The locals around here actually sound a bit like pirates; but they prefer cider to rum.
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Factory lube is slow… wax is the future.
…Of snake oil salesmen emptying the pockets of triathletes 
(I’m aware it is actually faster, but so are booties, which cost less than a tenner and also save watts)
Don’t get me started on CeramicSpeed bearings and jockey wheels.
That would double the value of your bike 
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Indeed!!!
I was watching this over the weekend…
Meh on the Di2. Tbh I’m quite happy with cables for my gears. That said, the Rotor hydraulic group might be good for integrated super bikes; pricey though.
I’m paranoid about electronic shifting letting me down in a big event. Okay for a sportive/Audax bike, although even then I went for the better frame/wheels over Di2 in the end.
Booties take time to fit, chain watts is free speed and you have that big gear for the chain line too.
.
I’m a full on advocate of waxing & it’s not expensive in fact I think it works out cheaper.
A rice cooker is about 15 quid at Asda & candle wax is as good as free. Sure I use MSW for racing but it lasts for a long time. I’ve not seen any wear on any of my chains or had to replace a cassette since I started waxing don’t remember when.
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Mind you, forget about the waxing, you have those cables to sort out 
Yes. A clubmate uses a jewellery cleaner to vibrate his chain clean, then another one to wax it with.
It seems like an awful lot of faff!!!
MSW? MegaSpeedWorks?
Those cables are more than likely staying 
I’m scared of what’s underneath and LBS having to run a bastardised outer cable instead.
You shouldn’t really need to change your cassette if you keep changing chains anyway, at least in my experience. I still have the Dura Ace Ti cassette from 2008 on my Disc; it’s done a few thousand miles in that time. In fact I have an Ultegra one on my training wheel that’s been in use for probably 7-8 years constantly. New chain every 8 months or so, and give it a thorough bath after crappy weather.
I use Squirt wax lube, but CBA to start cooking wax up…unless I see a seriously smoking gun on the matter. I’ve bought a 50T Q ring, which means I can now get a better chain-line, which is very useful for reducing wear & frictional losses.
Molten speed wax, basically candle wax with some Teflon in it.
You only need to do a proper job of cleaning your chain the first time, after that you just dump it straight into the wax takes very little time.
Can’t you just do it in a saucepan; why a rice cooker?
Makes it easy, in the garage no need for a hob and no chance of setting anything on fire :). Wax is already in there solid from before, coil up the chain & sit it on top, flip the switch & come back in half an hour, hang up the chain to dry job done.
Yeah, but Poet’s Mrs can just do it for him in the kitchen, whilst he watches Eurosport with his feet up, and a cold one.
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QuestHD! I’m not paying for Eurosport 
I have an Android box I occasionally break out for Mobdro; last did it for P-R highlights show; had to watch it on German Eurosport though.
Is Quest HD a better app? I’ve just taken Showbox & Mega Box HD off my phone as they appear to have tombstoned.
Quest is a free-to-air channel, Giro was on it.
TdF is on ITV4, as is Vuelta.
Anything else that tickles my fancy is a good excuse to visit the Rapha Clubhouse in Manchester 
Number under wetsuit is okay under BTF these days iirc It seemed odd to me a few years back when I returned, because they do not allow it in Germany.
You only get one bib number these days in pretty much all races - so you’ll have to use a number belt.
I’ve been using Squirt lube this year and it’s been great in general. In my experience it copes fine in dry to “damp” conditions but I’ve found that in really wet conditions it washes off. Weather forecast for this Sunday doesn’t look great which worries me a bit, but it’s probably a bit far off just yet for them to make a good forecast.
If it gets to the day before and they are predicting a morning of torrential rain would you still use squirt? I’d be tempted to put a wet lube on, but by that point i’m not sure how i’d be able to clean the squirt off (staying at a hotel) and i’m not sure how well wet lube would work on top of squirt…
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