Jshort’s bike thread
- Thread starter jShort
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The 20 minute test is a harder effort and takes more out of you. The 20 minute test is a fixed time, so you know how much longer you have to go the entire time. You pick a pace and try to hold on.
The ramp test just kind of spits you out at the end. You hold on as long as you can, and then you're done. Good in that it doesn't hurt nearly as much. Good in that you could do pretty often. The 20 minute effort is a once every several months effort where the ramp can be done
I like that with the 20 minute effort, it's a known formula on how to calculate the FTP. (take average power of the 20 minute effort and multiply by .95). The ramp tests all seem to have their own formula to come to come up with the FTP so there has to be some uncertainty with them?
All that said, I don’t put much into what my FTP is. I’m petty sure I said this before but all an FTP does is set p your training zones and give you a baseline for improvement or regression. If the test lands you at 300 Vs 285, what is really going to happen? Your Zone 2 is 10 watts different? The baseline for improvement is way more important.
I kept it short.
Probably 450?
The biggest thing about your FTP is knowing if you are training by pushing or pulling it. And if you don't know the difference, and why it's important, you should.
I also have long thought that your CP5 is probably 1 of the most reliable race predictors out there. You can't have a solid CP5 without having a really good base/FTP. You can look like Cecil Fielder and have an awesome CP1. But you won't get a good CP5 unless you earn it.
Finally, doing tempo rides after your intervals is the last piece of the puzzle to help make you a better racer.
Alternately you can just buy an eBike and drink DIPAs all day. /shrug
I also have long thought that your CP5 is probably 1 of the most reliable race predictors out there. You can't have a solid CP5 without having a really good base/FTP. You can look like Cecil Fielder and have an awesome CP1. But you won't get a good CP5 unless you earn it.
Finally, doing tempo rides after your intervals is the last piece of the puzzle to help make you a better racer.
Alternately you can just buy an eBike and drink DIPAs all day. /shrug
I was pulling it all last year
That's why you blew up!
I know it. Looking back at last year's workouts....mistakes were made.
Even now, I feel like I'm not doing enough, which I know isn't true. But it's also why I know I can't trust myself to be my own coach.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
This is the best/worst part, you think you should be drowning in a heavy workload and completely miserable all the time but it seems to be the opposite, most of the time
I got the Oneup V3 dropper. It’s supposed to be the lightest one out at the moment. We’ll see. Most of the courses we race have become pretty lacking in the rock dept. We’ll see if I actually race this. lol.
I can’t pull the trigger. I may go that route for a gravel / cx frame. I like that Felt that DJ is riding this year. It can fit some nice fat tires which is definitely what I want.
I ordered a carbon seatpost panda podium after hearing that dude on the Nero show. I don’t think it’s going to make it to my house.
It came close, but is now in LA. I may be scared off from buying shit delivered from China.
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He did build a chinese frame.....Don't most of us?
I've had zero issues buying directly from China. $10 Ali-Express Shimano direct-mount chainring showed up yesterday after 2 weeks of travel, just as good as anything I'd buy from the US. I haven't bough a ton of stuff but have done a few orders here and there.
I've bought a couple carbon frames years ago direct from the factory, no issues there. My only concern nowadays is can you get one with great geometry for a mountain bike? IE, something like what Jeremy bought with that Epic? And I'm sure that Epic is lighter and may ride nicer than a Chinese carbon frame.
I've bought a couple carbon frames years ago direct from the factory, no issues there. My only concern nowadays is can you get one with great geometry for a mountain bike? IE, something like what Jeremy bought with that Epic? And I'm sure that Epic is lighter and may ride nicer than a Chinese carbon frame.
There’s a ton of discussion about which factories are using which molds to produce identical frames as mainstream brands. With a little research you can find a pretty close duplicate of a brand name frame.
Take a listen to this episode of the Nero show
It’s not straightforward…nothing is…. But after listening to this I actually contemplated finding an off brand XC hard tail.
I upgraded from an older specialized stumpjumper HT to the Epic. I just wanted modernized geometry and to be able to swap wheelsets with my epic Evo.
I figured I could just pick a “clone”. In the end I bought this frame used off of pinkbike. I went that route because I just felt more confident and knew what I was getting into. I was too lazy and risk adverse to buy a no name frame. I won’t rule out eventually picking up a gravel / cross frame from across the pacific.
Well if that happens to his saddle, that just serves as a reminder that even the brand name parts can fail.
I like to use the analogy of buying a blank skateboard, it could be the best board you ever rode, and it could be the worst, but you have no idea unless you try it. It all comes down to quality control, everybody has quality issues but the difference in a brand name is that you have somebody to take care of that issue. Obviously something like a chain ring. There’s a limited risk, but to truly know if it’s on par you’d have to use it with a similar chain, ride and similar conditions on similar trails and track where and how long it lasted and blah blah blah. For certain things that probably doesn’t matter, but for other things, there could be a distinct difference in the longevity, the performance, and a bunch of other stuff we probably can’t measure .