I have some observations about a bunch of new things.
Kinekt is basically perfectly set. Every once in a while, my cadence and the road seem to "align" and the seat bounces in a rhythm for a bit. It's not uncomfortable, it is just noticeable. This will generally happen in light washboard style bumps that end up matching my cadence such that I am pushing up as the seat is already moving up to adjust. And you get this rollercoaster up/down cloudy feeling. Again, it's not bad, just noticeable. Most of the time, the "active" suspension is a lot less apparent. The current setting seems to work well.
The more I have played with saddle height, the more it feels like the saddle needs to be adjusted for your optimal leg position, and the handle bars need to be moved (which I currently can't do) for the hand position. Creating a saddle position that "forces" me to sit back and distribute weight that direction seems to be the most effective at addressing general numbness. There seems to also be a relationship with the saddle height to the handlebar height. So, for me, using the saddle adjustment to push the saddle back and raising it less, is more effective as well.
I currently believe a significant portion of my hand numbness (when picking a saddle position that does distribute weight back) is coming from road vibration. First, I don't have much numbness on pavement. Second, it gets worse any time I pump up my tires. Third, I am now consistently having a "light grip" on the grips. And finally, it gets way worse in crazy gravel sections. See gravel below.
I have decided that the "slope/gradient" metric simply isn't reliable enough to be worth while on the main screen. I will replace it with something else (possibly heart rate for now, or maybe some version of motor power).
Tifosi alliant glasses are fine. They don't fully protect you from dirt clouds, but a combination of them and blinking actually works pretty well. I never really had to "stop and deal with it". Or slow down. But dust does still sneak in around the lenses. This is not a weeping angels. There is no "don't blink" required. From a darkening perspective, they were fantastic. From direct sun to shaded tree canopies, I never thought about their fototec shading at all. It just worked. Now, comfort, not amazing. It feels like my nose is a touch too big for these frames, so they feel like they are going to slide off or be knocked out of place. A couple times I pushed them back, mostly to find they hadn't really moved much. I suspect I can find something with better fit, but would have to actually go to REI and try a bunch of things. And, finally, nitpicking, I can see the "vents" a bit in my view. Will get used to it, just noticed it.
Battery was lower than expected. 54% left after about 18.2 miles. *And* on this route I actively tried to abandon turbo when I could. It was used for 40% of the ride with eco 51% of the ride and the remainder was sport (this is much lower settings than the last time I did almost exactly this route, but more battery usage). Now, my settings (assuming the vado didn't forget them) are 20/50/100 microtune equivalent. Strava did register this as a very high effort ride. And I did create some max power records. So, it's quite possible, when in eco, I am still pouring on enough power to make that part of the ride pretty high energy as compared to forgetting to leave turbo and just casually pedaling along. My goal is ultimately to pick the support that makes me *want* to work the hardest on average. When the going is easier, that may be eco, and when the going is harder, that is turbo. This, of course, will also use more battery *unless* I spend significantly less time in turbo.
I extended this route by doing an additional road that adds maybe a mile. This mile was effectively large part gravel. At speed, I kept feeling the bike trying to slide out from under me. I couldn't dodge some potholes because of how sensitive changing direction on this gravel is. It's like the tires basically start sliding along the top of the gravel and changing direction would be about as effective as a car on ice (and possibly very bad). So I just stay the course, slowly, slow down, and wait for a ground change (which is never far away).
This brings me to two things: 1) tires 2) stems
After winter, and after I have tried snow/ice riding with studded tires, I think it may make sense for the non-winter tires to be a bit more gravel/dirt focused. 2/3 of these big loop routes are pothole, gravel and dirt covered backroads (even the paved sections tend to have a layer of dirt/gravel over them at times). I don't know how much tires will change the feeling under the bike, but I have a suspicion I am pushing these tires too fast on surfaces they don't handle very effectively. And my comfort with the route, and having done these roads 5 or 6 times makes me more comfortable at speed from a "knowing the road" and where cars hide perspective. So, I think, some more gravel oriented tires would be a good change.
Stems is an interesting one. If the assumption is that a large part of numbness is vibration, than a suspension stem that absorbs vibration makes sense. The problem is the specialized stem is pretty short (60-65mm) and already has a 20 degree rise. The shortest eesilk stem is 80mm and has a -7 degree "rise". Which will increase my reach. The shortest kinekt is 90mm for 6 degree rise. Or 100mm for 30 or 50 degree rise. Those last two are very interesting to me. If one of the things making this comfortable is getting my handle bars up to or "above" saddle height, that may be a way to do it. My reach seems like it could go a bit further, but I don't know what this would do to the weight distribution front to back. If the weight distribution stays shifted rearward, the kinekt stems really may be an interesting solution. Also, they are more winter friendly.
Jacketless, cool, sunny rides are the best thing ever. Less prep, nothing to think about. Put on chest strap, helmet and glasses and go. (I did take my hoodie in case it got cold).
Ok, that's my information dump for today. Gonna keep trying. I have a stretch of glorious warm weather happening and will probably continue the afternoon rides until the difference isn't so spectacularly big anymore. There is a rain day coming that may test those rain pants.
fb.watch
but it appears to be the appropriate 75% of electrical. But yeah, either multiple power cranks meter type devices or an awesome shared setup, or they just spit out a calculated value knowing the motor’s capabilities.
