Keystone Cycling

Rides and races have been added for the 2017.  More will be added as the details become available.  

I have also point out those charity rides that have a minimum fundraising amounts.

This past weekend I went out for a 60 mile ride.  It was hot (90 F), humid and windy.  I have ridden this route many times so I knew about 2-1/2 hrs (45 miles) I was feeling overly fatigued from the wind and heat.  I check my heart rate and power to see if the data would indicate anything.  I was averaging about 15-20 bpm higher for a given power zone and an elevated heart rate is a sign of dehydration.  Unfortunately there were no places to refill my water bottles so I just road easy the rest of the way home making sure that I didn’t go in or above my zone 4 heart rate (150 bpm).

I weighed myself when I got home and had lost 5.5 lbs. or 3.5% of my body weight.   An acceptable percentage water loss amount is no more than 2%

Lessons learned:

While this may seem obvious but if your ride is longer than 2 hours.  Always double check your route and make sure there are places (cafe, gas station, convenience store) where you can pick up food and water if needed.

Thanks for reading,

Why is it that many cyclist have extra wheels hanging around their workshop?

Here are a few reasons:

You are heading out for a ride however you have a flat tire.  It just takes seconds to replace a wheel verse minutes to change a tire.  

You broken a spoke, bend a rim, or other wheel issue.  It will take days or weeks to get new parts or repaired at the local shop.  A spare wheel will allow you to continue to ride until your wheel is repaired or replaced.

You race and need/want to have neural support wheels.

Rides and races have been added for the 2016.  More will be added as the details become available.  

Happy new years!  Winter is a good time to make replace worn out parts and make upgrades. Below are a list winter projects for both my road and cross bikes:

New wheels for cross bike:

Was having issues with my freehub and had a pair of Bitex hubs laying around so decided to build up a new wheelset.  I went with   Sapim laser spokes, Alloy nipples and Kinlin rims.  I not only did I go wider (28mm outer width) but tubeless.  I am not running them as tubeless at the moment since I didn’t feel comfortable experimenting in the winter where most of my rides are cold and dark. I’ll most likely switch over to tubeless in the spring.

Rebuild rear back up wheel for cross bike:

Towards the end of the year my freehub has slowly to not freewheel as smoothly.  I clean and re-lubed the freehub pawls and seals which was only a temporary improvement.  After a few rides it would start to progressively get worse.  After the third time I decided it was time to either replace the freehub or trash the hub. The hub had only 10k miles on it which is very low in my opinion so I was hesitant about spending money replacing the freehub that failed so quickly.  I could not find a replacement freehub anywhere so the choice was made for me.  I scrapped the Powerway hub and rebuilt the wheel with one from Fastace.  While Powerway or Fastace may not be household names, these are large OEM manufactures from Taiwan who most of the time have another company’s names on their hubs.

1x10 for cross bike:

I have simplified things by going with a single chainring.  I had been running 39x48 chainrings with a 12-25 cassette.  I switched to a 44 narrow wide chainring and 11-28 cassette.  My gear inches on my old set-up was 41.6 - 106.8 and now it’s 41.9 - 106.8.   So far it’s been nothing but positive.  I have dropped a few grams, less maintenance, less that can go wrong.  I don’t do much cross but if I feel the need to go lower for those muddy or hilly courses I will just swap out the 44 chainring for a 40.

Gator i-Link housing for road bike: 

Over the past year I have replaced both my road and cyclocross shoes and have had a heck of time finding a good pair of wide shoes to fit my “Fred Flintstone” feet.  

Here is some background about me and what I was looking for : I wear a size 8 width E, I use Superfeet orthotics for my high arch, and I have a high instep.   I like stiff, light shoes, with good ventilation, that have a splash of color or at least color options other than all black. I also think that all shoes should have some reflective accents. 

It took many months or research and lots of calls and visits to almost every local bike shops and lots of returns.  All of this was time and my own out of pocket cost as I was not paid or reimbursed for any of the shoes.

Below are the manufactures that I tested listed in alphabetically.   All shoes were worn for serval hours for multiple days in my my living room before I every mounted a cleat on them.  Here is my option:

Bont : Model: A-2 wide These light and stiff shoes just hurt my little piggies. After the first ride of 10 miles my feet were numb and throbbing when I took off the shoes.  I did the heat mold process (a few times) to see of that would help the discomfort. While it did help a little as I really wanted them to work.  After one month and few hundred miles I could not deal with shoes that hurt my feet that much. They went on eBay for huge loss. 

Giro - Model: Gauge high volume (HV)I was bummed that Giro like some other brands only make there HV shoe in all black but I am not one to turn down a good deal as they were on sale.  As I squeezed my feet into them I double checked the box and the label in the shoes to make sure these were the correct size and the HV version. Be warned that there HV shoes fit like a standard shoes.  So back in the box and in the mail.

Lake : Model:  CX237 wideIf you have wide feet you have to try Lakes. No local bike store carried them unless I special order them. I love to support local shops but my local shop that could order Lakes’s were going work with with returning them if they did not fit and that was to big of risk. These were the first road shoes after many moths that just fit.  There is a lot to like here and I have to give Lake props for having a very diverse line of shoes and colors.  The CX237 have two BOA laces great for me.  I like my forefoot a little loose and my ankle area tighter. These shoes however come with first generation BOA laces which mean you can only tighten the shoes, If you want to loosen them you have to pull the button up which release the entire mechanism.  I like having the ability to back off a click or two if needed.  I would have kept them had I not found the Specialized Audax at about the same time. 

Mavic : Model:  Rush Maxi Mavic’s Maxi models have nice wide last.  The Rush have a great rubber sole that was plastic and slippery and have good forefoot flex which is great for when you have to walk.  They come in two colors and were reasonable priced.   These are MTB shoes I am still wearing a year later and they have held up well.  I wish they had stiffer sole.  Mavic’s Maxi last is only available is three of there more than two dozen models.  Currently one MTB and two road models.  If they had a stiffer Maxi MTB shoe available I would definitely upgrade.

Shimano : Model R260, R320, XC61 wideAnother brand that for a long time has been offered wide and narrow shoes at multiple price points.  I know that they are black but if you look at them closely they have dark gray, blue and red accents.  I purchased the R260′s online and they were great shoes however I had one issues.  The rivet on the side where the buckle mounts to the shoe lines up with a nerve on my foot. Once I have engaged the bucket even with light pressure it hurt my foot.  I tried two other models R320 and XC61 which confirmed that Shimano’s shoes are consistent and it’s just a problem for me.  I would try them again as they have recently changed the buckle design. If the new design results in moving the rivet location by a few mm then I am golden.

Specialized : Model: AudaxSome may not like the big “S”  but they make some nice accessories.  There shoes have been top notch and offer narrow and wide in a variety of models, colors and price points.  I was able to order the Audax from my local shop a nice plus.  Like the Lakes they just fit!  But what gave them the edge over the Lakes was they have the second generation BOA dial.  They also have  better heal pad (replaceable on both shoes) and slightly better price too.  Overall the best road shoes I have ever owned. 

Other:

Sidi - Mega I found that Sidi really does a disservice to cyclist with wide feet.  They have a very limited models and colors. For a long time they have offered just one model in all black and was a medium of the line shoes.  Lot’s of local shops and websites carry Sidi and while there website says that they carry the Mega as small as a 40, I was not able to find anyone who could get them any smaller than 42.  So I couldn’t even get a pair to try them on.  Sidi are know for there excellent fit and expensive price tag.  In my research I found that many companies have caught and or passed them on price, quality and innovation.

Here is my update after 1 year months and 5000+ miles riding on wider rims. Here is my feedback.

Baseline:  Older wheelset  used for 5 years

Rims:  Sun Venus

Spokes: Sapim DB

Num of spokes: 24 Font radial laced 28 Rear 2 cross both sides

Hubs: Bitex

Nipples: Aluminum 

Tires: 23 mm high end Continental and Vredestein

Pressure: 100psi

Weight: 1488

New wider rim wheelset:

Rims: Kinlin XC279

Spokes: Sapim CX-Ray

Num of spokes: 20 Font radial laced 24 Rear 2 cross both sides

Hubs: Bitex

Nipples: Aluminum

Tires: 23mm high end Continental and Michelin 

Pressure: 90 psi

Weight: 1490

Terrain:  Roads in the greater Philadelphia area.

So what there a difference:

The new wheelset is 2 grams heavier.

The new rims are 4mm wider.

The same tire measures 1-1.5mm wider on the new wider rims

The wheels feel smoother but I think that’s from being able to run lower pressure.

Better cornering grip.

More aerodynamic but that is because the new wheelset has 8 less spokes and the spokes are bladed.  

I have really enjoyed the wider rim wheelset this past year. I had the opportunity to swap out and ride on my older wheels during the year and I would immediately notice how much soother the ride ride felt but more importantly how much better the wider rims cornered.  I believe it all has to do with the larger contact patch and the profile of the tire. (I discussed this in my earlier article)

Everything you hear about training is related to “Watts” and to get this number you need to use a power meter.  As prices come down more people are buying them, but if your not a racer why would anyone use one?  The marking hype is with a power meter you will train smarter and therefore become faster!  I will tell you from experience that there is a lot data that is collected and the biggest hurtle is not how to use a power meter but what does this data mean and what do I with all this data.  For me and most non-racers most of the data is over kill.  I rarely if ever look at my power when I am on a ride but I do download the data and review it time to time.   So why do you use one and why would you as a coach recommend one to anyone?  I see two key reasons why a power meter would be useful to the non-racer.   

Testing:  If you want answer the question. “I have done X and has that made an improving or not?”  Where X could be a change in diet, a new workout plan, new aero position, etc.  To test your hypothesis you will first need to establish your baseline.  The most common number to measure against is called the functional threshold power (FTP) and there are different protocols for testing your FTP.   I will not go into the all the methods in in this article but you should read up on this and pick one that works best for your discipline and overall goals.  Whatever method you choose you will need to use the same method and conditions to re-test after a set period. This will allow you to answer your question. 

Example: I am going to follow a new 8 week workout program my coach has designed for me and that will improve my 25 mile time trial PR.  At the start test to calculate your FTP.  At week 4 re-test.  Has your FTP gone up? Yes great!  If not why not.  Week 8 re-test again.  If there is no improvement or your number goes down what you have to realize is the program is not work for you.

Truth: A power meter will keep you honest.  If you want answer the question. “That was a really hard ride?”  A power meter just like an activity tracker is going to provide you with the data to prove this.  It will also let you quantify just how much harder was the ride.  

I have updated the 2015 rides calendar.  Check back in a few weeks as more will be added as the details become available.  

False:   I have always heard that you should stop weight lifting legs during the cycling season.  This year I decided to do a experiments by continue to lift legs throughout the cycling season to see if it would help, hurt, or make no difference.  I used my normalized power numbers to measuring my results from previous years.

There has been a lot of hype this past year that wider rims are “better”.  All of the benefits stems from the change of the tire’s profile on a wide rim.  A wider rim creates a “U” shape rather than a light bulb.  

Below are the claimed benefits.

More aerodynamic - The airflow is smoother transition from the tire to the rim resulting in less drag. 

Ride smoother - The load of the sidewalls is greatly reduced allowing you to run lower 5-15 psi in your tires without getting a pinch flat.

Better cornering - The sidewalls will defect less allowing for better grip while cornering.