@Jules-the Speedplay X series have a huge amount (it feels "infinite" within the useable range) of float.  I have a messed up knee, so they work for me in allowing my foot to fall into a natural (for my body) angle.  The minus side of all that float is it feels as though there is nothing holding your foot laterally in place.  Someone once aptly desciribed the first attempt at out of the saddle spriting on X Series pedals as "standing on ice cubes."  It does truly feel  like that the first handful of times, but that sensation very quickly fades as your muscles remember to hold your foot in place.  My guess is that there'd be little point in you switching to the X series unless you felt that your foot position/general mechanics could benefit from full free float.  (I have an extra set of X-Seres pedals I could loan to you to try, but you'd have to have an X compatible cleat mounted on your shoe.)

Jules,

@Mark- Generally, the Sterlings are nice.  As I may have mentioned previously on the forum, I had ridiculous quality control problems with my Sterling--with multiple breaking plastic fittings over a period of weeks.  Then again, mine was from the first production run of the model which they offered in the U.S. so it's quite possible that the've since ironed that all out.  I've seen no other complaints on the forum like mine. (Quality on all of the other Rudy products I've had has been fine.)

@Mark-I did a quick check and came up with a review on the Rudy Project site which suggests that at least one other user had one of the QC problems I had with their Sterling.  Not a big deal just worth noting....

6/17/2011

(2 of 5 customers found this review helpful) 

Save one for me please...when I'm done running the train on the IV field this Spring and I get my upgrade, I will be looking for my helmet. Yacks

Marc Bertucco said:

Loving the opinions...everyone so far is making sense to me on some level. Keep 'em coming. Mattie, JP? You guys out there?

In related news, I'm spending some time on the Cannondale website trying to figure out what the heck a "black" edition is (other than an obvious color scheme) and it turns out that the 'dale website is not anywhere near as helpful as you might expect. Hopefully JP has gotten or will get the call from Cannondale to add a little more beef to their product copy.

Not that I'm even remotely in the market for a $14,000 bike (although at $8,400...almost sounds like a bargain), but I googled the bike and apparently Chris Peck's Nanotubes are fused to Peter Sagan's thighs create a resin to make a bike that weighs 11lbs.

The Black CAAD10 edition is an anodized (as opposed to paint) electronic only bike. Slightly lighter because of the lack of paint and cable stops. 

Mattie says:

"The Black CAAD10 edition is an anodized (as opposed to paint) electronic only bike. Slightly lighter because of the lack of paint and cable stops."

Seriously? I defy anyone to find that "little" detail on their website. Thanks for that info and the rest too.

Definitely going for the full bike...some of my old parts are serviceable but right now I'm riding a quill-stemmed bike with a old-school BB that's stuck 7/8ths of the way in (or 1/8ths out, depending on your point of view). Brakes that don't exactly or fully spring back to full open, a left shifter that occasionally cries out with such an indescribable racket that the thought of putting that stuff on a shiny new frame is just really wrong.

Jules zero cleats are supposed to last longer.  My knees love all the float of the X's.  One thing...the titanium spindle X1's are 3mm shorter leading to a 6mm shorter Q-factor.  Weird...but something to be conscious of.

@marc,

mperlberg said:

 also significant price hike

OUCH!....like around 50%

@Marc, the aluminum vs carbon crash replacement argument should be considered carefully. Most of us, by now, should have a capable back-up bike to train and race on. Many of us have more than one (cross bikes count too).

Carbon is not guaranteed to fail. My carbon bikes have yet to do so and both have been involved in crashes during races.

You should know how far cowardice and apprehension get us in this sport. This also applies to the bikes we buy. I'm not encouraging you to be frivolous, but I am encouraging you to not be a pussy.

Anywho, my teammachine is a dream and has proven to be incredibly durable. I'm really glad that I bought it even if it broke the bank. That being said, the Caad10 is a killer ride and I would certainly pull the trigger on one if I had to. I also have a great deal of respect for the bike and those who race them.

guys . . . what's up with Vlad lately?

Reality check, courtesy bikesnob

lolololol

Back when my fast twitchers were...well faster, I ripped a pedal out of a set of carbon cranks while launching a t.t. start.  The cranks were profile design.  Soo...another vote for the aluminum CAAD 10.   The Ti Bianchi was young and furious back then, just like its owner...

I'm trying to picture Bertuco explaining to his wife that even though they just had a baby, he's glad he bought a $5,000 bike to do amateur races on even it broke the bank because it means he's not a pussy.

Has anyone heard anything about when the new Red features are going to trickle down to Force?

any sealant recommendations for a tubeless set up? 

I like Cafe Latex stuff.

I have Ultegra tubeless with Hutchnsin TLR cross tires on my cross bike.

The stans 2oz bottle worked for me.

Keep us up to date ob how tubeless works for you.

mperlberg said:

 Keep us up to date ob how tubeless works for you.

Will do...the Mud 2's aren't designated as tubeless but are supposed to work well anyhow. I'm curious to see how it all works out...fingers crossed. Thanks for the recommendations.

How freely should the pulleys on my rear deraillieur spin?

One spins like a top, taking several second to spin down, the other is pretty... sticky.

Jules said:

How freely should the pulleys on my rear deraillieur spin?

One spins like a top, taking several second to spin down, the other is pretty... sticky.

I think that's normal. I notice the same thing on all the ones I've had.

Second question; how tight to torque down on derailleur hanger screws - the ones that attach the hanger to the frame?

Jules said:

Thanks Ros.

Second question; how tight to torque down on derailleur hanger screws - the ones that attach the hanger to the frame?

Manual says 1Nm

The pulleys should spin equally freely.  wd-40, blow them dry with a hair dryer, apply a little oil.  

Thanks Wump.  Who owns a hair dryer these days?

Get replacement pulleys wheels from TACX. They come with adapters to fit all rear derailleurs.

With regards to the torque, you can judge the 1Nm as follows - 1kg exerts 10N of force in earth's gravitational field. Apply a force equivalent to 1kg to the end of a 1m allen wrench, you would have 10Nm of torque. Apply 1kg of force to the end of a 10 cm allen wrench would give you the desired 1 Nm of torque. That is a pretty long allen wrench! But you can certainly apply more than 1Nm with the palm of your hand with a normal allen wrench. I think you want to think about not over-tightening. Nothing worse than a stripped derailleur hanger. If the materials are steel or titanium, they are much less likely to strip than if they are aluminum. In the old days, crank bolts were always steel and one would apply as much torque as possible with a long wrench. These days, the BB30 uses aluminum parts which are much more prone to stripping. Edwin pointed this out to me, but advised continuing to apply plenty of torque anyway.

You could also consider using some locktight (blue). I think the main issue is that you don't want this deraillleur hanger coming loose (they usually don't in my experience).