SRAM went pretty buckwild with the marketing on this one. My entire insta was flooded with etap AXS features. 

Making the rounds...
https://road.cc/content/tech-news/256027-sram-force-etap-groupset-be-launched-april

Adam Yates riding 22mm tyres (tires) @mugwumphttps://www.bikeexchange.com/blog/adam-yates-scott-addict-orica-bikeexchange

Jeesuz, those tires must rattle his teeth on shit pavement.

Yeah another article I read about him said he ran them at a crazy high psi - which must add to the comfort....I can’t see the logic at all. In saying that, the trend with him and his brother is that after one of them has a big year, the other does something the next. So he will probably win the tour in his 22’s this year...

RichFreeman said:

Adam Yates riding 22mm tyres (tires) @mugwumphttps://www.bikeexchange.com/blog/adam-yates-scott-addict-orica-bikeexchange

Jules said:

Ok, it's gear ratio time - let's hear the old sage @wump to chime in...

https://www.velonews.com/2019/02/bikes-and-tech/first-ride-sram-reimagines-gear-range-with-red-etap-axs_483097

THanks for the link.  I'm surprised the team lets them do this.  

FWIW, I rode 20mm tires for years, first on steel, then aluminum frames.  While I didn't put in the miles these guys do, I certainly was used to the sensations--I also prefer thin tape and riding without gloves.  And I rode plenty of criterium and might have crashed in corners once or twice in that time.  A body can get used to many things.  Just wished I had gone wider sooner, as it would have made me faster.

Agree with JP it was completely normal to ride 22 or 23, in the nineties the trend was towards smaller tires and higher pressures, 21 at 120psi if the road was good.

I have a theory for that..., as frames where a bit more forgiving, we could afford and looked for stiffness in other places -- like wheels/tires. As frames got way stiffer we look for softness, tires are an obvious place, coupled with studies that show that wider has better rolling resistance, and decades of mtb/cx experience searching for traction and suspension.

also, important, this article is from 2016. If I had to bet the Yates are riding wider now.

eloy said:

I have a theory for that..., as frames where a bit more forgiving, we could afford and looked for stiffness in other places -- like wheels/tires. As frames got way stiffer we look for softness, tires are an obvious place, coupled with studies that show that wider has better rolling resistance, and decades of mtb/cx experience searching for traction and suspension.

also, important, this article is from 2016. If I had to bet the Yates are riding wider now.

good points.  I think there's some validity to the theory.

Wider, softer tires, also slow down steering, and front ends, with larger fork blades, wider, steerers, bigger crowns as well as stiffer frames sped up steering sensations without changing geometry.  

JohnPowell said:

Jeesuz, those tires must rattle his teeth on shit pavement.

A good dose Texas chipseal will do the trick

Scott Kuhlke said:

JohnPowell said:

Jeesuz, those tires must rattle his teeth on shit pavement.

A good dose Texas chipseal will do the trick

I raced on that shit for 7 years. It's so bad in some places that it'll rattle you numb and literally knock parts off of your bike. They used to do a race in Walburg. Since it was out in the country, the roads were almost free of car traffic, but the chip seal was nasty... some of it really gnarly for tens of miles at a stretch.

In one particular year of that race, I was sitting mid-field and we were blasting down this nasty cracked and potholed stretch of road against an ugly crosswind. All of a sudden, I hear a bunch of guys ahead of me cursing and I starting preparing for a potential crash. The next thing I know, the peloton is splitting down the middle to make room for a saddle flying through the air.

A saddle, airborne, not attached to a bike, zips within inches past my head.

That's how rattling the chip seal can be there.

More 28mm tubeless tire options!

https://road.cc/content/tech-news/256990-vittoria-corsa-tyre-goes-tubeless-new-graphene-20-tread-compound

New 'Bike-friendly' 3D-printing material options available @ Shapeways

Who wants custom (maybe Kissena-branded) 3D-printed cages and or pedals?!

JohnOlsson said:

New 'Bike-friendly' 3D-printing material options available @ Shapeways

Who wants custom (maybe Kissena-branded) 3D-printed cages and or pedals?!

Cages are one thing, but pedals?  

I'll let someone else be the beta tester on them.

The rigid poly has a flexural strength of about 10,000lbs / sq-in. More than enough for a 30sec 1,500 watt Sprint. Heck...that might be enough for a derailleur hanger

I look forward to the inevitable future where this goes from joke to reality. Eventually, we will buy and sell plans for objects, not the objects themselves.

the future is now @JohnPowell! I don't know what yet, but i will be modelling/printing something in the near future.

@JohnOlsson bottle cage would make sense as something to try...

can make a custom bottle cage for a gallon of milk jug

JohnPowell said:

I look forward to the inevitable future where this goes from joke to reality. Eventually, we will buy and sell plans for objects, not the objects themselves.

I think the more practical near-term use is making repair parts for all sorts of things.  A few years back, a small plastic gear wheel cracked on my printer.  I trashed the printer because there was no way to get the wheel, nor 3D print it.  There were 3D printers, but getting the exact dimensions was impossible, and even if I could have, finding the printer was hard, and the cost would have been prohibitive.    

@mugwump, if you think it I will print it. Need the modeling experience! 

@mugwump not kidding...i need an excuse to buy a 3D laser scanner

JohnOlsson said:

@mugwump not kidding...i need an excuse to buy a 3D laser scanner

Sweet!

Off the top of my head, looking at parts that aren't critical on a bike, I can think of a few...
yes to a water bottle cage.
how about out-front Wahoo Elemnt mount?  The one they supply has the aero base, but the arm doesn't seem that aero.  And the all-plastic design wears out.  in orange?
I'm sure there are other head units that could do with a better mount.
don't know if its right for this kind of manufacturing, but a cold-weather shell for a bike helmet?

other ideas?

Sunglasses compatible with with the old Rudy lenses

Custom bar end plugs would be silly but might be good practice? 

Yes! @RobertMullen great place to start ! *KCC- branded

RobertMullen said:

Custom bar end plugs would be silly but might be good practice? 

I'm a fan of the old Benotto end caps.  So long as they're properly secured, they don't pop out.

Benotto seems to have disappeared, but I do have old caps if you need a reference.  The plastic needs to be pliable and stretch a little bit.

@mugwump send pics!

@JohnOlsson

The walls are about 1.5mm thick.
The length of the sleeve is about 14.3mm long
The inner diameter is about 22.84mm.

The material is pliable
.

Good thing Benotto & Kissena are both 7-letter words! Originally thought i'd just replace a letter, (ie: Benotti). Can you put a couple of these in your pocket next time we ride? Want to match the material best i can...

JohnOlsson said:

Good thing Benotto & Kissena are both 7-letter words! Originally thought i'd just replace a letter, (ie: Benotti). Can you put a couple of these in your pocket next time we ride? Want to match the material best i can...

Sure.