Those 21mm Vittoria's were the width of a standard Vittoria CX, for use on the road, not that long ago. A CX that was 23 mm wide was considered a "rain" tire, and a 25 mm CG tire was for rough roads. I still have a Vittoria CS18 track tire that I used as a front TT tire.
Im riding a fixed gear bike as my daily and another for weekend training and seeing those grooved rear dropouts, that is such an under appreciated feature that I wish more frames included.
@@gcntech I live in an extremely flat city with a 100km bicycle loop that goes around the city. Winter temps hit about -2 but no ice or snowfall. I do crit style training even though there is no fixed scene. With the proper kit, its just like any other ride and I prefer it to summer as we hit 40c. Appreciate the content and a message to Alex - That was a champion effort regardless of the result. It was more of a personal challenge than going for gold.
When we used to use fixed gear for winter training the theory was that 1 mile fixed was equivalent to 2 on a regular bike. Had no way to test that but maybe an idea for GCN to test?
@@nicknameunavailable809 I wonder how fixed gear training would translate to a road bike in terms of power output? maybe they can do a flatish 10km loop with a target avg speed and see which would be more intensive. Would be nice to see if winter training fixed translated to results in the summer.
@@suhdud4646 The theory was that, in our modestly hilly area, the forced pedaling in fixed gear resulted in more “effort” over a given time or distance. Great for short winter days or when weather was less desirable. So, I like your idea and measure is total watts for the given loop?
Yes at last a Dolan bike on GCN. I have a Dolan Rebus Aero, just a year old, absolutely love this bike, a truly underrated frame builder that I go back to the days when they made Cougar frames (oops I'm dating myself) and (that wasn't the best name though) Boardman sweared by Dolan bikes. I'm from Toronto and our bike club had quite a few riders using Terry Dolan bikes. Though not underrated in the Track World. Beautiful finish on that black frame.
Good push at the event man, it was a huge effort and the training for the time was amazing, can’t wait to see what 12 months gets you! I’m going through a similar process with my track bike at the moment, going right out to the max reach, dialling in the position with the camera, trying to acquire the best stuff for my budget for the bike and kit setup and training 6-8 sessions a week for the nats in April, fingers crossed it all pays off but regardless I’m really enjoying the process of getting everything dialled in like you’ve shown in the two vids.
I think the pretension on the hubs was probably best before the tinkering. However, trying to test the difference would make a good GCN tech show. Anyway, nice bike, all the best and 'godspeed' (as Americans say regarding astronauts).
@@gcntech Please consider contacting the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, London for some tests such as the difference bearing pretension makes. They do need good PR to attract staff and clients. Clearly you do not want to be a paying customer so the show will have to be a pretty good advert for them. There is one of London's parks on the doorstep that is perfect for filming, as well as showing the luxury grounds the NPL is in. They undertake lots of work and will provide a really good tour. For them to test a bicycle bearing objectively is not going to be a problem for them. It is kind of what they do. It could be a true visit to find out what is possible and what is not regarding measurement and what performance gains can be made by having the edge in being able to do something like measure vibration.
Reducing the preload on the bearings won't reduce the friction if you go below the necessary preload to keep the bearings aligned under the cyclic loading of actual riding. Lower ≠ better
little late but: you can pull your saddle all the way to the centerline of the bottom bracket if you use the 1 morphological exception you get assuming youre not using any other exceptions
5 years ago anything over 55t chainring was unheard of. People were afraid it would be so large that it would taco from the power (talking about sprinters here). Now it seems like 60+ is pretty common place.
Hmmm, no power measurement devices (for use later when reviewing data). Also, we'd like to see kilo or lap splits of your effort. What cadence did you end up averaging once up to speed?
Low hanging fruit...aero headset spacers. I also think an integrated bar/stem would have been a better use of funds than those extensions...assuming you couldn't buy both
Because you asked us what we think… ok,! That SIS bar at the end was pure marketing 😜. You can just drink coffee which should be one hour before the event to work. And for 5 min effort you don’t need any added electrolyte. Anyways Good luck 👍
Hmm🤔🤔 Alex, what if we load these skinny tubular tyres with the BEST sealant and pumped them to 200PSI, can't we ride them in road races, regardless of still Possible Potential Puncture Casualties?
Has silca replaced MucOff? I am looking forward to hours of chain wax deep dive instead of a gazillion cleaners that are best replaced by warm water and dish soap.
Hi Alex, I like your methodical presentation. Do you cover the valve holes in the disc wheels? I have hot waxed my chain and it is great, the quietest and freest chain ever but poor old bike has to live in a damp shed so the roller faces and the chain plate get wiped as I ride and then in the shed a light rust scale forms. do you have any advice for me to avoid the problem?
@@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589 I don't quite understand. The wax is great for the function of the chain, and it does not attrack grit and so on and doesn't make me mucky. Just this annoying feature to deal with. As wax is an oft recomended thing, someone must have a solution unless of course everyone else has nice centrally heated garage/sheds.
I think it entirely depends what chain you started with. When you hot wax the chain, I always use one with a gold ti nitride coating which prevents rust, some brands have regular silver coloured chains with coating as well.
The biggest issue in cycling is the co-opting of minutia measurements of power output and timing for sales; now everything can be marketed as massively beneficial even though it is done purely 'under ideal circumstances', or negligible aero [not directly "speed"] increases in a wind tunnel. Same thing happened in the golf industry. They simply wait for the market to plateau a bit, then pull out the Cadmium, Tungsten, Bismuth, Erbium design choices and marketable math for another upgradable sales tier. "I heard those Scandium-infused brakepads are providing 30 more nM of stopping power-- which over our 240km daily ride will be over 37 seconds faster...um..braking!"
@@gcntech I have a DF4. I've yet to assemble it. Likely that it will never see a track. Some tend to be island-minded about some idea that fixed gear bikes should never see the road, and yes, road bikes are better suited to the changing urban roadscape, but to draw had distinctions between what should be ridden where is asinine in my opinion. So long as you have the awareness, skills and understanding to mitigate the higher risk factor of riding a brakeless bicycle on the street, I say have at it. After all, it used to be the norm many years ago.
@@Flashback_Jackcat 1 on the track and think it's stupid to ride track bikes on the road. Road geometry fixies with at least a front brake are fine though. Actual track bikes give a trash ride and have terrible geometry for riding on the road. Plus they don't even have bottle cage mounts in most cases😂
@@veganpotterthevegan Jesus. You again? My DF4 is fully assembled complete with Fast Forward trispoke and rear carbon disc wheel and carbon sprint bars. Ride it on the street between sessions on my Trek SL7 no problem--and I still don't need any help putting on my skinsuit. Call it what you want; I don't give a fuck.
So how can you gain the 20 seconds needed?! How much faster could you get with tech? Always leave upgrades in the bag 😊 for next time. Good effort dude
@@gcntech using the Castelli ribbed base layer underneath the skinsuit would be a good start. The smooth suit is likely next to useless on Alex without it.
Spent about 500 miles on it and so far so good. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA Pros:1. Very light2. Solid quality build3. Fast delivery: It arrived 5 weeks earlier than expected.4. Easy assemblyJust a few cons but nothing major:1. Cheap tin tubes and had flat on first day... but not a big deal. I replaced the tubes.2. Seat is a bit uncomfortable but that's pretty much the same situation with most bikes.3. Seat post is a bit long/high for a smaller size 48 bike - had to saw 2 inch off to fit properly. The lowest setting is too high. The post locking system does not seem to hold well (perhaps because I saw 2 inch off).4. wheels are not tubeless compatible (from what I can tell)
Okay you Guru nutters! If lateral movement resists forward movement (? Y/N) who rides the rollers with least side-to-side movement over 1km in GCN/GTN/GMBN??? My money’s on Alex, aka Bob.
Looking at UCI Regulations now the saddle only needs to be just behind the bb though if under 5cm behind you lose some reach to the end of the extensions
I'm not sure that loosening off the bearings is beneficial for you. Despite appearing to make the wheels spin better I expect that under load you actually lost watts. The handlebar extensions and the headstem are nowhere near as aero as they could be. The bar ends had a nice rounded smooth aero profile and then you've got that headstem with a blunt front edge and exposed bolts. The arm rests might get you into and aero position but they have more lumps and bumps on them to create drag than anywhere else on the bike. Aero pedals attached to a chainring and crank with absolutely no effort made to be aero. If you compare Filippo Ganna's hr record track bike with what Alex is riding there's absolutely no comparison when it comes to the aero profile.
I get the "Marginal Gains" philosophy, but wouldn't getting some actual track time be of more benefit. Why strive for micro gains when you have overlooked the major gains
and veloflex record is faster than any corsa speed models, and faster than that is dugast silk tyres. I think the fastest athletes go for the tyre with the best aerodynamic shape rather than which tyre has the loewst rolling resistance, like how Ganna uses a tyre with gp5000 tread pattern.
Silca's 'independent tests' HAHAHAHAHAHA! They bought them from the testing institute ready-made to say what they wanted them to say They're a company badge-engineering their way to corporate profitability by selling Taiwanese mutton dressed as Italian lamb. Hot wax for chain lube? It's what my grandad did in the 1940s, and it didn't work very well then, so they're having a lend of you now. Oh, and don't forget their $300 sets of hex keys to do your screws up with #contempt. Fight me.
Have you seen Alex's attempt at the Individual Pursuit? Check it out here! 👉 gcn.eu/8tF
Done
Those 21mm Vittoria's were the width of a standard Vittoria CX, for use on the road, not that long ago. A CX that was 23 mm wide was considered a "rain" tire, and a 25 mm CG tire was for rough roads. I still have a Vittoria CS18 track tire that I used as a front TT tire.
It's very interesting to see how tyre tech has changed! Did you catch Si's low down on tyre pressure? 👉ua-cam.com/video/6rMnNI2RCgw/v-deo.html
@@gcntech Yes it did. None of my bikes allow 28 mm tires. I guess that you could call them retro.
At last a Dolan on GCN.... I own a Dolan ADX ultegra rim 10s titanium. Not the fastest, but the most comfortable ride I've ever had.
Sounds like a very nice bike! Have you put it up on the Bike vault? 👉gcn.eu/app
Will do when I find that idyllic spot on the island of Mauritius. Gcn should come around one day
@@gcntech done!
Im riding a fixed gear bike as my daily and another for weekend training and seeing those grooved rear dropouts, that is such an under appreciated feature that I wish more frames included.
How are you finding fixed riding for winer training? 👀
@@gcntech I live in an extremely flat city with a 100km bicycle loop that goes around the city. Winter temps hit about -2 but no ice or snowfall. I do crit style training even though there is no fixed scene. With the proper kit, its just like any other ride and I prefer it to summer as we hit 40c. Appreciate the content and a message to Alex - That was a champion effort regardless of the result. It was more of a personal challenge than going for gold.
When we used to use fixed gear for winter training the theory was that 1 mile fixed was equivalent to 2 on a regular bike. Had no way to test that but maybe an idea for GCN to test?
@@nicknameunavailable809 I wonder how fixed gear training would translate to a road bike in terms of power output? maybe they can do a flatish 10km loop with a target avg speed and see which would be more intensive. Would be nice to see if winter training fixed translated to results in the summer.
@@suhdud4646 The theory was that, in our modestly hilly area, the forced pedaling in fixed gear resulted in more “effort” over a given time or distance. Great for short winter days or when weather was less desirable. So, I like your idea and measure is total watts for the given loop?
Is there any bike more beautiful than a track bike? I don't think so. . .
So simple and clean 👀
Yes at last a Dolan bike on GCN. I have a Dolan Rebus Aero, just a year old, absolutely love this bike, a truly underrated frame builder that I go back to the days when they made Cougar frames (oops I'm dating myself) and (that wasn't the best name though) Boardman sweared by Dolan bikes. I'm from Toronto and our bike club had quite a few riders using Terry Dolan bikes. Though not underrated in the Track World. Beautiful finish on that black frame.
Good push at the event man, it was a huge effort and the training for the time was amazing, can’t wait to see what 12 months gets you!
I’m going through a similar process with my track bike at the moment, going right out to the max reach, dialling in the position with the camera, trying to acquire the best stuff for my budget for the bike and kit setup and training 6-8 sessions a week for the nats in April, fingers crossed it all pays off but regardless I’m really enjoying the process of getting everything dialled in like you’ve shown in the two vids.
Alex: "The ends of your hands"
The rest of the English-speaking world: "Fingers"
Ends of your hands is the technical term 😂
After all this is the Tech channel😂
Great to see GCN are finally getting on board with waxed chains.
Awesome Video & Thanks :) Best regards for the event :)
Uncle Alex on a Dolan bike... how lovely!
I think the pretension on the hubs was probably best before the tinkering. However, trying to test the difference would make a good GCN tech show. Anyway, nice bike, all the best and 'godspeed' (as Americans say regarding astronauts).
Maybe we can double back and have a deeper dive into the subject 👀
@@gcntech Please consider contacting the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, London for some tests such as the difference bearing pretension makes.
They do need good PR to attract staff and clients. Clearly you do not want to be a paying customer so the show will have to be a pretty good advert for them.
There is one of London's parks on the doorstep that is perfect for filming, as well as showing the luxury grounds the NPL is in.
They undertake lots of work and will provide a really good tour.
For them to test a bicycle bearing objectively is not going to be a problem for them. It is kind of what they do.
It could be a true visit to find out what is possible and what is not regarding measurement and what performance gains can be made by having the edge in being able to do something like measure vibration.
Reducing the preload on the bearings won't reduce the friction if you go below the necessary preload to keep the bearings aligned under the cyclic loading of actual riding. Lower ≠ better
little late but: you can pull your saddle all the way to the centerline of the bottom bracket if you use the 1 morphological exception you get assuming youre not using any other exceptions
5 years ago anything over 55t chainring was unheard of. People were afraid it would be so large that it would taco from the power (talking about sprinters here). Now it seems like 60+ is pretty common place.
That is a Dope ass build.
I heard a rumour that Alex is hitting the Perfs this year...
... The TT training will come in handy for that sufferfest.
Amazing 😂😂😂
60-13 baby💨💨💨 on my every day fixie 🥸
Hmmm, no power measurement devices (for use later when reviewing data). Also, we'd like to see kilo or lap splits of your effort. What cadence did you end up averaging once up to speed?
Well explained! But did you prep your brains as well, and in what ways?
Great question! Did you catch Alex's video diary over on GCN? 👉ua-cam.com/video/rtBxAw5gzXo/v-deo.html
Michael Hübner also taped the screwheads...at his bike
Hi alex im a little short of 5'10, 80cm inseam, trying to build a sprint setup on a df4, what sized frame should i get?
Low hanging fruit...aero headset spacers. I also think an integrated bar/stem would have been a better use of funds than those extensions...assuming you couldn't buy both
That pursuit carbon is some nice stuff. Expensive as fack though.
L A R G E speedsuit? What size jersey do you usually wear (small)?
Hi Alex. Wow thats a cool bike, dude.
Pretty great right! Should Alex put it in the bike vault? 👀
@@gcntech NO Presenters need apply to the Vault, well not until after my bike is inducted into the Vault.
What was front and rear tire pressure? I’ve run 190 psi for TP.
Why do they use this massive 63t with 15t cog? The ratio is similar to 50x12 (with additional weight). Is there any rules and restrictions?
bigger chainrings mean less friction as the chain has less articulation around the cog.
Why don’t you 3D print some valve hole covers for your wheels?
Because you asked us what we think… ok,! That SIS bar at the end was pure marketing 😜. You can just drink coffee which should be one hour before the event to work. And for 5 min effort you don’t need any added electrolyte. Anyways Good luck 👍
Hmm🤔🤔 Alex, what if we load these skinny tubular tyres with the BEST sealant and pumped them to 200PSI, can't we ride them in road races, regardless of still Possible Potential Puncture Casualties?
No way. High pressure reduces tire casing power losses, but the increased vibration power losses would far outweigh them and you'd actually be slower.
@@jefferycampbell2243 OK, theoretically, we are riding on a near-perfect road?
go for the corsa speed. the us track natinal team rides them and not the pista models on track
@@jefferycampbell2243200psi is even too much on a track.
why didn't you go for the newmotionlabs enduro chainring? it is cnc made in the ik and way faster. actualy the fastest on the market rn
Has silca replaced MucOff? I am looking forward to hours of chain wax deep dive instead of a gazillion cleaners that are best replaced by warm water and dish soap.
Hi Alex, I like your methodical presentation. Do you cover the valve holes in the disc wheels?
I have hot waxed my chain and it is great, the quietest and freest chain ever but poor old bike has to live in a damp shed so the roller faces and the chain plate get wiped as I ride and then in the shed a light rust scale forms. do you have any advice for me to avoid the problem?
Don't use wax?
@@zygmuntthecacaokakistocrat6589 I don't quite understand. The wax is great for the function of the chain, and it does not attrack grit and so on and doesn't make me mucky. Just this annoying feature to deal with. As wax is an oft recomended thing, someone must have a solution unless of course everyone else has nice centrally heated garage/sheds.
I think it entirely depends what chain you started with. When you hot wax the chain, I always use one with a gold ti nitride coating which prevents rust, some brands have regular silver coloured chains with coating as well.
@@albr4 Hi thanks for that. I will investigate further.
Are you allowed to tape helmet vents ??
So no wide 38mm tires with low pressures for "lower rolling resistance" huh? 😁
The only thing I have no idea about is who is Alex? The video has Aaron in it?
The biggest issue in cycling is the co-opting of minutia measurements of power output and timing for sales; now everything can be marketed as massively beneficial even though it is done purely 'under ideal circumstances', or negligible aero [not directly "speed"] increases in a wind tunnel. Same thing happened in the golf industry. They simply wait for the market to plateau a bit, then pull out the Cadmium, Tungsten, Bismuth, Erbium design choices and marketable math for another upgradable sales tier. "I heard those Scandium-infused brakepads are providing 30 more nM of stopping power-- which over our 240km daily ride will be over 37 seconds faster...um..braking!"
Willing to bet my
(Semi) Serious question here. Does the presence or absence of facial hair impact aerodynamics?
That could be one for #askgcntech 🧐
@@gcntech would love to see that. And to tell my riding buddies that I’m not unshaven I’m just trying to created turbulent flow.
@@nicknameunavailable809 ua-cam.com/video/1ODvUjAZvHs/v-deo.html
Thumbs up for video. Alex has matured on GCN like a f'kin BOSS!
He's been smashing it! Did you catch his video from the race? 👉ua-cam.com/video/rtBxAw5gzXo/v-deo.html
@@gcntech just had a look, considering having not raced that format in about . . . 8 years? This means: Do It Again!
To be fair Alex has quite a good idea about the gear.
I want to try a bike like this 😩
Have you ever ridden the track? 👀
@@gcntech
I have a DF4. I've yet to assemble it. Likely that it will never see a track. Some tend to be island-minded about some idea that fixed gear bikes should never see the road, and yes, road bikes are better suited to the changing urban roadscape, but to draw had distinctions between what should be ridden where is asinine in my opinion. So long as you have the awareness, skills and understanding to mitigate the higher risk factor of riding a brakeless bicycle on the street, I say have at it. After all, it used to be the norm many years ago.
@@Flashback_Jackcat 1 on the track and think it's stupid to ride track bikes on the road. Road geometry fixies with at least a front brake are fine though. Actual track bikes give a trash ride and have terrible geometry for riding on the road. Plus they don't even have bottle cage mounts in most cases😂
@@veganpotterthevegan
Jesus. You again?
My DF4 is fully assembled complete with Fast Forward trispoke and rear carbon disc wheel and carbon sprint bars. Ride it on the street between sessions on my Trek SL7 no problem--and I still don't need any help putting on my skinsuit. Call it what you want; I don't give a fuck.
@@Flashback_Jack whenever I see you make a nonsensical comment, I'll reply to it✌️
Sounds like you love being a poser❤️
So how can you gain the 20 seconds needed?! How much faster could you get with tech? Always leave upgrades in the bag 😊 for next time. Good effort dude
Great point! Should we put Alex back on the track with some new upgrades? 👀
@@gcntech give him a Kappstein ProLine setup, that should shave off some time already.
@@gcntech using the Castelli ribbed base layer underneath the skinsuit would be a good start. The smooth suit is likely next to useless on Alex without it.
I prefer "all the kit and still shit" 🤣
🤣
Spent about 500 miles on it and so far so good. ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxMesz3KOGEmwmvyKQfLfrRSUXLFzfVHZA Pros:1. Very light2. Solid quality build3. Fast delivery: It arrived 5 weeks earlier than expected.4. Easy assemblyJust a few cons but nothing major:1. Cheap tin tubes and had flat on first day... but not a big deal. I replaced the tubes.2. Seat is a bit uncomfortable but that's pretty much the same situation with most bikes.3. Seat post is a bit long/high for a smaller size 48 bike - had to saw 2 inch off to fit properly. The lowest setting is too high. The post locking system does not seem to hold well (perhaps because I saw 2 inch off).4. wheels are not tubeless compatible (from what I can tell)
Josh Poertner has the fastest hair in cycling! Even at rest it's going 100 miles per hour 🤣👍
Don't go with caffeine.Go with nitric oxide pre workout
Seem more like a sprint gear ratio imo
I do laugh at all the detail but the bolts on the stem face forward like small parachutes!!!
Okay you Guru nutters! If lateral movement resists forward movement (? Y/N) who rides the rollers with least side-to-side movement over 1km in GCN/GTN/GMBN??? My money’s on Alex, aka Bob.
My bet would be Manon. Track racers spend silly amounts of time on rollers.
Looking at UCI Regulations now the saddle only needs to be just behind the bb though if under 5cm behind you lose some reach to the end of the extensions
That's not a new rule. But Alex is also too tall for it to make sense for him to loose the reach.
Dear Alex, with some way of applying front and rear derailleurs, would it be possible to turn this bike into a lethal TT or Triathlon bike?
No brakes on it either. The only viable way is swap the fork to fit a front brake and ride it fixed.
@@the318pop the brakes? SH!T I forgot that. Hmm! Those old attachable disc brake for the rear, perhaps?
@SavagePro you're not getting derailluers with more than 5-6 cogs on the back of a track bike...120mm spacing instead of 130/142.
@@veganpotterthevegan Ahh, OK
Great if you stop using those horrendous Muc Off lubricants👍
Why almost always the cheap looking crankset?
I'm not sure that loosening off the bearings is beneficial for you. Despite appearing to make the wheels spin better I expect that under load you actually lost watts.
The handlebar extensions and the headstem are nowhere near as aero as they could be. The bar ends had a nice rounded smooth aero profile and then you've got that headstem with a blunt front edge and exposed bolts. The arm rests might get you into and aero position but they have more lumps and bumps on them to create drag than anywhere else on the bike. Aero pedals attached to a chainring and crank with absolutely no effort made to be aero. If you compare Filippo Ganna's hr record track bike with what Alex is riding there's absolutely no comparison when it comes to the aero profile.
So has GCN fell out with Muc Off?
"All the gear"
So you backed preload off and lost a bit of wheel stiffness in the process? Not the greatest idea.
I get the "Marginal Gains" philosophy, but wouldn't getting some actual track time be of more benefit. Why strive for micro gains when you have overlooked the major gains
the vittoria corsa speed is faster then any pista models
No, pista speed is faster.
and veloflex record is faster than any corsa speed models, and faster than that is dugast silk tyres. I think the fastest athletes go for the tyre with the best aerodynamic shape rather than which tyre has the loewst rolling resistance, like how Ganna uses a tyre with gp5000 tread pattern.
@@the318pop no. the us track team rides the corsa spped
@@albr4 gp 4000 is more aero than gp5000 and wolfpack is even more aero so why would he go for the gp5000 then?
@@ianiscaratti4924 cus they dont make gp4000 anymore and I'm sure he's using the gp5000 "TT" tyre not just standard gp5000.
I'd like to see more testing on tire width and pressure on a velodrome.
All that brilliant stuff.. then you slap on those Wahoo pedals 😖
The biggest marginal gain I could do on my bike is to have somebody else ride it.
The bar ends are pretty plane, obsessing about manufacturing tech or price is very lame
Thanks Alex....not my thing , sir .
Main question remains, why? 😁
Silca's 'independent tests' HAHAHAHAHAHA! They bought them from the testing institute ready-made to say what they wanted them to say They're a company badge-engineering their way to corporate profitability by selling Taiwanese mutton dressed as Italian lamb. Hot wax for chain lube? It's what my grandad did in the 1940s, and it didn't work very well then, so they're having a lend of you now. Oh, and don't forget their $300 sets of hex keys to do your screws up with #contempt. Fight me.
Who cares about track race?
anyone who asks the question: "Who cares about track race"
Me I do.