 180’s 190’s and I would be dead if I was there 200’s. With my Suunto – sometimes I would get no reading before it kicked into life …
After you finish your activity and get back to your computer, you’ll probably see something like this – a major HR spike a dropout or even a level no read situation, followed by more normal HR activity: Below is my reading from the Alloa Half Marathon on the weekend with flouro yellow highlights of bits that don’t make sense ….
Frustrated, you wonder if the battery needs changing but then the next time it is fine so you forget about it …but here is a reason why this might be happening.
I presume everyone can put their strap on correctly – that is the right way up and against the skin just under the ribcage …
So assuming that you’ve got it fitted right then let’s look at what typically causes the spike or dropout in HR
1) Are you wet yet?
During the winter months and in the case of Alloa on Sunday the air is often fairly cold, and fairly dry. This means that you’re less likely to have moist perspiration on your skin (from heat) and even less likely to be generating any sweat right from the start of the workout. This in turns lowers your belt’s conductivity ability to read your heart rate beats ….. Simply introducing any moisture at all will usually remedy the situation – at least until you begin sweating enough to let sweat do its job.
2) Synthetic quick dry shirts:
At Alloa I was wearing a synthetic shirt as opposed to my ‘normal’ nicer smelling Merino. An unfortunate side effect of synthetics is that they can dry out the body and the skin’s sweat making the belt so dry that it can’t ‘read’ the skin. Another issue is that synthetic material can build up static which can cause electrical interference with the HR belt.
3) Your mum is a gorilla:
I have heard some people of the hirsute variety have more errors ….. you need to be very hairy for this to affect the HR belt but if you are this way inclined … a) shave or groom b) stay swinging in the trees instead of running c) if female remain indoors and plait that hairy back …..
How to lick the problem:
It is pretty easy to fix
1) Sweat it: This first one is a bit obvious – but will explain why the problem often goes away after just a few minutes of activity. Once you start sweating it improves conductivity. This in turn makes the HR strap work …. but you still have the earlier misread ….
2) Lick it: This is the simplest option and what I do all the time. I just give the sensors a good gobbing – but hold onto your bogeys for the run.
3) Heart Rate Gel: If you suck at licking, then you can instead use electrode gel to improve conductivity. This is what’s typically used in medical environs for scans and using TENS machines …. it just ensures a good contact moisture seal between belt and skin. They are cheap as chips – about £5 for a big tube that will last years … If it is a dry very cold day and I remember then I use gel on the belt before heading out.
4) Shift the strap:
If you spot a dodgy reading then adjust the strap – a quick shift up and down normally gets the belt to rub against some sweat and the belt normal corrects pretty quickly. Some people shift the strap so it is half on back and front or even all on the back … i have not tried but it seems to work as an option.
5) Replace the batteries:
Finally, it could be as simple as old depleted batteries – most belts use CR2032 batteries so i always make sure I have a handful around ….
sometimes you see a bike that just seems so there …. This is just one of those bikes ….. A found a link to Signal cycles and although I read about them in Paved Magazine and seen reference to them on the hand build shows I hadn’t ever explored their site. Like all custom makers they are dedicated to the craft of making beautiful bikes for the right reason. In the days of the giant makers and carbon cyber bikes it is good to see that the artisan maker is entering a new golden age.
Even if I haven’t got the cash to get one myself – it is nice I think to give them a shout out.
Signal Cycles are handmade bikes from Portland Oregon. Each bike is built with the full attention of Nate Meschke and Matt Cardinal. We started our company in the fall of 2007 and have been building momentum and beautiful bikes ever since.
There is a lot of talk of a new golden age of handmade bikes, and the US builders are leading the way. More people are experiencing the joy of working with a custom builder and realizing the importance of being able to collaborate, discuss, design and shake hands with the builder of their bike. Signal is proud to provide this experience. We wouldn’t want it any other way.
Pete’s Racer Equipped Road Bike
Pete is a bike mechanic and has been for a long time. He wanted a fender bike for long gravel rides in the rain and for maybe even doing some weekly races on at Mount Tabor. He sold his carbon bike and decided he wanted a steel Signal with Paul Racer brakes. We used direct post mounts for the brakes to keep things tidy and functional and built a unicrown fork that really goes with the fillet brazed frame.
Pete built the bike up with Shimano Dura-Ace, Chris King, and Thomson parts. The rims are ceramic coated to add durability to the sidewalls and they work great in the rain.
Last night I was supposed to do an hour on the bike at a very low rate ….. but I felt so lethargic and pissed off (for no reason) that I abandoned it after only 20 odd minutes. This morning I am not too annoyed I think training schedules are sometimes treated like they are gospel … but I guess I am agnostic in this regard or humanist in that i listened to my body which was saying ‘NO’
In light of the Ayr Duathlon I entered (15th April chaps if anyone want to enter) I decided to try a practice run and cycle and also see how the Polar RCX5 handles the transition between sports. Its a bit messed as I did my bike ride at home on the trainer.
The Ayr Duathlon is actually a 5km run – 28km cycle – 5 km run …. but I just wanted to try a 2 sport hit so went down to Glasgow Green and ran along the river until I hit one of my markers then ran back. It is slightly longer than the 2 runs put together at 10.33km (although i am sure MAP myRun and google say it is 10.7km
Into the house – rain coat off and shoes changed then hopped on the bike. Wasn’t going for the full 28km just wanted to get a feel. 16km was enough I think. My wife and daughter came back in ‘my god you stink’ as they saw me red-faced and sweating all over the kitchen. (NOTE to self – I will stay cooler in the wind outside and not stink the house out)
I like the way the RCX5 lets you transition between sport …. there is an option to allow you to change between sports by raising the wrist unit close to the HRM belt (which you can change to show or do loads in the setup) … at the moment I have the bike one set up to show me Time of Day when I raise the wrist unit close to the belt and the Run one to switch on the backlight ……
After 16km i had enough … legs now are still sore a bit … was amazed how long it took me to feel up to speed on the bike. The muscle memory after the run was quite weird – not sure how it would feel to start the run again … hopefully do a trial race before the event (which will be my first)
Made as part of their NAHBS showcase Baum bikes from Ozlandia have created a beast ….
Custom titanium Baum Corretto frame
- Enve 1.5 Track fork
- Tune Bobo headset
- Custom integrated carbon bar/stem combo
- Campagnolo Pista cranks – custom anodised black
- Speedplay Track pedals
- Custom recovered Fizik Arione CX Carbon braided saddle by Busyman Cycles (Mick Peel)
- Custom leather bar tape by Busyman Cycles
- Lightweight Track wheels on Vittoria track tyres
I don’t have a carbon bike but this is one of the criticisms that i have heard rolled out …. well have a gander at this.
STORY FROM ROAD.CC
If you’re one of those people whose reflex action when you see Peter Sagan or Robbie McEwen pull a wheelie on a road bike is to issue a terse ‘tsk,’ you may wish to look away now. You certainly won’t want to press ‘play’ on the video above.
If you’re still here, that’s great – hit the ‘play’ button and sit back and watch a couple of Neil Pryde frames being put through some Danny MacAskill-style moves with the help of assorted bleachers, berms, steps and picnic tables.
There’s limited info on the background to the video – at the end it says that stunts were performed by Rick “The Clutch” Roth and Tony “The Sack” Roth, and Neil Pryde gets a namecheck, as do Shimano, Enve and Tune “for making products that hold up.”
The video appears to have been put together by Tucson, Arizona-based Fair Wheel Bikes – we can’t find anything on their blog about it right now, but perhaps that’s because we got distracted by posts showcasing some great custom builds…
We’re not sure we’ll be incorporating this kind of routine into our bike tests, but road.cc tech ed Nick will be casting his eye over the video later to see if he can ID who supplied precisely which parts… the Dura Ace wheels on one of the bikes being a given, of course.
UPDATE: In fact, what happened was we received a very thorough response from Fair Wheel’s Jason Woznick which you can read after video.
Naturally, having seen the video, we had to ask some questions and Jason Woznick from Fair Wheel Bikes in Tucson, Arizona came back overnight with his answers:
road.cc: Did you break anything? – Well, we had to ask
As far as things that got broken, the list was pretty small, one flat tire, one chipped fork (from the crash at the end) and a couple of slightly bent teeth on a chainring.
road.cc: It looked like the guys were riding different set ups so did you have different builds for different types of stunt?
There weren’t really planned differences in setup, both bikes were just typical road bikes. We didn’t build these bikes specifically for this video; these bikes were already built and being ridden. The black one is my daily rider and the blue one is Richard our web editor’s daily rider. When we decided to finally shoot the video we wanted to use our regular bikes. It’s not uncommon for those bikes to drop a ledge, or a flight of stairs on a typical ride or commute so we really didn’t have any concerns about durability or setup. The only changes that were made for the video were that the tires were swapped to 28c commuter tires and the pedals were switched to platforms.
road.cc: Oh, and did you have any reasons for choosing particular components to use on the bikes?
The reason we chose the particular components for each bike was that those are what we like to ride.
road.cc: Finally having done this video do you think there’s more that can be done in terms of road bike stunts?
There are definitely a ton more things that can and should be done. When we started planning the shoot we expected to have more time but logistics just didn’t allow it. We ended up having only 2 mornings to shoot which limited not only our time but also our locations. We had a ton of stuff which we wanted to do but just never found the time. Half of this video was Tony and Rick just trying to get used to being on bikes they’d never been on before. We had plans to do more at the dirt jumps as well as an indoor bmx/skate park, we wanted to hit some of the trails as well. There were lots of things that we planned on coming back to once everyone was warmed up, but then time would be up and we wouldn’t get back.
road.cc: Finally, finally, are there any particular things that road bikes actually work well for?
(Tongue in cheek) It would have to be road racing. They definitely do that better than they do trials and dirt jumping. Though the only real issue with them was toe overlap.
What I find most interesting about this whole thing was that this version of the video was never suppose to make it’s way out to the public. This was just a sketch put together here in the shop. We have a much better editor who was working on the actual planned release version. Over the weekend somehow an earlier copy of this sketch got leaked. We tried to reel it back in but every time we got a site to agree to pull it down, it would pop up somewhere else. Once it went over 20,000 views we finally realized we’d not be able to stop it so instead we released this sketch which was at least a more completed version.
I think that’s a little sad as I know the other version will be better. We shot on 2 days with 3 cameras, this sketch was compiled with only half of the recorded footage so just to start it was already limited from the other version. Not to mention the other version is being put together by an experienced editor. We still may release the other version when it’s done as a directors cut or something like that. We’ll also be putting lots of other footage and out takes on our face book page. We shot a total of about 2 hours of footage on each camera each day so we have lots of stuff that didn’t get included.
The Bike Specs
Bike 1 – the black one, belongs to Jason
Neil Pryde Alize
Dura ace Di2 shifters derailleurs.
Enve rims on Tune Mig 70 Mag 170 hubs with CxRay spokes, 20/24
Enve compact bar
Enve stem
Tune Concord saddle
EE brakes
Prototype EE cranks. (compact 34/50) 172.5mm
Lizard skin tape
Conti top contact tires 28c
Vittoria Latex tubes
Dura Ace 11-28 cassette
Price somewhere around $11,500. This one with it’s normal tires is well below the UCI limit of 6.8kg.
Bike 2 – the blue one
Neil Pryde Alize
Dura Ace 7900 group (shifters, derailleurs, cranks, brakes, cassette (11-28), chain.)
Dura Ace C50 wheels
Conti top contact tires 28c
Vittoria latex tubes
Lizard skin tape
Specialized Toupe saddle
Pro PLT bar and stem
Price about $8500
see and read more at http://breadbike.wordpress.com/
about breadbike
I grew up in central Illinois. In August of 2007, I bought my first real “adult bike” after needing a bike to save money on gas. Since then I have had many bikes. In April of 2010, after moving out to Oregon, I got my beloved Surly Long Haul Trucker. I have put a lot of good miles on the bike. This blog is about bikes, & my life in Eugene, with help from my girlfriend.(her blog with her sister)
I am amazed how long it lasted
Get a bike. Lock it to a post. Take a pic every day for a year.
Last year, Red Peak Branding conducted a unique urban experiment for Hudson Urban Bicycles. On January 1, 2011 we chained a fully loaded bike – bells, basket, lights and more – to a post along a busy Soho street. We took a picture of the bike everyday for 365 days, watching it slowly vanish before our eyes. The photos we took were then turned into a daily calendar. We call this project LIFECYCLE: 365 days in the life of a bike in NYC.
Only discovered The Ride Journal at christmas when i got no 5 as a gift ….. fantastic – buy it and order older issues here
Loved this one – when the bike dies …
My bike died yesterday. Or maybe not.
A few days ago I noticed a creaking sound when I pedalled, but it wasn’t coming from the pedals. It seemed to be caused by some motion when I was on the saddle, so I assumed the seat post had become dry and crusty – that makes bikes creak. So when I got home, I relubed the post. I also took apart and reassembled the bottom bracket cartridge, just for good measure.
But riding to work yesterday, the creaking sound was still there, perhaps even worse. At Lex and 60th, I stopped at a red light and examined the frame. There, like a chasm in front of me, I saw a crack. The ragged line girdled the bottom lug of the downtube on my beloved Bianchi Alfana. I carried on to work but decided it would be stupid to ride home. I caught the N Train at 57th and 7th and took the subway back to Astoria. I went to the last car because it’s normally the emptiest. In the back, I stared at my frame, feeling melancholy. Here I was, with my beloved bike, knowing I may never ride it again.
I had half an hour to ponder. I’d never had a bike die of use and old age before. I was sad, but not angry. What if the bike had been stolen one day earlier? Then I’d have been pissed off. But really, what’s the difference? Either way, the bike had been taken from me.
Maybe it can be fixed – after all, it’s only steel. Tomorrow I’ll take it to my man at the Bicycle Repairman Corp and see what he says. With boats, they say the only defining characteristic is the line: from profile, the curve on the top of the hull. Everything else can be fixed, welded, repaired and replaced. But you can never change the line.
The frame is the line of the bike. Everything else can be replaced, mended, modified or changed. The frame is the bike. This frame has been with me for 12 years, through bumps and speed and curbs, plus a few spills.
I’m a heavy guy who rides a skinny-tired road bike to commute to work in New York City. Maybe the bike is just the victim of my return commute on 58th Street, one of the worst in Manhattan. It’s one I often take because, well, it’s not 57th or 59th Streets. Or maybe the crack started back in 2005 when I wiped out on the Triborough Bridge.
The frame crack is natural in a way. Organic. A fatal flaw, but also just a wrinkle of old age. It’s hard to be angry, the bike has been good to me, probably better than I’ve been to it. That’s the beauty of bikes: a bike is there for you no matter what, like a loyal dog. But I’m allergic to dogs; all I’ve got is bikes.
Do I want a new bike? No. But I still can’t help but think maybe things could be better. I mean, my shifters don’t really work well any more in temperatures under 40ºF; the chain ring is no longer perfectly true; 650B wheels would let me put full fenders on the wheels… But these are bad thoughts I don’t want to think – it feels somehow unfaithful.
Along with the real loss, what is so horrible is the anticipation of dealing with the life afterwards. Shock replaced with feelings of loneliness, soldiering on, the future, and replacement.
Guilt is a factor when one contemplates loss that hasn’t even happened.
After any great loss, life will almost assuredly be filled with joy eventually. Thinking of that too early seems to trivialise things. A couple of years ago I had to deal with the idea that my wife might die.
The thought crossed my mind. To cut a long story very short, she didn’t. My wife, hell, any person is more important than a bike. I don’t like personifying machines. You can’t buy love. But I can buy a new bike because I live a rich life in a rich country. Yet the feelings I have for the loss of my beloved bicycle remind me of the sadness of human loss. It doesn’t even come close in terms of magnitude or degree, of course, but in spirit, in the nature of loss, sadness cares not for the source.
My bike is dead. I love my bike. I am sad.
Peter Moskos. NYC, USA. Peter rides a bike in New York because it’s fun, really.
www.astoriabike.com / www.marklazenby.co.uk
Kite*Surf*Bike*Rambling 