[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by Axe77

How nice. That happens to be my first 70.3 race too. I did Bahrain in Dec 2016 IIRC. Was a properly choppy swim that year. The Middle East had a strong investment in triathlon thanks to the personal interest of HH Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalif, who is himself a triathlete. I was under the impression that the entire Middle Eastern circuit had had some falling out with the Ironman brand and that’s why there were no races in Middle East last few years. Didn’t realise Bahrain is back on the circuit.
It should be a good race - all the best training and have fun.

Wow, that sounds like I am on right track choosing the right location atleast. I am surely going to need some advices on local & international logistics, insurance, another must have checks etc etc.

The 70.3 was organized last year so I am hopeful it will happen this year too. Unfortunately, the dates and registration are not yet open.

I will DM you.

[drive_angry]

Hey BHPians,

I’m excited to share my latest bike build. I was lucky enough to grab one of the last available rim brake frames from Winspace. I was told that I was getting the last L sized frame they had in their inventory and they don't plan to make Rim brake frame in future too.

So, this is my 4th rim brake bike and my first aero bike, & I’m pretty stoked about the build too. I had some free time over the past few weeks, so I decided to take it slow and enjoy the process of putting everything together. The local bike shop was kind enough to let me use their tools and non-consumables, which made the build go a lot smoother.

Build Specs:

Frame: Winspace T1550 (Size: L)
Groupset: Shimano R9250 (Dura-Ace Di2 - 12-speed)
Bottom Bracket: Token Ceramic
Saddle: Shimano Pro
Oversized Pulley Wheel System (OSPW): Nova Ride
Drop Bars: Winspace Zero (380mm x 135mm)
Bartape: Lizard Skins
Wheelset: DT Swiss
Tyres: Continental GP5000
Bottle Cages: Ciclovation Carbon
QR Skewers: Farsports Titanium QR

With the weather improving by the day up here in the North, I’m looking forward to taking this bike out for some longer rides and seeing how it handles the road.



Cheers!

[amol4184]

This is a great build. Full aero tubing with all the modern, progressive geometry albeit with rim brakes, who would have thought?
I'm just surprised by the wheelset choice. That bike is begging for a minimum of 50mm deep aero wide wheels!

[kvk]

I would like your kind and sage peoples advice on purchasing a new bicycle.

My current bike is a Schwinn High Plains (26" wheels, picture below) that I bought way back in 1994. I have got several parts replaced over the years and it runs fine for what I use it for: I am 65 years old, reasonably fit and primarily ride my bike within our neighborhood for about 30-60 mins at a time, several times a week.

A primary drawback of this bike that has become a growing concern is it doesn't have shocks (suspension fork?) which is resulting in making my wrist quite sore after every ride (have a torn ligament on right wrist from a tennis injury several years ago), with longer recovery times.

I would like to get a newer bike which, really for my use case, doesn't need many addl. features beyond shocks to make the ride a bit more comfortable. Given how durable my current bike has been over 30+ years and multiple domestic and international relocations, if I was still in the US, I would have seriously considered the new and improved version of the same bike which comes with shocks (picture attached).

Since I can't source that easily from India (Bangalore), what bike would make best sense for me? It does need to be a hybrid bike. I don't necessarily want a cheap bike but equally don't want to splurge too much as my rides will likely remain as described above or at most graduate to venturing out of the neighborhood into neighboring villages in the Nandi hills area. Thanks much for your help!

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by kvk

I would like your kind and sage peoples advice on purchasing a new bicycle.

A slightly different approach - given you are quite comfortable with your current cycle in all other matters, have you thought about investing in a good pair of padded gloves? They do wonders for me on long rides.

I haven’t used a suspension model for years but to my limited understanding, the bad roads of Indian cities will still pass through to our hands and rear ends even on cyles with suspension.

[kvk]

Thanks ninjatalli for the suggestion. I ride with a wrist brace already but will try with gloves also and see if it helps.

[amol4184]

I'm generally not a fan of suspension on low end bikes as they often end up being a dead weight.

Along with gloves, having wider tires allowing for lower psi is a great and easy way to make the bike comfortable.

Additionally, suspension seat post and stem work well too. Besides, they go on the existing bike without making drastic changes and can be pulled off easily. I have no experience with suspension seatpost but stems with elastomers (Redshift) built into them are a game changer on rough roads. Briefly used it on my gravel bike and loved it. It's not a 100% replacement for a suspension fork but it's better than nothing and much better than a fork that stopped working.

[VWAllstar]

Is Cycling a good way to lose weight and gain fitness for someone who has had a history of a weak back? I don't mind jogging but then trying to understand if Cycling is a feasible option or not.

[shipnil]

Seasoned cyclists, need your opinion.

My basic Decathlon mini/hand pump gave up. I am looking for a new one for emergency puncture repairs. I am seeing few Decathlon pumps around 1000 rupees and few Lezyne pumps around 1500 rupees. This one is with Flex hose. Anyone has experience of the Lezyne entry level products? Is it better than Decathlon branded pumps?

I also saw few battery powered pumps by a brand called Cycplus starting around 5000. Any feedback on this type of a hand pump?

[supermax]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Is Cycling a good way to lose weight and gain fitness for someone who has had a history of a weak back? I don't mind jogging but then trying to understand if Cycling is a feasible option or not.

Cycling is extremely low impact, the total opposite of say jogging or running, which puts a heavy load on the knees. For an overweight person, jogging is quite likely a death-sentence for the knees. That said, cycling is not great for weight loss. What it is very good for, is cardio-fitness. Weight loss is something one effects through diet. Cardio-fitness is achieved through activities like swimming and bicycling. Muscle gain is achieved by resistance training, weight lifting, curling etc. Cycling is okay even with a history of back trouble, but remember to do some stretches and don't over-exert on hills etc, and you should be fine. Never look to physical activity for the purpose of weight loss; this is doomed to fail or even make the problem worse. How can it make it worse? Well, if you don't make dietary changes to lose weight, and start bicycling, you'll assume that you are now going to lose weight and might get even more undisciplined about what you eat. A typical thing family members would say is "Don't worry, eat an extra jamoon! You love it so much. Take an extra ride on your bicycle!". That won't work, and you'll end up gaining, rather than losing weight.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Anyone has experience of the Lezyne entry level products? Is it better than Decathlon branded pumps?

I also saw few battery powered pumps by a brand called Cycplus starting around 5000. Any feedback on this type of a hand pump?

I have XCADEY, Rockbros, Cyclami and couple of others mini electric pumps, one for every bike. The smallest one is XCADEY without hose while Cyclami is larger than others with a hose and digital display. I think Cyplus you mentioned is exact copy of the XCADEY. Regardless of the size or brand, all these pumps are good enough for inflating only two road tires (32c or below) on a full charge. They are also not very good for high psi. The other thing you have to keep in mind is to charge them frequently. Almost every single pump I have loses juice pretty quickly. The Cyclami one also overheats and kills itself. You then have to wait for it to cool down. All these are basically cheap Chinese electronics so all the regular precautions and disclaimers apply.

However there are some pros too - very convenient to carry. Lightweight. Reasonably fast inflation. Can easily fit in the top tube bag.

My recommendation would be to avoid absolute smallest size and get something that's larger with a flex hose as these pumps get hot in use and you don't want to risk touching the nozzle. With the hose you eliminate that risk.

All in all, very convenient for rides in civilization but not recommended if you are going somewhere remote because if the pump dies for whatever reason you are stuck. No such risk with manual pump unless you physically break it, chances of which are very slim.

As for Deca vs Lezyne, I have no experience with Deca but the Lezyne one that I have is really good. Takes a looooong time to inflate the tire but it works. Lezyne, PRO bike tool, Park tool even Crankbrothers are all good. One benefit on my Lezyne is that it has a hidden hose in it so the pumping process is much more convenient than other pumps without hose.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Regardless of the size or brand, all these pumps are good enough for inflating only two road tires (32c or below) on a full charge.
My recommendation would be to avoid absolute smallest size and get something that's larger with a flex hose as these pumps get hot in use

Thanks for your detailed feedback on mini pumps. Filling the tube 2 times only would be cutting it too close. First fill to identify the puncture while second to continue the ride. If due to less charge, the pump stops midway through the 2nd fill, it would kill the ride.

As for Deca vs Lezyne, I have no experience with Deca but the Lezyne one that I have is really good.

. Would buy the Lezyne or one of the other two brands mentioned.

[babayaga]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Is Cycling a good way to lose weight and gain fitness for someone who has had a history of a weak back? I don't mind jogging but then trying to understand if Cycling is a feasible option or not.

I think , I can answer this as I got in the best shape of my life pursuing cycling.
Below are things which I did and it worked for me.

1.Do not jump in cycling first. First, work on the diet. There are tons of online calculators and good research paper which talks about marco nutrient and calorie consumption for weight loss. Follow this for at least two weeks to adapt the lifestyle. During this period walking 8k to 10k steps, should supplement this effort. Measure your weight, visceral fat (there are online resource which should help) and strength parameters (weight you can comfortable use to complete strength training)

2. Periodization of workouts works well. I prefer a four week block.
First two weeks of steady efforts, third week being stressful and fourth week with lower stress as recovery week.

3.Include strength training initially and less of cycling. 3 session a week is good. 1 session to be spent for recovery with foam rolling and stretches. Weekend short ride of about 40 - 50km in zone 2 heart rate. Again, adapt cycling and strength session gauging how your body responds.

4. Prioritize sleep and recovery during initial six months. It would take sometime to adapt to the training load. Skip workout if required, of course in genuine case and not as a result of procrastination.

5. After initial six months, reduce strength session to 2 per week. By this time, you would have built good strength and go into maintenance mode.

6. Month 6 - 12, again follow the four week periodization. Introduce interval training during this period. The schedule for one week would look as follows.
You can progressively look to increase distance on weekend ride based on your adaptation. Again, small increments never going beyond 5% increase week on week

ST - 2 session
Interval session - 2
Weekend ride - 2
Recovery - 1

7. Track progress during this phase. This would encompass weight, body composition and strength parameters. Compare and chart this against baseline covered in #1. You will hit plateau in all the areas from time to time. It merely means that your body has adapted to the training stimulus. You would need to make necessary changes to provide the required stimulus.

8. Make the process fun. Better to tag performance goals to some event. Such as short bike tour or just trying to beat your own time in a particular section.

9. Consistency trumps perfection. A holistic lifestyle will do wonders over big glamourous changes.

10. Embrace the unsexy stuff. Things which seem pedestrian will go a long way in keep one in shape. Everyone wants a big deadlift number or watts on bike because that is sexy stuff. Glute bridges ,planks and stretching will go a long way in making life better and not risking injury albeit without the glamour.

11. With respect to weak back, I cannot offer any advice. Cycling is a fairly low impact sport. You can check with a physio on the best way to strength your back.

All the best! Hope this helps.

[amol4184]

A while ago I made a usability mod on my beloved CAAD 10, a bike which I have vowed never to sell. I built it up with first generation completely wireless SRAM Red eTap 11 last year. As many of you will know, SRAM shifting method is different from Shimano's. The right shifter upshifts while left shifter downshifts rear derailleur. To shift the front derailleur you have to press both shifters simultaneously. Its not bad but I much prefer Shimano's style of upshift/downshift from one side.

The beauty of this groupset is that it allows adding extra shift buttons that mimic the functionality of actual shifters. SRAM calls those buttons Blips and sells an entire suite of hardware for a handsome fee. That price stopped me in tracks. But digging a bit on some forums I found out that the system can be easily "hacked" with a simple wire and push button toggle switches that you see on electronic appliances.

My plan was to route that cable-button combo all the way from left shifter to somewhere near right shifter. This way I can downshift using the index finger and downshift using the thumb - all from right side, no left hand involved - just like on Shimano. While its still not 1:1 replication of Shimano style, its close. Good enough for me! The DIY commences.

Most important bit for this mod:


Once I figured out the cable routing it was fairly easy but slightly destructive DIY.

The button that will do the downshifting:


Approximate location to cut a hole in the shifter hood so that the button can stick out of. I used an Exacto knife with brand new blade to cut a tiny hole in the hood. This was probably the hardest part of this.


The Red eTap has 2 ports on each shifter:


We just need one to be used:


Poorly drawn schematic of the wiring. The cable (and button) would go from left side and come out from right side.


The cable routing was somewhat of a pain because of couple of reasons. The cable is delicate and couldn't be manhandled. Secondly, the cable holes in the bar are at an angle and small. Eventually I had to grind the holes slightly to make them smoother and larger.
To pull the cable from other side took about 20 minutes but with some help from tweezers and cussing the button eventually emerged on the right side.
The cable for brakes also go in the same holes - that took some effort too but since brake cables are pretty stiff you can push them in desired direction easily.

Once the cabling was done, I put the bartape on by carefully winding the tape around the port and button.

This is how the left side looks:


And this is the right side. Put a dab of glue under the button to keep it in place:


Pull the hood over the button and align the hole so the button comes out. Final result:


What this accomplishes:
Complete shifting of rear derailleur without using your left hand.

Bonus accomplishment:
With some practice you can press the thumb switch + shifter button with index finger simultaneously thereby shifting the front derailleur too! Basically your right hand now can shift both derailleurs .

Extras:
1. You don't have to route the cable from inside the bars. Much easier way is to just tape that cable on the outside of the bar. But if it is inside the bar, you don't run the risk of pinching it.
2. You can do it the reverse way and shift both derailleurs from left hand side.
3. You can have them placed anywhere on the bars e.g. middle of the bars.
4. The shifter remains active, so you can still do traditional SRAM style shifting.
5. You can go a step further and build the cable switch yourself if you have the right parts and soldering skills. I would definitely like a bigger button and plan to do just that this summer.

[Passatman]

Originally Posted by kvk

I would like your kind and sage peoples advice on purchasing a new bicycle.

Hi,
As other folks have advised, do stay away from lower end price spectrum bikes with suspension. If required, do check out higher spectrum bikes like Trek, Cannondale which offer suspension. I'm 58 and ride both Cannondale / Bianchi road bikes and while I do have some discomfort with ruts, I invested recently in a Koobe saddle and it's like riding while seated in my sofa! . Total paisa vasool!

Pain in the wrist is usually due to an incorrect riding position and while bad roads etc do contribute to discomfort, the principal reason would be riding posture. Since you have been cycling for 30+ years, it might be easier for you to work out a better riding position on your bike by resetting the saddle height, handle bar reach etc. Have a friend do a video of you while cycling and it may be easier for you to spot the point to improve.
Yes, gloves and wider tyres do recompense for the bad roads. Also do look at better grips, or maybe do a bar tape instead on your hybrid.
Hope the above work for you and wishing u more power n happy miles in the saddle !