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Today September 2021

Calls to mind the comparison of printer ink being more expensive than dom perignon.
I would imagine the print quality of Dom Perignon sucks. It would be a total waste of money.
 
I think it's slightly cheaper than Chanel no5 but the only people who would appreciate it would be other cyclists.
 
I would call their results and claims highly questionable.

No, one lubricant does not save more than 100% of power over another lubricant. You can't decrease friction below zero (which would already be an impossible 100% saving). Muc-off actually claim that friction losses with one of the competitors' lubricants were 124% to 195% higher than what they were with their product (which is not the same as a 195% saving with their product), but what this actually means is a 98% efficient chain vs. a 96% efficient chain, according to their published charts. The other two products were much closer to Muc-off's results.

As one of the posters in another forum wrote, this test is a hit piece on CeramicSpeed's drip lube. I don't know what they did when they supposedly followed manufacturers' usage instructions when applying the different products to chains for tests, but they most likely made a serious boo-boo when they applied that product for its numbers to be so far out of line from the other three products. And then they use garbage data like that to promote their product.

With ethics like that, you couldn't pay me to buy a product promoted with such, uhm, ludicrous marketing.

In my years of cycling and searching for the best kit, I've given up on "independent reviews" on cycling websites. Trying to find good tyres for example is a nightmare when putting your trust in cycling weekly, cycling news, bike rider et al.

But to put your trust in a company, saying their stuff is better than another company, based on their own in house testing, is like Joe says, ludicrous.

For a completely independent review based on nothing but my experience, muc off chain cleaner is nothing compared to "clean spray"!

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Available in 3 flavors!

Andy
 
In my years of cycling and searching for the best kit, I've given up on "independent reviews" on cycling websites. Trying to find good tyres for example is a nightmare when putting your trust in cycling weekly, cycling news, bike rider et al.

But to put your trust in a company, saying their stuff is better than another company, based on their own in house testing, is like Joe says, ludicrous.

For a completely independent review based on nothing but my experience, muc off chain cleaner is nothing compared to "clean spray"!

View attachment 32905

Available in 3 flavors!

Andy

That one is awesome, it is probably the only thing that properly degreases my hands!!!!
 
A simple divide-by-two exercise (from here):

". . . [L]ast year, I was training to ride twice my age number on my birthday date. We were supposed to ride 166 kilometres, but it finally ended up being 170 kilometres because of a road that was closed that day, at an average speed of 30 kilometres per hour," he says.

Me yesterday: 139.0 km, average 19.9 km. I need a new pair of mitts, emblazoned with the inspirational message "HTFU".
 
I did 42-43% of my age this morning, ~20km/hr. Easy on the way out, header on the way back.
 
Did a longish ride around Kanagawa Post-Typhoon, down to Chigasaki, then over to Shonandaira, up the back of Yabitsu, down then back into Chigasaki and then headed off home. To say the weather was perfect was an understatement.
  1. Got to the top of Shonandaira, no punctures this time and flew up it. Though I realised I could with a small front ring in the lower gear..
  2. Almost the top of Oku no dai and legs were feeling it now. 750 up and just stunning. Quick break as I had done 75km by now and got cramp in the right leg.
  3. Rewarded at the top of Oku no Dai with this view of Fuji.
  4. Decided to hike the last few metres up to the top of Oku no Dai and was funny. Completely different set of muscles being used and felt weird.
  5. Coming down Yabitsu and had to stop to get this picture. Smiles on my face the whole way down. Clocked almost 70kph but didn't feel right on the bike so stopped going past there.
Overall, 140km with 1200m of elevation. Legs feel great today, as I followed ABC and took the slow ride home from Chigasaki along Sakaigawa. Once again, people drafting behind me but not willing to take the lead from time to time, so that meant me breaking to let others overtake, facing their "anger". I don't mind drafting as long as people take turns.
 

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Once again, people drafting behind me but not willing to take the lead from time to time, so that meant me breaking to let others overtake, facing their "anger". I don't mind drafting as long as people take turns.

Having someone riding behind you, actually makes you faster (;
 
Did a longish ride around Kanagawa Post-Typhoon, down to Chigasaki, then over to Shonandaira, up the back of Yabitsu, down then back into Chigasaki and then headed off home. To say the weather was perfect was an understatement.
  1. Got to the top of Shonandaira, no punctures this time and flew up it. Though I realised I could with a small front ring in the lower gear..
  2. Almost the top of Oku no dai and legs were feeling it now. 750 up and just stunning. Quick break as I had done 75km by now and got cramp in the right leg.
  3. Rewarded at the top of Oku no Dai with this view of Fuji.
  4. Decided to hike the last few metres up to the top of Oku no Dai and was funny. Completely different set of muscles being used and felt weird.
  5. Coming down Yabitsu and had to stop to get this picture. Smiles on my face the whole way down. Clocked almost 70kph but didn't feel right on the bike so stopped going past there.
Overall, 140km with 1200m of elevation. Legs feel great today, as I followed ABC and took the slow ride home from Chigasaki along Sakaigawa. Once again, people drafting behind me but not willing to take the lead from time to time, so that meant me breaking to let others overtake, facing their "anger". I don't mind drafting as long as people take turns.
Looks like a great route. Do you have a strava link or something? I might steal it one day this winter if I am not feeling fat tires.
 
Looks like a great route. Do you have a strava link or something? I might steal it one day this winter if I am not feeling fat tires.

I've never shared a Strava route before so excuse me in advance if I mess this up. I was riding 700 * 38 for this route. Just wish I had a lower climbing gear for the steeper slopes up the back of Yabitsu.

 
What a gorgeous day! Blue sky and so many Fuji views, it's hard to pick a favourite.

I finally got around to doing my September Century ride (172 km, on Strava), which extends the streak of "Century a Month" to 9 years and one month. I'll post a report once I've copied my pictures off the phone.
 
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Usually I try to do my first monthly Century ride on the first weekend of the month to make sure I can come up with a Plan B or Plan C if Plan A fails due to weather, mechanical problems, crashes, etc. But this month was already past the third weekend without a ride of 160.9 km or more (100 "miles" as they are known in some parts of the world).

I decided to head to Miura because
a) I like it there (hi, @bloaker!),
b) not much climbing there and
c) it's been a while I'd been down there.

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I left a little before 07:00 and headed to Rt15 via Rt409. The sky was a bright blue, so welcome after the rainy weather and typhoon. Normally I try to get past Yokosuka as soon as possible to escape the areas with traffic, but this time I explored a few places for some tiling. First I took a detour to Daikokufuto, an industrial area on an island off Yokohama in Tokyo bay. It's the one that lies opposite Yamashita koen, on the other end of the Yokohama Bay Bridge. There is a "Skywalk" for pedestrians on the underside of the bridge that's supposed to have great views of the bay but it's currently closed due to Covid. From February to May 2020 the Diamond Princess was anchored off Daikokufuto.

The views from Daikokufuto on to Yokohama with the Landmark building and other major sites with the silhouette of Mt Fuji behind it were amazing. I knew Fuji was visible in that general direction but you can't see it from the city center, except up on the bluff where the former foreigner settlement and the Foreigner cemetery are located.

My first planned conbini stop was at Yamashita koen, only to find out the shop next to the public toilets there is no longer a combini. So I rode on and stopped at a Lawson I came across next.

At Isogo I visited a peninsula with other large industrial sites, including a Tokyo Gas plant and thermal power stations by JERA (jointly owned by Tepco / Chubu Electric) and J-Power. The JERA power station runs on LNG (no doubt supplied by Tokyo Gas across the street where there are numerous huge LNG tanks) while the J-Power station burns coal. There were also a yacht harbour and fishing piers.

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Without worrying too much about when I would get down to the bottom of Miura I explored more areas east of Rt 16 (towards the bay) that I normally never pass through. When I got into Yokosuka I decided to head west (uphill) towards Zushi instead of south, to the first of two remaining tiles in the middle of the peninsula. While crossing a mountain to visit the second tile I came across a residential area on the top that promised some views. That's where I came across the view at the top, with Enoshima in front of Mt Fuji.

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I descended to the west, then cycled south into Hayama, a charming little town. The traffic was quite bad by then, both on the coastal road and roads leading there. One day I'll have to try a few of the local cafes.

From Hayama I texted my daughter, who I knew was visiting Kamakura with a friend that day, letting her know I was in Hayama. Then I proceeded up the coast again, through Zushi and Kamakura. The sunlight reflected in the sea of Sagami bay was so beautiful, with Mt Fuji and the Hakone mountains the other side of it on the horizon. My daughter responded to my text and we briefly met up for a chat near Kamakura station. I had 97 km on the GPS by then, with another 75 still to go.

As I turned right towards Enoshima at the traffic light near the beach, I saw two cyclists facing the opposite direction waiting at the lights and recognized one of them. "Hey, Joe!" she called out to me. It was Maya Ide, cordially called "Maya-san" by Japanese randonneurs. She is one of founders of the Japanese randonneuring movement. I think this is about the third time we bumped into each other on a Miura ride (she's a local). Fittingly, I was wearing my Audax Japan NishiTokyo jersey :)

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I followed that coastal parking lot officially known as Rt134 to Enoshima. From there I headed north to Machida on a route I had been using on many brevets. AJ NishiTokyo uses the same route (in opposite directions) on its 200 km and 600 km brevets respectively. It brought back memories of many rides before these last two years.

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I caught a last glimpse of Mt Fuji before both the mountain and the sun disappeared behind the Tanzawa mountains. In Machida I cycled past the Cherubim bike shop, the goal reception location for most AJ NishiTokyto brevets. I got back to Tokyo by 21:00, a bit sunburnt but not feeling too bad for the distance. The moderate climbing definitely helps.

172 km with only 794 m of elevation gain (on Strava) - 11 more months to go to complete 10 years of "Century a Month".
 
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I've got a ride on the drawing board for up north of Chichibu. If anyone has ridden the mountain ridge section (marked by yellow) and can give me an idea about whether there is decent road or if I should expect gravel, I'd appreciate it.
 

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