All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

If anyone is looking for a new GX eagle cassette, I got one up for $150.
Was on the bike to tune gears and a short ride.

 

I run a Garmin 530 for every ride and used to use my Apple Watch to track heart rate. While it worked, Apple will not talk to Garmin to provide heart rate data. Santa brought me a Polar heart rate chest strap and now the Garmin shows my running heart rate in one of the data screens while riding. As others said, having heart rate data is not that useful unless you are really getting lost in the weeds regarding zone and fitness training, but its nice to see the effort spikes.

Also should mention that the Apple watch did OK measuring heart rate, but the chest strap is much more accurate. Any jostling of my wrists on a trail or having the watch a bit too loose does not come into play anymore. Lastly, I get a much more accurate calorie count while riding - when using the watch only and not having the data sync over to garmin, I would ride for 2 hours and show only burning 500 calories. With the heart rate strap, I am getting a more accurate burn count (tells me how many beers I can have before being at a net zero for the day).

 

I am one of the weird ones that rarely track my rides. I may turn on Strava (phone) 1 out of every 10 rides just to track how long a ride takes for future planning purposes OR if I'm doing a new trail so I don't get too lost.

 

i use my garmin watch for every ride. an older vivoactive or vivosport, an older band with gps and heart rate. i use my edge with a wahoo strap if im doing a ride over an hour or a road ride.

heart rate is interesting for rides, but like others said not very telling about the ride. i was watching a dylan johnson video on this not too long ago. your hr can vary like +- 10-15 bpms on the same ride based on how much caffeine youve had or how much sleep you got.

its still interesting to my, but im not basing any rides on it.

i think it was yolanda neff that won womens xc a year or two ago without a computer or heart rate monitor. said she won purely off feel

 

thanks everyone, next question. Do you guys find the heart rate straps intrusive?
I may do some research on them as well. Not training in zones or anything, I just find the heart rate metric interesting.

Add 12% Cashback from active junky and it’s reasonably priced.

 

it took a few rides to get comfortable with my hr strap. once i figured out how tight to make it and where to put it across my chest it hasn't been an issue since.

i find compression shirts more intrusive

 

I think you’ll get used to it. I’ve got the garmin hr pro I think, it’s fairly comfortable

 

You notice it when you first put it on, but I forget im wearing in 2 minutes into the ride.

 

oh man. I might want that in about a month when I'm building a new rear wheel for the gf. But don't need it right now. lol.

 

Buy from them at your own risk. I’m sure you’re no stranger to all the House related threads on mtbr

 

I've bought from them before, even returned something to them before. I know they're not the most reliable, but it has already shipped.

 

Good luck. My experience with them is limited to one transaction. While things did end as they should, the resolution took way more work from me as the customer than I feel is warranted in this era.

 

so just bored at work, who here is around 6' and wants a carbon bike.

Honestly with this being an older frame this will possibly fit smaller guys that currently ride larger bikes anyways.

Alchemy Carbon Frame for $1100
https://www.jensonusa.com/Alchemy-Arktos-275-Frame-OE

 

Ended up ordering a set of 2.0's. I think they will suit my needs just fine.

 

Can't belive the Fuse was $1600 at one point. Was STILL considering one at $2300, but their current price of $3k is nuts. How do you like it?

 

Definitely enjoyed my Fuse though I wouldn't get it at $3k. That's kinda nuts as you said... I'm 5'11" 210lbs without gear and my Fuse is a large. I liked the cockpit and seating position it put me in for the downhills. By no means am I super fast and barely in my 2nd year, but I got a thrill pushing the fuse as fast as I could within my comfort. I was able to keep up with my friends on certain trails despite them being on full suspension. However, I found myself getting a bit tired biking fire roads and climbs though, but that could just be me not adjusting my cockpit. My cockpit has me leaning forward toward attack position. The bike definitely trained me for the transition to full suspension. I kinda wanna jump back on it now for a ride or 2...

 

@abacall if you're wondering why your adjuster on that Code RSC lever was stuck, its cuz it was full of gross. It was also REALLY stuck. Had to pull all the guts out to break it free.

 

Finally got my bike mounted to my camper! Now I don't have to worry about it hitting in the back when climbing steep hills.

 

I keep wanting to just switch to not tracking, but I really do like to see how many miles I'm doing and look over some basic metrics.
TBH one of the things that keep me tracking is the heart rate. I'm not the best judge of how hard I'm pushing at times. In the past I've just put my head down and pedaled, only to find later that I was sitting at 165 for an hour. In my mid 40s that not a healthy place to be.
But, I wish I could be more like you. Just get out there and have fun. I'm working on it.

Shit dude! WTF?! Those brakes didn't have many miles on em, and I take care of my stuff. Utah moon dust I guess...
Did it all go back together ok?

 

Just riding along huh?