JuhaL
Guru
Have you try to adjust b-tension screw a bit?. That might help a bit before you need to change the chain or a cassette.
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Milzy
Guru
I'll try tomorrow 😁
Randyberlin
Guru
- Location
- Sitka, Alaska
it would be helpful if someone could post something about how much worse a dirty chain is for power loss.
Attachments
Alongo
Guru
I don’t know what the power losses are but have been reading a bit about waxed chains being the most efficient, that goes for lubrication and longevity. So I have bought a cheap slow cooker, 1 kg candle wax and am going to rotate a couple of chains to see how it goes. Chains need cleaning thoroughly first.
Two chains ready for the trainer now, going to sort a couple for gravel/ winter bike now as that chain gets really messy. The waxed chains stay cleaner and don’t attract dirt so seem like a good solution.
BurningLegs
Guru
I take my bike to an independent chap for all my mechanical work. I always take it to him in spring, and sometimes again part way through winter.
He always comments on the wear pattern in the cassette - apparently it’s easy to spot heavy turbo users because we often wear out a few sprockets much more than others. I suppose this could be one benefit of running Zwift at 100% - more gear changes should mean more even wear?!
Brendan Parker
Veteran
- Location
- essex, england
i wax my chains mainly my winter bike, they do a lot better at repelling the dirt, they are however a bit noisier for the first 40km or so, tried for my trainer bike once but couldn't be dealing with all the dried flaky wax everywhere and felt unnecessary for indoors but great outside in the crap weather. its a bit of a faff but if you can do a few chains at the same time its ok.
edit, have a look at Molten speed wax, if that's too expensive I would suggest some PTFE powder mixed in with the candle wax 👨🍳
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Breedon
Legendary Member
- Location
- Long Eaton, Nottingham
3rd time lucky?
Nope 👅
Freelanderuk
Über Member
- Location
- Theddlethorpe , Lincolnshire
Has anybody used the British cycling power calculator to work out their hr and power zones
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/sportivetrainingplans/THRESHOLD_TEST.pdf
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calculator-0
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/sportivetrainingplans/THRESHOLD_TEST.pdf
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calculator-0
BurningLegs
Guru
I would recommend the latest edition on Zwiftcast for anyone here. It’s an extended interview with the CEO of Zwift and has quite a few insights for the future of the platform, and racing specifically.
One thing that was mentioned was a plan to “ghost” riders who are riding too strong for the race category they’ve entered. That was mentioned as expected in March.
I don’t personally think that will stop sandbagging because sandbaggers will be completing the event as far as they’re concerned, it’ll just be other riders who see that rider disappear. It would hurt to be wheel sucking a sandbagger and then for that rider to disappear!
Lots of other topics discussed so well worth a listen
One thing that was mentioned was a plan to “ghost” riders who are riding too strong for the race category they’ve entered. That was mentioned as expected in March.
I don’t personally think that will stop sandbagging because sandbaggers will be completing the event as far as they’re concerned, it’ll just be other riders who see that rider disappear. It would hurt to be wheel sucking a sandbagger and then for that rider to disappear!
Lots of other topics discussed so well worth a listen
Milzy
Guru
True and ERG mode rotate them.
bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
I would recommend the latest edition on Zwiftcast for anyone here. It’s an extended interview with the CEO of Zwift and has quite a few insights for the future of the platform, and racing specifically.
One thing that was mentioned was a plan to “ghost” riders who are riding too strong for the race category they’ve entered. That was mentioned as expected in March.
I don’t personally think that will stop sandbagging because sandbaggers will be completing the event as far as they’re concerned, it’ll just be other riders who see that rider disappear. It would hurt to be wheel sucking a sandbagger and then for that rider to disappear!
Lots of other topics discussed so well worth a listen
TBH I thought the questioning was a bit soft. I think Simon is too nice! And hasn’t much of what Eric said been said before eg. Dashboard, Ghosts and club functionality? Perhaps the big issue from a development point of view is the migration he talks about. If it is then when up and running Zwift will have run out of excuses. They really could do with some competition. My tuppence.
Brusgaard
Über Guru
- Location
- Skive, Denmark
Well, as Simon IS paid by Zwift to do the ZwiftCast, as also admitted in the beginning, you can’t really expect him to be too hard in his questioning. Reviews, interviews etc. done by sponsored people should be taken with a (huge) grain of salt.
When posting reviews/opinions in various groups (including Facebook), it should ALWAYS be mentioned if you are sponsored. We have several examples of admins advertising in the Danish Zwift/BKOOL groups with no mention of their (personal) sponsorship. When confronted, they just say “It is no secret” - pathetic!
Yes, I used their calculation for HR. I then compared it to several others, and eventually used custom numbers. There are a few BPM between them all.
bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
Agreed.
Except...
The podcast asserts editorial independence and this event in particular is promoted as giving the community ( whatever that means now zwift is so huge) an opportunity to have answers to some tricky questions some of which have been asked (and evaded) before. Simon does try to get answers but the lawyer in me wants to see him try a bit harder. I don’t mean be aggressive. That would be ridiculous and likely counter productive. But perhaps make connections between issues and concerns rather than dealing with them discretely.
Pm/trainer accuracy? Didn’t Eric say they can tell who is using what? If so, and knowing the vagaries of different trainers I would have asked why, for example they don’t lower a % of reported watts on a known trainer model or down grade performance so that use of their platform to race is fairer. Then I type this and read it back and ask why I take it so seriously 😂
Oh well, it is what it is, an unusual opportunity to q a company head about product - it’s just I am sure the questioning could have been a little more connected, incisive and robust. Probably have got the same answers though 😁
Brusgaard
Über Guru
- Location
- Skive, Denmark
Why not at least list the trainer models used in a race, like on BKOOL? Doing automated performance downgrade on specific trainer models wouldn’t work - or would at least be very difficult to do fair/correct. The old Bkool Pro sometimes was fine in the watts and sometimes off, as I expect other cheap (wheel-on) trainers to be as well. How can you tell if the watts reported are real or not and when to apply the downgrade?
The BKOOL Smart Bike also (always?) sometimes reports 20-30% more watts than really produced, and I suspect lots of other home trainers of that kind may do the same.
I think it‘s just Zwift not wanting to aggrevate their users and thus maybe loose subscribers. Likewise they don’t want to discredit XYZ trainer brand, as any trainer bought is a potential Zwift customer. This may change when/if they start making their own home trainers. Eric didn’t really answer that question in the interview.
Bkool was actually pretty bold when they changed their speed/watts algorithm this past fall, aggrevating a lot of old users as they suddenly no longer were watt monsters.
However, the different revisions of the Pro etc. reacted different to the new algorithm, and some actually became useless. It is BKOOL after all. But those of us using a direct drive trainer however were glad to see the changes, as it allowed for fair racing again.
