Review of iSport from a noob rider

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MIKEK
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Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:53 am

Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by MIKEK »

I'm 48 years old...CAT 8 rider, will never win a bike race, unless of course I'm 70 and the competition is a wheelchair (might be a new market for the iSport). Some weekends I can hold my own while roughing up a few half century riders, keep in mind one has a bypass and they all chew Lipitor. Thankfully I don't need meds. I ride because I walked across my living room and had to take a knee. Learned my blood sugar was slightly out of whack, BP was 145/90 something and carrying an extra 70 lbs. Took a few test and realized hey I'm a fat bag of trash and need to get busy. Lost 40 lbs riding a mountain bike and was invited by the Lipitor gang to ride with them. First ride was 30 miles and needless to say at the 26 mile mark, large women were passing me on pink bikes. I got home, evacuated my bowls and crawled over to my neighbors house (roadie) to ask him how he rides without feeling like something was pulling your guts through your bellybutton. Well Mike, lets talk about your food & hydration plan.....huh??? I school quickly and the following week, rolled with carbs, homemade sports drinks and an eye on the clock.

Starting to hold my own and staying with the group, I wanted more improvement and looked at power meters. Needless to say, I'm on a 03 Trek 1000 decked out at 32 lbs and spending more on a gadget than a bike was worth was a hard swallow. The internet is wonderful and reading iSport reviews along with the board discussions (thanks Coach Boyd) gave me the confidence to purchase one. 150 bucks on a REI closeout sealed the deal. Took awhile to calibrate and the battery life issue in cold weather had me rolling through batteries every week but like one poster said "just use reuse them in the summer". Took the fit test and learned I was a 6, imagine that...thinking I was somebody until I logged my first fat burn ride...the gadget said I needed to maintain 230 watts for a 60% effort. My legs confirmed the error, retook the test and now I'm a comfortable 2. After familiarizing myself with the features and since my rides are 60+ miles now, started to appreciate what this jewel can do.

Last week, last in a three man draft, I saw 50-60 watts, moved into number two and pushed 70-90 and a turn up front saw 190-230 - visual confirmation why group riding moves faster and gets you farther...except for those solo feather weight folks that split wind or seasoned retirees baiting young bucks into thinking they can hang with the geriatric spandex clan. Early in a ride while climbing a hill, a peak at the meter showed 600 watts, time to gear down, bring it into the 230 range, save something for the end or just save yourself to remain in the group. What do drops get you....save 40-60 watts on the pull. Sure you can hang .25 to a half mile, relief gets you time on the hoods without wasting energy. Also somewhat off subject, I contribute my thighs getting bigger to this bit of kit.

So am I ready for leg shaving, spandex and carbon? Like I said I'm CAT 8, don"t see it happening but I will stock up on the Belgium butter and ride knowing my gadget gives just enough information to keep me moving with the group.

Best Regards to all riders
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racerfern
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by racerfern »

Thanks for the good read and keep up the good work. I recently moved up to Cat 6 so you can ride with me at any time.
Fernando
bex
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Location: 'twixt Sylvan Lake and Eckville in Alberta, born in Manchester England. Always an Englishman

Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by bex »

Great read, thanks!
Are you ready for carbon? Don't know if thats a serious comment but FWIW:
Best thing I ever did was get a steel frame custom built for me. It weighs 22lbs fully loaded, rides like its on rails
and is a dream to be on.
Do I want a lighter bike? yes I do, and I have one, its aluminium and carbon and weighs in at 17lbs, but the "steel is real" bike keeps me coming back for more.
Love it.

Cheers

bex
MIKEK
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by MIKEK »

bex wrote:Great read, thanks!
Are you ready for carbon? Don't know if thats a serious comment but FWIW:
Best thing I ever did was get a steel frame custom built for me. It weighs 22lbs fully loaded, rides like its on rails
and is a dream to be on.
Do I want a lighter bike? yes I do, and I have one, its aluminium and carbon and weighs in at 17lbs, but the "steel is real" bike keeps me coming back for more.
Love it.

Cheers

bex
I'm all for steel its fatigue life is known but carbon folks know the pleasures rolling on a feather does come with the pain of breakage.

Best thing for me is losing another 30 pounds, 10 more would put me at 210 then they'll wonder "how does all that mass climb so well". As for the old gal, she's "Al" fork included, wiggles a bit and a keeper. I'll have to average 20+ before I would think about trading her in.
Last edited by MIKEK on Sun Mar 07, 2010 1:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
bex
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Location: 'twixt Sylvan Lake and Eckville in Alberta, born in Manchester England. Always an Englishman

Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by bex »

Mind you,

I seriously want to give one of Boyds frame a try.
I just keep finding other stuff to pay for first, which as any smart sale person knows, is an objection, soooooo..................
overcome my objections................, PLEASE!

Bex
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wimpy
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by wimpy »

bex wrote:Mind you,

I seriously want to give one of Boyds frame a try.
I just keep finding other stuff to pay for first, which as any smart sale person knows, is an objection, soooooo..................
overcome my objections................, PLEASE!

Bex
I have a set of his wheels ,it added about 2mph to my bike. Close your Eyes write the check you will be glad you did.
Or as a good sales person would say "for just a little more than the cost of a cup of coffee over a year ,you could have a new Boyd frame"
rruff
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by rruff »

MIKEK wrote:I'm all for steel its fatigue life is known but carbon folks know the pleasures rolling on a feather does come with the pain of breakage.
Actually carbon has an infinite fatigue life... it is lack of ductility that hurts it... it breaks instead of bending.
rruff
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by rruff »

wimpy wrote:it added about 2mph to my bike
How come I got less than 0.5mph from a FP80 and a disc?
MdC
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by MdC »

wimpy wrote: I have a set of his wheels ,it added about 2mph to my bike. Close your Eyes write the check you will be glad you did.
Or as a good sales person would say "for just a little more than the cost of a cup of coffee over a year ,you could have a new Boyd frame"
Would you be able to provide a quick review of Boyd's Wheels? Which set do you have? How stiff are they and do they rub the brake pads under load? What is the braking performance like in the wet and dry?
I am thinking of a set of 38 or 50mm tubulars.
coachboyd
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by coachboyd »

Obviously, I am going to be partial tp the wheels, but I have a couple of responses from my teammates in the team blog here.
http://www.teamglobalbike.org/blog/2010 ... nd-wheels/
http://www.teamglobalbike.org/blog/2010 ... in-action/
http://lowcadence.com/2010/02/23/poa-ha ... me-rollin/

The general consensus is that they are a super stiff wheel that will roll forever. As for braking performance, wet weather braking will be less stellar than an alloy rim, but this holds true for any carbon rim. All the wheels are using Sapim CX Ray spokes which are the lightest, strongest, and most aero spokes available.
Boyd Johnson
http://www.boydcycling.com - high performance carbon wheels and accessories
MdC
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by MdC »

Thanks Coach. I've been following the blog on your site so was familiar with the teamglobal views.
Where do you stand on 38's vs 50mm in cross winds of around 30-40khp?
coachboyd
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by coachboyd »

That depends on a few things. How fast will you be going (which changes the effective cross wind angle), and also how big are you.
If you are going faster on the flat roads, then the wheel sees less crosswind and the deeper rim is better. Also, bigger stronger riders have an easier time controlling a deeper rim. I just had a guy ride the 88mm set this past weekend front and rear. He's a former Europro who helped LeMond win the 86 world championships, and he said he would never have a problem using wheels that deep, however I have been using the 60mm on the front and 88mm on the rear (which is a great combo for triathletes)

The 50's are not a super deep dish wheel and the only time I have had trouble with a wheel in that depth was descending a very steep hill in a race on a windy day. The gusts were on and off and it made for a scary ride down the descent (we were going about 65mph though).

If you wanted the wheels for flat, fast riding, then I think the 50's would be a better choice than the 38's. If you want to use these for stuff with a lot of climbing, then the 38's would be better and would still give you quite and aero advantage over a traditional climbing wheel.
Boyd Johnson
http://www.boydcycling.com - high performance carbon wheels and accessories
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prs
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by prs »

I am also a noob iSport user - Installed mine on Friday, played on Saturday and did a Fit Test on Sunday. I am 52 years young and 6 ft 3in 168lbs. I used to ride a lot 15 years ago (commuting and touring, no racing) but only got back into it last summer. Since then I have been doing 30 to 50 miles per week at an average speed (as measured with a Garmin Forerunner 205) of around 18 mph. Having read some posts, I was expecting a a test score of 2 and hoping for a 3. However, I was pleasently surprised with a 4 and a 3.41 W/kg!

My question is can I believe this result?

I think I installed everything correctly, although I haven't done the coast downs yet. The course was undulating with a slight elevation gain and a headwind and I managed about 6.4 miles in the 20 minutes. Is there any simple "rule of thumb" that I can use to check if the Watts are about the right value?
MIKEK
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by MIKEK »

prs wrote:I am also a noob iSport user - Installed mine on Friday, played on Saturday and did a Fit Test on Sunday. I am 52 years young and 6 ft 3in 168lbs. I used to ride a lot 15 years ago (commuting and touring, no racing) but only got back into it last summer. Since then I have been doing 30 to 50 miles per week at an average speed (as measured with a Garmin Forerunner 205) of around 18 mph. Having read some posts, I was expecting a a test score of 2 and hoping for a 3. However, I was pleasently surprised with a 4 and a 3.41 W/kg!

My question is can I believe this result?

I think I installed everything correctly, although I haven't done the coast downs yet. The course was undulating with a slight elevation gain and a headwind and I managed about 6.4 miles in the 20 minutes. Is there any simple "rule of thumb" that I can use to check if the Watts are about the right value?

Yaaaa. I could only dream about being 168.

Try a fat burning program. If you can not sustain the intervals then an error is possible.
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prs
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Re: Review of iSport from a noob rider

Post by prs »

Try a fat burning program. If you can not sustain the intervals then an error is possible.
I was able to do a fat burning program, in fact I found it hard to stay at the required interval wattage, I was usually well above it (see other post). I was also able to average 2.95 W/kg over a 1.5hr ride.

My real point was that, if the iBike is over reading my wattage (i.e. showing 300W when it should be 200W), I will end up with an inflated view of my fitness!
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