I’ve had both the original Direto and the XR and have never had issues with ERG. It works best at lower flywheel speeds (small chainring and upper-middle of rear cog). Have you tried the new firmware (released a month or two ago)? It smooths things out a lot.
Good to know.
It’s mostly a backup to my Kickr/for my 10 year old to ride on zwift.
I’m glad I was hesitant at $130 now… picked one up.
I would often times get the spiral of death with my OG Direto. I learned how to get around it - if there was going to be a jump in wattage I’d start spinning really fast going into the interval. It was definitely frustrating and I would often drop a bunch of four-letter words when it would happen. If you ever stopped pedaling during a workout, good luck starting back up again. I’d sometimes switch it to ramp-mode to get going then switch it back again
Other than that it was a good trainer for me for the 3-4 years I had it. I would typically use the big chainring and whatever cog gave me a good chainline. The little ring may have been better, but I never cared for the feel of it.
Nothing like Erg mode making you do 3x the effort for a little bit before it settled into the right wattage…
Yeah. The spiral of death does suck. The new XR firmware has an ERG mode easy start which fixes that.
50% off at Rapha
Rather it’s “up to 50%” which in practice means mostly 10-30% off colors and styles people actually want.
Yeah, the new addition is actually 50% off all Pro Team (line) gear
Nice, I actually want that.
Edit: looking around I don’t see ‘Pro’ level jerseys or other basics 50% so not sure what this is…
Shimano is selling their top of the line road shoe in red for half off, the S-PHYRE SH-RC903 - https://ride.shimano.com/products/sh-rc903?variant=39705351487560 - $225
Oops. You’re right. The email says “up to 50%” Looks like it’s more like 25-40% on most items though.
Rapha’s sales are the most highly curated of any site I know of, so I’m not surprised.
I got the powerweave bibs on sale for more and I don’t regret it. Solid kit.
I love the rapha pro bibs and the sale is tempting but then I found the Castelli Premio shorts which are about the same quality but much cheaper on sale - https://bikecloset.com/product/castelli-premio-bibshort-savile-blue/?attribute_size=M
They’re a Euro fit. Probably almost a size tighter than most North American brands.
I wear Rapha Large, and Castelli XL.
The Rapha L fits a little loose (granted, I’ve only ever worn their Core line), the Castelli XL a little tight.
Same. I’ve even bought some Castelli pieces 2 sizes higher than Rapha.
Rapha Pro Team training jersey in my favorite color. $39 at REI. https://www.rei.com/product/188203/rapha-pro-team-training-jersey-mens
THANK YOU! Ordered both colors and used my REI rewards to pay 
Specialized S-works Carbon Mini Rise handlebar 31.8: 100€ at bike24.