Cycling uphill

Lifeline hygiene water bottle

November 8, 2014 by tejvan

A review of ‘Lifeline performance hygiene plus membrane waterbottle‘ – well quite a mouthful of a product title to start with. Doesn’t exactly slip off the tongue.

Firstly, it looks quite good, even if it does remind me of some bottle you may find in a hospital with all those clear labels to write your name and blood type on. It is well designed and looks good on the Trek Madone, less so on the winter training hack.

Old marginal gain hill climbing habits die hard. The first thing I did was to put it on the weighing scales because it felt heavier than your typical plastic water bottle. It is of no consequence, but for the record it weighs 125 grams; that’s 40grams more than your standard 750ml bottle.

But no one (I hope) buys a waterbottle on weight – not even me.

Bacteriostatic glass like inner surface

One reason for the extra weight is the ‘bacteriostatic glass-like inner surface‘ again, another suitably impressive sounding title. The good news is that this inner surface does seem to give a noticeable performance feature – the bottle tastes less like plastic – more like drinking out of a glass cup. For those who get tired of retained odour and taste in plastic bottles, this is quite a notable feature. Definitely a strong selling point.

Adjustable cap

Another feature of the bottle is that you can adjust the cap to alter the water flow. In other words, either off or on – I never needed anything in between. I’m not quite sure of the point of this. The problem is that to open the cap you need two hands. When you’re cycling this gets a bit tiresome, especially if you have thick winter gloves on. After a few times of opening and closing I got fed up and just left it open. The good news is that if you leave it open, I didn’t notice any water jump out. But, if no water jumps out, why close it?

KTM Strada 1000 Review

January 7, 2017November 8, 2014 by tejvan

KTM are better known as an Austrian motorbike manufacturer. They have been producing cycles abroad for quite a few years, but are now trying to crack the competitive British market. I took this for a test ride and was impressed at the value for money (£899) for a sub £1,000 road bike. It comes within that popular price bracket which makes it compatible with the ‘Cycle to Work Scheme’ potentially offering big tax discounts for UK workers (as long as company is signed up)

The bike is based on a 6061 Aluminium frame and carbon fork. The aluminium frame is well built and takes corners well avoiding any under or over steer. It is well balanced and a good build for a first time road biker. The compact groupset give a good gear range, and the bike overall gives a solid road bike feel. There will be no problem in using this for long sportives and even first road races. A carbon fork is these days a real must for a bike sub £1,000. Generally, they add a lot to the riding experience. This feels a good quality carbon fork, which helps absorb shocks in the road and give a more comfortable ride experience.

The mixture of Shimano Tiagra and Shimano 105 make very smooth gear changing. I always find Shimano Tiagra / 105 to be a big step up from the (Sora) level below.

I’m not a big fan of black, but the black and orange trimming is pretty distinctive and overall they’ve done a good job. To keep costs low, there is only one colour choice. To get a different colour you would need to buy a different model. The Strada 2000, with better groupset is just another £200.

Groupset – Shimano Tiagra, with 105 shifters
Tyres – Conti Ultra Sport 23-622 folding
Compact gears 50-34. Rear cassette 12-25. Triple chainring option available.
Weight – 9.1Kg
Sizes from 46 to 62cm

Not the lightest at 9.1Kg, but it still felt fairly nimble, and is fairly average for this price rang

The Selle Italia X1 Man saddle is a good addition, and there are no really weak parts on the bike, which make you want to upgrade straight-away. The best thing about this bike is once you’ve bought, you’re pretty much up and away.

One downside of the bike is that it’s only for sale in limited places. It’s a good bike, but given level of competition at this price range, it’s not worth travelling a long way to buy. It holds its own in the important sub £1,000 price bracket, but more established names like the Focus Cayo or a Trek 1.2 are hard to beat.

Smooth integration of carbon fork and aluminium frame.

nice lines. Good job with paintwork

Tiagra brakes OK, but, there are stronger ones out there. One of the more underpowered aspects of the bike.

No internal cabling

Ritchely stem and handlebar

Selle Italia saddle

Tiagra compact chainset

105 rear derailleur.

Don’t be put off my unknown name. The bike rides well, and it comes equipped with a competitive groupset and nice features.

Thanks to J.D. Cycles of Ilkley for test ride.

Updated bike specification for 2015

Frame KTM Strada 2000 R:1302 TB
Alloy Frame 6061 TB
Colour White (Black+Red)
Size (cm) 46-49-52-55-57-59
Fork KTM F-5 Carbon Road Fork
Carbon Monocoque Design
Alloy Steerer
Headset Ritchey Comp Logic Zero Drop-In RR
Stem Ritchey OE-6°
Bars Ritchey Comp Road
Brakes Shimano Tiagra 4600
Shifters Shimano Tiagra 4600
Rear Derailleur Shimano Tiagra 4601
Front Derailleur Shimano Tiagra 4600 (Compact)
Shimano Tiagra 4603 (Triple)
Crankset Shimano Tiagra 4650 50-34 Compact
Shimano Tiagra 4603 50-39-30
Bottom Bracket Shimano BBR51-Unit BSA
Shimano Cassette Shimano Tiagra 4600 12-28 (Compact)
Shimano Tiagra 4600 12-28 (Triple)
Wheelset Shimano WH-R501
Front Hub Shimano 100/5 QR
Rear Hub Shimano 135/5 QR
Tyres Continental Ultra Sport 23-622 Folding
Saddle Selle Italia X1 Flow
Seatpost Ritchey OE 300/27.2
Weight 9.6kg

LifeLine Track Pump Review

November 22, 2015November 6, 2014 by tejvan

I received a Lifeline Professional Track pump for review.

I have had a couple of track pumps over the year. Overall, this is very good so far.

It looks impressive and is well designed, with a smooth wooden handle to finish it off. The air hose fits neatly by the side of the track pump when not in use – an improvement over my current pump where valve and hose are always swinging around.

It is relatively easy to use. The locking mechanism is pretty solid. To blow up tyres to 120psi is quite easy, with the nice big dial clearly showing the tyre pressure. There is a long stroke for quick inflation.

The one thing that took a bit of getting used to is that the Presta valve cap only needs to go lightly on the end of a valve. With my old one you push it much further other the valve tip. It seems to go on only a small part of the valve tip to inflate. You don’t have to push it far over the end.

A good feature I haven’t had before, is a release button to reduce any excess tyre pressure. Useful for when racing, and you are trying to get the exact PSI.

Taking the valve off, is always the tricky part of a track pump. Be careful of the metal lever – it really snaps out of position. I can’t help but loose some air when taking it off. But, that’s the case with every track pump I’ve used.

In praise of slow cycling

November 5, 2014 by tejvan

I was looking through my blog for posts of the past two months. It has been all about racing up hills or reviews of light-weight (and expensive) components. A very small niche of a sub branch of racing cycling. (Apologies if you have got bored of blog posts about weighing saddles and racing up steep hills). But, as well as being a racing cyclist, I’m also a commuter and cycle into Oxford every day.

The curious thing is that the more I’ve got into racing, the slower I’ve got on the commute into town. When I didn’t do proper races, I remember racing to and from work. It was all about speed. I think I may even have timed my commute home, and tried to beat my personal bests. – (A timetriallist in the making, if ever there was) But, as I’ve got more into racing, I’ve slowed down when cycling into town. I’ve not sure whether this is me getting older, needing more recovery time or just a different attitude.

I suppose it is a combination of factors, including:

With racing at the weekend, I don’t have any smouldering competitiveness or fresh legs during the week. If you can ride at 30mph on a dual carriageway on a Sunday morning the desire for racing down Cowley road on Monday morning soon dissipates.
Slow recovery rides are good for you. As I mentioned in previous post, I used to do recovery rides at 18mph, now I do them at 14mph. To get a real recovery ride, you need to really go properly slow – either full on hill intervals or proper recovery is the motto today.
Patience is a virtue which is surprisingly enjoyable. In the past, when I got in any mode of transport, it was always a race against time. As a consequence, it was very easy to become frustrated at having to wait, getting held up or crawling along due to congestion. With this mindset of speed, you start to look for short cuts, the quick overtake, the dash through traffic. But, if you change your approach and try to enjoy the journey, it’s less stressful; you don’t feel guilty for standing still waiting for traffic to move. You just wait your turn.

With all the evangelical fervour of a converted sinner. I now get incredibly frustrated when motorists are similar impatient to overtake cyclists in dangerous manoeuvres – you always want to preach to the unconverted to tell them – if they could happily wait for the odd 10 seconds, it really doesn’t have to ruin their day. Take it easy, wait 10 seconds – and everyone’s happy.

Slow Cycling is good for you

So slow cycling is good for you. It makes you more considerate road user, but more importantly if you have a little more patience – you will enjoy the experience a lot more – if you give yourself an extra few minutes to get anywhere, you don’t have to squeeze through gaps which are really not advisable.

Recovery rides

November 1, 2016November 4, 2014 by tejvan

I used to do recovery rides at 18 mph, I now seem to do them at 14-15mph – is this a sign of progress? I’m not sure, but probably is. Earlier this year, my recovery rides got as low as 11mph, a combination of NY traffic lights every 50m and the American heat.

The basic principle of recovery rides is to make sure your muscles do actually recover from the micro tears that you subjected them to in harder rides the day before. Hard training only works, if there is sufficient recovery afterwards. The temptation for the over-enthusiastic rider is to ride hard every day and never allow the super-compensation to occur. Using a power meter for the first time this year was of interest. One thing that stood out is that if you want to get a higher power figure, you needed a good period of recovery. It was after this 2-3 days of recovery that you saw higher power figures. Bashing yourself everyday gives a plateau at best. It reminded me of the Obree Way – Obree used to train incredibly hard and then wait 3-5 days to train again. It seemed ridiculously minimalist training and I thought I’d never want to train once or twice a week, but I can understand why it worked now.

How hard to do recovery rides?

I don’t particularly like wearing heart rate monitors, so only do when necessary. On a low intensity recovery ride, 60% of maximum heart rate is a rough guide to avoid going too hard. For me, this is often coming back at an average speed of around 15mph. I do recovery rides purely on feel, and don’t really look at a computer. It is an effort, where you could engage in light conversation without getting out of breath. In terms of power, they tend to be in the range of 100-200 watts. (with a rough threshold one hour power of around 320 watts)

Are recovery rides better than sitting on the couch?

Sometimes it’s good to have a complete day off the bike, if only for the mental and psychological break. But, generally, low intensity recovery rides can be better than doing nothing. Gordon Wright felt that these rides were of substantial benefit.

Firstly low intensity rides help a good blood circulation to the legs to aid in recovering the muscles.
Low intensity rides help prevent the muscles closing down and really going into rest mode. This means that your next training session will be more profitable. (This principle is why Grand tour riders can go out for up to 3 hours on their ‘rest’ day.
Aerobic conditioning. If you are an endurance athlete, any small improvement in base aerobic fitness can help general base fitness. As a very rough rule of thumb, the pyramid principle suggests most training should be done at a low intensity. Smaller quantities at the highest intensity. If you are a time pressed athlete, you could ditch some of the low intensity rides and focus on the intervals, but if you have the time, low intensity can help. I see it as the Yin and Yang approach. On the one hand, really intense intervals which stretch the body out of its comfort zone and limits – to act as a balance, steady low intensity riding.

Lezyne L-Caddy Saddle bag – review

November 1, 2014 by tejvan

I bought a Lezyne saddle bag recently to replace an Altura Saddle bag that had worn away.

Firstly, it’s a relief to be reviewing a proper cycling product. i.e. reasonably priced, of interest to most cycle users and bought for it utility and not because it weighs less than 50 grams. When buying this, no weighing scales involved – just a mater of whether it does the job or not. lezyne-saddle-bag

Simple design, fairly sturdy. Looks good on the bike.

There is the main compartment and a second layer underneath. In this lower layer, I put one inner tube and a multi-tool. It would be a good place to carry a mobile phone as it would get quite a bit of protection from rain and it would fit the thin compartment quite well.

One thing with a saddle bag is that I’ve often had multi-tools get wet and rust. This is because the saddle bag can pick up spray on long rides. I’ve started putting multi-tools in plastic bags to help protect against this. Early testing suggests that the neoprene covering on the back and bottom helps to keep spray out. I haven’t been on long 4 hour wet rides yet. But, given the qualities of neoprene I’m expecting an improvement.

lezyne-inside-saddle-bag

Inside there are three pockets. The $ pocket takes up a bit of space, but, they are useful for keeping things a bit tidier and easier to find. Also, I once punctured both spare inner tubes with a sharp multi-tool, leaving me stranded, so it is good to keep tyre levers and inner tubes separate.

AX lightness saddle

November 22, 2015October 30, 2014 by tejvan

In the quest for marginal gains on the hill climb bike, AX lightness products are always reassuringly expensive. It is a bit of specialist market, and unless you have a good reason to save 20-30grams, you might find a better way to spend your money on bicycle equipment ( or even, dare I suggest, spending money on things not bicycle related…)

The AX Lightness sprint saddle was the lightest saddle I could find. It also looks great. I’ve been riding the sprint version for the past couple of weeks. Mostly hill climb training, but also some longer endurance riding (3 hours plus).

AX Lightness – Sprint Saddle

AX lightness saddle on Trek Emonda hill climb bike

The Sprint Saddle has a very low weight at 69 grams. I haven’t seen a lighter saddle. The Tune Concorde comes close at 73 grams, but it is more awkward to fit. A few years ago, I had to send mine back because I couldn’t attach it to my bike.

2014 season

October 29, 2014October 28, 2014 by tejvan

The 2014 season didn’t make the most auspicious start. Getting knocked off the bike at 30mph by a kamikaze Portuguese dog. It was a shame because cycling in the Algarve was fantastic apart from the crazy dogs. It gave a taste for long European climbs, something I’d like to do more of sometime.

From early March until late October, I’ve been racing fairly consistently, though the change from doing 100 mile time trials to hill climbs is as good as rest in a way.

Early season classics

Stouts Hill - Rich Lewton — Stouts Hill – Photo: Rich Lewton

For me the highlight of the TT season are the early season hilly classics. I did the Circuit of Ingleborough for the first time and other hilly races like Circuit of the Dales. A highlight of season was doing the Bristol South Megahilly for the first time. This was a dream course for a hill climber – five long climbs of around 10%. Over 1,100m of climbing in less than 28 miles.

Trek Emonda – Review

January 7, 2017October 28, 2014 by tejvan

I received a loan of a Trek Emonda SLR 9 for the last week of the hill climb season, where I finished 4th in national hill climb on Pea Royd Lane.

For 2015 I bought a Trek Emonda SLR, and used all year. Photos of that Trek Emonda are here

It’s a good bike.

2014 Emonda

For the national championship I customised the Trek Emonda to get the weight down from 6.4kg to 5.1kg. Details of the hill climb bike are below. This is a general review of the Trek Emonda.

The Emonda is designed for those most interested in climbing. The frame is based on the OCLV series carbon used in the Madone series – which has been Trek’s flagship model for quite a few year. For the Emonda, Trek have sought to reduce weight wherever possible, whilst retaining the strength and rigidity of the frame.

One possible drawback of the Trek range is that there are now basically three different models The Emonda for low weight, the Madone for aerodynamics and the Domane for comfort (i.e Sportives). It may leave you thinking – well, I’d actually like one which combines all three benefits. Unless you’re sponsored by a pro UCI team, you can’t have the luxury of more than one bike. But, the differences between the three bikes are not huge. It’s not as if the Madone is heavy or the Emonda has poor aerodynamics. But, it is another choice you’ll have to make. For many road riders, choosing between a Madone and Emonda will be a hard choice – especially if you ride in UCI events and you’re waiting to see if the UCI reduce the 6.7kg weight limit. The Emonda will really come into it’s own if the UCI reduce the low weight limit below 6.0kg. Until then you’re probably better off with a Madone, where better aerodynamics will make a bigger difference to improvement and speed.Fortunately, for myself, it is a no brainer to pick the Emonda as my new bike. I’m a hill climb specialist and self-confessed weight-weenie. It’s all about knocking off grams. If you want the lightest bike, the Emonda OCLV 700 series frame is the ideal starting point. It has the lowest weight of any production bike. (690grams for 56cm model)

Emonda Range

The top of the range Emonda is the SLR 10. This is a real show-off bike, with ridiculously light and expensive components (like a Tune saddle, Tune wheelset, SRAM RED 22 gruppo and Bontrager Speed Stop brakes. It means that the complete bike, comes in at a fantastically ridiculous weight of 4.6kg. It is also absurdly expensive at £11,000. But, is undoubtedly a smart bit of marketing by Trek- weight is very easy to measure variable – much easier than aerodynamics and strength. The eye catching low weight is excellent to mention in marketing, giving a glean to the whole Emonda range.
However, if you don’t fancy spending £11,000 on the new Emonda SLR 10. There are 17 other models to choose from. Starting at the Emonda S4 for £1,200 going up in increments of quality, lightness and price. You pay your money and you get a lighter bike.For example the Emonda SLR 6 is £4,300 which uses the same 700 series frame as the SLR 10, but has cheaper components such as Shimano Ultegra groupset. The whole bike still comes in at below the UCI limit of 6.6kg, with potential to reduce weight later. This is certainly a good starting point for a more affordable light weight bike.

Project One

Another advantage of the Emonda is that you can pick and choose combinations through Project One – if you already have light wheels you can save money there, and keep the cost down.

What’s it like to ride?

Firstly, the lightness is noticeable. On the smooth surface of Pea Royd Lane, it had fantastic acceleration.I’m used to riding the Madone (2010 model) which is no heavyweight, but the Emonda was a noticeable improvement. For me, that is a big plus.

The lower weight has not been sacrificed for any loss of strength and rigidity. Using a simple stress test, it’s hard to notice any lateral movement. Of course, rigidity is harder to measure than weight. But so far, I can Trek’s word for it that it is as strong.

Value for money

Bikes seem to be be getting more expensive as manufacturers find better ways to get us to part with cash. Still the Trek Emonda is reasonably priced compared to similar models.

Is it the right bike for you?

Certainly there is a great attraction in getting a super-light bike, it definitely makes it easier in the hills. But, bear in mind 0.5kg / 1kg weight saving is not that much, if you’re carrying around 20kg of surplus insulation. Also, bear in mind that aerodynamics can make a bigger difference to your speed. When doing flattish time trials – you learn it’s all about aerodynamics, weight doesn’t really come into it. Aerodynamics is harder to measure than a simple 4.6kg weight value, but in a solo attack, the Madone will be a better choice.

In my case, the Emonda is top of my wish list. It ticks all the boxes in what I need from a bike. I definitely want to get one, the problem is that it’s already been an expensive year with a new TT bike. After the national hill climb, my comment was that the Emonda is irritatingly good. Alas, there’s always a new bike to buy!

Trek Emonda Hill climb bike

Firstly, thanks to Beeline bikes Oxford for helping me get loan of bike and setting it up.

I have been riding a Trek Madone (at 2013 hill climb champs, it weighed about 6.0kg). But, with the new Emonda coming out this summer, I wanted to try and get the new specialist climbing bike for the upcoming national championship.

Is the season over yet?

October 27, 2014 by tejvan

I started racing back in early March. Banbury Star hard-riders if I remember correctly. Since March it’s been a pretty steady stream of races from 10 mile TT, to 100 miles and finally the icing on the cake – the hill climb season.

The day after the national championship would be a good chance to take a well earned rest. But when it’s 16 degrees and sunny in Autumn, you feel like taking your chance and riding the bike – there won’t be too many days like this, before the clocks go back.

Without really thinking, I ended up the Chilterns, the well known routes of intense hill efforts for the past 8 weeks. I couldn’t resist having a little dig on Kop hill. Old habits die hard. When I see a hill going up, I almost go on autopilot and start a good effort.

But, at the same time, the heart is not in it. Why kill yourself when there’s nothing to be gained? It was an interesting experience to do a half-hearted interval. You do really have to be super-motivated to do good quality intervals – there’s no point dilly dallying in a half way house. With the last interval of the year fading into indifference, it was time to switch mode and remember what it’s like to ride the bike for fun.

It’s great to have the freedom of cycling for three hours without worrying about form, freshness and an upcoming race. The past two months seem to have been either a slow steady recovery ride (averaging a painfully slow 14mph) or accelerating up hills with close to maximum intensity. There hasn’t been very much in between. The last time I rode at threshold or ‘sweatspot’ was a long time ago. I’m not complaining, I love the hill climb season more than anything. But even the most ardent hill climber knows you can have too much of a good thing…

Everything has it’s season and the next three months will be about getting the miles in – as long as the weather isn’t too awful and I haven’t got something better to do. Winter is a good time to prioritise things other than cycling (like earning some money to pay for all the bikes you bought last year, and need to buy this year). I will be making a few foreign trips, with or without the bike.

In fact, this week is a stark reminder of how much discipline I put into training in the past few weeks.

Related

Winter training