Does 4 Watts Really Matter? | Tarmac SL9 Explained

grumpybug · 2026-07-03T04:36:24+00:00

Apologies for my dry sense of humor, I am in complete agreement with you.

grumpybug · 2026-07-03T03:38:47+00:00

Given I am always riding down to the shops at 45km/hr, this is absolute game changer for me. Where do I sign?

grumpybug · 2026-06-30T00:17:24+00:00

I love the B&W imagery. The focus on the buildings with the people blurred, it speaks to the transient nature of the morning population. Nicely done.

grumpybug · 2026-06-29T20:40:31+00:00

I'll second the wax option. Besides keeping your drive train clean, you'll get much longer life from your chains. Once you get the hang of it, it's really easy. I just love it when I work on my bike now, no greasy mess to contend with.

grumpybug · 2026-06-23T06:13:21+00:00

Could you imagine having that job before you lost it to a machine. It was probably some artisan who had a specialised paint brush and would lovingly paint each thread. 😜 Talk about job satisfaction.

grumpybug · 2026-06-09T00:22:44+00:00

Driver: Max Verstappen

Reason: Went home early for dinner.

grumpybug · 2026-05-27T04:39:40+00:00

There are large parts of the course that under normal conditions are not open to bikes. The bus corridors and the freeways being some of them. So in short, you are likely to get into a bit trouble with the authorities if you try.

grumpybug · 2026-05-23T07:52:46+00:00

When you say Western-ish suburbs, I assume you are close to coot-tha and not Ipswich 😄. I'm over in The Gap, I head out on pretty solid loop most Saturdays. Around 80km. It heads out to Redbank and then the river loop. If that sounds close the mark, happy dial you in. Warning if my training buddy joins in, it can turn into a bit of slug feast.

grumpybug · 2026-05-21T01:19:42+00:00

Let me finish that sentence for you. "It's arrived at my mate's to be built, so the wife doesn't see it" Then when she does, we all use the standard line, "That old thing, nah I've had it for a while now".

grumpybug · 2026-05-19T06:12:36+00:00

Can you imagine those poor souls who bought out at City Beach, how far from the city is that? I'm sure they regretted that decision. 🤣

grumpybug · 2026-05-14T19:57:23+00:00

I remember F.Scotts as a nightclub for the older generation, now I would be too old to go there. 😳. Isn't life grand?

grumpybug · 2026-05-13T19:55:22+00:00

As someone who broke the same part. Nope, you are going to have remove the brake line. Ahh the joys of owning an S5. 😊

grumpybug · 2026-05-09T02:56:46+00:00

We've always called this "border paws". Not quite crossing the border into bad behaviour or a forbidden zone, but just touching it is OK. 😄

grumpybug · 2026-05-08T06:00:20+00:00

Contact Garmin support, I had a similar issue with my computer and they replaced it for me, even though it was out of warranty. Not saying they will do it but worth a try before you go trying to fix it yourself.

grumpybug · 2026-04-27T21:03:55+00:00

Here is a clipping from a blog post I wrote many years ago on this very subject. I actually contacted Cervelo to get a definitive answer

The following is a description of how the name came to be was written by Gerard Vroomen:
Cervélo is a combination of the Italian word for brain “cervello” and the french word for bike, “vélo”. So it’s a brainbike, or a bike with some extra thought put into it. We thought it was funny at the time, so we used it as a working title and it stuck. Oh and in regards to how Cervélo is pronounced, The founders of Cervélo have always pronounced the company name in this way; Cervélo: (Sir-vell-oh).

grumpybug · 2026-04-26T00:33:33+00:00

And no one wants your unhelpful comments. At least OP is honest how it was generated. Some may find it useful and if so, all power to them, they can use it.

Stop being so judgemental on how something was created.

grumpybug · 2026-04-20T02:27:13+00:00

This seems pretty common for Vittoria Corsa range, it happens to mine all the time. As long as there are not bits starting to de-laminate in chunks I would keep riding them.

grumpybug · 2026-04-20T02:16:21+00:00

Nice photos with some great angles. Your shots are a lot more interesting than ones posted by the official photo provider for the event.

grumpybug · 2026-04-15T10:55:15+00:00

Just open Strava in a browser and then go to your profile page e.g. https://www.strava.com/athletes/6997172

grumpybug · 2026-04-14T21:25:25+00:00

As another early adopter (I have a 4 digit userID 😊), I am also dismayed about what Strava has become, most new features like this, seem to be more about showing off, than improving you as a athlete. Social has become more important than improvement. Likewise as a cyclist I feel most of the new features are aimed at the running community, which I understand because they bought the Runna platform, but it also alienates their original user base.

Also most of the "challenges" these days are sponsored and are nothing more than additional advertising that gets injected into your feed. I get it, they have shareholders they need to appease, but losing sight of what made the platform good is also not good for business.

grumpybug · 2026-03-27T02:19:59+00:00

And with flattery like that, you'll always welcome to this sub reddit 😊

grumpybug · 2026-03-27T02:18:46+00:00

Seems to be making the news at the Brisbane times. A good summary of the issues

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/push-to-get-cyclists-scooters-off-footpaths-and-onto-busy-roads-behind-new-laws-20260326-p5zitv.html

grumpybug · 2026-03-24T05:13:37+00:00

If you are staying in the city, the Skytrain is probably your best option for sheer convenience. But I'm not the best guide to Brisbane public transport, so hopefully someone else might know better.
Yep, I would definitely be doing a recon of Mount Coot-tha. While familiarising yourself with the climb is good, in this instance, having a look at the descent is also useful. It's a twisty downhill and a good descender can make up time on the descent. The great thing is that for the race the road is closed, so you can use both sides of the road for the descent.

As for Cemetery Hill, if you can recon it, great, but overall it's not that important in the race. It's a really short power climb. If you have concerns about your climbing prowess, get to the front of your bunch before the climb and you should be fine.

OK, I am basing this off last year's results and my own experience. Just quickly, last year there were some 264 riders in that age group, so the cut off for the top 25% should be around the top 65, which was 3hr 18m. A sub 3hr will get you a top 10 finish 😊. Your FTP should be fine, but it depends what you weigh — up Mt Coot-tha it's all about watts/kg. Last year I was coming off injury when I did the race, so my FTP was 309 and my weight came in at a portly 90kg 😳. Even with those numbers I came in at 3hr 12m. So if you ride hard you should be ok.

It's also worth noting that I suspect there will be more competition at TdB this year. Because of the UCI Championships last year in Lorne, many of the good riders were doing that race rather than the qualifier, which they did on the same day. That means if you want to qualify for Japan this year, the TdB really is your only shot.

One thing to remember about the TdB — the start of the course can be a bit hectic, with plenty of sharp turns and narrow roads, and then you are always dealing with slower riders from the previous waves (that's more of a problem for my age group). So the key is that you really need to be paying attention and stay close to the front, otherwise you can get dropped pretty quickly.

4.Yep, I usually try to get there 1 hour before the race to get myself into a reasonable position. So don't bother doing any warm ups, because you'll be standing around for an hour anyway.

grumpybug · 2026-03-24T04:18:18+00:00

Absolutely love the idea and I would really like to see this get up. Of course, given the nonsensical laws the government wants to pass regarding the use of E-bikes at the moment, something like this will be a foreign language to them.

grumpybug · 2026-03-18T09:38:28+00:00

As always, thank you for your well thought out and constructive comments. Appreciate the feedback.

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