- Faster than a brand new kilometer record
at sea level, it's here again.
The show where you ask and we answer
your cycling related questions.
It's ask GCN Anything.
Now first up we have this question from Marcus
who says, "@gcntweet I love the show, keep it up.
But how do I know when I need a new chain?
Are there performance benefits to a more expensive one?"
Now, first off, yes there are some performance benefits
from a slightly more expensive chain.
They can be a little bit lighter
and a bit more harder wearing.
So, generally speaking, they will last just
that little bit longer over a cheaper chain.
Before we get into the detail about how
to recognize a chain that's starting to wear out
and not performing quite as well,
it's really important as we head into the winter months.
And this is why this is a particularly timely question
to keep your chain as clean and as lubricated as possible.
Because if it's exposed to grime, to dirt,
to tiny particles, and corrosive salts at this time of year,
it will really accelerate the chain wearing out.
So keep it clean and keep it lubricated.
Now how to spot a worn chain, well basically,
you'll hear it first because there will be a little bit
of a rattle, a little bit of a chatter on the chain.
It won't sit quite as snugly on the sprockets
and also need to take a look at the chain close up.
So take a close look and there'll be
a little bit of play in the links, you'll even be able
to see slight gaps if your chain is over worn.
With normally a new chain all the links will sit
nice and snug and tightly together.
And there'll also be in a slack, loose chain,
lateral play as well.
And this particular subject, Simon tackles in this video.
- Can be quite rudimentary, essentially just a piece
or metal or plastic that you pop on the chain
and if its worn out, it will sit flat with the chain.
This one here tells you exactly how worn out it is.
If it's .5 then you're okay to keep going
just, but you should think about it
and if it fits in .75, then it doesn't.
- Well next up we have this question from Andrius M,
who asks, "What was John's FTP increase
after the training for the Haute Route?
Which training plans in Trainerroad did he pick,
and how much did he train?"
Well thanks very much for this question, Andrius,
I mean John really did enjoy his Haute Route experience,
although, as he will testify, it pushed him
to the absolute limits of pretty much everything.
But I think he's come out of the other side
with his eyes wide, and I'm sure he'd kinda wanna do
that sort of thing again.
And I for one, although I was only briefly involved,
really did feel for him.
Now in terms of the training that he did,
he primarily did sessions on the turbo trainer,
primarily trained indoors.
He'd wracked up between five and six
thousand kilometers in total.
Now he did certain intervals,
he did a lot of over under sessions,
so basically pushing himself beyond his FTP,
holding it, and then going back under.
He also did a lot of 20 minute blocks,
building his endurance and his power.
Now, when he did his first FTP,
before embarking on the Haute Route, it was 202 watts.
And then it built, over those six months,
to a rather impressive 250 watts.
So some pretty heavy gains there from John,
so fair play to him.
And, well, here's a look at the ride itself.
It really is quite something.
- I'm at the top of the Col de la Madeleine.
I'm 15 minutes inside the time limit, so
I made up a fair bit of the time on the climb
which is very good.
Just tucking into some nice bread and ham.
And then I'll be on my way again.
- Its time now for the rapid fire round.
Stefan, count us in.
(beeping with voice)
- Good beeps, here we go.
First up is this from Youtubesyclism, who asked,
"Re crank length, I shortened up my cranks
on my tt bike to allow me to get lower
without closing down my hip angle so much."
That's pretty cool, 'cause that is
what the British team pursuit squad did.
Shorter cranks, actually more aerodynamic.
Next up is this from Shane Burgel.
"Just wanna say thanks.
I was able to do a full 11 speed conversion
thanks to your maintenance videos."
Thank you very much, indeed.
Next up is this from Manan daboss.
"I have a 14 28t free wheel on the back
and a triple 44, 34, 24 on the front.
Is that good gearing to be starting out with?
I'm about six months into cycling
and I have a Foxter 2. zx."
Well Manan, that is absolutely fine.
Don't see a lot of people using triple chain sets these days
it's mostly compacts, but what you got on board there
should get you up pretty much any climb in the world
regardless of your fitness and, well from me,
enjoy your cycling, that should be absolutely fine.
Next up we have this from Wei Ting,
who says, "Will pro bike sponsors roll gravel bikes out
at Paris Roubaix in 2018?
I've never thought a that.
Let's wait and see.
There's a few bikes, I know a couple of bikes now
Specialized in particular, the geometry on their bike
on the Specialized Roubaix is very similar
to a gravel bike, so who knows?
We shall see, we wait with bated breath.
Next up is this from Larry Hillyer,
"What videos does GCN have
regarding sprint interval training?"
Well Larry, thanks for getting in contact.
Just type in sprint intervals into GCN,
and we've got a wealth of different sprint videos
there for you, hope that helps.
Next up is this from Benjamin Knudsen,
"Why not make some more and new videos about track cycling?"
Very very good question indeed.
We've got a few videos on track cycling.
One in particular we did with Chris Hoy
a couple of years ago.
We also have particular videos explaining
all the different track events,
but perhaps that something we'll look at in the future.
And finally, is this.
Now there's a few of you got in touch
with me mixing up the bones in our legs,
and really I should know about this, shouldn't I,
although, I'm not trained in any medical issues,
really I should know what the bones are.
So, this is from Jamie Greenhough,
"The femur is your thigh bone."
I fall on my sword, I'm sorry, I got it wrong.
Well rapid fire done and dusted.
Take a bit of deep breath and slow things down
with this question down in the comments section,
from Mohammed Ilham, who asks,
"Hi GCN, I'm an Indonesian cyclist,
and I injured my left knee ligament not too long ago.
I'm still riding my bike at least once a week
with a distance of between 40 and 60 kilometers,
but sometimes the other half of my ride,
my knee starts to hurt a bit.
Have you got any tips on a training method to prevent that?
Thanks very much."
Well Mohammed, sorry to hear of your knee injury,
and thanks very much for getting in contact.
Now, a lot will depend, in relation to recovering
from your injury, on how occurred in the first place.
Was it something acute?
Was it basically the result of a crash
and an injury sustained in a crash?
Or was it something a little bit different?
Was it due to the position on your bike?
Was it over training, for example?
Or was it something as simple
as having your shoe plate in the wrong place,
which can cause, obviously, knee injuries.
Now, what I'd suggest you do,
if you haven't done it already,
is if you can, go to see a specialist.
Give them the circumstances of your injury,
pinpoint what the problem is,
and they'll look at the root cause,
and perhaps give you some exercises
and some more expert advice on trying to sort it out.
If you can't get to see a specialist,
then what I would do was take a very very patient approach.
You say you're going out on your bike
for a little while and it's causing you pain.
Basically, ride as much as you can.
As soon as you feel any pain at all,
that's when you need to really knock things off.
I'd go home and basically rest, rest, rest.
The most important thing with any joint injury,
including knee injuries, is patience.
I've been there many times myself.
Sometimes it takes several weeks off the bike
without any riding at all, in company with some
specific exercises to keep the muscles working.
But most of all, you need to show a lot of patience.
And hopefully, in time, it'll rectify itself.
Now in the meantime, well you're watching
a bit of GCN on Youtube.
And to help prevent something like this
potentially happening in the future,
how about watching this video here.
- First place you should start is by looking
at your saddle height and position.
Now, get it too high or too low,
and you'll be putting considerable extra strain
on your knees.
Now, talk to fellow cyclist, and with one look
they should be able to tell you
if there are any glaring errors in your position.
But you can of course, do it yourself as well.
- Well that's it for another edition of Ask GCN.
Please, do keep firing your questions in,
down on social media, or in the comments section,
using the hashtag #Torqueback.
And if you haven't already subscribed to
the Global Cycling Network, you can do so for free,
by clicking on the globe
and that way you won't miss another video.
Now speaking of videos, we have two more for you
that I think you might like.
As we head into the winter months,
we all sometimes need a little bit of inspiration.
So how 'bout clicking, just here,
for our top ten inspirational cycling quotes.
Now, a lot of us ride indoors during the winter,
so how 'bout clicking just down here, for a training video,
where I rode along with Team Sky.