Farther, Faster, Fitter, Fun - (4F - The unofficial Cruzbike training team and support group)

[CruzLike]

Some have made comparisons to riding outside and riding the trainer. The trainer can be boring at times to say the least. Last fall I bought a trainer and spent 3 months training for Sebring. I made some great improvements in the strength and endurance over the last 3 months, but not without gallons of sweat pouring out of my body.

I would like to share some of the fruits of all the effort I exerted.

I have a 17.7 mile, out and back course, that I have ridden for about 4 years. About 2 years ago I began timing the ride. Last spring I eclipsed the hour mark by a minute and a half.
A week after Sebring was my birthday. It was a 50 degree February day. That is a good temp for March. I thought I would suit up and turn a hot lap with my Sebring legs. This ride would also serve as a good ride to collect data in my new Elemnt and cut my teeth on Strava.
I finished the ride at a blistering 49:04. About 10 minutes faster. BooYah! That was a nice B-day present to myself.

About 3 weeks later I plug my Elemnt into Strava. After some head scratching my ride appears. I'm looking at the data, reliving the ride. I noticed something odd. I'm new to the information that is listed on the screen. I read "Top Results" It says KOM and listed the segment. Cool. I thought everyone that rides a virgin route is KOM. I then look at the page closer and realized I'm 1/162 attempts. I unknowingly rode through a Strava segment at speed. This segment came after a 10 mile warm up with a tailwind. The segment was ridden with a headwind.

That was an epic ride. I know that these results are because of the hours of time spent on the trainer "training".

https://www.strava.com/activities/894038318/segments/21773605983

 

[ratz]

I read "Top Results" It says KOM and listed the segment.

A 5mile KOM is a big KOM.... Looks like you got 2nd place on a couple of other ones missing 1st by just seconds.

 

[LarryOz]

About 3 weeks later I plug my Elemnt into Strava. After some head scratching my ride appears. I'm looking at the data, reliving the ride. I noticed something odd. I'm new to the information that is listed on the screen. I read "Top Results" It says KOM and listed the segment. Cool. I thought everyone that rides a virgin route is KOM. I then look at the page closer and realized I'm 1/162 attempts. I unknowingly rode through a Strava segment at speed. This segment came after a 10 mile warm up with a tailwind. The segment was ridden with a headwind.

That was an epic ride. I know that these results are because of the hours of time spent on the trainer "training".

https://www.strava.com/activities/894038318/segments/21773605983

Fantastic Ken - fantastic traing - racing - and riding. Looking for more good stuff from you.
Get ready for Mid-Atlantic Century National Championship in August! It will be a lot of fun!

 

[CruzLike]

A 5mile KOM is a big KOM.... Looks like you got 2nd place on a couple of other ones missing 1st by just seconds.

I did notice the other trophies. Give me a couple months. I will go collect them.

Fantastic Ken - fantastic traning - racing - and riding. Looking for more good stuff from you.
Get ready for Mid-Atlantic Century National Championship in August! It will be a lot of fun!

Thanks Larry
MAC is on my calendar. I plan to be there.

 

[Dave Arnold]

Has anybody had any luck putting a QX100 on the new WAHOO KICKR V2 (2016)? I swapped out the 11-speed cassette with a SRAM 9-speed--no issues. But, when I tried to mount the QX100 on the KICKR the new "handle" interferes with the brake caliper. So, I removed the handle from the KICKR, but now the arm (that the handle mounts to) interferes with the brake caliper.

I looked over at the WAHOO website and it says:

"The KICKR is compatible with bikes equipped with disc brakes; however, for rotor sizes smaller than 160mm the caliper may interfere with the trainer. In this case you should unbolt the caliper to avoid damage to either the KICKR or your bicycle..."

We want to use this bike for outdoor rides and trainer rides and I don't want to reinstall/adjust the front brake every time I switch.

Any experiences? Thoughts?

Thanks

Dave

 

[Dave Arnold]

Here is the QX100 mounted on a Gen2 KICKR with the "handle" removed and the wheel size on the KICKR set to 26"/700. I hope you can see the interference issue.

 

[RojoRacing]

I remove the adapter that holds the caliper to the frame so the caliper comes off with it. Because the bracket is mounted from the side unlike the caliper itself you can take it on and off as many times as you want and you'll never have to adjust the caliper to avoid rotor rub. I would recommend you ether get a good feel for how tight the bolts should be or get one of those preset torque wrenches just for those bolts and keep it with the trainer.

 

[Dave Arnold]

For those interested, the simplest way to get a QX100 attached to a Gen2 Wahoo KICKR (2016) is to remove the new handle on the KICKR and to remove the front brake caliper mounting bracket/adapter (not the caliper from the adapter). The torque specifications for the adapter are around 4-5 Nm (at least that was the torque of mine as it came from the factory/dealer assembly).

I temporarily attached the caliper mounting adapter to the other side of the fork for safe keeping--this keeps it from dangling and potentially damaging something.

As Ratz indicated to me in a PM, there may be ways of doing this without removing the caliper mounting bracket, such as using TRP mounting bracket which is apparently thinner and might give enough clearance. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks to Jason and Ratz (in PM) for the help.

 

[ratz]

It's fall, and due to the on going commitment and support of Cruzbike. This Training Program is back; and we have a couple new plans. Last year RAAM consumed the team "just a little bit" no such time commitment this year; at this time I plan for the program to run through the "A-event" summer time. Those targeting Sebring let me know sooner than later so we can get you going, some of us are 4 weeks in now; and there are two more "start" windows, available to get people ready for the 100 and 12 hour events, December 1st that door closes for most unless you've trained the previous year or just plan to show up and do the 100 as a social event.

New this year:

• The "from the couch" plan
• Age friendly plans adjustments for the non racer event rider. (This almost 50-yr has had to make adjustments and they appear to be working)
• Those not using structured training but racing in Zwift; we can you monitor your progress; and get you feedback on if you should be Racing, Riding or Resting; this include assistance targeting any special Zwift races on the calendar.
• All structured plans can now be adjusted for a weekly Zwift race if you can provide a close to accurate calendar of the events
• Those committed to Sebring: in January we will provide course topology and aero simulation rides of the first 100 miles, base on your body makeup and bike setup; this will be done in conjunction with Best bike splits.

The instructions are much the same and found in this PDF.

• Again this is a free program for Cruzbike owners (and significant other you might be in the process of converting or swaying off of DFs)
• Feedback loop is at most once a week; when you need it; or every 4 weeks if you are on auto pilot experienced user mode.
• Those targeting Sebring as the first event; data is reviewed every two days and guidance provided as needed.
• If you haven't used an ERG training before plan a week of "debug and learning" and we have a four week approach to let you settle in and succeed with the tech.
• I'm out of TrainerRoad discount codes but I'll check with them to see if they want to be involved again, getting everyone back indoors agin.

Final notes:

• This is not just for the hard core racers; yes team Cruzbike is going to be going hard at this.
• The recreational riders are more than welcome to get on board, get fit and invest in having the best next season possible.
• Those racing against themselves and wanting a bit more than the recreational stuff; come on in we got a spot for you
• Southern hemisphere people we know it's almost prime riding season; you can prep form you next fall season by getting linked up with the free trainingpeaks.com account and getting your data flowing in so you are ready after the season.

 

[NeaL]

If you want to participate, reply in this thread to indicate your interest and the date you would envision being ready to start. I will compile the list and contact people with the next steps to get started.

I'm interested. I'm just now discovering this thread. I'm in the On-the-Couch phase. I have a Cruzbike Sofrider with a goal of getting myself a new S40 as a reward for reaching a target weight, and maybe a V20 later on.

There's currently 18 pages of replies to this thread and I haven't read through it all yet. I don't yet know what all I'm getting myself into here so I can't envision a start date.

One step at a time. I have a Cruzbike. I'm replying to show my interest in participating before I forget to do so.

Now resuming reading the thread and figuring out my way to Step 2.

 

[trapdoor2]

I'm going to try it again. I never even got started last year...for a variety of issues (mostly mine).
I've got the V20 set up on the Kickr Snap, got the apps (Android), Wahoo bits (Cadence, HR, Speed), a fan and a scale. I had trouble last year trying to coordinate the apps with my computer and it kept crashing. I rode it a few weeks ago and it appears to work fine with the Wahoo app.

Although I would love to go to Sebring, it simply is a bad time of year for me to be away from home. So, I'll just concentrate on the fitness/weight loss aspect and see if I can get back to below 250. The V20 is relegated to 'trainer' status until I do.

 

[PeteClark]

Winter is coming. Rumors have even reached Houston. Anticipating that it will eventually be more comfortable to ride in the garage than out on the road, I’ve gotten a Kickr Snap. Next I’ll need some motivation and 4F looks like the place to start. I haven’t joined TrainerRoad yet. Any promo codes left?

 

[John Dorlon]

Has anyone ever done stair climbing as cycling training? I am going to Philmont this summer with my son, and it's too flat around here to do any hiking with elevation, so I've been climbing stairs (in my house and nearby football stadiums) with a weighted backpack. Seems like it ought to be good cross training. Just wondered if anyone else has done that over the winter and noticed results in their spring cycling.

 

[ratz]

Has anyone ever done stair climbing as cycling training? I am going to Philmont this summer with my son, and it's too flat around here to do any hiking with elevation, so I've been climbing stairs (in my house and nearby football stadiums) with a weighted backpack. Seems like it ought to be good cross training. Just wondered if anyone else has done that over the winter and noticed results in their spring cycling.

The exercise that maps to both is a bench step up. Weight in hands or on a back pack. Stand in front of weight bench. Put foot one bench. Knee higher than hip. Step up; bring second leg up and stand on bench. Now go back down leading with the same foot; until on ground. Then repeat starting with the other foot.

So it goes.
Left Up, Right Up; pause 1 sec
Left Down, Right Down; pause 1 sec
Right Up; Left Up pause 1 sec
Right Down; Left Down pause 1 sec
repeat.

The beauty of this one you can just add weight to keep the reps under 50.
You still need cardio training but this will increase your strength; and decrease the fatigue caused by a heavy pack.

That would prep you for the hiking @ Philmont nicely.

 

[ratz]

Winter is coming. Rumors have even reached Houston. Anticipating that it will eventually be more comfortable to ride in the garage than out on the road, I’ve gotten a Kickr Snap. Next I’ll need some motivation and 4F looks like the place to start. I haven’t joined TrainerRoad yet. Any promo codes left?

I need to shoot an email to Nick and find out. If you have an account that exists you can add the code after the fact and get a rebate; so no net gain waiting and see if we get more.

 

[PeteClark]

Vendetta on a Kickr SNAP. To get the spindown under 15 seconds I’ve had to pump the tire to 110 psi, and crank the tension knob 3.25 turns from first contact between the roller and the tire. I had trouble getting ERG mode to work until I learned about the “wattage floor.” It seems that at high wheel/roller speed the trainer is not able to modulate my meager wattage. The solution is to use a lower gear for lower wheel speed, lower mechanical power losses, and let the trainer add resistance to match the power target.

No trainer cave for me. Just a spot in the garage. I first mounted an ipad and phone on my handlebars, but the vibration was annoying. Now they’re mounted on a separate handlebar, supported by a bike stand, independent from the bike.

 

[cranky cyclist]

those not using the cruzbike discord channel are missing out. You can pick up some good information on your Cruzbike there.Jason had some invaluable stuff there tonight.

How do I get to the discord channel?

 

[Ted Peer]

I have one free month to give as a referral to someone. Quote from the email I got... "Know someone who hasn't tried TrainerRoad yet? " If you meet this requirement, pm me with first name, last name, and email...

Ted

 

[PeteClark]

A retrospective on choosing an indoor trainer...

I bought an Kickr SNAP indoor trainer back in November. I had given some serious thought to buying a Kickr or Tacx NEO, but chose the SNAP for the following reasons:
1. convenience of mounting the bike on the trainer without removing the Vendetta's front wheel, then being able to pull the bike off the trainer and ride outside without remounting the wheel. I live just north of Houston, so won't be mounting the bike on the trainer for the full winter. Instead, I will likely be able to ride outside occasionally thru the "winter," then move back inside occasionally thru the year to train during a deluge.
2. lower cost

The SNAP requires a coast-down calibration for each ride (this is easy to do with minimal disruption to the warm-up phase of each ride). Wahoo recommends adjusting the trainer drum to touch the tire, then tightening the adjusting knob an additional 2.25 turns. Then, if the coast-down calibration takes longer than 15 seconds, they recommend tightening the knob an additional quarter turn until the coast down is within range. In my case, I ended up with a total of 3.25 turns to get within range. I'm not sure if this is due to my particular SNAP, or low rolling resistance of my front wheel (bladed spokes, Conti GP4000S II @ 110psi).

After about 40 hours of riding on the trainer, last Sunday was warm enough to ride outside, so I pulled the bike off the trainer, pumped up the tires, and checked the tread (strictly out of habit as there was no reason to think I'd picked up any road debris since the last outdoor ride). I found that the tire tread had split in many of the thin spots (the siping) and was delaminating from the casing. This could have been one bad tire, but is more likely due to casing deformation resulting from my 3.25 turns on the adjusting knob. Luckily I had a spare tire and was able change it out and still get in a ride.

Not wanting to increase my risk of a front-wheel blowout on the Vendetta, I decided not to use my road wheel/tire on the trainer anymore, but to buy a dedicated wheel/tire for future trainer sessions.

In retrospect, changing wheels eliminates the convenience of a wheel-on trainer and the cost of a dedicated trainer wheel/tire/tube/cassette eliminates some of the cost savings. If I knew then... I might well have opted for the Kickr or NEO.

 

[cranky cyclist]

FYI If you use trainer Road and have an I phone with the Wahoo fitness key. The new I os is currently not compatible with the fitness key. They are working on a fix but no projected time for the fix.