Posted By: Wojciech PAny one know what's up with Forte? The brand Performance seems to really be pushing now

They got 10 speed Carbon levers for 150 bucks, 380g.
Shimano DA carbon shifters: 450 $ 378g.

Forte carbon rear derailleur: 50$, 196g
Shimano " " " : 200$, 170g

seems like 1/4 of the price while keeping the weight equal, not sure about performance/ durability
Doesn't look like they equip any of their house brand bikes with it though

That stuff is rebranded "MicroShift" products. They get decent reviews - search the internet. There's even a domestic pro team riding MicroShift stuff.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/photos/interbike-2011-big-shoe-and-pedal-round-up/193030

Fantastic idea!

No review yet, but the new toy is here. Will probably play with it tomorrow, if it does not snow.

Ok folks, I just did the "unholy" ie: I took my cracked Cervelo R3 aka "The Alabaster Disaster" frame in to R&A to manage the warranty. Although usually I'd rather sew my scrotum to a passing taxi than set foot in that shop, I figured that as one of the worlds biggest Cervelo dealers they might have this warranty workflow working pretty good.

There were in fact several cracks (beyond the hole I'd found) that would merit a warranty so based on their feedback I'm very hopeful about getting a nice shiny new ride in a week or so.

I'll keep everyone posted.

In the meantime, here is one tidbit to file away; I've been having the WORST time with my front derailleur - it keeps shifting my chain off the "big" side; I've even gone so far as to replace the Red with Force at Purdy's suggestion (the Reds are softer) but when I'd torn the whole bike down I discovered the derailleur hanger was peeling off the frame with several mm of flex. This probably explains my shifting shenanigans for the past TWO SEASONS. Yeesh.

j

Sounds terribles Jules! Hope you can actually use your warranty to get a new ride. Any ideas on what caused the frame to come apart like that?

Hope you've been well!

Thanks Kaiser,

Not sure what caused it; wear & tear probably. Those earlier R3's are pretty notorious for coming apart...

There should be a rivet securing the lower edge of the hanger in addition to the top. Don't know if Cervelo addressed this in later models.

What are you up to these days? Have you switched over to CX for the time being?

There is a rivet, but it isn't doing the job it is supposed to...

I'm CX for now, but with work & life even that has been a challenge. I'd love to get back out to FBF one of these weekends but the grass & mud... I can hear them calling me!

Two hour recovery ride. Everything is smooth, the bike, the Di2...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6169/6231630478_f6df6a7232_m.jpg

Wait a second....Stephane doesn't ride recovery... he only rides to inflict misery on his foes.....

What have you done with our teammate?!?

Who are you working for?

Mengoni?

Axis?

*gasp* Trek-Nissan-Opard?!?

Brothers, our secure forums have been compromised, raise the alarms, release the hounds!

To arms! To arms!

Holy crap! It seems there's a PIMP MY RIDE war going on here with Jules, Eric, Stephane, et al...I'll post some HOT pics of the CAAD10 I built up when I get home (thanks Mike and Eric for enabling my new toy). Has Ian ever posted a pic of his Time machine rocketship?

Dirty sidewall non-matching brake housing pimping ride. Hell yeah!

@ Jules. I'm trying to recover from chest congestion. Riding does not seem to help much, I've tried "shut up lungs", but they shut down, I hope the antibiotics will be more efficient.

@ Stephane "Shut Up Lungs!" Love it!

So I have just entered into the world of multiple wheelsets. Nothing overly fancy, an alloy tubular cx wheel I picked up from Van Dessel last year but never glued up until now.

I have an identical cassette on the tubular and the clincher so i can swap it at will.

So my question is...

I have cleaned and lubed the chain, and spun it around the gears a couple of times. Do I need to also apply some lube to the second wheel's cassette ?

I havent put the tubulars on the bike yet, my plan was to keep them protected in the trunk until I get to the race. Should I go get them, swap the wheels and lube the chain some more once i have the race wheels on the bike ?

Does co-mingling lubes matter (i have a wet lube on it now, i could throw some dry lube on the tubular's cassette in the morning) ?

some newbie ish questions i know..

thanks.

Josh,
Don't lube your cassette. Lube just makes a mess. So long as your chain is lubed, your cassette and chain rings are fine.

As for co-mingling lubes, it is generally not a good idea. Dry over wet seems particularly unwise. There are some exceptions, like putting Motorex's wet lube over their dry, but not vice versa, and I don't see why people wouldn't be able to mix different strengths of Rock n Roll lubes, but otherwise, try not to do it. For a short period of time, it's ok, but otherwise the new lube might not stick because the old one is in the way.

cool. thank you.

I need to have an alloy Neuvation wheel rebuilt (Chris Yacks, I think you've gone through this?). My question is this: should I go through Myles or should I go directly to Neuvation.

Thanks!

when you purchase from neuvation, the order has to come through our sponsorship rep.

considering you already own the thing and your wheel is likely to be treated just like any other customer's wheel, you should get in tocuh with them direct.

read the FAQ for return details: http://www.neuvationcycling.com/faq.html

Eric,

Send an email to Nevin at Neuvation. Explain that you need a rebuild and that you are a member of a sponsored team, Kissena. They had me cut out my spokes and just send them the hub. This saves $$$ on their end breaking down the wheel and on your end shipping. It was a simple procedure for me and rebuilds come with another full year of warranty on the wheel. I was actually out of my 2 years warranty when my rim developed cracks at the nipples (since I had purchased the protection plan they took pity on me and only charged me shipping) The new rims they source are stronger. Anyway it should not be a hassle. I have had very good customer service from Neuvation. I've popped a few spokes, but at $1 per it is no biggie. I am fan of what they do.
yacks

Oh i never had a problem with their hubs...last summer I had a bike shop put a new cassette on for me and when they pulled the old cassette a rubber washer must have come off with it. The mechanic didn't notice and just slapped on the new cassette. The washer acts as a seal preventing shit from entering the hub and mucking up the pawls. That's what happend...my pawls got mucked! yahaack

Funny I'm about to send my wheel back to Neuvation. This is my second set of wheels from them and my first set lasted me 3 years before it blew. I was super happy with it so as long as they are cool to work with in fixing this wheel I will have no complaints.

Thanks Chris, this is exactly what is happening to my rim, tiny fractures at the nipples. The hubs have ceramic bearings and spin forever. Really great hubs in terms of bang for the buck.

Need advice:

New brake pads.... I have Avid Shorty 6 brakes. I need to replace the pads. I hear the KoolStop Salmon pads are best, but I'm not sure exactly which ones to get. Sheldon Brown says getting a whole new post over just inserts is best:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#mtndual

http://www.cyclingcrowd.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/technical/3239/Which-Kool-Stop-pads-for-Avid-Shorty-6

I've narrowed it down (I think) to "kool stop mountain salmon" or "kool stop dual compound mountain pads"

any advice on all salmon or dual compound?

or am I way off and should get something totally different?

Mike,
Most newer Shorty 6 brakes take standard SRAM/Shimano road brake pads as the brake shoes are the same dimensions as their road brake shoes. Kool Stop makes pads that fit in these holders, whether you go with black (all conditions), salmon (wet conditions), black/salmon, or green(ceramic braking surface rims).

http://www.koolstop.com/english/dura2.html

But you can also go with SwissStop, in black (standard), green (high performance), or yellow (carbon).

http://www.swissstop.ch/road.aspx

oh yeah, advice. When I had post-style canti's, I used both black and salmon pads. Can't say for sure the salmons performed better in the wet. When I had old-style Campy brakes, I definitely preferred the Kool Stop salmon to the standard Campy black. As for SwissStops, pretty much the same, can't say for sure if the green worked better overall, though they seem to last a bit longer.

next tech question.

My cross bike has a weird rival crankset, it has a 5 bolt 110 bcd pattern 34/48 tooth chainrings. the 34 is too small and the 48 is too big for most courses.

I'd like to get something more like a 38/46. Apparently, these are hard to find in the 110 mm size.

I found some from cyclocrossworld. THORNE Koksijde. 2 chainrings would cost me $86 before shipping. eeek.

Another option is a new crankset. Not sure I want to blow 150-200 for the right chainring size.

eBay, my friend. I just took a look and you should be able to get away for $40-60 including shipping. THey're not from Stu Thorne, but you're probably not racing Koksijde either. Really any small ring will do. For the big ring, it would be nice to have a pinned and ramped ring, but with the short spread of eight teeth, the shifting will be pretty fast regardless.

Well guys, I've got nothing but good things to say about both Cervelo and (gasp!) R&A thus far.

Cervelo is sending a new frame with - get this - a bbright crankset (FSA) because they're all out of SRAM adapters... Gratis!

Of course the truth is in what gets delivered but I'm pretty psyched!

Posted By: mperlbergnext tech question.

My cross bike has a weird rival crankset, it has a 5 bolt 110 bcd pattern 34/48 tooth chainrings. the 34 is too small and the 48 is too big for most courses.

I'd like to get something more like a 38/46. Apparently, these are hard to find in the 110 mm size.

I found some from cyclocrossworld. THORNE Koksijde. 2 chainrings would cost me $86 before shipping. eeek.

Another option is a new crankset. Not sure I want to blow 150-200 for the right chainring size.

fsa makes 36/46 rings, which is what i use on my 110 crank. should be cheaper then fancy jams.