Tubulars part two

My first attempt at tubulars was in the form of a pair of second hand Planet X  500mm wheels, shod with Rhino Dugasts.
One race and they were a revelation.. but a second training ride ended in disaster when wet rims meant I overcooked a corner ( dislocating my shoulder on a tree) , and then the freewheel imploded rendering them useless. I have taken the the Rhinos off and retired the wheels. I suppose I could rebuild the rim into a disk hub, but I am not ready for a switch to disks yet.. ( maybe another blog post) SO for now. the rhinos are hanging in the garage and the wheels are perched , as a constant reminder of  what a fucking huge waste of money they are.
Despite this set back, tubulars are apparently one serious improvement you can make to your riding and racing: so I have persevered .
Instead of carbon.. I have opted for a pair of Mavic reflex rims built onto stock 105 hubs. these have come shod with Challenge Grifos, so I should be able to directly compare the clincher to tubular as I have trained on Grifos since last summer ( until switching to Mud2s).
I will stick them on the Merida and see how they feel. The idea is that they are for training on..
I squirt half a bottle of sealant in each wheel pump them up to about 38 ish and its time for a test ride.

I opt to try them out first time on a regular lunchtime wood ride, reasonably good terrain, ( a few rooty bits) but mainly because I was with a fellow rider in case of mishaps.
Just a pump and tool. no need for spare inners or much else and its thrashing time.

Riding them hard around the regular Tapnage loop, impressions were pretty good. Not a monstrous revelation but I was definitely carving harder into corners. a tricky off camber pine needle strewn corner where I crashed a few weeks ago was taken increasingly confident.
I was very nervous smashing them over tree roots, while this wouldn't be an issue on a cross circuit, woodland training brings its own problems, hence I ran them fairly high at 38psi. I hope to use these a lot through the next training block, though unless I race on them, or buy a decent set of race wheels, I will be well pissed come Autumn and drop back to clinchers with Latex.

Kit review PlanetX X 365

I buy  a lot of stuff from Planet X. While I have never bought a bike, I buy a lot of components and nick nacks. Their stuff is solid,  functional and at a price that suits my limited means. Over the winter I have been daily riding in a garments from their range.
Firstly , their Bib tights. For the money these are spot on , easily in the top five best things I bought last year. I will certainly be buying another pair next autumn.  I bought a size Large and they fit me spot on. The chamois is a bit stiff and flat, but I always 'double bag' and wear shorts underneath, so this hasn't been an issue.
The windstopper material in the lower leg is great, it works and doesnt go tight across the knee, ( an old pair used to do this and cause knee pain) . Its not waterproof and water still splashes down and fills you shoes but for warmth they are good for brisk training.
The leg grippers are good and the length is just right for my 6' 1/2" lankiness. The shoulder straps are comfortable, stay flat and so far after 10 washes or so there are no stitches fraying and the only bobbling is on the arse cheeks. I wouldnt use them on the coldest days, but for training rides on cold damp days I cannot fult them. At the moment no negatives at all.

I have also been wearing the lobster gloves from the same range. Now these are damn fine for fifteen quid. Size large fits me perfectly. Inside they have a soft furry material that is positively delicious to slide your hand enough to be worth while and I like the velcro.( hooks and loops mixed together on each patch..)

into. Not having had lobsters before braking on my track bike was interesting but I soon got used to it. The cuff is long
Sweaty hands can be extracted without pulling the inners out, which is a bonus after my Sealskin's.
Temperature wise, Due to our mild southern winter, I only managed to ride them down to about -1  they were fine, warmth was about equal to my Sealskin's. They are a bit thinner than I thought, so really really cold, I would wear my clumpy, dodgy civvy ski gloves with inners.( if its that cold I don't think it matters)
One slight negative though, I found they were not that waterproof. heavy rain left me with wet hands ( not all ran down my sleeve) but they remained reasonably warm.
I like them.. Would buy again.

Another set of gloves were the softshell Flanders gloves . These arrived in glorious white, intended for autumn scooting to and from work. Again the large fit was spot on for me, finger length was good ( I hate it when gloves seem to press on the end of your finger)Velcro cuff good. Windproof and they do exactly what they are supposed to cool non frosty mornings, or faster lunchtimes ( when the day has warmed up a bit).
They have turned a bit grey but unfortunately I have had a stitching blow out on the right thumb snot wipe and the cuff stitching has split as well. I will repair them and keep using through this spring.. but for £7.00 they represent brilliant value.. I wish I had bought two pairs.

Lastly Planet X windblock gloves. Unfortunately my regular large sizing didn't work out with this one. The fingers are too short and the internal stitching digs into my fingertips.
They are warm enough, and the backs are padded enough to use it off road ( i go tearingthrough gorse often and the backs of my gloves are a protective measure)
I so wanted to like thse gloves, but when I grip the bar and the material pulls tight I rapidly lose feeling in in my fingers.

As a result I haven't worn these much, other than a  few autumn cross sessions down the woods.

March stats

Its been quiet here, but pretty busy training wise.

I am trying to get to grips with the powertap. but at the moment its just a glorified speedometer..I like being able to compare power readings on segments. I am using the power curve that 'evolves ' on Poweragent as it still cannot connect to my Garmn up until I get a ANT+ upgrade.

Even with the first week, largely written off due to sickness, I seem to have found a rhythm, for now training seems to be;
Two days Hard> Day off...... Two days hard> Day off.
Hard days are Hill intervals> Tempo> rest.

457 miles in 26 hours..thats my highest yet.


It seems to be working pretty well for me. . tsb is hovering at -10 ish.. I haven't been sick. and my CTL is steadily climbing.
Did a bit of running, though feeling a lot slower on foot. and it definitely messes me up.. tight calves and lots of aches and pains in my hips and Psoas affect my riding..

Lunchtime Riding

Not really meant to get this muddy,

Especially when the showers dont work properly..