Light sounds are tough to identify.  This is going to be fun!

It could be the pulleys.  I change my jockey wheels every year or so because of the grit that gets in them, and my plastic ones have cracked.  Spraying won't necessarily do it, may need to take them apart and have a look, and spin them close to your ear as though you were a diamond merchant scrutinizing clarity.
Does it happen only when freewheeling?  Could be the freewheel bearing.
Do you have Shimano cranks?  Those pinch bolts loosen over a season and need to be reset at least once a year - gets louder the more pressure you put on the pedals.
Are you sure it's coming from the rear?  My front fork tabs get dirty and after I replace parts and lube my crank, remember to clean the tabs and the noise goes away - fun, right?
Oh my goodness, what else?  Ooh, bottle cage bolts slightly loose?  That's a good one.
Right cleat loose?  Had one fall off on me one time.  Lesson learned.

Clearly, the solution is to buy a new bike. But that won't fix the squeak. . . It'll only heal a broken heart.

^Bruce pretty much hit everything with a bullseye. Don't forget to tighten down the flux capacitor too. Those things shake loose.

how’s your friday before a weekend of hard racing going?!? here’s mine:

Sweet....race single speed...just drop that chain in a gear and pedal

twoyacks said:

Sweet....race single speed...just drop that chain in a gear and pedal

Or is this UCI legal?

must be available to the general public
and you would have to add this to it to make the UCI weight limit

Dear tech gurus,

Does anyone have strong opinions on pedal based power meters? Looking at the Garmin Vector 3s but wondering about Powertap as the Vector 3s seem to have mixed reviews (DC Rainmaker comments seem full of annoyed customers)...

Any input welcome...

RichFreeman said:

Dear tech gurus,

Does anyone have strong opinions on pedal based power meters? Looking at the Garmin Vector 3s but wondering about Powertap as the Vector 3s seem to have mixed reviews (DC Rainmaker comments seem full of annoyed customers)...

Any input welcome...

If you already seen the Vector 3s are not 100%, then why even consider them? honest question: what about them is attractive? 

-- Shane Miller got a pair of Vector 3s, and put them on the shelf after one use and their terrible performance.

Also, we get a deal for Stages, so another honest question: why pedal based?

Please excuse me questioning your post. Want to better understand what the club membership wants and likes, and how can we improve certain things.

Hi Eloy,

Sure no probs - my initial preference for pedal based PM is solely down to ease of moving them between bikes. As I won’t race the same bike as I am riding the Etape on next year, to me it would make sense that to get the most out of training for each I should transfer the PM between bikes. Regarding the poor reviews for the Vector 3s - although there does seem to be a body of evidence that suggests reliability issues I’m minded by the observation that few people write reviews when they are generally satisfied with something, only committing time and energy to putting down their feelings about a product when it is either negative or very positive.

Hence posing a question in here as I think it a better forum to receive an unbiased opinion versus going through online reviews/comments.

if the popular opinion is that actually it is far better to go with a crank based PM I will probably go with stages to make use of the discount, and just train harder.

With all this I’m reminded of the advice from Eddie Merckx about buying upgrades or riding upgrades...

Thanks, Rich,

I've owned a couple of Powertap hubs, and currently have a Stages on the road bike and a Quark on the cross bike. They have all been incredibly accurate, the Quark has even survived the crazy town conditions of this cx season -- that is, I can't speak to pedals meters, but the 3 or 4 meters I've owned have worked well.

If you are going to change the meter from road bike to road bike often, pedals make sense. If it's only changing them for an event or two, then any power meter will do, swapping a Shimano or SRAM crankarm is as trivial as swapping pedals, as long as your bikes have the same brand cranks.

Whatever you do, chat with Redbeard.

In any case... this could be helpful:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/09/power-meter-pedal-shootout-vector-3-vs-powertap-p1-vs-assioma.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVsiVfT4gfs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1MGkNiLAEI

Also worth checking this caption (related to power meters):

For another perspective, Rich, I've had the Vector 3s (single sided) since about August now. I had some issues at the start where I'd get drop outs and then huge spikes in power and cadence. 

Did some googling and found out that if you switch the battery type and tighten the battery door, it should fix it. I've gone about 3 months now without any issues. The power seems to track fairly consistently with my old power meter. 

You might also consider Favero Assioma. I had their other model (BePro) and liked them a lot. Theyre a bit cheaper than the Vectors too. 

Guys just a quick fyi. 

For black friday besides my regular discount for Oakleys we have bigger ones going on now for the next 3 days. 

Below is a snippet of the price with free shipping ... if interested you know how to reach me.

Ugh made the screenshot small ..

Hey everyone, 
I'm going to be in the market for a new groupset this year. My Ultegra 6800 is still functional, but the front mech shifter is real "crunchy" (crunchy is definitely not the right word, but it is the first that comes to mind). It takes a herculean effort to shift the lever and no matter how much I fiddle with it, I don't get consistent shifts. The rear mech is also older so I can only accommodate a 28t cog. If you don't buy into these excuses, I also just want to try something new after this winter. 

I'm definitely going mechanical because I think its a better bang for my buck (the Allez only accommodates eTap and I'm not paid like that). I'm toying with the idea of SRAM 1x with something like a 50t or 52t front and either a 10-42 cassette for most days/ climb-ey-er races and something with a smaller cluster for flatter races. Looking at gear ratios, it seems like I could match (or even better) at least the top and bottom ends of my current 52t/11-28 ratio. I know Aquablue didnt get on with 1x but I don't see any alps in my future (mostly park races and some crits).

What do ya'll think? Have any of you tried 1x on a road set up? 

RobertMullen said:

Hey everyone, 
I'm going to be in the market for a new groupset this year. My Ultegra 6800 is still functional, but the front mech shifter is real "crunchy" (crunchy is definitely not the right word, but it is the first that comes to mind). It takes a herculean effort to shift the lever and no matter how much I fiddle with it, I don't get consistent shifts. The rear mech is also older so I can only accommodate a 28t cog. If you don't buy into these excuses, I also just want to try something new after this winter. 

I'm definitely going mechanical because I think its a better bang for my buck (the Allez only accommodates eTap and I'm not paid like that). I'm toying with the idea of SRAM 1x with something like a 50t or 52t front and either a 10-42 cassette for most days/ climb-ey-er races and something with a smaller cluster for flatter races. Looking at gear ratios, it seems like I could match (or even better) at least the top and bottom ends of my current 52t/11-28 ratio. I know Aquablue didnt get on with 1x but I don't see any alps in my future (mostly park races and some crits).

What do ya'll think? Have any of you tried 1x on a road set up? 

Also, looking @ the newer Ultegra because it seems to be going for ~$600 and change for a full group. 

Talk to redbeard about this, Ilya is likely to have some strong opinions either way

-- btw that was my first thought, why don't upgrade the shifters to 8000? you might not need anything else. But if you are into 1x, the 8000 shifters, an rx8000 rear mech, and a cool front narrow wide ring would totally hook you up with shimano 1x.

Road 1x makes a lot more sense than people give it credit for. The aro cost of the front mech is something like 5 watts and standard 2x have a lot of overlapping gear ratios.

https://ride.diamondback.com/friction-profiles-1x-drivetrains

@RobertMullen, 

When was the last time you changed your cables and housing?  I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the resistance comes from them.  I'm a fan of Jagwire's top-end cables and sealed housing. 

As I'm often a fan of cheaper solutions, I'd check cables first.  Then, I'd probably go with Eloy's suggestion of upgrading to 8000 levers and keeping the rest of your drivetrain.  

As for 1x, there are many  places in the world where I think it makes lots of sense.  I think we've got enough terrain variation that the 2x still makes more sense.  

eloy said:

Talk to redbeard about this, Ilya is likely to have some strong opinions either way

-- btw that was my first thought, why don't upgrade the shifters to 8000? you might not need anything else. But if you are into 1x, the 8000 shifters, an rx8000 rear mech, and a cool front narrow wide ring would totally hook you up with shimano 1x.

That's a good idea, Eloy! I'll shoot them a message or stop by sometime soon. 
And thats a good point in regards to the shifters. If I don't end up getting a whole new grouppo, I could probably give 1x a shot if I get the ultegra rx. I didn't even realize it was available yet. Thanks! 

Jules said:

Road 1x makes a lot more sense than people give it credit for. The aro cost of the front mech is something like 5 watts and standard 2x have a lot of overlapping gear ratios.

https://ride.diamondback.com/friction-profiles-1x-drivetrains

Until I started look at 1x, I didn't realize how much overlap there was. It seems like most 2x systems really have ~16 gears depending on the cassette. I figure it might be quicker to deal with a few less middle-gears and no huge front ring shifts. Thanks for the article!

mugwump said:

@RobertMullen, 

When was the last time you changed your cables and housing?  I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the resistance comes from them.  I'm a fan of Jagwire's top-end cables and sealed housing. 

As I'm often a fan of cheaper solutions, I'd check cables first.  Then, I'd probably go with Eloy's suggestion of upgrading to 8000 levers and keeping the rest of your drivetrain.  

As for 1x, there are many  places in the world where I think it makes lots of sense.  I think we've got enough terrain variation that the 2x still makes more sense.  

Good point. I got new cables and housing around August when I got the bike built up. They're the standard Shimano cables/housing. Granted, I did not do this myself so maybe the non-redbeard shop installed them a little wonky? But I've tinkered around with the front mech cables a bit and improved the shifting but it is still suuuuper resistant. I'm not sure this gif does it justice, but it takes some real effort to get into the big ring. Small ring is no issue. The rest of the group is in pretty good shape and the chainrings are relatively new, so new shifters might be an economical/ logical way to go. 

And re: 1x, I hear ya. I think I would be alright with most rides around the city and probably over the GWB, but that doesn't mean its the best option. 

RichFreeman said:

Hi Eloy,

Sure no probs - my initial preference for pedal based PM is solely down to ease of moving them between bikes. As I won’t race the same bike as I am riding the Etape on next year, to me it would make sense that to get the most out of training for each I should transfer the PM between bikes. Regarding the poor reviews for the Vector 3s - although there does seem to be a body of evidence that suggests reliability issues I’m minded by the observation that few people write reviews when they are generally satisfied with something, only committing time and energy to putting down their feelings about a product when it is either negative or very positive.

Hence posing a question in here as I think it a better forum to receive an unbiased opinion versus going through online reviews/comments.

if the popular opinion is that actually it is far better to go with a crank based PM I will probably go with stages to make use of the discount, and just train harder.

With all this I’m reminded of the advice from Eddie Merckx about buying upgrades or riding upgrades...

Almost 20 minutes by Shane Miller on the PowerTap P2 pedals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKlWPIUjCm8

perhaps a post for Yacks... Cannondale has released a very limited number of so called "F-SI THROWBACK FRAMESETS" 

They are Cannondale's top of the line F-SI lefty carbon frames, but painted in the early 90s style that Tinker Juarez used to ride...

https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/Bike/ProductDetail?Id=88bf06a5-7644-4c53-91c0-4bba853d623c&parentid=undefined

Carbon Frame, painted camouflaged as an old steel frame? As @yacks would say "SACRE BLEU!"

Jules said:

Carbon Frame, painted camouflaged as an old steel frame? As @yacks would say "SACRE BLEU!"

That would be: Carbon frame, painted camouflaged as an old aluminum frame.

mugwump said:

Jules said:

Carbon Frame, painted camouflaged as an old steel frame? As @yacks would say "SACRE BLEU!"

That would be: Carbon frame, painted camouflaged as an old aluminum frame.

In that case the exclamation should be "MERLIN'S PANTS!"

@RobertMullen
https://road.cc/content/feature/231660-front-mech-dead-there-future-front-derailleur-modern-road-bikes

Jules said:

mugwump said:

Jules said:

Carbon Frame, painted camouflaged as an old steel frame? As @yacks would say "SACRE BLEU!"

That would be: Carbon frame, painted camouflaged as an old aluminum frame.

In that case the exclamation should be "MERLIN'S PANTS!"

If Cannondale really wanted to "throw back" they would "throw back" some manufacturing in the U.S.A.  
They can keep their Chinese built plastic bike to themselves...
I have an idea...let's paint a Yugo a classic Camaro color and call it a "throw back"

Shit...even India is crapping on Chinese goods these days...

Mark Taylor said:

@RobertMullen
https://road.cc/content/feature/231660-front-mech-dead-there-future-front-derailleur-modern-road-bikes

Thanks for the link! It seems like every article says 1x is doable but gear jumps aren’t ideal. I haven’t seen a whole lot of folks that use it everyday on the roads. But I’m still interested. Figure I can keep my old cassette on the race wheels to get the smaller gaps and a wider cassette for all the other days. Might see if I can get a deal on it at somepoint this year. 

Also, @eloy , looks like the Ultegra clutch RD only goes up to 32t on the rear, which might not be the ideal ratios for everyday stuff. I’m surprised they haven’t made a longer cage for folks looking to use them for gravel and stuff 

RobertMullen said:

, @eloy , looks like the Ultegra clutch RD only goes up to 32t on the rear, which might not be the ideal ratios for everyday stuff. I’m surprised they haven’t made a longer cage for folks looking to use them for gravel and stuff 

Recomended 32t with 2 rings at the front, with one ring, you should be able to fit almost any size rear cassette. Granted, I wouldn’t want to buy it and discover otherwise.

What are your opinions/thoughts on road headsets? I’m considering a Chris King (of course) as well as the Cane Creek 110. What about Hope headsets... read somewhere that they’re pretty good. Others I should think about?

This is for the All-City Mr. Pink I’m building up to be my backup roadie, sometimes commuter bike.