Bicycle Tech/Gear Discussion Thread

Jan 09, 2015 at 03:15 AM

JohnMalcolmson said:

Slamith thou stem Rigby.

I'd need to get a new headset top cap to slam the stem...it is currently as low as it will go with the topcap and stem that I have! Currently unwilling to spend on cosmetics. Need to get some other parts first.

PatrickGrehan

Jan 09, 2015 at 03:28 AM

JohnMalcolmson said:

Slamith thou stem Rigby.

I'd need to get a new headset top cap to slam the stem...it is currently as low as it will go with the topcap and stem that I have! Currently unwilling to spend on cosmetics. Need to get some other parts first.

Brendan

The long headset cover that comes with many cannondales hides another short headset cover. In other words, if you pull off the headset cover/spacer you will likely find a wafer thin cover which you can slam to your heart's content. While I did not slam my stem on my EVO, I removed the top cover and used the thin cover and spacers without problem.

As an aside, while writing "slam my stem on" with my iPhone it autocorrected it to "slam my stepmom". Totally different meaning to that post. Yikes

Brendan Rigby

Jan 09, 2015 at 12:15 PM

I think only the top end EVO caps come with that feature, Patrick. You mentioned it to me before and I looked at both my CAADX and CAAD10 headsets to find nothing

There is only a rubber seal under the topcap and it doesn't have enough structure to use as a topcap

JohnMalcolmson

Jan 09, 2015 at 02:34 PM

Those in the Withings universe might want to add this to their arsenal (via CES):

http://www.withings.com/us/withings-activite-pop.html

mugwump

Jan 09, 2015 at 03:53 PM

Brendan Rigby said:

I think only the top end EVO caps come with that feature, Patrick. You mentioned it to me before and I looked at both my CAADX and CAAD10 headsets to find nothing There is only a rubber seal under the topcap and it doesn't have enough structure to use as a topcap

Rigby, While you can get the premium "slam that stem" top cap, as I did for my CaaD 10, I'm sure Redbird either has a selection of FSA's that will fit yours or can order one for you that works well for cheap.

Slam That Stem!

twoyacks

Jan 10, 2015 at 04:47 AM

The eagle has landed...the fat man climbs faster...Yack's got himself some new spinners for the hoopty. As few of you have heard, my training wheels were knackered (rims showing cracks at the nip holes and rear freehub no longer free). None of this is surprising as my wheels last about as long as a knife fight in a phone booth. I go through wheel sets like a hot knife through warm butter or more accurately, like poop through a diarrhea infected goose (that's actually a thing people say...no really it is). Wheel info forthcoming...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUrcY5u2HBQ

twoyacks

Jan 10, 2015 at 05:10 AM

Looky here...well we've got American Classic 2218 rims (375 grams and 23mm wide) laced to Alchemy hubs 24/28 hole rebuilt with Phil Wood bearings and converted to 11 speed...cause that's happening someday. Sapim CX-Ray spokes crossed at the front to increase stiffness and some snazzy red nipples...to match my own (it's that cold outside). All work done by Jeremy Parfit, owner of Alchemy Wheelworks. Weight you ask? weight? How's 1300 grams with rim tape grab ya? Hells YEAH !!!

Brendan Rigby

Jan 10, 2015 at 03:30 PM

nice! let me know how those rims work out, i was considering them for my own wheelset but ultimately opted for pacentis. are you going to run those tubeless?

twoyacks

Jan 10, 2015 at 03:32 PM

Neigh! No tubeless....Vittoria Open Corsa's with latex tubes = cause they as smooth as buttah

Thierry Bonnaire

Jan 10, 2015 at 05:31 PM

Carbon fiber bottle cages?? I'm shocked!!!

twoyacks

Jan 10, 2015 at 05:57 PM

Let me walk you off that ledge Thierry...they are not carbon...they are in fact Tacx aluminum cages...carbon cages? Thierry I don't even know who you are anymore.

Marc Bertucco

Jan 10, 2015 at 06:51 PM

Yacks, I always liked the look of those Tacx, aluminum cages, and in fact owned two, and thought they were the bomb-diggity, until those cheap ass plastic tabs that hold the weight of the bottle broke off and let my bottle escape down below. #carbonarundel4ever

twoyacks

Jan 10, 2015 at 07:01 PM

True...the design is shit and I have had them fail in the exact manner you describe. They seem to have a 2 year expiration date on them. Still they look cool and are pretty cheap...so replacing them is no biggy...cages get knackered anyway and new ones spruce up the whip

JohnMalcolmson

Jan 10, 2015 at 10:34 PM

^ Tried getting warranty on that Tacx crap. Impossible! They hold bottles well, but what's the point when the whole thing might come flying off riding pave. Canonndale or some other full plastic.

eloy

Jan 11, 2015 at 12:54 AM

yup, I love the way those cages look, but after however many of those tack/tabs/crap broke, moved to specialized or bontrager or whatever is gonna last and not break in the middle of a ride.

David Yang

Jan 14, 2015 at 02:57 AM

Who has two BB30 adapter cups and a new Stages power meter installed on their bike?

THIS GUY.

Redbeard

Jan 15, 2015 at 02:18 AM

Was I supposed to put on BOTH cups?

mugwump

Jan 22, 2015 at 06:27 PM

For those who love their Fizik saddles but wish they could customize the colors...

http://www.fizik.it/customize/categories/

Jeff Condon

Jan 22, 2015 at 09:39 PM

I know this has been discussed before but couldn't find it in the search. I'm finding that the realtime power and cadence readings of my new Stages is dropping off my Garmin from time to time. I noticed it a lot during yesterday's computraining session. It generally comes back after a few seconds but its annoying. Can anyone rehash any proposed fixes they may have?

mugwump

Jan 22, 2015 at 09:46 PM

Jeff Condon said:

I know this has been discussed before but couldn't find it in the search. I'm finding that the realtime power and cadence readings of my new Stages is dropping off my Garmin from time to time. I noticed it a lot during yesterday's computraining session. It generally comes back after a few seconds but its annoying. Can anyone rehash any proposed fixes they may have?

Curious. Have you updated to the latest firmware?

Jeff Condon

Jan 22, 2015 at 10:16 PM

@mugwump Garmin firmware? I believe so, but I can double check.

twoyacks

Jan 22, 2015 at 10:18 PM

A fresh battery often fixes my glitches....Even if you had a fresh battery...sometimes even new batteries are low

mugwump

Jan 23, 2015 at 03:52 AM

Jeff Condon said:

@mugwump Garmin firmware? I believe so, but I can double check.

Both, actually. Both Garmin and Stages.

twoyacks said:

A fresh battery often fixes my glitches....Even if you had a fresh battery...sometimes even new batteries are low

A friend of mine told me he finds Stages goes through batteries fairly quickly.

Marc Bertucco

Jan 23, 2015 at 04:59 AM

mugwump said:

Jeff Condon said:

@mugwump Garmin firmware? I believe so, but I can double check.

Both, actually. Both Garmin and Stages.

twoyacks said:

A fresh battery often fixes my glitches....Even if you had a fresh battery...sometimes even new batteries are low

A friend of mine told me he finds Stages goes through batteries fairly quickly.

A friend of yours? Don't you own a Stages now? What's your personal experience with it. Wait don't tell me, that you are "Bertucco-ing" your meter, keeping it in the box for an indefinite amount of time?

twoyacks

Jan 23, 2015 at 04:58 PM

If it gets wet in there the battery will drain over night...Otherwise I've had good luck with battery life. Another thing I've noticed is that if the meter does not register on my iphone or computer...I just open the battery compartment...pop the battery out and then put it right back in and all is well. Don't know why this is...perhaps it gets jarred loose. I do keep an extra cr2032 battery in my saddle bag now. You can a strip of 6 of those batteries at the dollar store.

For what I paid for the stages and for what it does...I would definitely buy it again...I've had very good luck with mine and I still appreciate the low weight, lack of complexity, ability to synch bluetooth and ant+. Removing it from the bike is a one bolt affair. I do not get super picky with my power numbers so accuracy is lost on me anyway. But in my objective opinion...the efforts last year in races that I thought would produce really high watts...did (all the Floyd Bennet graveyards and the Prospect handicap race and the one's where Canadian Mike came and slayed all).

Brendan Rigby

Jan 24, 2015 at 02:12 PM

Some Road Tubeless Thoughts

So I had a tubeless fail last weekend and I was telling Marc that I don't really see the point in road tubeless and will likely go back to clinchers. I've since changed my position and wanted to share in case anyone else is considering making the switch.

What is tubeless? No inner tube. The tire to rim fit is tight enough that that, with a little tire sealant, you just have a tire and the rim. The tire has a bead that does not stretch. There are different rim and tire standards for tubeless and some do not require sealant. Some tires do not fit some rims or are difficult to mount on certain rims without snapping the bead, your tire levers, thumbs, or rim. Because the bead is so tight, if your tire suddenly goes flat, it is exceedingly unlikely to roll off the rim. In that sense, it is safer than clincher and perhaps even tubular. [As an aside, here's a recent tubeless article on Bikerumor]

What happened: I got a flat and there was insufficient sealant in my tires to seal the hole. The tires that I bought were so hard to get onto the rim that I thought I might not be able to get the tire back on if I took it off. To avoid being stranded with a wheel that had no tire on it, I rolled on a flat/semi-flat tire to a bike shop where I ended up putting a tube in without incident. Turns out the tire stretched over time and was much easier to get on than it was initially.

What I initially thought: There's no point to tubeless if you can still get a flat only to find yourself stranded because the tire is impossible to put a tube into on the side of the road.

What I did afterwards: I took both tires off, switched the flatted and worn rear tire to the front, pumped both full of new sealant, and they are both working swimmingly now. The hole that was too big to seal has sealed up fine once I put in more sealant.

What I've come to realize: Last weekend's flat was my first flat in six months. I installed the tires last June-July. That's sort of awesome. For six months, I never had to stop riding my bike to get my hands covered in road grime and put in a tube. For six months, no one had to pause their ride to wait for me.

The reason that it did not seal was because I didn't follow the manufacturer's instructions, which are to refresh the sealant every 4-6 months. Because I failed to refresh the sealant, it had dried up and was unable to seal the puncture. Once I got back home where I had more sealant, the tire sealed up fine. That flat could have been avoided if I'd taken 10 minutes to pour in more sealant when I was supposed to ~2 months ago. 1 flat in 6 months makes the system worth it for me. I'll try a different tire brand when these wear out, but I like having 0 flats in 6 months.

What I'll do differently next time: Add sealant on the required schedule and perhaps bring a small container of sealant on longer rides if the tires are getting worn.

Marc Bertucco

Jan 24, 2015 at 02:23 PM

twoyacks said:

If it gets wet in there the battery will drain over night...Otherwise I've had good luck with battery life. Another thing I've noticed is that if the meter does not register on my iphone or computer...I just open the battery compartment...pop the battery out and then put it right back in and all is well. Don't know why this is...perhaps it gets jarred loose. I do keep an extra cr2032 battery in my saddle bag now. You can a strip of 6 of those batteries at the dollar store.
For what I paid for the stages and for what it does...I would definitely buy it again...I've had very good luck with mine and I still appreciate the low weight, lack of complexity, ability to synch bluetooth and ant+. Removing it from the bike is a one bolt affair. I do not get super picky with my power numbers so accuracy is lost on me anyway. But in my objective opinion...the efforts last year in races that I thought would produce really high watts...did (all the Floyd Bennet graveyards and the Prospect handicap race and the one's where Canadian Mike came and slayed all).

"Accuracy is lost on me anyway."

Christ, paging Vlad. I'm so depressed I want to send back my Stages before I take it out of the box. Please post something post haste about how I'm a fucking idiot if I don't replace my actual tibia/fibia with a Stages Power meter because it's that awesome.

Craig London

Jan 24, 2015 at 02:54 PM

Marc,

Put the damn PM on your bike already! Training with power is the fastest way to measurable gains in fitness. Then read "Training and Racing with a Powermeter" by Hunter Allen. Then download Golden Cheetah for free online or just use Training Peaks or Strava for free and track your rides.

Some pros, Nikki Terpstra comes to mind, don't use power. Sure, he managed to win Roubaix. However he also gets to ride 40,000 km a year and has unlimited time and resources at his disposal. For us mere mortals using a powermeter, Stages or otherwise, is the fastest way to get gains in training. The Stages is awesome. Sky uses them. Not being able to see Right vs Left leg power is not a concern at the domestic level and arguably for the pros either unless you have a serious injury history (broken leg, etc) or iliac artery disease and that requires surgery, not a Quarq.

Super easy way to look at your rides using power: How many Kilojoules (Kj) did you put out for the ride and what was your TSS score? One hour at FTP/Threshold=100 TSS. Throw the file into Golden Cheetah and check your PMC chart. It'll show you how you're improving and if you're training is too little or too much (Short term stress, training stress balance, long term stress). Very basic stuff and you'll get Soooooo much more out of training even 12-15 hrs a week with power compared to using HR or perceived exertion as a gauge.

The old school argument against using a PM is Belgian logic- If you just ride 3-4 hours a day and are awesome you'll race well and be super fast. Probably true. If you have time management considerations-kids, a job, etc then using a PM and making the most of the time you do train is the most efficient, smartest way to train. Train smarter, not harder!

(End rant).

JohnMalcolmson

Jan 24, 2015 at 03:44 PM

Bertuccitis!

Brendan Rigby

Jan 24, 2015 at 05:15 PM

marc, you still haven't installed that thing?! wtf? why do you even own it? i'll take it