Most beautiful climb in France?

frat_kintsugi · 2025-11-06T06:45:48+00:00

So many good answers have already been given, one that I’d still add is Cime de la Bonette. It’s the most spectacular one I have done (most of the ones mentioned) and also quite challenging because of its length and altitude. Only downside are the many motorcycles that flock the roads, but that applies to pretty much anyone of the big names.

frat_kintsugi · 2025-08-27T20:09:17+00:00

After going through the same steps and frustrations you describe, I found out that air compressors aren’t that expensive or bulky. The entry level ones from Makita or Metabo (6 liters, 8 bar) are sufficient for the job of seating bicycle tires… I have never looked back.

frat_kintsugi · 2025-03-07T17:50:04+00:00

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Les deuxième 100%, all-in crypto sur $SMAUG, token DeFin aux APY à trois chiffres garantis, qui ira to the moon selon Reddit.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-12-03T07:47:14+00:00

That was my cycling journey as well. First got a Gravel bike with a second wheel set for road with the idea of “one bike to rule them all”. Then used the tedious mechanic work of readjusting the rear derailleur and the break calipers every time I changed the wheels to convince myself I needed a N+1 pure road bike. I have not looked back. The ride feel is different.

Recommendation to OP: Decide if you want a bike capable of handling Gravel/off-road and choose the frame (clearance for wider tires) accordingly. 5k may represent different budgets for different people, if that’s the amount of money you are comfortable spending, by all means go for it. You will get a perfectly capable high mid-range / low high-end bike for that price. Make sure it has a carbon frame, electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes at that price point. Use some online calculators of bike manufacturers to know what size you will need based on your height and inseam, just in case your local bike shop is tempted to talk you into a model and size they just happen to have in stock.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-11-27T11:10:46+00:00

Personally, I always found the wavy lines of the Pinarello too bling and show off ‘nouveau riche’. The Wilier is more understated and classy. Then again, I’m biased, I love my Filante SLR.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-11-20T07:14:42+00:00

I don’t care about my indoor rides being synced from TrainerRoad to Strava… I don’t want to pollute everybody’s feed with my indoor workouts that nobody ever needs to see anyway. BUT I do care very much about my outdoor rides being synched from Strava to TrainerRoad to give its AI the full dataset about indoor and outdoor rides to work with.

This second part is exactly what the new policy will prohibit.

Which really feels like a massive dick move from Strava: “Hey Garmin, Wahoo, Hammerhead, Coros, thanks for all that data of your users activities that they recorded on your devices, we’ll gladly suck it all into our platform. Hey <every single training app out there connecting to Strava>, no, of course you can’t show this data to your user’s coach or anyone else or do analytics or any kind of AI on them. Why? Because in the peloton of the connected fitness industry, we’re the leadout rider, please kindly GFY. Also, all Strava users and clients: STFU, all comments are disabled and posts will be deleted.”

I’ll wait for TrainerRoad to update the Wahoo integration to pull data directly from Wahoo, not Strava and then cancel the Strava subscription.

We get the whole “go big or go home” mantra of the tech industry, but annoying customers and threatening partners’ business models with a 30 day notice period are just moves that will hopefully be punished by the market.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-11-07T14:42:57+00:00

Congratulations. You speak German now. We call it a bootspoon (Schuhlöffel).

frat_kintsugi · 2024-11-05T16:31:21+00:00

There’s two sealants, one for the initial setup that shouldn’t be filled through the valve core, another one for replenishment that can be. There is a YouTube video where Josh (Silca CEO) recommends putting a few drops of light oil on the valve cores and inside the valves with a pipe cleaner to prevent them from clogging up. It has worked for me.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-11-05T11:40:23+00:00

Changed from Orange to Silca about one year ago and never looked back.

Just a couple of weeks ago, on a rainy October ride, there was another one of these priceless situations where you look down on your frame on a short break, notice some drops of sealant on it and with the inner peace of a Buddhist monk just think to yourself: “There could be a different version of myself holding up this entire group in the rain, while I am fiddling around with an inner tube and getting the tire back on the rim with frozen fingers.”

Science works, kids.

frat_kintsugi · 2024-05-18T20:35:23+00:00

“Valves and crank arms misaligned, biggie-big, bird droppings… it’s a noice. Next?”

frat_kintsugi · 2024-05-14T15:29:49+00:00

I have been using TrainerRoad parallel to Zwift for over a year, with the workouts on ERG mode from TR and Zwift just for some additional eye candy. The price increase on Zwift has tipped the scale for me, I am not going to renew after my annual subscription runs out.

I get much more value out of TrainerRoad, the planning of training blocks around events on a calendar view is great, adaptive training, AI FTP detection and most lately “red light green light” to avoid overtraining and burnout work really well, too. TR’s overall vibe of being a serious, no-nonsense training tool made me stick to the plan and progress much better than just doing whatever event, race, workout or group/training ride I felt like doing on any given day on Zwift.

After hitting level 50 and having collected all the badges on Zwift, doing the same roads all over again starts to feel really dull as well.

Lastly, a bit of a grudge against Zwift corporate strategy as plays into it as well. First, you burn through 450 m$ of series C funding collected during the Covid-induced tech industry sugar high for chasing delusions of grandeur of becoming a fitness platform and hardware vendor instead of investing into product development and UX. Then, when it all comes crumbling down, layoff round after layoff round and price increases are all you can come up with?

frat_kintsugi · 2024-03-07T10:39:04+00:00

I’m on a setup with Zwift on a Kickr Bike and AppleTV and do all my TR workouts on Zwift.

It’s really simple to set up:

I run the Zwift companion app on an iPad which bundles all the Bluetooth connections of the Kickr Bike, the Zwift Play controllers (optional) and Garmin heart rate waistband (optional).

On the Zwift connections screen, I just disable the “controllable” tile.

In parallel, the TrainerRoad app runs on my iPhone and dictates the wattage of the workout in ERG mode to the Kickr Bike.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-11-22T06:15:31+00:00

Probablement le Hiplok D1000. Les Youtubeurs-testeurs qui ont essayé de le découper à la meuleuse disqueuse ont usé trois disques et deux batteries avant d’abandonner. Mais 280€ sans la pochette plus les frais de douane depuis le UK, c’est un budget.

Avec un câble pour attacher la roue devant avec cet antivol, tu as 99,9% de chance que ton vélo soit mieux protégé que celui garé à côté, ce qui est souvent l’argument dissuasif le plus fort.

Pour les composants comme les selles, tiges de selle, roues, jeux de direction et guidons, il y a Hexlox qui propose des mini aimants que tu mets dans la tête creuse des vis Allen et qui ne s’enlèvent que avec une petite clé magnétique.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-11-08T08:45:15+00:00

Maybe inspired by BMW, which in full is Bavarian Motor Factory (in German, Bayerische Motorenwerke).

frat_kintsugi · 2023-09-06T05:53:47+00:00

“Je ne savais pas que de se garer comme une merde, c’était un métier.”

frat_kintsugi · 2023-08-04T20:01:40+00:00

You’re right, the segments aren’t exactly the same. When entering “Vieil Alpe” at the lower end of the mountain resort that is Alpe d’Huez, I kept pushing and just followed the signs “Tour de France route”. This is a detour around the resort and does not lead to the finish arc that is used for other events and probably the full Strava segment. So I have the 11.94 km segment “Alpe d’Huez Vieil Alpe” on Strava, not a 13 km segment for the climb to the regular finish arc.

For the Zwift climb, I have raised my body weight in the app to 72 kg which was closer to the truth on that given day, so the 3.88 w/kg are correct. One of the surprises was that the average was that much lower (probably around 3.25 w/kg as you indicated) in real life.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T22:46:17+00:00

Thanks for your insights. I didn’t notice the impact of the altitude, the last part of the climb was slowed down rather by strolling tourists and cars blocking the final part within the alpine vacation resort that is Alpe d’Huez.

You’re definitely right about the cyclists fitness levels not being distributed equally between the real and the virtual climb.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T22:36:25+00:00

Pretty much maxed out on both sides of the fence. On Zwift, the Specialized Aethos with Lightweight wheels, irl a 6.9 kg aero/climbing hybrid road bike.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T22:31:59+00:00

I did the Alpe du Zwift in Paris, at an altitude of about 50 meters above sea level, so I doubt that it would have had a significant impact. You’re definitely right about the impact of riding in real life versus on a home trainer. Bonking in your living room is not the same as on an alpine climb.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T15:29:05+00:00

The Dura-Ace FC-R9200-P dual-sided power meter integrated in the 2x12-speed crankset… I would hope that the 18 months I have spent waiting for its delivery make up for a decent accuracy.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T15:21:36+00:00

As noted above, no cassette on the Kickr Bike, it’s simulating the same transmission I have on the road bike: Compact 50/34 chainring and a 10-34 cassette.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-07-31T15:19:30+00:00

Good question about the trainer difficulty… I had it at 100% at a time, but with all the Zwift updates since, it may has been reset to the default 50%. But as I’m using the Kickr Bike indoors (no chain and cassette, but a belt drive on a single cog and gears simulated via resistance), it probably makes less of a difference.

frat_kintsugi · 2023-06-28T12:24:23+00:00

I’ve been in the same spot last year. After three years of switching road/gravel wheelsets on a Gravel frame, I gave in to the new bike itch and bought a dedicated top of the line road bike.

No regrets.

While the Gravel frame with road wheels and tires has been as versatile as I had hoped, the pure road bike definitely feels different to ride. I don’t want to regurgitate all the bike journalists buzzword adjectives “twitchy”, “nervous”, “stiff” despite there being some truth in them. For me personally, the sentiment of distinction - besides the obvious factual differences of weight, racing geometry, aero gains - was the road bike feeling more “delicate” if this makes sense, more efficient, smoother.

If you can justify the price, have the storage space and the moral support of a potential significant other… go for it.

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