PedalSmart.blog

My SB20 smart bike comes with an app that shows power, distance, cadence, L:R balance and current virtual gear. You can also use a bike computer like a Garmin 540/840/1040  to show similar data. When you use either at the same time as  Zwift, you see different numbers.  Who is correct? Answer: They are ALL CORRECT and ALL WRONG!  How can that be?   Let's find out. Before getting started,   it's a good idea to agree on basic parameters. Note: In this discussion, I use the term  Indoor bike  for smart bikes and smart trainers along with their related apps. RESISTANCE AND POWER 1. RESISTANCE - An indoor bike creates resistance that makes it harder or easier to pedal.  2. POWER - The harder you push against the indoor bike's resistance (measured in newton metres) multiplied by how fast you pedal (RPM) defines the POWER you are producing (specified in watts per second or just watts). POWER is a measured number and is EXACTLY the same if you are riding with Zwift, using your

Shimano Crank "Recall" Shimano is "recalling" the majority of Dura Ace and Ultegra road bike cranks manufactured since 2012. Eventually, every crank with this design will need to be recalled.  Estimates suggest up to 2 million cranks will eventually need to be replaced Shimano Hollowtech II Crank Recall NOT A RECALL 🙈 This "recall" is anything but. It's a mass "cover-our-back-side inspection". Only components deemed as "showing signs of delamination" will be replaced. Most people will get nothing beyond the added anxiety of owning a crank that could catastrophically fail without warning . LEGAL ISSUES ⚖️ The legal issues are more interesting. Shimano is setting itself up for big disappointments in court. By deciding to "inspect cranks for signs of failure", they are implying this is a manufacturing problem. As Hambini and others have so eloquently shown for over 3 years, this is a design defect. All cranks are susceptib

 STAGES SB20 DRIVE BELT ADJUSTMENT  Stages includes belt adjustment tips in their support note on fixing SB20 noises:   Flywheel Making Noise . Several people have mentioned these instructions are incomplete. I’ll try to help . I wish this process was easier. Good news: With practice, you can complete all adjustments in less than 30 minutes. TWO GOALS Adjusting the drive belt accomplishes two things: Align the belt to ride as much as possible in the centre of the drive cogs. This reduces friction and positions the front axle perpendicular to the drive belt. Don’t be too worried about this step. The SB20 manufacturing tolerances aren’t perfect. Getting the front drive wheel roughly aligned and generally perpendicular is about all we can expect to achieve. Get belt tension right. Optimal tension means quieter running and no slipping during hard efforts. For most of us, this is a trial-and-error process.You want tight but not too tight. For me, this is measured as a 1 cm deflection when p

 Stages SB20 - Ongoing Maintenance  Warning:  ⚠️ Corrosive Content 😇. I have read online postings about SB20 rust. I haven’t seen any on my bike but thought it would be good to watch for corrosion as I overhauled my bike in preparation for its 4th winter of indoor riding.  My bike’s warranty expired long ago. I figure I should do some maintenance now since no one else will .  Many of these steps should probably be done annually. Looks like every 3 years will have to do for me. 1. REMOVING PLASTIC COVERS The SB20 drivetrain reveals its secrets when you remove the covers . They’re held in place with 10 hex bolts -  3 on the left side and 7 on the right. Removing the right cover is easiest. Position the right crank at 7 o’clock. After removing the hex bolts, push the cover down and to the back. With practice, it takes just seconds.  The left side cover requires you to remove left crank. Insert an 8 mm hex wrench in centre of the crank and turn counter-clockwise. The crank will extract it

THEY COST WAY TOO MUCH TL;DR Summary: I love having no pinch flats with tubeless road tires. Lower PSI allowed with tubeless also adds to riding comfort.  But... I remain disappointed that I can't find a tubeless tire with durability that matches dozens of mid-priced clincher tires. I've had low priced tires, like the Continental Ultra-Sport, last a couple of years and get to more than 8000 km. My tubeless experience has been far less stellar. LOOKING FOR DURABILITY At the start of the season, I bought a pair of mid-priced Vittoria Rubino Pro Tubeless tires. I avoided top line tires since I wanted durability over better rolling resistance. I was happy to consider an even lower-tier tire, but couldn’t find any. MY EXPERIENCE IN 2023 1. My first rear Rubino Pro failed rather miserably after 3300 km in June. It had more than 20 tread-wear-through failures. Note that the centre tire ridge still has plenty of rubber. Why so many "wear-thru" locations? My bad. I wasn't

IMPROVING THE ZWIFT PLAY CONTROLLER I got a pair of Zwift Play Controllers the other day. I found the fit to be uninspiring . The sharp curve on my smart bike handlebars ( Stages SB20 ) allows for quite a bit of up/down and side-to-side movement. This is inherently a Zwift design issue. The controllers appear to be optimized for deep drop bars rather than my bike's tightly curved and flared gravel bike-style handlebars. EXPERIMENTS I experimented with various DIY foam inserts - including the shims provided by Zwift. None did much to reduce movement. “Mushy” is how I would describe button presses. THE FIX: EPOXY SHIMS I decided to create a rigid epoxy shim to get better contact between the Zwift controller and my smart bike handlebars. Here's what I did... 1. EPOXY PUTTY A shim is moulded using epoxy putty from Home Depot. You knead the putty for a few minutes to activate it. The result is a pliable compound that is workable for about 30 minutes. 2. MOULD TO SHAPE Masking tape i

 TUBELESS PUNCTURE (ROAD TIRE; SELF-HEALED) A few days ago I got a typical tubeless puncture: a pin-sized hole that self-repaired and allowed me to make it home with no drama (aside from sealant sprayed all over my bike). What I did next is perhaps more controversial. 1. The hole was centered in the middle of tread. I marked the hole with paint as soon as I found it. That turned out to be good. After the sealant dried I could not see the hole. In any event, my concern remained: The puncture is no longer leaking but can I really trust it? I decided to do permanent patch on the inside of the tire. 2. After draining left-over sealant, I had to wash my bike and the tire thoroughly + add some drying time. 3. I used a normal tube repair patch that was additionally clamped lightly in a bench vice for a few hours. Aside: Let's face it. This is more work than fixing a tube flat. But given how few tubeless flats I get, I am not really complaining. I also do all this extra repair work at ho

Inconsiderate Behaviour Many people say: Cyclists must get along with pedestrians. Now I'm not so sure. I was riding my bike the other day when THIS happened . When are they going to learn? What do you think? Was this non-cyclist being reckless? I think it is a CANADIAN 🇨🇦 problem 🤣.                                                                                                                   Captured with a Cycliq Fly12 camera. Works like a car dashboard camera.  Some people say you can use these cameras to track down bad drivers. Never helped me in that respect. It has mainly recorded unexpected events like this one 🙂.