So it turns out that slapping noise coming from my speedplay cleats wasn't a spring. It was the adjustable screw in the insole of my shoes, the one used to secure SPDs. I found this out after spending $40 on new cleats and an hour switching out the old ones. Turns out all I needed was glue to hold those damn screws in place.

mark, that sucks.  sorry.  jp did mention it though!  see his may 2 post on pg. 43.

Shit. I see that now. I read that post and interpreted something else.

Oh well. I now have new really yellow cleats for full Fred effect.

@mark and Brendan, at least both are physical tangible goods you can keep in the parts bin. Cleats and bottom brackets will come in handy one day. My own tech annoyance this weekend was a clunk just on the right pedal or crank when I put even a little power down. I tightened up the pedal release and made sure my cleat was tightened down, but it kept happening. Bottom bracket was tight and the cranks seemed secure, no play at all. Finally this morn at alpine I took out the multi tool and tightened all chain ring bolts, and magically it worked. Can't imagine how/why they were the cause, but I will take it. Zero dollars spent on the repair, huzzah!

And now I know the name of that thing... it's a "Eurox Carbon/Mag Pad Holder Bolt"

Hey, anyone have any strong opinions on Ritchey stems? We've got a deal, I need a longer stem for my new ride, and I'm sort of overwhelmed/too tired to care too much to try and figure it out by myself at the moment.

In March I bought a WCS C260 stem  from the Ritchey Pro store for my aluminum Trek, using the Kissena login.  That was the best price around and I like the stem.  It's extremely light and strong, haven't had any issues with it.  It's difficult to get on a handlebar with the tape already on because of the small size of the front area of the stem - I had to mount it on the thin part of the bar and drag it to the center.  It's been holding up like a champ.  I'd show it to you, but I ride too fast and it would be all blurry.

I like the Ritchey stuff. 4 axis for me.

Bruce van-Schalkwyk said:

In March I bought a WCS C260 stem  from the Ritchey Pro store for my aluminum Trek, using the Kissena login.  That was the best price around and I like the stem.  It's extremely light and strong, haven't had any issues with it.  It's difficult to get on a handlebar with the tape already on because of the small size of the front area of the stem - I had to mount it on the thin part of the bar and drag it to the center.  It's been holding up like a champ.  I'd show it to you, but I ride too fast and it would be all blurry.

I like Ritchey stuff, but that stem sounds like a dog.

I have one too and while it is certainly is a little more troublesome to install I didn't find it quite the PITA that Ryan describes.
I agree that if you need to take the bars off you need to take off the bartape first, but I can't think of a reason why one would need to take the bars off unless one was replacing them in which case the tape and the levers would come off too ?

@Ian I travel with my bike more than most, which makes handlebar removal something I probably do more often than others.

I travel too, and take the stem off the bike with the bars attached. I find it a lot faster to re-attach a stem and line it up than it is to put bars back into a stem (even if the stem is simple 2 bolt faceplate design).

@Ian I travel with my bike more than most, which makes handlebar removal something I probably do more often than others.

Me too

I've done it both ways and I've found that removing the bars from the stem for travel is much easier because when I've removed the stem with the bars, I've ended up having to wrap the stem in a cloth because it was trying to scratch the frame. Handlebars alone can't really scratch the frame so I don't have to worry about it. I could see how leaving the stem attached to the steerer tube wouldn't work for larger frames, though.

OEM stems for the win!  can't beat the value!  my cannondale c3 100mm stem is 127g for free; WCS 260 is 106g for ~$80?  someone here will likely gift you the stem length you desire.  every race i haven't won was 100% attributable to causes other than my stem.

^^Yeah I emailed our Ritchey rep directly and he hooked me up. Being sponsorship director has its privileges.

anyone have rack & pannier recommendations to fit a 700c-wheel frame? (2011 CAAD8).  waterproof desired; will trust it with my laptop.

Any rack that fits, but Planet Bike makes nice ones at reasonable cost.  I have a K.O.K.O one.  The black paint rubs/chips off at pannier hook points, but otherwise fine.  Might have to improvise with part of the installation if your bike doesn't have eyelets on the seat stays

Pannier wise, you can't go wrong with Ortlieb's.  I have a set of Roller Plus and my bro has a set of Packer Plus.  Both are great, just need to figure out if you care for the Roller closure system (but additional cargo space) or the simpler flip top of the Packer (which is less of "just a giant waterproof sack" feel).  I also have a backpack adapter that turns one of the panniers into a backpack.  Not particularly great, but it does the job fine.

If you want to dork out, we can meet up and you can check out my commuter/utility bike in all it's fredly glory.

Mike, I have no idea.  Let's talk about me instead.

I'm thinking about the Cannondale SuperX Ultegra package they provide.  It's $650 less (before various discounts) than the Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie with Ultegra.  I'd rather have the VD, just b/c I think it looks better, I already have 2 Cannondales and it's always nice to support the little guys.  But the price discrepancy is pretty high once you include our discounts.

Anyone have any experience on the SuperX?  I know a lot of you have the FTB.

http://www.cannondale.com/2013/bikes/road/cyclocross/superx/super-x-carbon-ultegra-compact-crankset

Mike and Jeff you guys should both get a Van Dessel. Ask Edwin about the buy one get one free deal

@perlberg. Don't get the 54. I downsized when I got my last road frame and have lived with a lot of exposed seat post and a large stack height as a result. Edwin told me that the most important parameter is the length of the top tube. Both your bikes have 56 cm top tubes, as does the 56 cm CAADX. I think that is YOUR size. Touring bikes tend to be larger, certainly have longer wheel bases. Commuter doesn't matter. Why would are you attracted to the 54?

@ stokes, I thought it was more "matchy" overall. Thanks for the insight.

Listen to wisdom. Listen to Stokes. I buy frames based on top tube.

dstokes said:

@perlberg. Don't get the 54. I downsized when I got my last road frame and have lived with a lot of exposed seat post and a large stack height as a result. Edwin told me that the most important parameter is the length of the top tube. Both your bikes have 56 cm top tubes, as does the 56 cm CAADX. I think that is YOUR size. Touring bikes tend to be larger, certainly have longer wheel bases. Commuter doesn't matter. Why would are you attracted to the 54?

I'd get the 54.  Wait, I did get the 54!  And I'm happy with it. the way the c'dale sizing goes, people who ride 56 road bikes should get 54 cross bikes.  As for the "shorter" top tube, it could well be a result of the slacker head tube angle on the cx bike.