You get a free crankset instead of the crappy adapter they gave me!?!? Time to break my frame again! Lemme know how you like it. BTW, which FSA one is it? I was under the impression Rotor was still making the only true one and even the FSA ones were using adapters.

It's the first I've heard of it too... We'll see what happens. There may be a new FSA crank hitting eBay in a hurry if it sucks.

Anyone know anything about this brand?

http://www.williamscycling.com/sys85_clincher.html

Their stuff doesn't seem so expensive. Anyone any experience with them at all?

i assume they are one of several companies (neuvation, revolution wheelworks, planet x) using the same carbon rims manufactured in china.

neuvation used to sell those AND pre-dimpling zipp 404 rims, both laced the same. the difference in rims weight was about 100 grams.

you'll get the same aero benefits as with high-end proprietary carbon wheelsets - the cheap price makes up for the weight you add.

a decent deal if you don't have proper race wheels yet, but Neuvation's 50mm carbon tubies are about 2/3rds the price of Williams Cycling's 58mm carbon tubies.

Thanks for the info, never really considered that they might all get the same stuff and just stick their own label on it.

I have some great race wheels it's just I have become a little infatuated by deep rim wheels. Do you actually go faster on them??? I mean, as a large portion of NYC races are in parks (without hills), I've got it stuck into my head that deep rims might offer an advantage.

However, I may just be lusting after some other bike crap as I am yet to own it...

Anybody know anything about FSA BBright cranks vs Rotors?

@ Adam..... I mean sure you go faster but if you look at results I doubt there is any correlation between deepness of wheels and finishing in the money. Plenty of guys do great on pretty standard setups, especially in prospect park.

I've also heard this is pretty much the same stuff.

ditto what michael said

you'd be much faster if you spent the money on some basic coaching

either that, or save it for when you destroy your first pair of race wheels - mine went through 2 years of hell without a scratch, then died milliseconds apart in the mouth of a Prospect Park pothole

@ Adam: what Will & Mike said.

If you want to finish closer to the front get a power meter and a coach first, wheels second. You can of course get the power meter *in* the wheel and kill 2 birds with one stone.

If you want motivation to ride your beautiful bike and feel like a pro whilst on top of it; get the wheels first and be sure to answer any jabs at your placing with "Yeah, but I look good doing it"

Adam,

Depends on what you're comparing to and how fast you're going. If you're riding around on 32-spoke box-section wheels, just about anything with 20 spokes or fewer in front and 24 or fewer in the rear will be a good bit faster. So just going from 32-spoke wheels to the basic Neuvations will yield a noticable difference. After that, it gets a bit more complicated. Yes, certain wheels are noticeably faster than others, some are noticeably slower, many fit in a middle ground. For NYC racing, I would definitely recommend choosing aerodynamics over weight. The difficulty is that not all deep rims are equally fast.

Jules,

I've seen the FSA crank. If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose the Rotor. From what I've heard their cranks are more durable, and I assume stiffer and lighter. I wonder if the reason the reason Cervelo is supplying FSA is that Rotor is more expensive and has smaller production runs.

Possibly. Sounds like I'm getting a free FSA crank though, so the real question is "is it worth flipping it on ebay to buy a rotor"?

I think the rotor costs quite a bit more and I believe the market for BBright is pretty small. I'd check out eBay, but I wouldn't think folks are looking for BBright cranks.

The Rotor with chain rings is around $800. Not sure how much you can get for the FSA, but like you told Adam, unless the FSA cranks are super crappy (probably not as awesome as the Rotor ones, but not terrbul), your coach and fitness will probably make the most difference. But if money is not an issue, get the fucking Rotors and sell me the FSA (with the adapters or however they've rigged it)!!! Assuming they don't suck ass. Which I'm sure they don't.

Like JP pointed out, Cervelo is issuing them standard b/c they can sell the built up frames for the same high price and probably save hundreds on the damn cranks not being Rotors, increasing their profit.

ok back to my brake pad question:

Is Sheldon Brown trying to confuse me?

Kool Stop Mountain Salmon
If your brakes, caliper or cantilever, use threaded hardware, the "Mountain" model is the very best you can get, for road or off road use.

Kool Stop Dual Compound Mountain Pads:
If your brakes use threaded post brake shoes, these are the best brake shoes you can buy at any price.

@ JO: ROFLMAO

My Shimano Deore XT SPD pedals aren't working for me. I have a really hard time clipping back in after a muddy runup. I'm going to give the Crank Bros a try. I would prefer the Candy model (http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/crank-bros-candy-3-pedals) because I could theoretically pedal them in regular shoes. Would anyone caution me against that, in favor of the standard Egg Beaters?

I would check the clearance around the cleat on the bottom of my shoe first. Bring them over, I will take a look.

JW,
I think the Candys and the Eggbeaters will be about the same to pedal on in casual shoes. You'll still have the retention pieces to the pedal sticking up whether or not you have the platform around it.

If you want something for pedaling in regular shoes, why not get this? http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=5096

Perlberg, Sheldon is confusing you from the grave.

http://momentumplanet.com/videos/mikael-colville-andersen-why-we-shouldnt-wear-bike-helmets

Roughly 96.72-99% of the time, I ride with my helmet on and will keep doing it.

That guy's an idiot AND his blog is stupid. However, there is some "illusion of safety" that people have about helmets (and airport security, etc.). I often don't wear one. Oh no, don't start the helmet debate, Stephane!!!!!

I do need to wear a helmet at work. When I read all this (UN) crap, I want to bang my head against the wall.

New frame, AND crankset, picked 'em up just now.
R&A charged me 100 bucks for "handling" but if I'd been less honest - ie: pretended I'd bought it from them they probably would have charged zero.
Very exciting to say the least!

Uh, they should have only charged you for stripping/re-building the bike (assuming you didnt do it yourself. If not, in the future, let me or others on the club know. It's easy and collectively we have all the tools). If that's what they charged for complete strip/rebuild, that's ok I guess. But they shouldn't have charged you *anything* for shipping. Cervelo reimburses the dealers for that. At least they did @ SBR.

I don't think you would have gotten away with the "I bought it here" ruse. All the serial numbers are on file with where they were originally sold. But, that's why I keep getting away with my warranty issues even though I bought mine for 1/3 the price on eBay: I know where it was originally purchased.

Nevertheless, you have a sweet new ride! Lemme know how you like dat crankset.

I stripped it myself and will probably rebuild it too. I was all set to walk out the door with the frame and he was like, "uh, you bought it here, right?"
Shame on me for being honest with such scoundrels.

Ooof. That sucks. Alas, just look at it like you paid $100 for a brand new frame and crankset, not a bad deal.

I assume they gave you the nice 3T seatpost and canecreek Headset too? The AER headset they sent with mine actually sucked. It has no bearings, just a bushing. It was really difficult to adjust correctly (even Purdy had a horrible time with it and had to put in spacers) and it is easily bent/torn. Also, while being incredibly light, it wears out every 2000 miles or so. Not cool. The bushings are $40, so assuming you ride a lot, you'll be spending well over $100 a year on them. I threw on my old one. Hopefully you still have yours and it fits.

Hmm... I've never assembled a headset before but it looks like it's an FSA headset (those are the rings that help join the fork to the frame?) and a stock "SL" fork

FSA....hmmmm, looking at Cervelo's website, it seems as though they've not only replaced the expensive Rotor cranks for their stock buildup, they've taken a lot of the parts down a notch or two (like the stem, etc. Huh, they say they ship a nice CaneCreek IS-3 with a new bike. Fuckers). I guess they thought they'd increase their profit margins by skimping on other parts. Not entirely surprising, but if I was spending $5000 on a new R3, I would expect better components, especially those crappy wheels they're including.

Anyway, that's a good fork. If you've never installed a headset, you might want to get someone who knows what they're doing to assist. You'll need to get it cut down anyway, and they'll put on the crown race for you. Purdy will probably charge you under $50.

What size is your frame? The headtubes on the newer Cervelos are HUGE. I had to send back the 61 for a 58 it was so gigantic. It's still massive and I have to use a -17 stem. We can be Paul Bunyon and the blue ox (as I go cyanotic trying to keep up) out there on our Shaq bikes.

I don't have the tool to set the crown race, so you should ask a shop to do it.
I have tools for everything else, including cutting the steerer tube - super easy.

I'm late to the table on this but....none of this would have happened with a Ti frame...or an aluminum Spooky...just sayin

a witch!

burn him!