Team BKool CycleChat

[RickB]

P.S. I guess you guys are watching the Vuelta and how well Tom Dumoulin is doing. He is constantly described as a "big" man and surprise at how well such a "big" man climbs is often repeated. They are sceptical that he can keep it up in the mountain stages.

He weighs 71 Kg!

Chaves is a hard to believe 54 Kg ....

Dumoulin needs to maintain around 30% more power than Chaves to keep with him on a steep climb. That is quite a disadvantage.

Geoff

Chaves is 54kg??? Haven't been that weight since a was about 12!!! Crazy light!

I'm stuck at 13 stones 3-4 pounds (84kg) and that's the lightest I've been in about 20 years!!

Ps: you're still missed on the virtual slopes Geoff. Trust you're keeping well.

 

[Rob H]

Bkool remote arrived today so will have a play and report

 

[Hazie]

how do u find the climbs as I'm 100kg ex weight lifter and any thing over 4.5% I find extremely difficult to the point where ill have stop take a few seconds then back on and I do that until I get to the top. I find it much harder than on the actual road

I actually find the hills ok, I seem to be quite good at anything upto about 15%. Haven't really seen anything on the trainer more than that.
However, I can't get up them at the speeds these guys do. Its just something I'm gonna have to gradually improve on.

Saying all that, yesterday in the actual outdoors, I rode up a Hill called Honister Pass in the the Lake District in the UK. It has a gradient of about 25%.
I only just made it up and I felt absolutely goosed, hardest hill I've ever climbed. But what a great feeling making it to the top without having to stop.

Anyway, stick with it, we might not get to the level some of these mountain goats are at, but we can definitely give it a good go.

 

[Alfonzo]

Thats what I have and mine is very steady or accurate in my opinion.

I also use Garmin Cadence/Speed and as I`ve said before I use this with a Garmin heart rate chest strap
and I use a USB extension lead so that the ANT+ dongle sits right next to my BKool trainer and all my cadence,
heart rate, speed and power seems to be very consistent.

 

[Whorty]

I love the hilly rides more than flats. I find it easier to drop to a low gear and just trug on for an hour uphill then crank out a high gear on a flatter ride. I've copied a few other Le Tour hill rides to try out. Might have a go tomorrow night

 

[Hazie]

Bkool remote arrived today so will have a play and report

Please do.

 

[Rob H]

Please do.

Ok so a very quick go, without the turbo. Basically the controller connects with the bkool software via the open dongle to replace the keyboard faff.

Up/down is same as the left/right arrow keys and the centre is same as enter. Longer press cancels.

Having had such a nause last winter with keyboards or strategically placed laptops I'd say without doubt for 15 quid get it as it just takes the pain away.

It secures using a rubber backing band so no tools and faff if you use your bike inside and out all year round.

I've read that it will work on other apps so will play more once set up in the new house but as you can now run the bkool in ergo mode on trainer road it could be great for manual step ups on wattage.

I've now tried bkool on zwift and traineroad and works well, I feel it could prompt bkool to sort the wattage problem as no longer can hide in there closed world. Once the weather turns I intend to have a real geek week using my pm to see where the gaps are.

 

[bobinski]

Ok so a very quick go, without the turbo. Basically the controller connects with the bkool software via the open dongle to replace the keyboard faff.

Up/down is same as the left/right arrow keys and the centre is same as enter. Longer press cancels.

Having had such a nause last winter with keyboards or strategically placed laptops I'd say without doubt for 15 quid get it as it just takes the pain away.

It secures using a rubber backing band so no tools and faff if you use your bike inside and out all year round.

I've read that it will work on other apps so will play more once set up in the new house but as you can now run the bkool in ergo mode on trainer road it could be great for manual step ups on wattage.

I've now tried bkool on zwift and traineroad and works well, I feel it could prompt bkool to sort the wattage problem as no longer can hide in there closed world. Once the weather turns I intend to have a real geek week using my pm to see where the gaps are.

Thanks for the update. It's a tempting purchase but now not showing in stock. Worth bkools price?

 

[RickB]

Thanks for the update. It's a tempting purchase but now not showing in stock. Worth bkools price?

Here it is costing 1/3 of Bkool's price: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CTOSANTN2CO/o-synce-ant-wireless-remote-control-for-navi2coach

I think this is the one RJH bought. (Isnt it? @RJH10000 ) getting tempted to get one myself!

Oh, hold on - link no longer works - Sold out??

 

[Rob H]

yeah i bought it

 

[Rob H]

Thanks for the update. It's a tempting purchase but now not showing in stock. Worth bkools price?

Thats a personal preference i think, as i have been off bkool for a while it works for me getting ready for winter... you may have a slick setup you prefer with keyboard.

I got it for 15 quid.. i doubt i would pay full price tho.

Id check ebay as these come free with the navicoach which in turn comes with the power2max pm sometimes. the gpsm is cack so you see people flogging them new for cheap on ebay to recoup cost against the pm

 

[RickB]

Lol
And yes, Bill is perhaps a bit better at making his lower power and higher tyre pressure work for him.

Felt my rear tyre today before repeating a ride I did last week - thought to myself that it maybe has lost a few PSI so pumped it up rock hard (120PSI). Made a world of difference.
Did the Vuelta stage of the league again and knocked 2:40 off my time. Gained enough to put me ahead of my nemesis Corby in the standings again

Guess thats why I've been flagging a bit recently!

EDIT: Corby has just challenged and beaten me on this week's stage by 4 minutes!!!

 

[bobinski]

Thats a personal preference i think, as i have been off bkool for a while it works for me getting ready for winter... you may have a slick setup you prefer with keyboard.

I got it for 15 quid.. i doubt i would pay full price tho.

Id check ebay as these come free with the navicoach which in turn comes with the power2max pm sometimes. the gpsm is cack so you see people flogging them new for cheap on ebay to recoup cost against the pm

My first bkool session in a while today and first ride in almost a week due to an old mans dodgy back. Forgotten how much of a faff it can be using a keyboard while on the bike! So, I think I will,keep an eye on EBay just in case....

Happyish with my ride.
http://www.bkool.com/bkoolSessionHistory/showSessionSummary/1344478

I too am now a follower of Bill's pump it up ( Tm. Elvis Costello) technique. Seemed to help. Frustrating though to see the power plummet when getting out of the saddle. I really struggle to generate the watts for long periods while sat down and need to get out of the saddle. Eventually the power does rise as I find the sweet spot but it's an awkward position and difficult to hold.

I tried out Zwift beforehand. I now don't understand what all the fuss is about. It's not necessarily graphically more impressive. I do like some aspects of the layout, seeing riders speed and wattage and also being able to see people waiting at the road side before they ride. But the limited number of routes and so on suggest a work in progress though it's difficult to see how it can improve and offer the variety of rides and competition bkool offers. And I do think bkool is beginning to come together. It certainly needs to do so and to continue to invovate and borrow if necessary to compete in this Ant+ fec world.

Anyway, it's good to be back

 

[kipster]

Did a Zwift ride today, the platform is ok, but I prefer Bkool. The in ride social aspect of a ride looks good, but I'm a miserable git on the turbo, putting too much effort in rather than chatting. I leave the chatting for afterwards in the forums

I had hoped to ride watoptia and see where I was with others in the club, but they've changed the ride to the UCI World championship in Richmond VA. I seemed to do ok against the other riders, only one guy got passed me but he was putting out 4.1 watts per kg, I was well down on that at about 3.2.

Back to Bkool for me, a much nicer group of riders on that platform

 

[Rayvon]

Was doing the beta for Zwift, using cyclops fluid 2 that i also used for traineroad. Graphics are good as everyone says, not many routes, and everyone is using a different turbo which I think is going to leave it very inaccurate for comparison against one another. Lot more choice with Bkool plus we're all using the same turbos.