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YAY, E-bikes!

It’s not some obtrusive chest strap like ye olde days of Polar. Tracking my ride these days is just two taps on my Apple Watch and nothing but the sensors in it and on the back of its case against my wrist.

I’ve seen you post up GPS tracks of prior rides, too…
I sometimes carry a GPS in my pack, generally don't look at it when riding. If in unfamiliar terrain, sometimes use one Android app or another for navigation.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,853
9,557
AK
Mine read 184 at the Whiskey Off Road in Prescott and I think that's pretty accurate. Max effort races are pegging in the 170-180 range, which seems pretty accurate. Watch gets GPS, Glonass and Galileo, so does pretty well. We are doing an enduro race on Friday based solely on Strava, to cut down on the timing complexities with Strava. I helped set the segments and spreadsheet for adding up times.
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,928
14,449
where the trails are
Mine read 184 at the Whiskey Off Road in Prescott and I think that's pretty accurate. Max effort races are pegging in the 170-180 range, which seems pretty accurate. Watch gets GPS, Glonass and Galileo, so does pretty well. We are doing an enduro race on Friday based solely on Strava, to cut down on the timing complexities with Strava. I helped set the segments and spreadsheet for adding up times.
dude, you can't lose ...
https://road.cc/content/news/84868-digital-epo-smash-your-strava-times…-cheating
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,853
9,557
AK
No chance for that, all riders have to be using strava and tracking/uploading the ride instantly, then the person at the bottom with the laptop is entering the segment times in real-time or immediately after they finish the course. There will be marshallers to make sure the entry is clear/fair, sending riders every 30 seconds or whatever, but this cuts down on the complexity of timing an enduro, which tends to be a clusterf*ck.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,570
24,185
media blackout
No chance for that, all riders have to be using strava and tracking/uploading the ride instantly, then the person at the bottom with the laptop is entering the segment times in real-time or immediately after they finish the course. There will be marshallers to make sure the entry is clear/fair, sending riders every 30 seconds or whatever, but this cuts down on the complexity of timing an enduro, which tends to be a clusterf*ck.
have you confirmed there's adequate cellular coverage for it to work?
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,853
9,557
AK
have you confirmed there's adequate cellular coverage for it to work?
Yes, I and a few organizers have been pre-riding it. Obviously this event isn’t for all, limited slots and if you don’t have a reliable device you are SOL. Every competitor is required to do 3hrs of trail work too.
 

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
Not that it is my business, but I fail or don't want to understand those that ride with heart rate monitors, music, or other e-distractions. Get on the damn bike and enjoy the ride.
Agreed on the music. I used to think like you for the HRM, but now I really love riding with one. I have an HR that can get really high for my age and I find it really helpful to pace myself, especially before a climb.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
I genuinely have no clue what you're actually talking about.

I do commute to a "real" job 90minutes a day. ON ROAD. ALONGSIDE DRIVERS (some might be assholes but I've been riding roads alongside them for 40+years)
I do have kids.
I suppose I have responsibilities too.

My point was I CAN commute all weather and NOT get sweaty/dirty BECAUSE of the E.
even in full waterproofs.

Riding bikes isn't an internet fantasy for me though. I do it pretty much every day.

Nevermind though
k
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
while i can't speak for everyone, when riding with my garmin, i turn it on when i start my ride, then turn it off when i stop.
I'm with stupid.jpg

I really like wearing my fitness tracker. I have no concerns over getting and staying in my target HR, but it's neat to be able to look at it afterwards and see how you've done. It also tells time, which is convenient.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
If I wasn't already going to be kicked out of the DH forum for the enduro stuff, I'm now commenting on XC riding in an E-bike thread in the DH forum. But oh well.

watch based optical HRM's are still less accurate than chest base. they've gotten better recently for sure, but they're *generally* not quite as good as chest straps.
I just don't like wearing the chest straps so I do without. I might be getting a new Garmin watch with optical so will see how it goes, but I'm not pro enough to care what my HR stats are normally. I do like seeing distance and elevation though.

for me battery life was one of the driving factors in getting a watch like this. i had to rule out almost everything on the market (at the time i did my research) due to poor battery life.
I had the OG Vivoactive and its battery life was barely long enough for a couple of massive rides I did. We have a yearly Big Epic Arse Ride which has been a 7 - 8 hour effort for me and both times the Vivoactive either died at the end or was on Low Battery warning even with all sensor off and Bluetooth deactivated. I got a 2nd hand Fenix 3 recently and it has a claimed 18hour life but its a few years old now. I've done a 4 hour ride with it and barely went below 70% even with Bluetooth turned on so I think its pretty decent.

It also tells time, which is convenient.
My Garmin has the important fields - Time, Distance, Current Elevation, Cumulative climb and most importantly - BEERS EARNED
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,552
I had the OG Vivoactive and its battery life was barely long enough for a couple of massive rides I did. We have a yearly Big Epic Arse Ride which has been a 7 - 8 hour effort for me and both times the Vivoactive either died at the end or was on Low Battery warning even with all sensor off and Bluetooth deactivated.
My Vivoactive HR would last me about 4-5 days with a few rides logged over that period. Apple Watch series 4 lasts me about 2 days with no activities or 1.5 days if I log a ride. GPS tracking is energy expensive apparently.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
My Vivoactive HR would last me about 4-5 days with a few rides logged over that period. Apple Watch series 4 lasts me about 2 days with no activities or 1.5 days if I log a ride. GPS tracking is energy expensive apparently.
Oh yeah, without tracking anything they last ages. The Vivo ran for about 5-6 days I think and the Fenix would last maybe 10. It chews battery doing the activity logging. On other forums for endurance nerds there's threads about prolonging the battery life by changing sample times, disabling GLONASS, turning off unused sensors and Bluetooth and even custom watch screens that don't refresh data as often. That's for the 24hour weirdos mainly and events like that.
 

chuffer

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2004
1,528
869
McMinnville, OR
Oh yeah, without tracking anything they last ages. The Vivo ran for about 5-6 days I think and the Fenix would last maybe 10. It chews battery doing the activity logging. On other forums for endurance nerds there's threads about prolonging the battery life by changing sample times, disabling GLONASS, turning off unused sensors and Bluetooth and even custom watch screens that don't refresh data as often. That's for the 24hour weirdos mainly and events like that.
Yo! 24 hour races are pretty rad.

That is all I have to add. What were you guys even talking about anyway?
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,570
24,185
media blackout
I had the OG Vivoactive and its battery life was barely long enough for a couple of massive rides I did. We have a yearly Big Epic Arse Ride which has been a 7 - 8 hour effort for me and both times the Vivoactive either died at the end or was on Low Battery warning even with all sensor off and Bluetooth deactivated. I got a 2nd hand Fenix 3 recently and it has a claimed 18hour life but its a few years old now. I've done a 4 hour ride with it and barely went below 70% even with Bluetooth turned on so I think its pretty decent.
My Vivoactive HR would last me about 4-5 days with a few rides logged over that period. Apple Watch series 4 lasts me about 2 days with no activities or 1.5 days if I log a ride. GPS tracking is energy expensive apparently.
yea, my experience is similar to toshi's. i can still get a good 4 days of battery under heavy usage (while running GPS as well as ant+ and bluetooth sensor connections). if i'm not running activities, i can get a good 9 days out of it.
 

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,993
716
@Sandwich, can we change the title of this thread to "E-bikes and other dumb shit thread"?

Ps. Speaking of 24hr races, 4 of my buddies did a 24hr drink fest a while back while "racing" in between. On their way to the event they were debating a team name. They settled on "The Pedal-philes"! Hahaha! I still think that was golden!
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Unless you're on a road bike take those stupid heart rate monitors off.

Just ride your fucking bikes people.
I don't run a HR monitor for riding normally, but I chucked on one two years ago for my run at the state DH champs.

HR data.JPG

Obviously gate nerves fuck me up a bit seeing I started at 102, but to go to 175bpm in the first 200 metres and then on the tap for a full run with a max of 187 (theoretical max should have been like 183). Was interesting to see - that course had a bit of pedalling in two sections but also prolonged techy bashy bashy parts so I wasn't sprinting for awhile but the old ticker seemed to be working overtime probably as a result of adrenaline and fear.

The speed data for my run the year previously shows an instant drop from 28kph to 0kph in the forest section which resulted in an ambulance ride.
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,059
11,300
In the cleavage of the Tetons

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,993
716
Speaking of batteries- Phil got a new 2019 Specialized Levo and said that it had 800(?) watts I believe. Whereas the "old" Trek that I had to "lug around" on "only" had 460 or 480 watts.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,552
Speaking of batteries- Phil got a new 2019 Specialized Levo and said that it had 800(?) watts I believe. Whereas the "old" Trek that I had to "lug around" on "only" had 460 or 480 watts.
Wh is the unit for battery capacity.
 

Vrock

Linkage Design Blog
Aug 13, 2005
276
59
Spain
Fancy road ebikes are retarded, you can build a hardtail with slicks for 1/3 of the cost with a normal engine (easy to service...) and a bigger battery. That's the whole point of getting a road ebike, you don't need to worry about weight, so you can get away with murder while the rest of the people spend thousands on carbon parts to save weight.