Jshort’s bike thread

stb222 said:
So what do you do about fork air pressure? And do you put in lighter weight oil in your damper in the winter time?
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Man I’m trying to save time getting on the bike at the trailhead.

But I’m sure you’ve also noticed a performance difference with suspension in freezing cold weather. I just deal with it.
But when tire psi goes lower and the possibility of changing a flat with frozen fingers rises, I’ll take the precaution of adding some air.
 
jShort said:
bro science but I think lower psi and higher air volume makes a big difference
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Not just bro science, bro. Y'all remember the ideal gas law? PV=nRT -----rearranged as -----> P=(nRT)/V.

Volume and temperature affect pressure. Increase the volume and keep the same temp, pressure goes down. Decrease the temp and keep the same volume, pressure goes down. Increase volume and decrease temp? You rollin on dem rims, playa.
 
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ChrisG said:
It warms my heart, that this sort of bike nerdism still has a place on these forums.

For the record, I support the cold weather house-to-the trailhead pressure loss possibility.

I’m tolerant of wearing bibs in the car (straps undone) for short drives to my local trailheads. Anything farther away than Allaire or Hartshorne, bibs get put on at the trailhead, along with the rest of my kit. My preference has always been to make the clothing decisions when I get to where I’m actually riding.

My favorite description of getting dressed for winter riding, is the scene in A Christmas Story, when their mother is getting them dressed to walk to school. The narrator equates it to preparation for “extended deep-sea diving”.
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jShort said:
Man I’m trying to save time getting on the bike at the trailhead.

But I’m sure you’ve also noticed a performance difference with suspension in freezing cold weather. I just deal with it.
But when tire psi goes lower and the possibility of changing a flat with frozen fingers rises, I’ll take the precaution of adding some air.
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I agree, at the temps i ride at in the mornings my fork often feels like a BOD. Also the new fox dampers use 4 weight oil so putting in a lower weight probably wont get you much and when you have warmer temps your forks settings would be all jacked.
 
jShort said:
If it’s super cold, don’t they lose air on the drive?
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This is why I ride with a mini floor pump during Fat Bike races. 8psi at 30 degrees is 0psi at 0 degrees. Going from your 70 degree house to 35 degree trail is even worse so I always fill the tires right before I start riding. And I leave the bike outside while I get ready at the house if I'm riding in.
 
Pearl said:
i dont disagree it makes an impact but you buggin out about 1 psi for a regular ass mtb ride, do you preheat your gloves too so you get optimum grip on your handlebars FOH
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I just don’t care enough anymore.
 
Steve Vai said:
This is why I ride with a mini floor pump during Fat Bike races. 8psi at 30 degrees is 0psi at 0 degrees. Going from your 70 degree house to 35 degree trail is even worse so I always fill the tires right before I start riding. And I leave the bike outside while I get ready at the house if I'm riding in.
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This is Piscataway math.
 
3 1/2 hours so far indoor with these guys and my feet are very happy. I think my knees are even enjoying a little added stability.

IMG_0928.jpeg
 
Some of you haven’t ever done a 20 minute ftp test, and it shows.

I did an FTP test this morning and it hurt. I didn’t even improve my numbers, but I still have a bunch of positive takeaways. I won't talk much about that though. Not that I don’t want to, but it’s just not very interesting. Some things that I don find interesting about these...

A 20 minute test is hard beyond just physical work. Holding an effort that is supposed to be the hardest you can go for 20 minutes takes almost as much cognitive effort as it does physical. Some thoughts that were running through my head: Don’t go out too hard. What is too hard? Keep the power steady. Keep your cadence up. Check your heart rate but for fuck’s sake stop staring at. While you’re at it stop staring at the clock too because you still have 10 minutes to go. Next song. I really need 2 good 5 minute songs to take me to the end. Blow your nose without spiking your heart rate. Is that even possible? Drink some water. Wipe the sweat. Don't drop your towel. Does that fan go up any higher? I think I might throw up. 1 minute to go, finish strong. Wait, you have something left? Did you even try the last 19 minutes?

And the feeling of finishing is comparable to finishing an endurance race. Maybe even more of a relief.
These “tests” but really the 20 minute threshold+ effort just reminds you how to properly suffer. Your HR is maxed out, your cadence takes more concentration, then your power starts dipping…. You can either limp to the finish or mentally regroup, forget all the bullshit going on in your head, and finish strong. Super easy to say but very hard to execute. I feel like I did a decent job of that today. This directly transfers to racing in the real world. Almost every race I tell myself to stop thinking about how much it hurts, and push harder.

I don’t think you get any of this out of a ramp FTP test or an automatically detected FTP. I don't think this makes me tougher or harder, but it just gives me another new experience to look back on and learn from.
 
jShort said:
Some of you haven’t ever done a 20 minute ftp test, and it shows.

I did an FTP test this morning and it hurt. I didn’t even improve my numbers, but I still have a bunch of positive takeaways. I won't talk much about that though. Not that I don’t want to, but it’s just not very interesting. Some things that I don find interesting about these...

A 20 minute test is hard beyond just physical work. Holding an effort that is supposed to be the hardest you can go for 20 minutes takes almost as much cognitive effort as it does physical. Some thoughts that were running through my head: Don’t go out too hard. What is too hard? Keep the power steady. Keep your cadence up. Check your heart rate but for fuck’s sake stop staring at. While you’re at it stop staring at the clock too because you still have 10 minutes to go. Next song. I really need 2 good 5 minute songs to take me to the end. Blow your nose without spiking your heart rate. Is that even possible? Drink some water. Wipe the sweat. Don't drop your towel. Does that fan go up any higher? I think I might throw up. 1 minute to go, finish strong. Wait, you have something left? Did you even try the last 19 minutes?

And the feeling of finishing is comparable to finishing an endurance race. Maybe even more of a relief.
These “tests” but really the 20 minute threshold+ effort just reminds you how to properly suffer. Your HR is maxed out, your cadence takes more concentration, then your power starts dipping…. You can either limp to the finish or mentally regroup, forget all the bullshit going on in your head, and finish strong. Super easy to say but very hard to execute. I feel like I did a decent job of that today. This directly transfers to racing in the real world. Almost every race I tell myself to stop thinking about how much it hurts, and push harder.

I don’t think you get any of this out of a ramp FTP test or an automatically detected FTP. I don't think this makes me tougher or harder, but it just gives me another new experience to look back on and learn from.
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you make many fair points above compared to a ramp test. I dont get lost in the numbers but for some reason indoors I have failed 2-3 times to complete a 20 minute test. its been a while but I remember being pretty gassed just trying to make the Z3 section before the main 20 minutes starts.

On the other hand a few years back I was doing the NJTT cup races in the road bike category and suffering for 20+ minutes outside was and still is somehow more achievable, but I dont know why. Both types are certainly cognitively challenging but my theory is being outside you have many more things to distract you or pay attention to like traffic, road conditions, course markings, and people cheering (or jeering) so you don't sit and watch the time go by so slowly.

I plan to try a full 20 minute test sometime in a few weeks (indoors) to see if I can adjust my mindset better, along with fixing my approach (i probably went too hard on these attempts in the past) to get it done.
 
20 minutes is long enough that it hurts and hurts basically the whole time. Much longer and the effort won't be as hard and the overall effort is less painful. Much shorter and it's over with quicker.

@jShort Was that your first 20 minute test? Ramp tests are common now as properly doing a 20 minute test isn't easy without experience. You really get one shot at it and unless you've done it a bunch it's not easy to pace it. Going too hard or too easy earlier throws it out the window. So while there's probably great reasons to do a 20 minute test vs ramp test, I get why they push ramp tests.

After 20 minute tests I was destroyed. After a ramp test it's all "Do I do a regular workout now?"
 
jShort said:
Some of you haven’t ever done a 20 minute ftp test, and it shows.

I did an FTP test this morning and it hurt. I didn’t even improve my numbers, but I still have a bunch of positive takeaways. I won't talk much about that though. Not that I don’t want to, but it’s just not very interesting. Some things that I don find interesting about these...

A 20 minute test is hard beyond just physical work. Holding an effort that is supposed to be the hardest you can go for 20 minutes takes almost as much cognitive effort as it does physical. Some thoughts that were running through my head: Don’t go out too hard. What is too hard? Keep the power steady. Keep your cadence up. Check your heart rate but for fuck’s sake stop staring at. While you’re at it stop staring at the clock too because you still have 10 minutes to go. Next song. I really need 2 good 5 minute songs to take me to the end. Blow your nose without spiking your heart rate. Is that even possible? Drink some water. Wipe the sweat. Don't drop your towel. Does that fan go up any higher? I think I might throw up. 1 minute to go, finish strong. Wait, you have something left? Did you even try the last 19 minutes?

And the feeling of finishing is comparable to finishing an endurance race. Maybe even more of a relief.
These “tests” but really the 20 minute threshold+ effort just reminds you how to properly suffer. Your HR is maxed out, your cadence takes more concentration, then your power starts dipping…. You can either limp to the finish or mentally regroup, forget all the bullshit going on in your head, and finish strong. Super easy to say but very hard to execute. I feel like I did a decent job of that today. This directly transfers to racing in the real world. Almost every race I tell myself to stop thinking about how much it hurts, and push harder.

I don’t think you get any of this out of a ramp FTP test or an automatically detected FTP. I don't think this makes me tougher or harder, but it just gives me another new experience to look back on and learn from.
Click to expand...

That 20-minute effort and then the even worse 40k, are some of the hardest things on earth. I do find doing an actual TT Event instead of just trying to hold a number will yield much higher results and feel easier. At least I find when there’s someone in front you focus less on the suck and more on murdering yourself to make the catch. Although the downside to that is you’ll end up with an FTP about 50 watts over your actual FTP because it’s much easier to fake 20-minutes than an hour…
 
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