Yeah i don’t think my wife would be very enthusiastic if she could hear the turbo. Luckily I’m way down the garden!
It’s a 13 year old Tacx Satori (magnetic); obviously it echos around the garage too. It’s become an acoustic & vibrational engineering problem to ‘solve’. I’ve now put it on two layers of cardboard, put a fully slick old (hardened) tyre on the back wheel. Last job is to fashion a box to go around the roller unit. I think the new style ‘Gousto’ cool box is ideal (4 layers of corrugated cardboard, and the right size). Yet to try any of these mods yet.
If it’s going through the house, it sounds like vibrations being transferred through solids rather than through the air. Have you tried mounting the whole thing on top of something dampening?
Did a Crit City race after watching the Zpro Tri series. Made the front group at the start again but got dropped pretty early on, found a nice group to work with/against and finished 18th in Cat (per Zwift Power). 265W 3.4W/kg - not my best effort but I did have enough to slip away from my group on the last lap with the help of an aerohead and high 1 min power.
I think by the end of the race I had the rhythm of the rollers, there’s a noticeable gap between the actual gradient and what I feel, it’s enough for me to drop out the back of a group before the long straight. That’s where I lost the front group at the start and it’s also where I was able to escape by timing my efforts on the last few laps. Will try again another day.
I actually think it’s sound. It’s solid concrete flooring and thick stone walls; not sure how much they would vibrate. The magnetic unit makes a loud whirring sound when it’s up & running, then it’s just magnified by the ‘hard empty’ space in the garage.
3rd place on ZP, I think I was 6th in the actual race. Only 7 seconds behind winner on ZP, we were side by side for 12km, but then I couldn’t hold his wheel any more.
Race ends a few hundred metres before the bridge. I can’t say exactly where as I just wanted it to be over
366W AP, I think I over-cooked the start as was struggling to maintain 350w towards the end
FTP isnt an hour, it’s about an hour. Need to factor in TTE also but FTP can be as low as 45minute power for some
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People getting far to hung up on FTP. In cycling look at your full power curve. Gives a much better overview and testing is done all the time. Someone mentioned a saying cogan had, pretty much most decent coaches say the same since the 70s. It’s not about the performance in training, it’s about race day. Unless you are going to compromise other training to do a test fresh you will never hit your best figures. Zwift races are a great way to monitor improvements also
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Some of the London routes go right past my office and are part of my commute. When I see the pedestrians walking next to the road I keep thinking they are going to step off in front of me
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Today I did just short of an hour outside at 6:30. Then at lunch I took a break and did a couple of Richmond short loops that included sprints. I smashed the sprints (for me), and bit 955 watts on one. Didn’t quite get the green jersey (was second).
Then I logged onto the British Cycling Time Trial series ride. I had to change bikes and started 4 seconds late, which actually worked fine as I worked through the field from 211th to about 125th. 24m20s at 263 NP.
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Got DQ’d on Zwiftpower for my race tonight ‘WKG’ which I think means exceeding the 20 min power for cat B despite Zwiftpower telling me I’m in B cat. Also noticed it’s also now DQ’d me from my previous race too. Funny thing is I only place about 30th in the B Zwift results.
Guess it’s time to get a drumbing from @Matthew_Spooner and his friends 
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I just signed up this week and have ridden a couple of times. Looks very cool.
One question- while I was riding Richmond this evening, at about 220W / 3.2 W per kg I found my self riding along with a guy who the display said was putting out about 2W per kg. In the end he rode away from me. How does that work? Heavier rider, better bike?
Longer race for me tonight, and a climbing one (Muir and the Mountain - includes Epic KOM plus radio tower).
Got it all kinds of wrong. Opening 20mins went way too hard (6th best all time 20min power at 271w). Didn’t realise the pen was all riders. Though it was just B’s. Reckon I must have got dragged along with loads of A’s. Put myself in a massive hole.
Hit the climb, and I was already in trouble. A PB up the Epic KOM segment (25.04) but power was well down on my plan. Was thinking I’d hold the kind of power I put out in that opening section, but averaged under 250w. I had club riders fly past me. Radio tower was a real slog.
Realised right at the top of the radio tower, after my chain dropped to the little ring for the second time (ordered a new one earlier today in fact…reckon this one has a kink or something), that I really should have dropped to the little ring earlier. I was inbetween gears all the way up the main climb, but had I dropped down I’d have had closer ranges on the little ring. Lesson learned there.
Got in a decent group back on the flat, picking up stragglers. Felt strong. But as we hit the rollers back in Titans Grove my legs just failed. Lost 20s to that group in the final 900m climb to the finish line. Club mate came past me just on the line which was doubly annoying.
Realised I’m very much a high inertia rider. Holding power up the climbs was just so much harder in low inertia situations. As soon as I hit the flat, >250w just felt so much easier. Certainly backs up the fact I’ve always perceived myself as a poor climber out on the road versus flatter, rolling races. Quite illuminating seeing how easy I’ve held relatively high watts in flat races recently, and how it all changed on a prolonged steep climb. Although clearly overdoing it early didn’t help.
Lessons learned, which I guess is still a good thing
ETA - 255w for the opening 50mins. Significantly above my best ever. Close to an hour, and given training peaks also says I set 5 and 10 minute power top three all time levels at the start of that, I can’t complain too much about holding a little under what I’d hope my FTP would be for approaching an hour. That punchy opening is definitely going to have hurt the overall average
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If it was flat, it could depend on his weight. He might be much heavier, and so on the flat the higher absolute watts will be more important than w/kg
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I’d always wondered that. So do they skew it in favour of 2/kg or overall weight on the hills?
Do you like eggs?
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There’s an activity for the kids! Get hold of a load of them, and set them to building your turbo fortress, with openig and closing door and everything!
Speaking of overthinking it, did you see Lionel’s latest YouTube video? Called “photo finish” of summin’.
Two immediate solutions spring to mind.
- Get a quieter turbo
- Get a deafer wife
While we (well, ok me) are hovering dangerously close to the shark-infested fringes of wife humour, I heard this yesterday:
While riding my Harley, I swerved to avoid hitting a deer. I lost control and landed in a ditch, banging my head.
Dazed and confused I crawled out of the ditch to the edge of the road. A shiny new convertible pulled up, driven by a beautiful woman who asked, "Are you okay?
My vision was still a little blurry, but I noticed she was wearing a low-cut blouse and looked a lot like Marilyn Monroe.
“I’m okay I think,” I replied as I pulled myself up to the side of the car to get a closer look.
She said, “Get in and I’ll take you home, so I can clean and bandage that nasty scrape on your head.”
“That’s nice of you,” I answered, “but I don’t think my wife will like me doing that.”
“Oh, come now, I’m a nurse,” she insisted. “I need to see if you have any more scrapes and then treat them properly.”
Well she was very persuasive, and being a little dazed, I agreed. But I repeated, “I’m sure my wife won’t like this.”
We arrived at her place which was just few miles away and, after a couple of cold beers and the bandaging, I thanked her and said, “I feel a lot better, but I know my wife is going to be really upset, so I’d better go now.”
“You’re a good man”, she said with a smile. “I’m sure your wife won’t mind that you let a stranger help you in your hour of need. By the way, where is she?”
“Well”, I replied, “my guess is that she’s still in that ditch”
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Perhaps: Soundproofing foam