Product Review

Product: JetBlack Fluid Trainer

Some time ago I got a JetBlack Fluid Trainer from Mick at OnyaBike Belco to review (thanks Mick!). I have finally logged enough hours on it to be able to properly review it.

The first thing to say is that I am pretty impressed by this trainer, especially for the price. One of the biggest things for me is how much resistance a trainer can offer me, and this one is the goods.

The best way to tell you about this product is probably to go through the steps for using it.

#1. Set up. This can be a bit tricky until you have some practise, as the trainer is screws onto the rear skewer and at times you wish you had a third hand. But once it is all lined up and fastened, the bike is very secure. The unit comes with a compatible skewer, very useful if you have the angled Mavic ones- they don't fit- and for preserving the ones that belong to your wheel!

#2. Adjusting the pressure of the wheel roller. This can be even trickier. Too much pressure and the wheel won't turn freely, too little and there is no resistance- obviously! The temperature of the fluid is important, as the fluid warms up it starts to flow more freely so you may need to adjust the pressure again- I have really only noticed this when taking the unit from the shed to somewhere warmer to train (possibly a good reason to train inside and keep it in there :) ).

#3. Getting through the session… actually that has nothing to do with the trainer! Once it is all set up I have found that sessions go by pretty well. The unit is smooth enough to hold a good cadence, quiet enough that I can be training inside while Matt watches the Cats win, and has enough resistance that I can get through SE efforts without using all the gears in my cassette.

*Best tip I can give you for getting through your session however, make sure you get a riser block, or at least a Canberra Red brick, to put your front wheel up on! You might find you spend a lot of time propping yourself back on your seat otherwise as the rear wheel seems to be considerable high off the ground.*

#4. End of session. Unscrew the pressure off the rear wheel and undo the unit from your rear wheel, simple as that.

As with any trainer that involves pressure on the rear wheel, it will wear through your tyre. Best to have a separate tyre, if not wheel, for using on the trainer and the road- square tyres are not fun to actually “ride” on! Although, the fluid means that it is not as destructive as other mag/turbo trainers.

Summing up, despite the minor issues I have highlighted here, I rate the JetBlack Fluid Trainer:

• For the price, this trainer is awesome.
• Once you get it set right, it is super smooth.
• It is quiet, which means training inside when the apparent Canberra temperature is sub-zero.
• It is sturdy, absolutely no stability issues when doing efforts out of the saddle.
• The resistance is great- always happy if I have gears to spare, gives me something to aim for!

A bit of a non-event

McDonalds Classic Weekend, 6-7 June
Saturday: 84km HCP Oura Rd- Wanabadgerry-Junee Loop
Sunday: Criterium -40 minutes + 3 laps around the Wagga Wagga CBD

The drive in to the start of the HCP was through thick fog with very limited visibility at times, but as it turned out that was the least of my concerns!

As we went over the start of the rollers, I discovered that my gears were just not wanting to work with me. As I tried to find a gear to get over the roll, I slipped further and further away from the front of our group. I then found myself rolling along alone thinking it was going to be a very long day... I jumped in with the next bunch, but the same thing happened on the next roller- 10 gears on my cassette and nothing decent to race on! Shortly after that I called it a day and turned back for the start line. I hate DNF-ing, but this really was the most sensible option. On the brightside, I would be fresh for the crit tomorrow!

The crit was around the Wagga CBD and thankfully by the time we rolled out the standing water from the overnight rain had dried and the threat of rain passed (for the time being). I rate the course around Wagga, lots of left hand corners and on the whole pretty fast. My plan was to stay safe (always top priority when racing with D-grade men), maybe try for an intermediate sprint, but mainly be there at the end (I was still getting my racing legs back, afterall).

Some parts of the plan worked- I dodged the crash and got to the end of the race, finishing with the bunch. Unfortunately, I found myself giving the boys a bit too much space in the corners and undoing all the good work I had done moving up the bunch. The reality was that the more I could feel my wrist during the race, the more hesitant I was, though I did get over that as the race went on... Lots of lessons learnt, and that was that!

The Suzuki Uno boys did well, taking C grade (Bayden Burke) and 1-2 in B-grade (Sam Genge, John Forrest).

ITT comes before GCC... just for a little while

Goulburn Women and Juniors' Tour
30-31 May.
Cold, windy and wet at times.

The count was three weeks back on the road post-op and it had been quite a few kms put in as well (playing catch-up came to mind at times!). The weather was ominous right from the start of the weekend. And I had a lot to prove to myself.

The format was Saturday: Prologue (6km) and Road Race 45km, Sunday: ITT (10km) and Road Race 47km.

Prologue
This was an out and back course which was relatively flat. Although, in the howling head wind on the way back the rise before the finish became a "massive climb" :) On the whole I was pretty happy with the outcome, but certainly driven for more- 2nd by 1 sec.

1. 8:59 CARLE,	Alex
2. 9:00 BARWICK,	Rebecca
3. 9:05 MAY,	Judith
4. 9:14 GALLOWAY,	Myfanwy

RR- 45km
Due to the disparity of women racing, it was decided that the road race would be run as a handicap. The handicaps were based on the prologue times and resulted in 3 lots of 4 women, separated by 3 minutes (I think that was the gap). This turned out to be a disaster!! Alex, Judith, Myf and myself all worked hard on the way out to the turn, but as we passed the others on their return it was becoming clear that we were not going to get up. Shortly after the turn Alex had a mechanical and encouraged us to keep going. A little bit further along on one of the rollers Judith and Myf attacked and I found that I just had nothing to go with them! A whole lot of ergo and TT sessions don't really help to sprint up hills. After heading towards the finish on my own for a while, Alex appeared on my back wheel. The two of us kept chasing- we could see Jude and Myf pretty much the entire time! Unfortunately, even knowing that over the rise was the finsish line (we were on the same bit of road as the prologue), I was too far in the box to hold Alex's wheel to the line. Somewhat disappointing really, but that is what lack of race time does!

Sunday: ITT (10km). Start of the day GC place: 2nd (know idea how they worked things after the RR come HCP!!)
The course for this stage was the other end of the road we had been using yesterday (ie where the turn around was for the road stage). The course was largely rolling with an uphill kick for the finish, headwind on the way out and tailwind home.
Thinking back on it, I actually really enjoyed this stage. My favourite moment was looking down at the SRM to see I was speeding in a 60 kph zone!! I didn't think I had done that well relative to the other girls, but the final times told me otherwise:

1. BARWICK, Rebecca 16:45
2. MAY, Judith 16:51
3. CARLE, Alex 16:54
4. GALLOWAY, Myfanwy 17:00

Suddenly I found myself going in to the stage with a mere 8 second lead on GC! Exciting , but completely new territory- racing with a target on my back!!

Road Race- 47km.
In hindsight, along with my lack of recent racing, about 10km into the race I suddenly found that I had spent way too many biccies in the TT! That, and Alex and Myf had hatched a plan ;) and Jude was just racing way too well. So in the end I had a nice, second, TT for the day. For a while I had Jessamy Hosking with me, but after the turn around I was on my own.

Despite spending most of the last stage on my own, I was pretty happy with how things went, when considered in the context of everything that had been going on. (Although I would have liked to have not been 6 minutes down at the end of the tour :( )

The purpose of the weekend was to find out where I was at for my preparations for upcoming time trials, and from that perspective, it was successful! :D

Final Results:

Place	Race	No
1	1	GALLOWAY,	Myfanwy
2	2	MAY,	Judith
3	4	CRAWFORD,	Michelle
4	195	MEISL-DENIS,	Grace
5	10	SHEATHER,	Lee
6	12	CARLE,	Alex
7	5	HAMMER,	Ingrid
8	3	BARWICK,	Rebecca
9	6	HOSKING,	Jessamy
10	9	POWELL,	Sue
11	8	ESSAM,	Vanessa
12	7	HO,	Jessica

(Photos to follow...)