Pedal Power Thread

Phil1974 said:
Braved the cold today for a ride out. Does anyone else suffer with knee pain that hurts when pedalling and then after when going up/down stairs? Hurts for a couple of hours after and then fades.
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Are you using cleated pedals or flats ? Knee pain is often associated with an out of alignment pedalling action.

If cleated in have you had a bike fit ?
 
Phil1974 said:
Braved the cold today for a ride out. Does anyone else suffer with knee pain that hurts when pedalling and then after when going up/down stairs? Hurts for a couple of hours after and then fades.
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Phil

This sounds like your riding position isn't right. Is this something you have just started to experience or is it something you e had for a while?
 
I'm using SPD pedals and no I haven't had a bike fit. It only seems to flare up around 25-30+ miles. It's only my left knee as well. I had similar pain when I tried running earlier in the year [emoji53]
 
Phil1974 said:
I'm using SPD pedals and no I haven't had a bike fit. It only seems to flare up around 25-30+ miles. It's only my left knee as well. I had similar pain when I tried running earlier in the year [emoji53]
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Well that might indicate either an injury, or a bio-mechanical imbalance, that repeated revolutions (or foot strikes) causes you to feel pain.

If you are cycling a lot or planning to then it might be worth a good bike fit which includes a physiological assessment prior to you getting on the bike. That might identify either a mis-alignment or posture issue/limitation and then the observation on the bike, and adjustments for the fit, could reduce or eliminate the action causing it.
 
Not sure what clothing start to wear next week....long bibs....still short...
 
Buck said:
Is the pain on the outside side of your knee/leg?

If so, it could be your iliotibial band? A common knee problem (I suffer from this when hiking) that can be dealt with through stretching and use of a foam roller.
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/knee-pain/iliotibial-band-syndrome
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Someone mentioned that today while we were out. Looks like it might be the thing [emoji53]


meonshore said:
Well that might indicate either an injury, or a bio-mechanical imbalance, that repeated revolutions (or foot strikes) causes you to feel pain.

If you are cycling a lot or planning to then it might be worth a good bike fit which includes a physiological assessment prior to you getting on the bike. That might identify either a mis-alignment or posture issue/limitation and then the observation on the bike, and adjustments for the fit, could reduce or eliminate the action causing it.
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I think I'll have to look at a bike fit. If it means I can ride pain free (or better than now) it'll be worth it.
 
Phil1974 said:
Someone mentioned that today while we were out. Looks like it might be the thing [emoji53]
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If the outside of your knee is tender and the pain is a tenderness rather than an ached thEn yes, good indicators. Speak to your GP re assessment and referral to physio or find a private physio if you want seeing quickly.

Phil1974 said:
I think I'll have to look at a bike fit. If it means I can ride pain free (or better than now) it'll be worth it.
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A bike fit, even a basic one, will help you but I'd sort the physio first. The bike is probably only exacerbating an underlying issue.
 
bastic said:
It wasn't bad last week and next should be similar temp wise
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That all depends on the forecast accuracy (wind chill is colder IMO rather than just the ambient temperature) and whether you run hot when cycling or not. I prefer leg warmers that I can then remove should I start to get too warm.
 
Buck said:
That all depends on the forecast accuracy (wind chill is colder IMO rather than just the ambient temperature) and whether you run hot when cycling or not. I prefer leg warmers that I can then remove should I start to get too warm.
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I remember getting told this 35+ years ago...Still as true today.

"Warm Knees in the Winter... Fast Legs in the Summer"

Only time I'd be in shorts from October-February in the UK was if I was racing Cyclocross, and I'd be so smothered in embrocation for the duration of the hour and a lap that I never felt a thing...
 
while cycling to work and thinking what pieces of my clothing I will need to replace as first as it was tad cold, I caught a puncture....luckily not far from train station, and went back home to drop the bike off...
 
Nearly finished the tranny..

to do is down to:

new brake hoses (current rear is too short)
fit gear cable
fit chain
fit reverb stealth
set up suspension

12237122_1622012398064115_1500592369_n.jpg
 
Can anyone give me some pointers on replacing wheel bearings please?
How easy is it to do (they're cup&cone, loose bearings)?
Where is a good place to get parts?
What are the likely problems I'll face, as I need my bike everyday so there isn't any contingency if it goes wrong!
What do you do if the inside of the hub is corroding/worn?

Thanks chaps!
 
bastic said:
It wasn't bad last week and next should be similar temp wise
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Might want to bare in mind what will happen if you get a puncture or a mechanical. It's one thing keeping warm when you're riding it's something else when you're stationary and soaked in sweat. It's bad enough in thermal tights and a wind proof jacket.
 
bastic said:
Not sure what clothing start to wear next week....long bibs....still short...
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I'm still in shorts in North Yorkshire, as it's fine when you're moving (in fact I stayed in shorts all last winter). But like @MFlip says it can be pretty rough if you have to stop for any period of time.

Not wearing gloves this morning, however, was a serious faux pas!!
 
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TopBanana said:
Can anyone give me some pointers on replacing wheel bearings please?
How easy is it to do (they're cup&cone, loose bearings)?
Where is a good place to get parts?
What are the likely problems I'll face, as I need my bike everyday so there isn't any contingency if it goes wrong!
What do you do if the inside of the hub is corroding/worn?

Thanks chaps!
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Tim

This might help?
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/how-to-service-a-hub-21950/

and this

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_axwV6sfaAs
 
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Thanks @Buck - looks like I need to get some cone spanners and some bearings and grease. Any ideas where to get bearings from, I haven't been able to find them on the usual online cycling shops.
 
TopBanana said:
Thanks @Buck - looks like I need to get some cone spanners and some bearings and grease. Any ideas where to get bearings from, I haven't been able to find them on the usual online cycling shops.
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There appear to be lots on eBay.
 
Looking to upgrade my 2-3 year old Tacx i-Vortex which seems to have given up the ghost somewhat. A couple of weeks ago the resistance dropped right off mid ride. I powered off and back on an things seemed to improve a bit but unless my power output has suddenly improved in the last couple of weeks it's still not right. I replaced a good chunk of the brake unit 12 months ago and it was a little under powered for my needs anyway so I figure it's time for an upgrade. Looks like I can use the Tacx software from my i-Vortex with a new Tacx brake unit, so at least the i-Vortex isn't a complete loss.

I'm considering either the Bushido Smart or the Genius Smart. I can see a few of you have the Bushido, has anyone got an opinion on the Genius Smart? Main differences seems to be Genius drives the motor when travelling down hill, has bigger fly wheel effect and slightly more power.... oh and the price.

For the new Bushido Smart does the lack of a power supply cause anyone any problems. How soon does it shut down after you stop peddling? I have a habit of jumping off mid session if I forget something or have to turn the Fan/Heater on/off.
 
Buck said:
Phil

The Satori has great reviews and will connect to your Garmin device should you have one/get one as well as being able to link to your smartphone etc. As you k ow I ordered one only to find it didn't have the automatic adjustment that I wanted to have when using Zwift.

The Elite elastomers got good reviews too so a bit of a dilemma. For me I'd go Tacx but that's a subjective choice.

If you want the Tacx at the Lightning price you'll need to be quick. Over half gone already.
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Wiggle have the elite on a black friday offer at the mo for 50% off......i'm tempted but need to research more, I'd need a trainer i can link to an iPad 3 or a small hdtv (no laptop)
 
Phil1974 said:
Braved the cold today for a ride out. Does anyone else suffer with knee pain that hurts when pedalling and then after when going up/down stairs? Hurts for a couple of hours after and then fades.
Click to expand...

Get your bike position checked and make sure your cleats are positioned correctly if you use them. My right knee started like that and I just put it down to needing to revisit #rule5. Ended up straining the medial ligament ! It's taken me 2 months and a pro fit to get my right knee working again correctly
 
Tacx Neo for Zwift and others - yes or no? Titanium Geek review hints at caution, but right now have nothing and I wanted to get in the game with a quiet smart trainer before winter is over. With British Cycling discount I can buy for under £1,000 including cassette.
 
digitalfailure said:
Wiggle have the elite on a black friday offer at the mo for 50% off......i'm tempted but need to research more, I'd need a trainer i can link to an iPad 3 or a small hdtv (no laptop)
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Brian

I looked at this and it's a relatively basic one (although a good quality one!) with manual adjustment.

I was gutted to miss the Tacx Vortex on Amazon this morning. They all sold before the Prime embargo had gone. In fact within <5 minutes :(
 
tdodd said:
Tacx Neo for Zwift and others - yes or no? Titanium Geek review hints at caution, but right now have nothing and I wanted to get in the game with a quiet smart trainer before winter is over. With British Cycling discount I can buy for under £1,000 including cassette.
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Tim

At £1k it is a massive investment and I'd see this as an upgrade for someone who is already using Zwift/turbo training.

What is it that attracts you vs say the Vortex or Genius?
 
digitalfailure said:
Get your bike position checked and make sure your cleats are positioned correctly if you use them. My right knee started like that and I just put it down to needing to revisit #rule5. Ended up straining the medial ligament ! It's taken me 2 months and a pro fit to get my right knee working again correctly
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Off to a bike shop tomorrow to see if they can check it out. If that fails it might be the full bike fit [emoji43]£££
 
Buck said:
Tim

At £1k it is a massive investment and I'd see this as an upgrade for someone who is already using Zwift/turbo training.

What is it that attracts you vs say the Vortex or Genius?
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A little background - I used to attend a lot of spin classes a few years ago and I have a "studio"spin bike at home now. But I hate the thing for use at home because it has nothing to motivate me at all - no instrumentation so nothing to measure progress or set targets. All I have available to measure effort and achievement is a heart rate monitor which calculates calories burned. It gives no insight into performance levels and progress. I absolutely loathe using it and really can't bare to continue using it through winter. I now cycle a lot on the road and might just scrape 10,000 road miles this year, but I recognise that the winter months will limit my time on the road and I need to work out more for fitness/health/weight management. Therefore I want a solution which will be immersive and will feel just like riding a road bike and reward and encourage effort and competition with my fellow club members. So this leads me to the smart trainer option.

I've only been researching for the past couple of weeks, but it seems that for most trainers available there are complaints of noise. Looking at Youtube demonstrations and comparisons it seems that the Neo addresses this shortcoming better than anything else on the market. But add to that the power range on offer and the inclination available - I need to train for an Alps trip next year - and the Neo just seems to tick more boxes than any other. Add to that the direct drive and no need to calibrate and it just seems the most comprehensive and future proof solution. While I don't relish the idea of spending £1,000 I'd rather spend right and spend once than go in half baked and end up disappointed and looking to upgrade sooner than later.

So I just wondered if others out there had personal experience or any other take on the Neo and any reason to avoid it. I want a solution ASAP so waiting for a MKII version is not an option. I can see why those who already have a KickR should not upgrade, as they already have a fine device, but as I have nothing at all would it really be a mistake to start out with the Neo as it is currently? I'm thinking I'll be fine, but there is just a small seed of doubt based on that review.

Oh, and while I expect prices will drop soon, I'd rather spend a little more now in order to get the benefit throughout winter and not wait till spring when there will be far less benefit or need.
 
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How about , you buy the neo and I'll test it out until say.....January and give you a full report :D

I think a turbo will be the safest way for me to train ready to hit Sa Colabra in the spring, but I can't justify a grand on a trainer. I'd need one that automatically adjusts effort and that's quiet enough to use indoors with a display on my iPad or a TV
 
tdodd said:
A little background - I used to attend a lot of spin classes a few years ago and I have a "studio"spin bike at home now. But I hate the thing for use at home because it has nothing to motivate me at all - no instrumentation so nothing to measure progress or set targets. All I have available to measure effort and achievement is a heart rate monitor which calculates calories burned. It gives no insight into performance levels and progress. I absolutely loathe using it and really can't bare to continue using it through winter. I now cycle a lot on the road and might just scrape 10,000 road miles this year, but I recognise that the winter months will limit my time on the road and I need to work out more for fitness/health/weight management. Therefore I want a solution which will be immersive and will feel just like riding a road bike and reward and encourage effort and competition with my fellow club members. So this leads me to the smart trainer option.

I've only been researching for the past couple of weeks, but it seems that for most trainers available there are complaints of noise. Looking at Youtube demonstrations and comparisons it seems that the Neo addresses this shortcoming better than anything else on the market. But add to that the power range on offer and the inclination available - I need to train for an Alps trip next year - and the Neo just seems to tick more boxes than any other. Add to that the direct drive and no need to calibrate and it just seems the most comprehensive and future proof solution. While I don't relish the idea of spending £1,000 I'd rather spend right and spend once than go in half baked and end up disappointed and looking to upgrade sooner than later.

So I just wondered if others out there had personal experience or any other take on the Neo and any reason to avoid it. I want a solution ASAP so waiting for a MKII version is not an option. I can see why those who already have a KickR should not upgrade, as they already have a fine device, but as I have nothing at all would it really be a mistake to start out with the Neo as it is currently? I'm thinking I'll be fine, but there is just a small seed of doubt based on that review.

Oh, and while I expect prices will drop soon, I'd rather spend a little more now in order to get the benefit throughout winter and not wait till spring when there will be far less benefit or need.
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Everything you say resonates with me and I've read nothing 'bad' about the Neo only people (including me!) balking at the price! I would have one but cannot justify £1000 on it.

I think at that price, people will always find areas that are its Achilles heal but the way I'd look at it is, it's 98% the with 2% issues. If you can live with the 2% I'd go for it and if you are buying from Chain Reaction then their returns policy is pretty good should there be something more significant.
 
digitalfailure said:
How about , you buy the neo and I'll test it out until say.....January and give you a full report :D

I think a turbo will be the safest way for me to train ready to hit Sa Colabra in the spring, but I can't justify a grand on a trainer. I'd need one that automatically adjusts effort and that's quiet enough to use indoors with a display on my iPad or a TV
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Brian get inthe queue. Tim promised me first :p

By the end of this week I'm going to order a Vortex Smart for exactly the functionality you mention. I've only held off as I was hoping there'd be a Black Friday offer. Having missed the Amazon one due to not being a Prime member I think I'll buy from Amazon Germany or Rose bikes as they are by far the cheapest and in stock.

I need to hurry up so I can race Mark @TheBigYin on Zwift or should I say, watch him speed off into the distance.
 
tdodd said:
Tacx Neo for Zwift and others - yes or no? Titanium Geek review hints at caution, but right now have nothing and I wanted to get in the game with a quiet smart trainer before winter is over. With British Cycling discount I can buy for under £1,000 including cassette.
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Where ever you get it from, get it from somewhere that will do a no-quibble replacement if theres ANY problems whatsoever... there's quite a lot of people complaining about problems at the moment - even in the DC Rainmaker thread I noticed 2-3 different problems that are being encountered. I also read somewhere (sorry the source of it escaped me...) that pretty much the entire batch of Neo's that were shipped to the UK market were assembled with a preload washer missing, and that Tacx are busy playing catch-up on the returns/fixes. Also, be warned by a long-term Tacx User (over 3 years of using a old school Bushido) that a) their support "hotline" is lukewarm at best - 48 hour response time, at which point you'll get a machine translated standard email saying that they're looking into your problem, and will be in contact when they can identify the cause - followed by another one 2 days later saying that they can't recreate the problem, and asking for further data. Basically, they're useless. b) their Firmware developers are staffed by the people rejected for the support line for being incompetent. Took 13 versions of the firmware for the Mk1 Bushido before they decided that it wouldn't "pair" satisfactorily with an external powermeter. c) God forbid you use their "own" software - the TTS software that they sell for the PC/Mac interface is horrendous. Bug infested, crash prone (usually because of "memory leaks"), less than robust with the ride data (none of the ride is written (buffered away) to disk until you stop and save - so if the software crashes, you can lose an entire ride - annoying after a 3 hour epic on one of their "alpine challenge DVD's", but bloody mortifying when it crashes in the warmdown after your best ever effort on a FTP test...

Its annoying, but when the Hardware is screwed together properly, its Brilliant... but they are a bit slipshod in the initial stages with their production processes - the Genius (the non-smart version of the current one) was the same on launch - something like a 30% returns rate according to a friend at my nearby Evans store... simply unacceptable on a £1k indoor trainer IMO.

If I had a grand to splash on a indoor trainer, i'm pretty sure it'd be on a Kickr to be honest - maybe by next winter, they'll have got the bugs out of the Neo - it's a lovely bit of kit, and if it works well, it could be stunning - but at the moment, the Kickr is cheaper (marginally), solid as an anvil (i've a friend who's well over 300lb who uses one regularly with no problems) and reliable software and hardware wise... and, as for software support... well - everyone else is playing catch up to Wahoo on this front.

personally, I'm hoping to stick with the Mk1 Bushido for this year, and see if I can pick up a Kickr second hand over the summer...
 
Buck said:
I need to hurry up so I can race Mark @TheBigYin on Zwift or should I say, watch him speed off into the distance.
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you are kidding right... you do realise that at my body weight, with a "doctors limit" on my max HR of no more than 104bpm, I'm taking something like 26 minutes for a reverse lap of Wattopia (https://www.strava.com/activities/435985751#10482455618) and over 43 minutes for a lap of Richmond (https://www.strava.com/activities/437935447#10530555115) - that 43 minute lap put me "damned flat last" on the days leaderboard yesterday BTW (as in last of over 200 people who'd ridden...)

Still - I may be fat, heavily medicated, recovering from having 2 bits of metal stuffed into a bit of cardiac plumbing, and slow - but I'm lapping everyone who's sat on the sofa eating Pizza...
 
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Thanks for the detailed reply. It's not encouraging feedback to be sure. If f buy it will be from Chain Reaction with 10% discount from British Cycling and, of course, I shall be paying with credit card. At the moment CR has no stock, so I have a little hope that fresh supplies will avoid the initial batch problems. I'll feed back if/when I buy.
 
TheBigYin said:
you are kidding right... you do realise that at my body weight, with a "doctors limit" on my max HR of no more than 104bpm, I'm taking something like 26 minutes for a reverse lap of Wattopia (https://www.strava.com/activities/435985751#10482455618) and over 43 minutes for a lap of Richmond (https://www.strava.com/activities/437935447#10530555115) - that 43 minute lap put me "damned flat last" on the days leaderboard yesterday BTW (as in last of over 200 people who'd ridden...)

Still - I may be fat, heavily medicated, recovering from having 2 bits of metal stuffed into a bit of cardiac plumbing, and slow - but I'm lapping everyone who's sat on the sofa eating Pizza...
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Me kidding? Errm no, you haven't seen me on a bike yet!

Seriously though, one of the attractions of Zwift is riding (not necessarily racing) with people you know (virtually or for real!)
 
Buck said:
Me kidding? Errm no, you haven't seen me on a bike yet!

Seriously though, one of the attractions of Zwift is riding (not necessarily racing) with people you know (virtually or for real!)
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yeah - its a strange one when it happens - I "met up" with a guy from another forum who's been joining in with all sorts of cycling challenges that I run over there (it's a virtual "fat club" thing... where I run a few cycle-race themed riding challenges over the season) and managed to ride the same course for half a lap of the Richmond World Cup course... then of course, the hills started, and I told him to get on with having a "proper" ride and I dawdled up the cobbles on Libby Hill on my tod.

Daft bit is, he only lives about a hour up the road from me, and we'd been trying to plan a trip up to the Dales to ride around the bulk of the TdF Stage 1 all last summer - now of course, It's a question if I'm likely to be able to actually get fit enough to WALK up buttertubs by the end of next summer, so it's all pretty much got shelved :-(
 
Got mine set up at the weekend and downloaded one of the easier maps/courses from tacx for the ipad. Very impressive really although I haven't had a chance to do more than a few minutes. Calibration was pretty easy and the resistance changes are very obvious. The one thing that seemed optimistic was the displayed speed.
 
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