Turbo Trainer Advice

I had a shot on this for the first time yesterday... was OK. couldn't get the hang of the drafting, coming from zwift

cap formentor route was nice, and fairly accurate. did sa calobra too (which is on there as a magic road.) the scenery was nothing like the real thing sadly.

Although drive train noise is way more annoying on the turbo.

The drafting physics are supposedly more accurate, with collision avoidance, positioning in group etc, not needing to pedal in corners etc.

Not much drafting needed here though:

https://magicroads.org/product/alto-dangliru

where did you get the wahoo mounting plate ? I'm tempted to try make up one of the hardwired game controllers but would like to mount it to the front of my bike

edit: the electronic bay to the rescue

edit 2: no keyboard shortcut on zwift to toggle ERG mode on and off so juice probably not worth the squeeze... could I program it so that I can press up to show the menu, have an L/R to highlight the options within the menu, and have an enter button to choose those options (i.e. erg on/off)? that might work maybe. not sure if you can L/R/enter on that little menu though - normally navigate it with mouse

Possibly but would need someone better than me to code that from 3 keys. If you are feeling flush there is a 12 key version though it does come with a Pi, so the cost isn't that different to the 3 key. I'm not familiar with the zwift interface but presumably you can use a normal keyboard so simple key binding should work.

Depending on bike mount, would need to carefully stick on a mount to allow for the twist.

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/keybow?variant=21246333190227

You could use something like AutoHotKey on PC to run the sequence of keys needed to turn Erg on and map that to a single key. Then another key to turn it off; a single-key toggle would be more difficult.

You could try that with a regular keyboard. I keep meaning to get round to it.

Set up the kickr, did a spin down and then a ramp test to check that the ftp is similar to when done on the Tacx. It is way different, by about 15%. New turbo is so silent, and enabled me to hear quite how bad my drivetrain is on the bike after 9months of lockdown turbo sessions. What I have discovered is the salt crust on the bb has destroyed it. There is massive play in the hollow tech bb. Tomorrow I will take it apart to see if I have ruined the cranks or just the bearings. The old turbo was so loud that headphone volume was much louder and I never noticed all the drivetrain noises.

Buy a new bike.

I changed from training with some elite mag rollers to a Saris H3 last week and experienced exactly the same - about a 12% drop in ftp (using the TR ramp test on the Saris) as opposed to my usual which is an hour flat out on the rollers measured with a single sided crank PM. After a week using the H3 I feel that I could probably test much closer on the H3 as it seems to need a slightly different technique to pedalling (if that makes sense). Nearly re-tested yesterday which is my usual day off but thought I'd just enjoy the slightly easier sessions till the next scheduled test instead :)

Buy a new bike.

Buy this bike:

Would quite like one of those

I did a few months of roller sessions last year, all outdoor and with a fan and one of those sweat catcher things. Just had my bike serviced and sweat had got into so many places and wreaked havoc.

I hate to think what 9 months worth of sweat has done.

Anyone else fancy an hour in the morning of being dragged around zwift, trying desperately to cling on and not get dropped? Hang out with me at the back

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15793351/

trying desperately to cling on and not get dropped?

While @lowbrows 'takes it easy'

You sound like you’re up for it. I knew I could rely on you

Hmmm - opposite here. I’ve just had a quick spin on my new H3 and it was constantly reading 15-20w higher than my P2M.

I had expected it to be the other way round bearing in mind losses through the (mucky) drive train.

I’ll get it properly warmed up tomorrow and see if they converge a bit more

Can you first confirm that I weigh 60kg?

More or less

Mostly more

I can do 4 w/kg if I put my weight in at 50kg... won't help when you're all rolling away holding 4 w/kg at your real world weights...

it's annoying that zwift doesn't show you nominal wattages from neighbouring riders in its (admittedly already pretty cluttered) UI

I can try and join this, although it's 9pm for me

Oh lord.

You know those pictures of bikes posted by mechanics asking how the fuck have they let this bike get so bad?

After a few months I had to take off the bar tape because my hands stank each time I used the bike and no tape makes spraying with anti bacterial solution easier.

I have been wiping down the bike occasionally elsewhere too but obviously not enough. Have removed the bb, thankfully crank spindle is fine but the non drive side cup is fucked with a massive amount of play.

The images that follow are disgusting. The play meant the cranks could become quite misaligned so hopefully a new bb will make things much much quieter when doing more strenuous efforts or lower cadence drills.

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I'm glad I'd already finished eating

James, you need another fan to help evaporate the sweat coming off your back/sweaty ballsack.
I have one facing my head/arms and one at my torso/back. These combined with sweatband on head and a hand towel draped over the handlebars means barely any sweat gets to the bike.
^ Literally a cool story bro.

Headband essential, ballsack band optional

Underneath my bar tape got a bit salty...

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