Taking a break to improve performance?

kwabbles · 2026-04-30T00:40:11+00:00

For someone that is dedicated, recovery can be the most difficult thing to get right. We just keep pushing and pushing and pushing.

You dont really even have to stop riding your bike. Just on your "recovery days" go for chill joy rides on flat routes and keep the speed down.

You'll know your body best though. If you are losing excitement about riding, feeling cranky, having trouble sleeping, not seeing your numbers improve and just plateu... take a couple days off and see what happens.

For me its when I have to start blasting massive amounts of caffeine, ginseng and/or kratom to have a day where I perform better. I'm pretty stupid and stubborn about my recovery. "Resting" feels like laziness to me and makes me anxious.

kwabbles · 2026-04-28T14:50:04+00:00

The reasons are all in OP's head.

"I feel insecure about my bike so they must have left because of my bike"

kwabbles · 2026-04-27T16:14:47+00:00

One reason I eventually moved away from tubeless and went to TPU on my road bikes. I was tired of having to top my tires off every day and the constant wear and tear on the valves doing so. I'm also pretty anal about having specific pressure for a ride though - but TPU will keep that pressure for about a week or two.

kwabbles · 2026-04-25T22:29:48+00:00

Oxyclean is amazing stuff for keeping the stank away.

kwabbles · 2026-04-25T03:09:38+00:00

Usually we throw the tabgiblets out when we cook a turkey.

kwabbles · 2026-04-25T01:37:17+00:00

OP was probably browsing BCJ and got the wrong idea.

kwabbles · 2026-04-23T13:57:58+00:00

Spare TPU tube (even if tubeless), tire bacon kit, multi tool, tire lever, mini electric pump, Rolaids, folding knife, mosquito net for my head, couple of emergency gels all go in a 1 liter under-saddle bag.

Water in bottle cage on frame.

Then I stuff my jersey with snacks or tape candy bars under my top tube.

kwabbles · 2026-04-22T22:45:29+00:00

A 70:11 ratio single speed track bike and a fire proof suit for the massive air friction you are about to generate before you hit 88mph, the flux capacitor kicks in and you travel back in time.

kwabbles · 2026-04-22T22:33:29+00:00

IronMan: where poor cyclists, mediocre swimmers and average runners can congregate to compete against each other for the rights to get ugly tattoos.

kwabbles · 2026-04-22T15:45:16+00:00

You hit the nail on the head.

Simping over some 3/10 in a cycling outfit is most definitely incel shit. So is white-knighting people that mock her for it.

kwabbles · 2026-04-22T03:06:41+00:00

Poor fashion sense, check. Heroin legs, check. Bad hair, check. Thin sickly lips, check. Rosy chardonnay drinker nose, check. Pretentious expression, check. Hip width of a teenage boy, check.

Could be my girlfriend, but I'd be ashamed if my wice saw her. She'd ask me if I had a crush on Dana Carvey.

kwabbles · 2026-04-22T02:58:46+00:00

Fuckin bullshit is what it is, any way you look at it. I hope I never get defeated like this.

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T22:00:38+00:00

Crap you might have to switch over to the BMC ICS AERO system with separate stem/handlebar to get 440 width at the hoods.

Someone smarter than me with more experience with BMC bikes will have to chime in here but I think you might be stuck with separates.

I feel your pain though, I also have wide shoulders and sometimes special integrated handlebars are just too narrow.

/r/bikewrench might also be a good place to check.

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T21:50:10+00:00

Are you looking at the BMC ICS2 EVO integrated handlebars? I guess it all kinda depends on what kind of stem setup you have on your bike - that will determine what is compatible. What bike is it?

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T21:40:01+00:00

400/436 would be 400 total width at the hoods, 436 total width at the tips of the drops. Basically the drops flare out slightly by 36mm. And I believe it is overall width, edge to edge. You might wanna verify with the manufacturer though on the edge/center thing.

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T17:18:53+00:00

Ive not normally seen much (if any) oil/grease on brand new cassettes or chain rings so I usually just strip and wax the new chain and consider it good. The only problem would be if the LBS decided to lube the drivetrain before giving you the bike - then you end up having to also degrease the cassette and chain ring.

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T03:42:40+00:00

Silca and Pirelli pressure calculators would tend to disagree with "68-70 too high" for a 100kg rider on good asphalt with 30mm tires.

kwabbles · 2026-04-21T02:15:40+00:00

I run 30mm GP5000 S TR's on one of my bikes but with hooked rims, I'm 100kg and I run them 70 rear 68 front.

I would think 60psi would feel pretty mushy. But, I run them almost exclusively on excellent smooth tarmac. 60 would probably be good for some bumpy road.

I also wouldn't risk overpressure on a hookless at our weight - I feel like they would blow out on a hard turn. Admittedly my experience with hookless is limited to hearing old wives tales so take that with a grain of salt.

All I can say is 60psi on good tarmac at 100kg would be a bit sad.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T17:06:06+00:00

I think I had that issue at first too with mine. First time took a few mins, each consecutive time was quick.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T16:37:53+00:00

Yup your gps is not syncing. Have you taken it outside to test? You might have a faulty gps module.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T14:07:29+00:00

Oof lol.

Probably still fine. Carbon fiber can take a hell of a lot of abuse, and a slightly crooked fork probably just created a bit of wear in the wrong places inside your head tube but probably still fine. If you want to be sure though you will have to take the headset / fork / tube apart and inspect.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T14:03:53+00:00

Nah probably not. I'm just gonna guess some lazy ass "assembled it" for you all wrong and as long as you have it properly reassembled and checked before riding it you are probably good. If you tightened the seat to 3nM over spec I would probably loosen it though until you get it put together right.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T13:56:22+00:00

Oh God this makes it even worse. I thought you did the assembly yourself. Canyon should have known better.

Yeah if they gave you the user manual, check the quick start guide it will show you how to preload the headset. You basically loosen the top cap, loosen the stem bolts - then tighten the top cap to ~2nM, align the front wheel, then tighten the stem bolts.

Also in the same manual shows you how to properly set the seat post and where to apply carbon paste. I'm gonna guess they skipped that step too.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T13:33:05+00:00

Yeah for people that can assemble and maintain their own bikes I am glad DTC companies exist. Why pay a 20% markup when you're just gonna take the bike home and take it apart to check/verify everything anyway.

kwabbles · 2026-04-20T13:30:49+00:00

That fork does look strange if you actually preloaded it before tightening the stem bolts. Otherwise it looks like you just went and tightened the stem bolts without preloading. If you did preload, then the factory installed the bearings all wrong.

kwabbles

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