Soldato
I've ordered one of their long sleeve aero jerseys for £21 to replace my Rapha one that someone half-inched from a changing room. I'm expecting great things!
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
The designs look....familiar
They gave Aldi a good roasting earlier in the year for that!
Soldato
The designs look....familiar
They gave Aldi a good roasting earlier in the year for that!
I don't think China cares about copyright infringement!
Soldato
The pads I bought were Shimano Deore M515, which I thought were fine until I got cought out in a down pour. The brakes just didn't work, pulling the levers as hard as I could to get minimal breaking power it felt quite dangerous.
Guessing either the pads are garbage in the wet or both the rotor and pads are contaminated/glazed.
Bought SwissStop D15 pads as replacements along with cleaner for the rotors. Hopefully it'll get better.
Soldato
Second bike commute this morning and much more organised. Breakfast, laptop and shoes were already at the office, so a much lighter rucksack. Felt like a proper commuter filtering through the slow traffic queuing through the roadworks near the office
Put some Raceblades on the bike on Monday night and they certainly keep the spray off.
Put some Raceblades on the bike on Monday night and they certainly keep the spray off.
Haha, awesome! Offer is still on the table for the future if we cross paths somewhereNot to worry, it didn't cost me anything to send it anyway as the wife put it in with her works mail so her company paid for it
What was delivery time like? Tried any shorts?
Interested in how you find it.
According to here the Deore M515 are resin compound pads. The Black J04 I have are metal compound. I've not played around enough with different compounds to really make any selection. I just know the 'race matrix compound' (whatever that is) on the Uberbike ones I had was rubbish. It seemed to glaze over with mucky general road use. I've been meaning to wet+dry the surfaces of the pads to see if that revived them so they're not utterly wasted. Although I'd soon get bored of doing that every other few months! I wanted pads the same as the ones my BR-785 'Ice-tech resin with fins' came with. But hard to track down specifically which Shimano ones they where!
Great guards. I still rate them although not using them. Fixed guards are supreme in all aspects - but price and fitment.Love my raceblades, they are so easy to get on and off as well, I re-attached mine this morning in about 60 seconds. They'll probably stay on for a while now though
The other half still has them on her commuter, probably 3 years on and have never been removed. She's never complained either! Some pro obviously fitted them!
Soldato
I could have gone with a racy, carbon-framed disc bike for my winter commuter and used Raceblades but opted for the "proper" approach. So far I'm pretty happy but it definitely doesn't ride like my Bianchi.
The PDW guards are pretty sleek though. I might try blacking out the stays for more stealth.
Blacking the stays would really finish that look off. Looks ace though, remember it's not meant to ride like the Bianchi! It's a workhorse, not a dainty race thoroughbred! 
I'm liking the coverage you've got low down with your front guard. Had drilled and fitted mine lower but it's not that low! My front is shorter above though and I get a little 'spout' of water when riding through lots of rain/surface water right into my headset/headtube/centrally mounted VIRB. I think fitting some kinda 'strip' around the front would fix but it's not bothered me enough yet. Just one to watch out for!
The Hunts go really well with that build. How have you found them? You've only got otherwise very premium/expensive wheelsets I think? Boras & Firecrests? Or was that just on your Bianchi and your old ride had more basic?
[IMG=885x498]https://i.imgur.com/6AznCpS.jpg[/IMG]
(excuse side, valve/decal placement, passenger attention span etc etc).
Edit: normal bb resizing no longer works, anyone know what version we're on?
I'm liking the coverage you've got low down with your front guard. Had drilled and fitted mine lower but it's not that low! My front is shorter above though and I get a little 'spout' of water when riding through lots of rain/surface water right into my headset/headtube/centrally mounted VIRB. I think fitting some kinda 'strip' around the front would fix but it's not bothered me enough yet. Just one to watch out for!
The Hunts go really well with that build. How have you found them? You've only got otherwise very premium/expensive wheelsets I think? Boras & Firecrests? Or was that just on your Bianchi and your old ride had more basic?
[IMG=885x498]https://i.imgur.com/6AznCpS.jpg[/IMG]
(excuse side, valve/decal placement, passenger attention span etc etc).
Edit: normal bb resizing no longer works, anyone know what version we're on?
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Second bike commute this morning and much more organised. Breakfast, laptop and shoes were already at the office, so a much lighter rucksack. Felt like a proper commuter filtering through the slow traffic queuing through the roadworks near the office
Yep! So much better when you've got everything already at work. I've driven in today and brought spare clothes and shoes with me. So tomorrow, all I'll need is my phone, wallet and door pass.
Soldato
Ah yes I remember looking at your guards and thinking they looked discreet. The extra coverage I have at the front is actually due to a bodge, because the guard is supposed to be mounted on the front of the fork. I didn't like the look with the silver hanger and bolt showing! Normally it'd be hidden by a rim brake caliper.
The Hunts seem fine to me so far and should be robust enough for winter duties since they are branded as "4 Season". I would have preferred Hunt's 50mm carbon wheels but I had a budget to keep to!
Yeah I got the endurance bib shorts with the pockets, pretty impressed with them - the pad isn't as good as the Rapha classic bibs, but it isn't far off. Easily on par with DHB pro or castelli nanoflex.
Delivery wise - dispatch took about a week, then another 2.5 for delivery roughly.
Soldato
Did you get stung with any import charges?
I actually like parcels that take ages. I forget I've ordered them and have a little woohoo when they arrive
No import charges whatsoever, I only ordered two items together so might not have hit the threshold.
Results of my first race season then, racing on an oval 400m banked track. Various race formats, fixed wheel track bikes only.
Youth riders had their own groups, the rest (generally riders aged 16 up to probably mid 50's) chopped into:
A Cats - very fast riders - probably half of which were competing nationally
B Cats - everyone else, so generally cat 3/4, but including a few riders previously or just starting to compete nationally
Vets - aged 40+
This was a bit weird because the vets league only had one race per meet, so basically the vet people (aged 40+) were encouraged to also race in Cat A or Cat B to get some more races in and make it more of a night.
I chose Vets and B Cats.
In Vets there were 12 riders who managed to score points, I finished 4th (1st and 2nd were A Cat riders)
In B Cats there were 28 riders who scored points, I finished 11th.
I also came mid table in an endurance league but I only entered two races, it didn't seem people had the legs for that league, it was the last race and most people had had enough by the time that came around.
So all in all a positive first year, did way better than I expected, stayed upright, I'm now starting to think about cranking up the winter training and looking around for more racing - although whether fixed wheel or road bikes I'm not quite sure.
Moral of the story - you don't have to be rocket fast (I'm probably only 3.3 to 3.5 w/kilo), or young (!!), to be able to have fun and compete.
Finally - I'm so proud of my two daughters who also raced - Jessica age 8 and Isabelle aged 13, Jessica came in 5th in her group and Isabelle a solid mid table 7th in her group. They did just amazingly well, really proud, they both showed the kind of grit and spirit any parent would be happy to see in their kids
Youth riders had their own groups, the rest (generally riders aged 16 up to probably mid 50's) chopped into:
A Cats - very fast riders - probably half of which were competing nationally
B Cats - everyone else, so generally cat 3/4, but including a few riders previously or just starting to compete nationally
Vets - aged 40+
This was a bit weird because the vets league only had one race per meet, so basically the vet people (aged 40+) were encouraged to also race in Cat A or Cat B to get some more races in and make it more of a night.
I chose Vets and B Cats.
In Vets there were 12 riders who managed to score points, I finished 4th (1st and 2nd were A Cat riders)
In B Cats there were 28 riders who scored points, I finished 11th.
I also came mid table in an endurance league but I only entered two races, it didn't seem people had the legs for that league, it was the last race and most people had had enough by the time that came around.
So all in all a positive first year, did way better than I expected, stayed upright, I'm now starting to think about cranking up the winter training and looking around for more racing - although whether fixed wheel or road bikes I'm not quite sure.
Moral of the story - you don't have to be rocket fast (I'm probably only 3.3 to 3.5 w/kilo), or young (!!), to be able to have fun and compete.
Finally - I'm so proud of my two daughters who also raced - Jessica age 8 and Isabelle aged 13, Jessica came in 5th in her group and Isabelle a solid mid table 7th in her group. They did just amazingly well, really proud, they both showed the kind of grit and spirit any parent would be happy to see in their kids
Ahh good call hiding it - that would've really stuck out like a sore thumb!
If you're blacking your stays, I've heard of people doing it with electrical tape but would imagine that's quite a faff. Painting them with something like hammerite would probably be the best as the way we treat guards any 'normal' paint would soon chip/rub off (thinking garage moving around, leaning on walls/bikes, bike stand bashes etc). Or some kinda car brake caliper/bodywork paint could also work well but you may have to roughen the surface to get a good result...
Now what about the silver/chrome bit I think is on the rear derailleur? It'll be never-ending! Like @randomshenans and his Pink!
Thanks, may give them a shout as need some smaller winter thermal tights! I'm certainly not an XL any longer (Medium in some Rapha now)!
Same here. Except NoPinz where I got my WBR club kit from. Delivery quoted 4-6 weeks, actual 10 (nearly 11). I was chomping at the bit and nearly gave up waiting!
Mega results mate, well done!In Vets there were 12 riders who managed to score points, I finished 4th (1st and 2nd were A Cat riders)
In B Cats there were 28 riders who scored points, I finished 11th.<snip>
Finally - I'm so proud of my two daughters who also raced - Jessica age 8 and Isabelle aged 13, Jessica came in 5th in her group and Isabelle a solid mid table 7th in her group. They did just amazingly well, really proud, they both showed the kind of grit and spirit any parent would be happy to see in their kids
Well done to the girls too, they love it or think they'll not continue when they get older?
See you on Zwift racing more over the winter then!
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Mega results mate, well done!
Well done to the girls too, they love it or think they'll not continue when they get older?
See you on Zwift racing more over the winter then!
The girls absolutely loved it. It's just a hobby atm for both of them - I'm not sure if either of them will take it seriously long term. Because Jessica has started so young if either of them did want to take it more seriously then she's definitely got the advantage - she's got the early platform to build off. It's up to them really - we're not pushy parents, they decide to train & they decide to race (let's be honest - it's a dangerous sport, even at their age they're going quick and racing at close quarters).
The day either of them says they want to stop and give up cycling - that's the day they stop and give up cycling, we would never fight them.
Yeah I'll be switching to Zwift when it gets damp/cold/miserable (not long now!).