Team BH-Garneau and I received an invitation from Chad Butts of endurancewerx.com to try out a Computrainer ErgVideo ride session, a prospect slightly less exciting to me than ‘tabasco enema’. I was alone in my dread, however, and before I knew it 5 enthusiastic teammates and I were locking our bikes into Butts’ array of Computrainers.
An ErgVideo is a trainer session synched to helmet cam footage of a race. The intensity of the ride corresponds to the action in the race, and is expressed in % of threshold. Each rider’s threshold power and weight is inputted, so everyone’s riding at the same relative intensity. After a fairly sedentary week, I lowballed my threshold just to survive the 90 minute session. After a few minutes of warmup and calibration we were off.
Things began pleasantly enough. Computrainers spin much better than regular trainers, so they simulate road feel almost as well as rollers. The first forty minutes went by smoothly, though one is quickly reminded that torque x speed = power. Each time I saw a power spike coming I’d spin up to 140 rpm so I could get through each plateau without having to mash my legs off. Once the shit hit the fan, however, the accumulated fatigue killed my cadence and I found myself pedaling at 40 rpm, 30, 20, and soon enough, 0. There’s simply no hiding once you bog down. I spent the rest of the ride bargaining with myself ("five more minutes") and standing every time the resistance went up.
Despite the pain and humiliation I enjoyed the session immensely. Savvy riding and self delusion might get you through a winter of group rides, but an occasional reality check is good for the soul as well. And while there was no crowing, I have to believe an unspoken pecking order was established, which can only help the team on the road. All in all it was a great team building exercise, one I might commemorate with a baggy t-shirt which I will wear on Wednesday nights.
You can read about Chad Butts’ credentials here. Contact him to book a group session. He shares space with our pal Mark Purdy. Here’s more gratuitous shots of their space.
Here’s Purdy’s side of the space. He offers bike parking, and will pick up and drop off your bike for repairs.
This bike look familiar?
Tool heaven.
This is the rental work center. You get to use all the tools and you can ask Purdy questions if you’re stumped.
Keep your wife happy. Use Purdy’s degreaser tank instead of the kitchen sink.
Multiple torque wrenches available.
Supplies galore.
what a bunch of purdy butts in that room
Mark shops at K-Nart…
Fenk Shey
West Coast reader was looking to get a rise out of the lot of you and you played right into his hands. weak…
Mark Purdy is the wind beneath my wings.
Those kits are simply horrific.
i need to try them tabasco enemas, meow
the kit looks great
So, Mark likes to stare at rider ass, huh?
Does DA shop at K-Mart or is that where you guys bought those fugly kits?
Is K-Mart where you shop for your multiple personalities?
The new team name is now “Schmalz and his Technicolor Dreamcoat”
Yikes
Those kits are some of the worst i have ever seen. In person and in print.
just like jellybelly but squares, are the critics afraid of a little color?
ugly, but you will remember them.
on another topic-
Does anyone know what Mark would charge for a full build?
its on his website:
http://ifixbyx.com/site/menu
best local kit. i would join the team just for the kit if they’d have me
Remember them for what????? The 5 dudes in the picture that need haircuts?
Little known fact; BH is both a bicycle manufacturer and a paint company. The colors on the jerseys are actually their swatches.
it is a mix of Merrill Lynch and Sketches
Did you guys shave your legs just for the pics or do you persist with the hedge trimming over the winter?
And for the comment about Purdy looking at buts, please note that no bikes are set up on the computrainers in that photo.
that sketches kit was absurd
the kits came pre-faded.
did you guys pay extra
They look like the old Merrill Lynch after worn by team homeless a few seasons. I think only current team members are posting a positive review.
And why the hats indoors on those wilder beasts?
you wear a hat indoors to catch sweat, regardless if the hat is ugly or not
Nice Pics. You really made Chad and Mark’s 500SF man cave look spacious!
You lose 75% of the heat your body produces from your head. The hats can’t capture the extra sweat they create. The hats are purely a “fashion” statement, as are shaved legs in the winter. Notice the towel on the bikes for wiping and catching sweat.
Is Leong putting the hurt on Richards yet?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eCdIe0wdvU
I’ve never seen a shop so clean.
Either he has no business or he has so little he actually cleans up? Or a neat freak? Or just set it up.
And what is wrong with using the kitchen sink to degrease? Most of you use if for your bacon fat, but bike grease is bad?
Real mechanics don’t have a clean shop.
West Coast Reader, nobody fucking cares what you think. Go eat a bag of dicks or ride your bike in the sunshine or some other lame West Coast Reader-type activity.
Yo, it’s like just after lunchtime there, right? Ha! Fuck you again! I’m going home in half an hour and I’m gonna ride my trainer. BITCH! You’re still stuck at your shitty job! Asshat!
his shop is brand new, west coast reader
How exactly does one ‘eat a bag of dicks’?
Or… Maybe he just takes pride in his work?
“Real mechanics don’t have a clean shop”
Have you ever seen the shop area for a professional racecar team? Or a commercial airplane hanger? They’re absolutely spotless. Compare that to the crackhead mechanics at the jiffy lube down the street.
Mark Purdy is a class act.
The kit looks like the old Merrill Lynch kits… because this IS the old Merrill Lynch team. I’m assuming those colors are some sort of homage to the days of yore?
All in all, I defy this community to show me a kit that ISN’T hideous in NYC. F that I defy this community to show me a kit that isn’t hideous in the ProTour! Kits are supposed to be loud – that’s how they catch the eye at 25 miles per hour
were the caps mandatory? if it were the eighties would everyone have on head sweatbands?
@6:08pm Thanks for the verification of my guesses.
@rest, go take a look at any of your mechanics area and if its as clean as the one in the picture above I’ll get up early tomorrow so I’m awake when you’re at lunch!
Just imagine removing an oiler’s chain and going to clean it. You are already full of oil/grease now go answer the phone or do some other task before washing your hands, grit everywhere. Just highlighting the obvious to the wanker @5:21pm who still dreams of a squeaky clean shop.
And yes I’ve seen a Pro Mechanic, on the team bus and at home, team bus wasn’t as dirty as home but then again they don’t do the same tasks on the bus as they would at home (mechanic tasks before you head down a homo-erotic fantasy of yours, @5:21pm). Some of us do go to EuroLand for some fun and know some of the people there at the races, can you say Full access pass? Connections baby that’s where its at, now to save up some money for another trip!
Asshat
You’re a complete idiot.
A lot of stupid people say a lot of stupid things on this website, but you definitely go into the Hall of Fame. Keep the comments coming. But it would be a good idea to stay in CA while doing it.
Who do you think Purdy is? He doesn’t spend his days overhauling hubs on Chinese food delivery bikes. He’s a team mechanic … For the city of New York. Do a little research and learn about the subject before you open your mouth, Westy.
His shop is clean, not because it’s new, but because he chooses to keep it clean out of respect to us. We want to take our bikes to a Tech Center, not a Jiffy Lube. His shop at Cadence was just as clean.
Palla Locknut said it best… The guy is a class act.
alvin–who is talking about your kits besides you guys? seriously now.
Does BH stand for Bulging Headtube?
Those kits look like a pile of melted rainbow sherbet, forreals.
mark purdy personally licks every surface clean.
WCR = Ostroy’s alter ego?
those caps are pro in the most excitable way.
Love it or hate it, the BH-Garneau kit has been one of the most talked about local kits this winter. I have a feeling they will continue to be into the spring and summer as well (and not just for their aesthetics). Nice job Dan!
A Poblacion
Andy? Schmalz?
Disagree with Benjamin, some kits look good, some simple, some stand out, some look like puke.
..and Matteo Dropout why do you think this team will do anything on the road? Do they have any proven talent? Maybe they do, but I don’t see it in this article.
looks like a winning team with a winning formula. dude up front is going into oxygen debt while others are cruising, meanwhile grizzly adams looks like he’s visualizing his next hunting trip, wondering what knife he’ll use to skin the wild pig he wrestled & killed with his bare hands.
I’m glad everyone remembered to wear their little caps like good little boys and girls!
Purdy Butts…great name but it’s already a bar in Chelsea. Chad and Mark were two of the best things that Cadence had to offer the serious cyclist. Glad to see they are continuing to be “high-end specialists” for their customers. Cleanliness is a part of Mark’s reputation. Most of his customers clean their bikes before they drop them off.
asinine comments- please continue.
the whole front row could ride most of you lot off their wheel, with or without caps (which btw, the BH team needed because purdy’s a cheap git and likes to keep the thermostat low.