My family is there, so was going to get it sent to them and then shipped on.  As it goes, I will be in the UK in July so might get it delivered then while I am there and then send it here personally, or, check it at the airport on my way back.  Might be easier to get flight travel insurance and check it...  

No-one swaps PM around bikes.  Fuck that.  I found that out for reals.  You are right to realise that you want another.  I think everyone with multiple bikes and one PM thinks the same!  Again, I reiterate at this point that even with Vector (and I have the correct torque wrench for installation too) which is just unscrewing pedals, I still can't be bothered!

Marc Bertucco said:

And not listed as an official priority, but mentioned elsewhere, "customer service," PowerTap is easily as good or better than any of the companies on that respect.

Sorry mate, that one is hard to back up. I bought a quarq for my CX bike the first year they had one with the correct BCD and SRAM hadn't lined up their production capacity so it was impossible to buy chainrings - quarq not only sent me a compatible set of chainrings but also a spare set of aftermarket rings and a t-shirt.

now I get an email from the customer service department guy (not automated) asking how my device is working and if I need anything pretty much every season.

Related; I'm a) hoping we don't lose the Stages sponsorship by the time they b) add another pod for the drive side crank. I'm sort of surprised they don't have one already. #onemorepodplease

what makes you think they'll ever do that?

MOAR PODS

Marc Bertucco said:

Related; I'm a) hoping we don't lose the Stages sponsorship by the time they b) add another pod for the drive side crank. I'm sort of surprised they don't have one already. #onemorepodplease

I don't see this happening.  Pioneer already does it.  For one, Pioneer may have locked up patents.  Even if they haven't, the firmware might need significant revision.  It would almost certainly need to do something similar to what Pioneer and Garmin are already doing.

I think for Stages, better sealing, better battery life, greater consistency, are their next steps.

Having dealt with customer service at both Quarq and PowerTap, it's a hard call to say which is better.  Both have been excellent, though Quarq has sent me bottles and t-shirts and spare chainrings, and PT hasn't.  

please explain how you would use those pedals in cyclocross? powertap is the only practical way to move a device quickly. but to each their own.

A power meter for cx will have to be shoe-based to capture the running ...

But in all seriousness, a CX bike is not a road bike, and having power during actual off-road CX training is a pretty fringe application. Those are typically skills rides or races at the end of a year of racing and training.

If you travel and would prefer to rent or borrow rather than check your bike, pedal-based power is _the_ way.

PODS

Jeffrey White said:

But in all seriousness, a CX bike is not a road bike, and having power during actual off-road CX training is a pretty fringe application. Those are typically skills rides or races at the end of a year of racing and training.

we not in agreement, and that's ok, we don't have to be.

I find myself curiously attracted to these
 http://www.rolfprima.com/vigor-alpha/

If we get enough people, somewhere between three and five I believe- would need to double check with Ilya.  We can get them at a real good grass roots price through Rolf/ Redbeard.  Trying to figure out my wonky frame situation at the moment but once I do I may be very interested in some Rolfs

I'm in !

Decided to try latex tubes in a pair of race wheels as it seems like a relatively trivial upgrade for, what according to almost all internet sources, is a real and noticeable improvement.  Tubes arrive in the post in a couple of days.  

So, looking for any top tips on installation.  For now the plan is to cover liberally in talcum powder and be super, super careful upon installation to avoid pinching the tube.  Anything more?

@Jules- this post seemed more applicable to a "Wrenching/Bicycle Mechanic" thread but I don't recall us having that?  

The guys at Challenge suggest this:

The keys during installation are:
1. lightly inflating the tube exactly to the point where it first forms its toroidal shape with no extra pressure;

2. making sure the tube is covered in talc so it slides through your hand (and inside the tire) and is not sticky;

3. as you press the second bead of the tire into the rim, make sure the latex inner tube is inserted into the tire cradle (away from the tire rim interface) and is NOT twisted;

4. when you get to the point where you are pushing the last bit of the second bead onto the rim, if the tube is trying to escape the tire, reduce the air pressure a bit until the tube can be pushed up into the tire and away from the tire/rim interface;

5. when you get the tire fully seated, inflate the tire to about 2 bar (25-30 psi), remove the pump and gently rock the tire back and forth through its entire radius to make sure the tire is truly seated and the inner tube is not pinched between the tire and rim somewhere; and

6. finally, fully inflate the inner tube.

also Vittoria suggest:
Vittoria...recommends to use a sealant to coat the interior wall of the tube to prevent the natural air loss, such as Vittoria Pitstop.

Worth the effort with the sealant?

I agree with everything sans sealant...I will use sealant for a tubular flat but with a clincher I'm not so sure.  I don't know if you are adding unwanted weight or increasing the rolling resistance.  Maybe I'm wrong. I suspect you are giving yourself a layer of puncture resistance by dropping a can of sealant in.  My latex tubes leak air overnight....quite a bit.  I pump them before every ride.  If they are loosing any air pressure during a ride it's welcome as I am likely 3 hours in and looking for a slightly smoother ride anyways. 
This is the first I've heard to add sealant to prevent air loss.  My rear tubular has a can of Cafee Latex Expresso in it and it would lose air overnight at a slightly slower rate than the front.  But you also have to worry about your valve stem getting gummed up with sealant.  If the Challenge tubes have removable stems = not a big issue as you can clean them out if need be.

KK- will forget the sealant.  I too had similar concerns about weight/loss of suppleness.

1 latex tip: After you ride them in heavy rain you may want to re-talc them. 

I don't really understand why you'd want to run them with clinchers for race wheels, they're so delicate you'd be better off using a nice tubular (with latex tubes) as there's less "moving parts". I've run latex on race wheels for years, and found that they run beautifully, but even if doing everything right they were/are a money pit and unreliable.

I would ask yourself: What is the cause of most of my tire failures, how many times has a puncture ruined a race and do I want to add another time consuming variable that will likely up that fail rate?

Some good points John.

-I run clinchers because I will not be held ransom to my wheels.  I had to replace a race tyre yesterday as I have ridden it for a year and it is getting to the end of it's life.  Took me 5 minutes.  For a tub it would take what, a few days with stretching(?) or $80 service at the store.  Not interested.  Also, with my tyre, innertube, rim tape combo I run as light as a tubular (admittedly, in most cases the clincher version of a given wheel is a bit heavier than the tub version).  Furthermore, until someone does a real AvsB test on tubs vs clinchers I am not going to believe they are "better".  Presently I file the 'tubs are better than clinchers' notion in the same category as 'only ride in the little ring in the off season': which is to say a relic left over from the 1970s.

-I take your point about reliability.  If they prove difficult I won't bother.  Thing is though, lots of what I am reading says that if installed correctly, latex is MORE reliable as the extra deformity means that they are more puncture resistant.  TBH, not sure I believe that but whatevs.  Just thought I'd try.  I will heed your warning about time/money and failure with them and be attentive.  Of note, when I bought the tubes I also bought some butyl ones too, you know, just in case.

What are your favorite websites to purchase sports nutrition stuffs? Mine, apparently has closed.

I have had great luck with latex tubes....rode them all winter on the LIE service road with no flats.  In fact I can't remember my last flat...I've had a few on my race tubulars though.  I bought some aluminum tubulars last year...If I get another flat on them this season I may go "full clincher" from now on.  

@Adam For training, IMO clinchers win hands-down. Although I don't think tubulars are that much of a pain to glue, except when you need to put on a spare. Stretch a tire over night, or just grow some man arms and put it straight on. Scraping the glue off the rim on the other hand, that's a toxic nightmare. 

For race wheels, clinchers add 200 grams of rotational weight in order to ruin any chance your bike will ever weigh less than 15 lbs. The pro's knows. 

I race latex tubes in clincher tires.  It's great.  I do it pretty much for all my racing these days.  I don't understand why more people don't do it.  It's a proven performance enhancer (like up to 5w per wheel), and the cost is relatively minimal.  

contrary to the claims of delicacy, I have found no such thing.  It's a tube.  It holds air.  Whatever will flat a butyl tube will probably flat a latex tube.  "Probably" because latex is more flexible than butyl, so there is a chance the latex tube will deform around a small rock or glass shard before it flats.

Yes, talc the tire and/or tube.  I sometimes drop talc into the tire and rub it around and sometimes I put a tube in a bag, drop in talc and shake it around.  Not hard.  And I never use a tool to put the tire on.  Not hard once you're a little practiced.

I have also found that, in two occasions, i have ripped my tire on the sidewall and the latex tube didn't blow out.  They were small rips, but I could see the tube ever so slightly.

Race 'em. 

Not saying you can't have a good run with them, but once you've had a couple of failures at the valve stem, it feels dicey. 

There's also ultra lightweight butyl.

I tried latex, much like @JohnMalcolmson, once those things start to fail, they become an expensive nuisance. I am glad, however, that it is working for some of you.

JohnMalcolmson said:

Not saying you can't have a good run with them, but once you've had a couple of failures at the valve stem, it feels dicey. 

There's also ultra lightweight butyl.

I've had zero failures at the valve stem with latex. 

OTOH, I've had many failures at the valve stem with butyl.  I'd guess upwards of ten.  

Yes, butyl is cheaper.  However, I think age is the culprit.  All my butyl failures were from really old tubes.  I wouldn't be surprised if that were the same issue with the latex failures.

And you can patch latex tubes with the same vulcanizing patches one uses on butyl.  The key is to get the talc off before gluing.  Second is to leave the plastic wrap on after you've glued it.

I like them too. But lately I've been a bit lazy with the talc during installation and I've had repeated instances where the tube got pinched between the rim and tire.  The tubes/tires would initially inflate to full pressure just fine only to pop days later the 2nd or 3rd time I'd reinflate them after they bled out as latex tubes do overnight. This happened on my 23mm wide Boyds which are pretty beat from 2 seasons of cross(lots of rough edges) when paired with 25mm Schwalbe Ultremos which fit on the rims very loosely

I'm probably full of shit but i really think I can feel a difference in suppleness between latex and butyl tubes when used in conjuction w a high quality( reads: expensive)racing clincher on a wide rim

Just broke my rear derailleur

For those who put their bike in the stand and adjust the rear derailleur, never shift by pushing the derailleur cage itself.  If you want to test some shifts, yank the cable.  I pushed the derailleur cage, like I've seen mechanics do, and BAM it all came flying apart.  I've done it a bunch before but this time I guess it had had enough.  Two tiny little pieces of metal inside the knuckle broke apart.

RIP 2012 SRAM Red rear derailleur.

Anyone got a ten speed SRAM derailleur lying around?  I'll probably just buy a new 11 speed rival derailleur but figured I should ask around.

I recently bought a force der.  same as red sans the ceramic bearings and about $100 less

I'm going to go with Rival: 
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/02/video/ask-a-mechanic-mixing-sram-road-components-on-a-budget_361706

I've been riding with latex tubes for the last six weeks or so. I talc'd the shit out of them and the insides of my tires (Adam -- tyres?) in the bathtub before installation. Pinaud Clubman Talc has a fresh and pleasant scent that I would hasten to recommend.

The latex tubes have been an absolute pleasure. They must be inflated every other day unless you're lucky enough to have a training road that can accommodate 70 psi. They are zero fuss otherwise, and their ride quality is surprisingly distinct. In my experience, latex tubes with 320 tpi Vittoria Open Corsa CX clinchers provide the equivalent of tubular road feel.

Sealant is a stupid idea. What could possibly be the rationale? Morons. Carry a spare tube like every other bike rider ever and stop reading the internet.