As I have just upgraded my SRAM 11 speed Axis to Rival etap 12 speed I have some brand new service parts, if anyone is interested please drop me a pm/dm.
I can’t be 100% sure of my facts as I’m 61 but when I was very young, my Paternal Grandfather worked for a company that became Redland in the 60s. He was very proud that they developed the red asphalt for Buckingham Palace and they used or tested it their head office nr Groby, Leicester. Calling Tarmac would have been a dagger through his heart , obviously they the company were the arch enemy. Ironically many years later through several acquisitions Redland sites are today Tarmac owned.
I take my hat of to your for doing this. The event I'd love to conquer is the southern Chase the Sun, the problem I have is my disc issues make some days better than others. On good days I can put the effort in, bad days make even daily tasks difficult. Anywho, back to your question. If it was me I'd be keeping it as simple and consistent over the winter with the equipment I have. Presumably you're not going for any records, but have a daily mileage in mind with the main goal being to complete the event.
Curious to know what you did with the 11 speed groupset or did you only change the shifter and chain?
Just bought an ebike and loving it, an Orbea Vibe, as new, the previous owner had ridden it five times. I borrowed a mountain bike off a mate, with those massive balloon tyres, that was such hard work, this new bike is a breeze. I'm not in training for the Giro dItalia but enjoying every ride out
Usually my weekly mileage suffers in the winter and I’ve found it hard to be motivated in the garage. LEJOG is going to be three weeks of 50 miles a day average, max 75. I’ve never ridden more than 150 miles over three days. My fitness has improved by doing HIIT and yoga as well as cycling.
@Nelson ive just looked up the chase the sun ride, that’s tough, 205 miles in 17 hours is not something I can imagine achieving.
50 miles per day is conservative and very much achievable, we did that around that for 25 days in Japan fully loaded with an all up weight of 106 kgs. That was with lots of stops for eating in cafes and taking photographs, hopefully the weather will be as kind for you as it was for us. Possibly the worst days were those riding into headwinds a day of that was real energy sapping.
Yesterday, we stopped and sheltered from the showers a number of times on the way to Shaftesbury. No rain after noon, just climbing to the outskirts of the Mendips, nice cafe in Maiden Bradley for Scottish egg then the full length of the Wylye valley to Wilton. Nice ride, a tad stiff this morning.
Aspirational for sure. The 100 I did last weekend took me ~7hr 15mins. However, there were stops that cumulatively would have pushed me outside of the above cut off. It's taken me almost 2.5 years of daily physio,yoga and pilates to get back to doing this kinda mileage, and it's still not without its difficulties, both during and after. At the moment I can't commit to an event that far off, or even to a daily mileage due to the recovery I require. Just got to keep on doing what you can while you can.
We are thinking unsupported with hotels and meeting friends and family at regular intervals for laundry etc.
Good Review. Hayballs cycle shop is on the Churchfields Ind Est, in recent years it moved from a city centre location and took over part of the motorcycle dealer (Same family). My experience with the motorcycle shop service over many years has been poor and I havent used them since about 2010. I’ve found the staff to be unnecessarily surly and difficult to use, it’s not just me and as there is another m/c repair shop so thats who I use. A motorcycling friend bought a bicycle from them last year and told me it was a positive experience so when my preferred LBS didn’t have a stand pump that I wanted I tried Hayballs cycles. That was in January this year, the pump is a SKS Rennkompressor, it wasn’t cheap but I was shown that it was what they used in their workshop so I stumped up. I was disappointed at the weekend when the valve connector failed, I found the receipt and went in today expecting a challenging discussion. I was wrong, the guy who was serving could not have been more engaging and helpful, he gave me three options, replace, refund or repair, I chose replace with the same brand different model. This is exactly what should have happened and it was a positive experience. No idea if the m/c part of the shop has improved or not, but they will get another chance at some stage.
