On Di2 and EPS are those "stops" on the front mech or screws that adjust the range of motion of the servos? I can't see and electric motor having too much fun butting up against a hard stop on a regular basis...
Boardman SLR/9.2S Di2 or custom build
- Thread starter Cube1959
- Start date
Ok .. got the S.Works .. so far so good , got it last week , went out sunday and did 57 miles and again today just a short run of 17 miles .
The Di2 is fantastic , Sunday fingerless gloves , today full finger , havn't missed a gear .. Of course it's too early to say how good or bad it is , other than so far as you would expect no problems .. So here it is ..
The Di2 is fantastic , Sunday fingerless gloves , today full finger , havn't missed a gear .. Of course it's too early to say how good or bad it is , other than so far as you would expect no problems .. So here it is ..
Safety first.
Hed Jet6 + rather than Zipp 303 or 404.
The difference in weight really only has a negligible difference in performance but the difference in braking in the wet IS huge. The Jet + range is 25mm wide. As a point of reference, the older Jet range was the go to wheel for Tony Martin, World TT Champion.
Braking on carbon rims still isn't where it needs to be in the wet. You live where it rains. Function beats fashion. If you're heading off into Scotland I'd expect rain, especially up north - I've been there lots of times (training based around the YH at Carbisdale Castle) and the weather's always ****. Mavic have the newer Exalith braking surface on their deep clincher rims that apparently works very well. Don't know if it works better than good pads on an alloy rim though.
I had a big "whoa, oh f**k" moment in Wales 20 years ago that left me flying over the bars and taking out some roof tiles on a bungalow section of a pub (the front door was below road level) - and I'm still hurting from that one and that was on alloy rims. Braking is the key.
A second or two up hill Vs **** braking on the way down - fark that for a game of soldiers. I'd take reliable braking every day.
Now, if I was choosing a pair of hill climb wheels only (hill climb races with no emphasis on the slow ride back to the start area) then it'd be a different story - but that's not what you're after.
Hed Jet6 + rather than Zipp 303 or 404.
The difference in weight really only has a negligible difference in performance but the difference in braking in the wet IS huge. The Jet + range is 25mm wide. As a point of reference, the older Jet range was the go to wheel for Tony Martin, World TT Champion.
Braking on carbon rims still isn't where it needs to be in the wet. You live where it rains. Function beats fashion. If you're heading off into Scotland I'd expect rain, especially up north - I've been there lots of times (training based around the YH at Carbisdale Castle) and the weather's always ****. Mavic have the newer Exalith braking surface on their deep clincher rims that apparently works very well. Don't know if it works better than good pads on an alloy rim though.
I had a big "whoa, oh f**k" moment in Wales 20 years ago that left me flying over the bars and taking out some roof tiles on a bungalow section of a pub (the front door was below road level) - and I'm still hurting from that one and that was on alloy rims. Braking is the key.
A second or two up hill Vs **** braking on the way down - fark that for a game of soldiers. I'd take reliable braking every day.
Now, if I was choosing a pair of hill climb wheels only (hill climb races with no emphasis on the slow ride back to the start area) then it'd be a different story - but that's not what you're after.
I'm gonna offer up some sage advice. Some "I learned this the hard way" and "I wish I had this technology years ago when it really mattered" advice.
If you have enough money for a set of Zipp wheels, you have enough money for something far better for training and ultimately, performance:
A Power Meter.
If you have enough money for a set of Zipp wheels, you have enough money for something far better for training and ultimately, performance:
A Power Meter.
- They might seem complicated but it's all very easy. I use one - it must be easy.
- Combine one with a program like WKO+ and you have the ultimate training diary. Combine what REALLY happened with subjective feelings and you have a very powerful training tool.
- You can use one to provide near perfect pacing for an event of any length. I'm fat and unfit but I recently did a 300km ride with an effing big hill - bigger than anything in England - in the middle thanks to my wise pacing via a PowerTap powermeter. I'll likely be fat and slightly less unfit on a 400km in May and a 600km in June. All paced with the PowerTap. Watching the power on the little hills is the key. I paced a friend around the Death Ride last year and he swore he'd never finish it. 125 miles and 16,000ft of climbing later he was back at the finish successful. Most of the other guys he normally rode with either quit after 4 of the 5 mountains or finished later. http://www.deathride.com/elemap.html
- You SHOULD use one to make your training time more effective. Once you get a month or so under your belt it's second nature.
- You can even use one to do aero testing without the need for a windtunnel. I use mine for this - it's actually pretty amazing when you find out what works and what doesn't. What looks fast, isn't always.
Cheers M8 , could you point me in the right direction as to what is needed , i have looked and once again get boged down with choice , and what is good and bad ..
Thanks again for you input , Very much appreciated ..
f**k me i see why that is called "Death ride "
Rog
Huh? I really doubt moving a shift lever would be worse pain from small joints than using the same joints to stop with and even larger joints to pedal the bike, and in fact acute arthropathy effects the major joints far more painfully then the minor and yet you have no issue pedaling?
If you have no issue pedaling for about 875 miles then just get the less expensive mechanical shifters and not worry about batteries, but it sounds like to me you really want the DI and joint pain is not the real reason so quite playing with us and get what you want.
Here's the secret - with a power meter climbs aren't harder than riding flats, you just go slower. You pace the effort better - 200 watts is 200watts, it's not a guestimate of it feels easy on the flat and f**k me it's hard on the hills because you think you need to go at a certain speed. On a ride like the Death Ride I calculated a wattage that we needed to ride at based on his weight and what I thought he could handle based upon other rides he'd done and extrapolated that to my weight and what I'd need to see power wise on my bike computer. What happens during the ride is that seemingly every man and his dog passes you on the first climb. On the second, only a few are passing you. When it gets gnarly on the last half of the third hill those that passed you on the first hill are seeking shade on the side of the road as you ride by feeling a bit tired but still pretty good. The fourth hill is where time/distance starts to take it's toll but not massively so...Originally Posted by Cube1959
Cheers M8 , could you point me in the right direction as to what is needed , i have looked and once again get boged down with choice , and what is good and bad ..
Thanks again for you input , Very much appreciated ..
f**k me i see why that is called "Death ride "
Rog
... which is where you make the big gains. Lunch stop after the 4th hill, you arrive feeling pretty good - which means no time wasting and that you're also able to eat well and digest it too. Since you're not smashed or going too hard you're not going to be sweating like a pig and are less likely to be dehydrated in the afternoon sun - a win, win, win situation. The final hill we passed more than a few hundred people. My friend felt pretty tired at the top of the 5th pass but he'd never ridden at altitude before (which was another consideration for the power for the day) and when all was said and done he was in OK shape after the last few pesky hills to the finish after the "leg solidifying" final descent.
For the long rides, just watch the power on the small hills like a hawk. Accept the fact that you will go slower up the small hills and you'll feel much, much better 4+ hours into a long ride. On the flip side, on those sections of flat road with a tail wind or a slight downhill grade, if you keep the power where it should be you end up going much faster than you'd think as normally you really do tend to ease off on the power when you're motoring along on a long ride. Once you're about 40 minutes into a ride you'll naturally start to ride and the chosen pace and will look at the bike computer less.
I've had a PowerTap power meter for just over 5 years. It's been reliable and has worked well. Pricing is competitive. The cool thing with it been built into a wheel is that you can take it from bike to bike. The downside is that you have to use that wheel. Crank based systems give you freedom to use other wheels but unless you're willing to learn how to swap cranks, you're stuck with the power meter on one bike. You could pair a PowerTap with a Garmin or PowerTap's own bike computer. I dig the navigation features of the Garmin 810 but apart from that I only have a basic amount of info on the screen - elapsed time, power and the third metric changes on a whim - either speed of grade %. One useful feature I really like is that it can display sunset times - so I can plan the evening rides better.
For a killer do it all wheel, I'd go with a PowerTap with a Hed Jet 6 rim and stallion build (there's a few extra spokes). The extra spokes make it a bit stiffer and will get you home more reliably should you break a spoke. Since it's a back wheel the very small amount of added drag is just that - so small that it's hard to quantify. Not sure if they do the Jet 6 + in stallion build - or whether the + rims will fit on your bike. They should (the Zipp 808 are wider).
If you're going to get a wheel custom made (you're in the UK right?) - go to Paul Hewitt cycles. The guy is a wheel building God. I have some wheels that he made for me back in the mid 80's and they're still true. I only use the front wheels now (the back have 7 speed freewheels on) but when I raced he made a set of 28 spoke GEL280's on Mavic hubs and I hammered the snot out of them on rough roads around the North West of England, the Peak District, Lakes and Wales. People said "those are too light and fragile to but used on those roads" - Paul built them and they stayed dead straight. No repeat visits to "true 'em up after a while" or any of that ****. Give him a call, he'll ask what kind of riding you do and have a good honest chat with you and from that he'll build a wheel. He moved a while back but he's somewhere Chorley/Preston area in the North West.
Cheers m8
i will defo have to look into this , i think most people set of at a stupid pace without thinking about the ride later , i have tried to pace myself with my Garmin and keep my speed down , but then you get carried away and go for it on the flat , only to be knackered later ..
i will defo have to look into this , i think most people set of at a stupid pace without thinking about the ride later , i have tried to pace myself with my Garmin and keep my speed down , but then you get carried away and go for it on the flat , only to be knackered later ..
Well Froze it does , it all helps . No it cant help pedaling , not much i can do about toes .. Also i think i have posted photo's above of the bike i got , So not playing with anyone .. LOL ..I don't need the less expensive bike , cause i can afford the more expensive , My problem was not weather to get a DI2 , But a boardman Di2 or something else .. I went for Specialized DI2 as shown above ..
It was others that said why bother with DI2 .. I was always getting one with .. When you get pain in joints the less joints to suffer the better .. fingers are small and used a lot on a ride so any help is some help .. Having used it over 250 miles now , i can say i am happy with it .. The DI2 as stated above is fantastic ..
Sometimes it's the little things that can make or break a ride. You like the Di2 and I can see why - partly for the same reason why I really liked the 7900 mechanical shifters over the Ultegra - I could adjust them for less reach for comfort. It's not much of an issue for 100 mile rides - but when you've spent 14+ hours in one day doing 200 miles on high mountain roads, your hands can get tired. Everything gets tired. Just that small detail makes a huge difference in the last couple of hours on the descents. With Di2, the levers are even slimmer - I'd go for that. I like that they're almost the same size as pre-STI levers back in the 80s and that alone can be worth it. If you never do rides where such comfort is an issue, or suffer from a condition that makes then you'll never appreciate how much of an issue it can be.
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