Zwift. Is it any good ? Should I try it ?

Q. Zwift any good ?
A. Yes and No.

First of all let me just say that I would recommend you use a power meter or smart trainer for these apps. If you think your Fluid 2 alone is good enough then have a look at this video.

I'll come clean right away and tell you I have used Trainerroad for many years and for 'Training' it is fantastic. The User Interface has everything you need for specific workouts and the training plans are really well thought out, it's very very good indeed !

      Stick some music on, follow the graph and keep that wee white ball where it should be. Simples !


So, that was Trainerroad and this blog is about Zwift but I just wanted to give you a bit of background for what is to come next.

Zwift in workout mode just isn't as good as Trainerroad, There i've said it Trainerroad blows it out of the water.

                                                             Too much useless info ?

The above shot shows a virtual cycle around a virtual island, there is a schedule down the left so you can see what's to come in the workout. The top middle shows some useful info but NOT your average power for the lap. The 'wee white ball' does this well on Trainerroad. The bar on the right is useful in another aspect of Zwift but completely superfluous in workout mode. The HR line and graph at the bottom are just stupid !

So although you will hopefully get your workout done, the user interface needs a complete overhaul.

Zwift for group riding?  I hear you ask.

Yes, Yes YES.


The various group rides and races are brilliant !
This is what Zwift was made for. Have a look at Zwift  Events and you will see a whole host of rides, usually there will be a description of the event PLEASE read this and follow the instructions :)

                                       Me on one of  the MGCC Winter Rides

If you just want to get the lie of the land then may I suggest the ZZRC sub 2 ride or if you have decent ability the sub 3 ride. The 2 and three refer to Watts per Kg. If you don't know then stick to the sub 2 for now and go back through my blog posts.

                                   The very interesting WBR Buffalo Herd Ride

For races there will quite often be A to D categories based on your FTP Watts/Kg. Some events have a one lap warm up where you must stay with the leader followed by a two lap race. Others are handicapped in such a way as D'd start first followed 2 mins later by C's and so on look for the MGCC ( in the winter ) for these ones. Another good one was with WBR Buffalo Herd ride on a Saturday where the leader messages various drills to do during the ride.

So is Zwift any good ? Yes and No :)

Homemade Sealant Check Time

I have been making my own tubeless tyre sealant this year. The recipe is:

1pt Liquid Latex - get mine from Hobbycraft
1pt Slime - the kind for car tyres
1pt Antifreeze - I use the new friendlier MPG type
2pts Water - you get this stuff from your tap !

I last filled the FANTASTIC S-Works Fast Trak tyres at the end of June. its now 4 months later and time for a look.

Front tyre, seems only the green colour from the slime is left and it's rather thin.
Lets get rid of it and add a fresh batch.

I just sooked it up with a syringe, new batch already made up and 60ml added.

Sorted.

The rear tyre was quite dry, with a thin skin on the tyre.

60ml fired in here too. I then pump up with a normal track pump. You here the tyre 'crack' when it seats. I pump up to 50 psi just to make sure, go for a wee ride about the garden and leave overnight. When ready to ride I lower the pressure to 27 psi and away we go...

Homemade Sealant Check Time

I have been making my own tubeless tyre sealant this year. The recipe is:

1pt Liquid Silicon - get mine from Hobbycraft
1pt Slime - the kind for car tyres
1pt Antifreeze - I use the new friendlier MPG type
2pts Water - you get this stuff from your tap !

I last filled the FANTASTIC S-Works Fast Trak tyres at the end of June. its now 4 months later and time for a look.

Front tyre, seems only the green colour from the slime is left and it's rather thin.
Lets get rid of it and add a fresh batch.

I just sooked it up with a syringe, new batch already made up and 60ml added.

Sorted.

The rear tyre was quite dry, with a thin skin on the tyre.

60ml fired in here too. I then pump up with a normal track pump. You here the tyre 'crack' when it seats. I pump up to 50 psi just to make sure, go for a wee ride about the garden and leave overnight. When ready to ride I lower the pressure to 27 psi and away we go...

Headset or Steerer Tube From Straight To Tapered Conversion.

All is not lost. If you have a lovely set of old forks and have acquired a new frame with a tapered head tube all may not be lost.

Now lets forget for the moment that the steerer tube may already have been cut too short for the new frame, because we are going 'glass half full' here OK :)

Well the company Hope do a converter for your race to sit on which takes the 1 1/8th crown to a 1 1/2.

However, I discovered a better solution.

First though I need to explain what I have done to the headtube on the bike. This was actually a straight 1 1/8th top and bottom but I converted the bottom to take a future tapered fork !

I used the Cane Creek 40 series converter called EC 44/40.

Now, that's what you get in the pack. headtube race, bearing and crown race.

On one set of 1 1/8th forks I installed the Hope converter and Cane Creek crown race.

When I installed the headtube race it was 3mm proud of the headtube due to the internal space being 9mm and there being 12mm on the cup. I removed it. I took it to a professional called Davie who removed the excess with a high tech machine while I watched in amazement !

He even out a champ-fer on it !

Anyhoo, back to the story. I actually found a better solution when looking for a race for another set of forks I found that Cane Creek do a converter/race in one for the 40 series headsets !

I duly got hold of one and fitted it to the lovely Reba SL forks.

Now we have a set of rigid carbon forks which will allow a 29er wheel, and also the Reba suspension forks in a tapered style to use on the 26er hard tail.

 More changes are coming, but lets have some fun on what we have first.

And So Began The Upgrading and Swapping Of Components

After running the 1x11 for a while I realized just how good it was. The Shimano XT M8000 kit is nice to use with very positive feedback from the shifter and mech. It also made the whole bike over 400g lighter, and there's only one shifter to worry about which in turn makes for a tidier cockpit.

I then set to work on other bikes.

The Rockstar

Now that's a 30t on the front, I have settled on a 32t at the moment but may change to a 30t for tough races.

The Prophet also got it.

I had now discovered that shimano did an 11-46 ( my original before the One-Up was 11-42 ) So I chose the 11-46 for the Prophet. 

However, I'm not bloody made of money so the full sussers got the 1x11 at the expense of the poor 'Test Model' the Cube, which went back to 2x10 :)

Now you can probably see something else has changed by this picture, that will be the subject of my next post.

Upgrading Mountain Bikes to 1x11

First of all let me tell you that upgrading to Shimano M8000 XT 1x11 is easy and should not pose any problems as long as you have a half decent bike tool kit.

I have built up a collection of tools over the years some have become obsolete and new ones have appeared.

I was quite fortunate as all my bikes have an BSA 68-73mm threaded bottom bracket.

I first started on a Cube LTD Race, 26er from around 2007. This had a Shimano triple. I bought all necessary upgrade kit from Evans Cycles.

When finished the bike was about 500g lighter ! I added some Absolute Black chainrings to my collection at this stage also.

Now the kits came with an 11-42 cassette, but I wanted more range so I purchased the One Up Shark which gave me 11-50 !! I also could increase the chainring to 34t or even 36t.

Above pic is not the finished article, this was a start there were more developments later on so stay tuned.

Flurry Of Activity and a Triathlon, Modifications and Mountain Biking.

Seems ages ago now but on 19th March 2016 I completed a Wee Triathlon. It was actually called 'The Wee Triathlon'.
I chose this one because, well I can't really swim ! Last October I got into the pool and could swim only 20m before I had to stop for a rest. This Triathlon had a 400m pool swim which I thought I might be able to manage. During training I managed to get my time down from 25 minutes to 16 minutes. During the Triathlon I did it in 12 minutes.

My finishing times were as follows

I'm happy I managed the swim without panicking/drowning. I also enjoyed the cycle and run, which were quite hilly.

I also got a new bike and did a lot of work on it and the other bikes since I had two weeks off work.

First changed rims on new bike and went Tubeless

Then serviced the Reba forks

Took the both the new bike and the Cube with the serviced forks out on a 48 Km ride with various off-road terrain types. The 26er hardtail Cube was better on steep uphills ( it's lighter ) but the 29er FS was a lot better on technical descents.

Overall they both did the cycle in exactly the same time !

We also took the 29er and a Cannondale Prophet 26er FS to a trail center and found them to be 'overall' about the same and as much fun as each other.

I my age, for anything really rough I'm going to use one of the FS bikes every time, for forestry roads with lots of climbs its the Cube.

Quick Start Guide To Turbo Training

Lets face it, turbo training is boring but it doesn't have to be. What follows is what you SHOULD do to make it work for you.

I'll start right away with what gear I think you should get because I know it works.

A decent fan.
Cycleops Fluid 2 Turbo Trainer
Some Sufferfest video's.

Next Stage

Garmin Edge 500 with HR Strap and the Speed Cadence Sensor
Swift or Trainerroad
ANT+ dongle for your PC ( Garmin or Suunto will work ).

Next Stage

A power meter. ( optional  but much better than speed ot virtual power)

Why the above suggestions and how to implement them.

Using a Turbo trainer in a cold garage isn't going to keep you motivated unless you are REALLY REALLY committed. Doing a structured workout based on heart rate on something like a Garmin Edge 500 will make it easier and you can keep a record of your progress.

Following a Sufferfest video and either using perceived effort or substituting your heart rate training zones can make it easier.

Now by easier I mean that you feel more motivated to do it, you can actually achieve a harder and or more rewarding workout !

The next stage would be using an on-line service such as Trainerroad or Zwift. This really is the next stage in both training and motivation, it's what I use. To this set up you can add a power meter for more accuracy.

Zwift is just coming out of beta and has just started a Workout mode which I will try this week. Zwift is a virtual world animation of both imaginary and now one real location. It has also now introduced some pre made workouts to do in those worlds. It's going to be 8 quid a month. Trainerroad can be used on its own or along with the Sufferfest videos and is 6 quid a month.

Trainerroad looks more scientific and just shows you a bar graph of what speed/power you should be doing. It is workout and training plan oriented and you can sync Sufferfest videos with corresponding workouts.

Now I will let you google both Trainerroad and Zwift to see which one you prefer.