The Racing Thread..

[Gruffy]

I've managed to get a few more races in this year and was getting into the swing of things. Threshold is up and I'm quite comfortable making others suffer and trying lots of long range attacks. One succeeded and now I'm marked, but it's still been fun to dish it out.

Unfortunately the last race ended with a cracked frame. A pedal strike saw the rear give a little hop and then the triangle cracked in two places when it touched down again. Canyon rejected the warranty claim as I'd drilled a tiny hole at the other end of the bike for a Di2 conversion. That's pissed me off so I'll be switching to a different brand.



Aside from the Tour of Cambs this weekend I don't have any big goals for a race bike until September anyway. I'll miss out on the weekly crit workouts but focus shifts towards the 24 hour TT and PBP now. My top end won't recover from those until the summer season has finished, so it'll be another year at 3rd cat. My sprint has improved but it's still crap so this is no bad thing. That needs work before 2nd cat. I need more strings to my bow.

[JEA1K]

JPJPJP said:

Ennerdale, Hull? Saw some social media stuff from people down to ride who were giving up because of the road problems getting there.

Yes, don't blame them, shouldn't have bothered myself

[anonymous-user]

Gruffy said:

I've managed to get a few more races in this year and was getting into the swing of things. Threshold is up and I'm quite comfortable making others suffer and trying lots of long range attacks. One succeeded and now I'm marked, but it's still been fun to dish it out.

Unfortunately the last race ended with a cracked frame. A pedal strike saw the rear give a little hop and then the triangle cracked in two places when it touched down again. Canyon rejected the warranty claim as I'd drilled a tiny hole at the other end of the bike for a Di2 conversion. That's pissed me off so I'll be switching to a different brand.



Aside from the Tour of Cambs this weekend I don't have any big goals for a race bike until September anyway. I'll miss out on the weekly crit workouts but focus shifts towards the 24 hour TT and PBP now. My top end won't recover from those until the summer season has finished, so it'll be another year at 3rd cat. My sprint has improved but it's still crap so this is no bad thing. That needs work before 2nd cat. I need more strings to my bow.

That is sloppy carbon work

Pushes Canyon well down the list of brands I would consider and the confirmation that it is also a warranty dodger just adds to that.

Interested to know which brand you go for next...

[gazza285]

JPJPJP said:

Gruffy said:

That is sloppy carbon work.

For years every cycle manufacturer realised that the seat stays and top tube were both under compression, so made their frames with the tubes meeting at the same place, otherwise there would be a large bending moment on the seat tube. It would appear this lesson has been forgotten by some.

[Jacobyte]

gazza285 said:

For years every cycle manufacturer realised that the seat stays and top tube were both under compression, so made their frames with the tubes meeting at the same place, otherwise there would be a large bending moment on the seat tube. It would appear this lesson has been forgotten by some.

It's also possible the seatpost wasn't inserted deep enough, resulting in excess leverage of exposed seatpost in relation to insufficient inserted seatpost/seattube bracing. Some manufacturers specify a minimum insertion depth specifically to protect the frame.

[Gruffy]

It was within the limit printed on the seat post. Whether that limit is safe or not might be a different matter.

[anonymous-user]

Have you ever used that frame on a trainer?

[citizenmtb]

I'm pretty surprised to see it break like that!

Insured with any accidental cover maybe? Pedalcover have been good to me for most damages, but they don't cover crit/road racing.

[Jacobyte]

Gruffy said:

It was within the limit printed on the seat post. Whether that limit is safe or not might be a different matter.

Fair enough, you're just a beast! On a similar note, do the pro tour riders still have bespoke or custom-modified/strengthened frames? I imagine they do for spring classics.

[okgo]

I don't think the majority of the pro tour would need anything stronger than the public, on the whole the public are fatter, and put out similar numbers while being far far fatter. Obviously putting 500w through a bike doesn't cause much stress, but I'm talking about the short term power that does there are not many examples where you wouldn't find some unit down the local cycle club capable of similar but weighing twice as much. Only exceptions being for the big unit sprinters in peloton I would think, but there are not really many of them, they're all still quite light. Me putting 1600w through my Canyon at 90kg is going to be more stressful than a pro sprinter doing a bit more at 2 stone less.

Edited by okgo on Thursday 30th May 13:08

[BMWBen]

citizenmtb said:

z4RRSchris said:

Another Crit on the weekend, was miserable cold and started hailing. I wasn't wearing gloves and my hands were so cold i couldn't get a gel out of my pocket. I thought there were 10 lads up the road so didn't really bother in the last 30 mins or get myself in a good position to sprint. Turns out was only 3 up the road so in hindsight should have done something. The first 40 mins were over 45kph.

NatB - The Archer 1/2
85.37km
1:58:22
43.3km/h average
247w average - 271W NP
177HR average - 194HR Max

This is one of those questions that's only appropriate to ask cyclists. How much do you weigh?

I ask because i'm being dropped from 2/3 races with a NP over 300. Usually 315/320 for the first 15/20 minutes. I just weighed myself at 66.6kg after dinner and a few beers so i'm probably not far off my normal race weight of 65kg.

Granted, i'm referring to Odd Down which is a notoriously tough circuit crit with a lot of sprinting which plays a factor, but i'm finding it hard to even sit on the cat 2 wheels. The guy winning has come down from Elites and is hitting 380NP, I'm hitting ~305.

Don't know Odd Down, but if it's flat and sprinty you'll get bullied by the fatties! When I'm fit I'm able to put out roughly those numbers, but at 72/73kg.

Flat non-sprinty = fine.
Hilly sprinty = fine.
Flat sprinty = massacre.


Find something hillier would be my advice!

[citizenmtb]

I think that's pretty much what it boils down to. I'll keep an eye out for some road races.

Raced Castle Combe last night. Think the cold/flu bug I've had is still lingering as i spent 9 minutes anaerobic and was still a bit down on power.

Simon Richardson was there doing filming for GCN so I might be youtube famous in some B roll when they release the episode

[gazza285]

More Midlands XC Series today, at the off road playground at Kirton In Lyndsey, Lincolnshire. A pretty flat course, not surprisingly, given the terrain, but plenty of challenging bomb holes, woody single track, and quarry remains. It started under a hot sun, only to change to rain by half distance, which was very refreshing, before drying up for the last lap. Finished somewhere in the middle after struggling with a hand injury, but overall a fast and fun race.

The youth succumbed again to a first lap puncture, he caught one of the many sharp rocks in the quarry, and ripped another big sidewall hole in his back tyre, too big for the sealant to deal with. I faired better, it was only when I had finished I noticed the seat tube and saddle were splattered with sealant...

Edited by gazza285 on Sunday 2nd June 18:06

[Steve vRS]

If my lungs drain of mucus I should be at Oulton Park on Tuesday.

Also, summer CX in York in a few weeks time. I’m planning on taking part. Will the Gazza tribe be there?

[gazza285]

Steve vRS said:

If my lungs drain of mucus I should be at Oulton Park on Tuesday.

Also, summer CX in York in a few weeks time. I’m planning on taking part. Will the Gazza tribe be there?

Alas, the York Festival will be missing us, it’s not a point scoring round of our Summer Series, it’s a Cyclocross course on the perfectly flat racecourse grounds, so offers no excitement whatsoever, and more telling, it is on the same day as my local 10k, an event organised by my mate, marshalled by the missus, and finishes at the local pub, from where I can comfortably walk home downhill from after a few post race refreshments.

Have you got your entry in for the Three Peaks this year Steve?

Edited by gazza285 on Sunday 2nd June 22:23

[Steve vRS]

I doubt I’d get a race in the Three Peaks. Is it worth an entry into the ballot?

[Gruffy]

okgo said:

I don't think the majority of the pro tour would need anything stronger than the public, on the whole the public are fatter, and put out similar numbers while being far far fatter. Obviously putting 500w through a bike doesn't cause much stress, but I'm talking about the short term power that does there are not many examples where you wouldn't find some unit down the local cycle club capable of similar but weighing twice as much. Only exceptions being for the big unit sprinters in peloton I would think, but there are not really many of them, they're all still quite light. Me putting 1600w through my Canyon at 90kg is going to be more stressful than a pro sprinter doing a bit more at 2 stone less.

I don't think any amount of watts are going to really stress a frame beyond braking point. Speed x unit weight is what'll cause it to break.

[gazza285]

Steve vRS said:

I doubt I’d get a race in the Three Peaks. Is it worth an entry into the ballot?

You never know your luck in a raffle...

[Steve vRS]

Don’t they just pick the riders who have ridden thousands of miles over the fells?

[gazza285]

There’s a degree of that goes on, but that doesn’t apply to the entire field, so it’s not like it has all been decided beforehand. Of course you could volunteer to marshal, which would guarantee you a place for the following event...