My current shoes were from my local bike shop and they probably had about 20 different models. I ended up in their widest (or what they said was) and they are nowhere near wide enough. I have small wide feet with quite high arches so I am trying some of the wide fit versions of the widest shoes lake do. If they fit I am happy to pay for them. Will probably get the G8 insoles that most people recommend as well. Shoes have to be one of the most important pieces of kit.
Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
My current shoes were from my local bike shop and they probably had about 20 different models. I ended up in their widest (or what they said was) and they are nowhere near wide enough. I have small wide feet with quite high arches so I am trying some of the wide fit versions of the widest shoes lake do. If they fit I am happy to pay for them. Will probably get the G8 insoles that most people recommend as well. Shoes have to be one of the most important pieces of kit.
chainstay .. would be intriguing to see the manufacture - probably makes the chain stay more rigid/responsive. Automatic Square Tube Twisting Making Machine
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Wooop maiden voyage, certainly not configured the shifting because i ended up in the small chainring and small cog at one point. Pretty much silent running though and had that new bike feel where everything felt tight and smooth. I've never had that as all previous bikes have been bought used!
Only downside is the Garmin mount i've bought feels rubbish. As i've gone integrated bars i ordered something off Ali Express, but whenever i rode over a bump it kept rattling on all but the smoothest tarmac. Unsure if it's the weight of the Garmin 1030 or something else. Looking again now on Ali Express i can see some others which look a bit more rigid/better designed. But would appreciate any actual recommendations.
Only downside is the Garmin mount i've bought feels rubbish. As i've gone integrated bars i ordered something off Ali Express, but whenever i rode over a bump it kept rattling on all but the smoothest tarmac. Unsure if it's the weight of the Garmin 1030 or something else. Looking again now on Ali Express i can see some others which look a bit more rigid/better designed. But would appreciate any actual recommendations.
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K-Edge stuff has been solid for me. Pricing seems to have been hit by the dollar and inflation though…!
Massive thread reply incoming lol
I definitely do have a Giant Connect 90mm one as my Defy they fitted a shorter stem when I had a pre-fit and it came with a 100mm. Switching the bars+stem over to the Contend (warranty replacement) a few months back I found the reach slightly 'less' and the fact the frame is plain white wanted some colour and had a 100mm Ritchey stem on the shelf I'd bought (but the colour didn't match my Diverge) I'd never fitted swapped them over...
Crazy price (£46!) and really hated myself for spending so much on a mount... But at the time (2017) they where one of the top 2 rated for solid/stable mounts for a 'combo' to mount the camera below and stopping vibration. It is very strong and been rock solid so have got my moneys worth (even after initially hard to stomach).
Unrelated... Paid off our mortgage last night! Woohoo! Sod all savings left, but that feeling now that I can possibly legitimately save some money and put to one side to spend on a bike with no/little guilt...! Know realistically that won't happen - so many things we've said we'll do 'when the mortgage is done'. But there's the possibility of it! Who'd have thunk it at 42 I'd have it paid on a fairly medium sized 4 bed house, with a family and kid. When 17 years ago I barely had enough to live on (<6k a year being self employed), had to move back to the parents/family home for extra work and really questioned what I'd done with my life. Miracles can happen - but more so than that - so much of it is down to luck and chances. But also even changing things slightly like your own mentality can massively improve your wellbeing and mental health. Be strong everyone, I'd say my stubbornness at times has helped me almost more than anything else.
@Musty Pie I have a confession to make! Totally forgot over the weekend and then this week too (can I blame old age?!). One of those annoying things - delayed the bit of non-critical weekend bike maintenance until monday night and then only had time to kick the tyres. As soon as I reach for any tools I should've remembered - but just hasn't happened. Sorry! This weekend ok?
I definitely do have a Giant Connect 90mm one as my Defy they fitted a shorter stem when I had a pre-fit and it came with a 100mm. Switching the bars+stem over to the Contend (warranty replacement) a few months back I found the reach slightly 'less' and the fact the frame is plain white wanted some colour and had a 100mm Ritchey stem on the shelf I'd bought (but the colour didn't match my Diverge) I'd never fitted swapped them over...
Do they rip easily or was the last one a ShakeDry (which I know does)? Great price on them, just the colour has always annoyed me... Like much of the current Rapha range colours they're just too 'off' basic/primary and personally I don't like that greeny/teal colour. The womens one is a more normal Blue that I do like! Typical. I do have moobs can I get away with a womens jacket without being a laughing stock?! Actually no chance with my waistline, I'm easily a Large in anything Rapha non-stretchy in male sizes, so probably an XL in womens then the arms would be twice as long as mine!Rapha sale on Sportpursuit is not too bad. I've taken a punt on a GoreTex Pro Team jacket. Ripped my last jacket trying to take it off in Wales last year trying to take it off
Defo locktite it! Not the sort of thing you'll want to be tightening very much (hopefully), but also the screws they use on them quite often are small and flimsy... So once they work loose once or twice they're pretty much wrecked and will not stay tight again! I actually fitted a 'tight' washer on mine when I replaced it, so could tighten it up further as it's also gripping more of the edges of the hole in my frame than just the boss on the hanger. My giant Defy was even worse for it, even tinier screws and 2 of them so it would 'wobble' even when fitted tight, so would then work loose more than the bigger single one on my specialized (which I've only tightened 4 times in 7 years - but 2 of those in the last 18 months, so know when it starts it's unlikely to get 'better' without some help).
Great you got it sorted quickly while you waited... But also pretty poor that they've not lasted a single winter! Must be some pretty poor 'protection' on them to stop ingress? Have you done anything to try and help them? For me I'll always coat both the outside bearing surfaces (but especially those below wheel endcaps) with some 'waterproof grease'. Yes it may mean some dust and crud gets in there and can 'look' dirty, but that layer is stopping water getting into the bearing itself - so they last longer (but also easy to pull the endcaps off, wipe them clean and then apply more). But bearing brand/quality can almost be directly linked to bearing life, especially in UK conditions. Our wheels likely see more cold and water than many others. Also partly why I like replacing my own, picking up better quality bearings for £12-20 when on deals then the knowledge/skills myself to change them in hubs/BB's makes them more of a 'wear component' and easy to choose to replace as the cost is far lower. Get that 'gliding along' feeling sooner/easier rather than 'soldering on'!
Have got that crank one too, even after tightening a few weeks back so know it's not the BB (as that generally comes with a click as some grime/grit gets in there)... Bit annoying isn't it! Kinda waiting it out with the miserable weather, as soon as things a big warmer and 'nicer' get some new bearings in. Wheelsmfg bb so easy! More annoying is the BB on the turbo bike also feeling rough as know that's a shtty Shimano plastic BB71 or whatever they are so need to get one ordered. Seem to recall they're 2 difference sizes and last time I got it wrong, but then also frame has changed since so don't 100% know what is right!
Thanks for remembering me mate! The 53/39 has been similar price (think 95?) for a while... Really don't have the legs for that and been holding out for the 50/34 to drop but not seen it change much. Annoying! They're less 'metal' so should be cheaper to manufacture?! Surely price fixing the 53/39 is what the Pro's and really good amateurs use, so should be more expensive!?@Roady Are you still looking for a crankset? ~£90 for 53/39 https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycl...ings/shimano-105-r7000-chainset/11746895.html
Some decent Shimano deals at Merlin, including ~£38 for most 105 cassettes.
Winter feeling again this week, just at the time I was thinking about finally setting up my VEL 50mm wheels bought months ago, as March tends to be when I try wean myself off the turbo and begin the "outdoor season!"
Saw there was an update for the free MyWhoosh turbo app the other day, quite graphics intensive, previous update around Xmas for app prevented paired up turbo from reading power to move avatar in-game.
Finish Line Green. Quite a dirty lube, but amazing staying power and wet weather resilience in UK conditions. But am working my way through a bunch of Mucoff wet weather (stupidly bought 2), although it's good stuff (smells amazing!) and has OK staying power. In the colder grotty grim weather it tends to thicken up. Maybe it reacts a little with salt/cold? Basically the 'road gravy' stuff you clean off is pretty solid and almost like a solid 'glue' mixed with grime on your components (think cassette/jockey wheels/chainrings). Takes quite a bit of effort to get off. Funnily enough the mucoff degreaser is one of the few things which makes removing it slightly easier...!
I always use a 'wet' lube indoors, there's more chance of it drying out indoors and me not noticing (ride with headphones in). Outdoors will switch depending on season (but have still yet to find a dry lube I like! Think I'm on the C3, the yellow one).
Looks awesome! Very shiney! Yes agree with the others the 'twist' looks slightly strange, but not a bad strange...! Would be very interesting for someone with some knowhow to test just how well that works performance/flex wise! Although does remind me of Lynskey who do a twist on some of their Ti frames and is a bit of a design flair known to them and makes them pretty recognisable. But Ti is totally different material behaviour/flex/stiffness wise...Done!
Although i was too lazy to get up this morning to actually take it for a maiden ride!
Also, capturing the cleanest this will ever look!
K-Edge.
Crazy price (£46!) and really hated myself for spending so much on a mount... But at the time (2017) they where one of the top 2 rated for solid/stable mounts for a 'combo' to mount the camera below and stopping vibration. It is very strong and been rock solid so have got my moneys worth (even after initially hard to stomach).
Unrelated... Paid off our mortgage last night! Woohoo! Sod all savings left, but that feeling now that I can possibly legitimately save some money and put to one side to spend on a bike with no/little guilt...! Know realistically that won't happen - so many things we've said we'll do 'when the mortgage is done'. But there's the possibility of it! Who'd have thunk it at 42 I'd have it paid on a fairly medium sized 4 bed house, with a family and kid. When 17 years ago I barely had enough to live on (<6k a year being self employed), had to move back to the parents/family home for extra work and really questioned what I'd done with my life. Miracles can happen - but more so than that - so much of it is down to luck and chances. But also even changing things slightly like your own mentality can massively improve your wellbeing and mental health. Be strong everyone, I'd say my stubbornness at times has helped me almost more than anything else.
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The odd thing about the chainstay twist, is that usually the chinese brands will have taken someeone elses design and you can usually recognise design elements from other brands. Whereas this seems completely left field. I know they claim to have their own design studio, but you generally assume that's just to look better 
Will look at K-Edge, the one i got was ~£13 so £46 isn't THAT much more, if it's going to be worthwhile. Am tempted by one more cheap one yet though.
Awesome stuff about the mortgage, that's a superb achievement (as i sit here an extra £400 a month down due to interest rate hikes since last July...)
Will look at K-Edge, the one i got was ~£13 so £46 isn't THAT much more, if it's going to be worthwhile. Am tempted by one more cheap one yet though.
Awesome stuff about the mortgage, that's a superb achievement (as i sit here an extra £400 a month down due to interest rate hikes since last July...)
Yeah, I think he said something along those lines had been done...
Yeah as I said there is no rush, ive been playing with saddle fore etc. which i know is not the first thing to change for reach, but its helped a little but I still need to look at a stem swap at some point.
Let me know how you want to handle it? (postage cost or whatever) and we can sort something out.
Going to hope to try the new shoes and pedals on the trainer tonight , so thats going to be interesting! Wanted to last night but I donated blood so thougth I better have a rest instead.
K-Edge.
Crazy price (£46!) and really hated myself for spending so much on a mount... But at the time (2017) they where one of the top 2 rated for solid/stable mounts for a 'combo' to mount the camera below and stopping vibration. It is very strong and been rock solid so have got my moneys worth (even after initially hard to stomach).
Unrelated... Paid off our mortgage last night! Woohoo! Sod all savings left, but that feeling now that I can possibly legitimately save some money and put to one side to spend on a bike with no/little guilt...! Know realistically that won't happen - so many things we've said we'll do 'when the mortgage is done'. But there's the possibility of it! Who'd have thunk it at 42 I'd have it paid on a fairly medium sized 4 bed house, with a family and kid. When 17 years ago I barely had enough to live on (<6k a year being self employed), had to move back to the parents/family home for extra work and really questioned what I'd done with my life. Miracles can happen - but more so than that - so much of it is down to luck and chances. But also even changing things slightly like your own mentality can massively improve your wellbeing and mental health. Be strong everyone, I'd say my stubbornness at times has helped me almost more than anything else.
One last roll of the dive on a cheap one
It's Amazon so easy to return if it's rubbish, also realised i'll need a light mount adaptor. Stupid aero bars!
Lynksey do similar on their Ti frames. Definitely stands out from the crowd.The odd thing about the chainstay twist, is that usually the chinese brands will have taken someeone elses design and you can usually recognise design elements from other brands. Whereas this seems completely left field. I know they claim to have their own design studio, but you generally assume that's just to look better
Will look at K-Edge, the one i got was ~£13 so £46 isn't THAT much more, if it's going to be worthwhile. Am tempted by one more cheap one yet though.
Awesome stuff about the mortgage, that's a superb achievement (as i sit here an extra £400 a month down due to interest rate hikes since last July...)
Haha yeah, all these chinese composite carbon factories seem to be great at copying! Just caught me as knowing they say it doesn't actually do much with the Ti frames where they physically twist the tubes to do it (or those riding/reviewing don't really report any difference) the fact your frame is carbon means they can't twist it, so must be build up in a mould like that have to consider the extra material used to provide a twist without weakening the carbon structure which then adds weight to it, for likely zero gain or a loss in stiffness, to then add weight to a frame where one of the USP's is low weight, what the actual point of it is... Would hate to think they've cut any corners. Always question someone in a design studio doing something that 'looks cool' meanwhile the engineers are having breakdowns/sleepness nights over it!The odd thing about the chainstay twist, is that usually the chinese brands will have taken someeone elses design and you can usually recognise design elements from other brands. Whereas this seems completely left field. I know they claim to have their own design studio, but you generally assume that's just to look better
Will look at K-Edge, the one i got was ~£13 so £46 isn't THAT much more, if it's going to be worthwhile. Am tempted by one more cheap one yet though.
Awesome stuff about the mortgage, that's a superb achievement (as i sit here an extra £400 a month down due to interest rate hikes since last July...)
Looks like they can be had for £63 (the one I got was for standard bars for £46, is now £55) with the Garmin IHS mounts being one of the most expensive.
£400 hike is crazy! We where quite lucky that we fixed ours a few years back (before covid) so hadn't seen many differences until the last 12 months it's crept up, then only marginal. One of the biggest things for us we'd previously done a few months overpayments and seen the 'lumps' of time remaining it took off the term (3-4 months at a time for an extra £400-500!). Then done a bunch more the last few years. So realisation aware when considering the monthly amount per year that how much of it went on the interest and not actually towards the mortgage amount. So we did more overpayments when we had the money rather than it going into 'savings' or spends. When we became pregnant we stopped overpayments, then other half switched jobs and with kiddo in Nursery it costing us £650 a month was no option to resume. When he was old enough for the government funded childcare (and continued into school) I resumed putting the same 'nursery' fee away into the joint account which we then resumed doing monthly overpayments (able to do £500 pcm without incurring a fee). So really I guess the last ~2-3 years doing our monthly repayments, while still being able to put a bit of money to one side into savings (which we've now used for the early payment). We also waited for the annual 'tick' of the term to go down, as that reduced the overpayment fee by 1% per year. But probably the amount we paid on interest since last year was probably more, but would have been even closer to maximising everything to get it paid. The way it stands now I even have a couple of grand left in my savings.
It might have, but it's also something you can easily do yourself and probably needs doing every few months if you wash your bike frequently and/or ride in lots of wet weather as the grease although 'waterproof' can get worked/washed out to some degree over time.
Happy to share some pics/more detailed instructions if needed, but majority with cartridge bearings should be as simple as taking the wheel off, pulling the endcap(s) off (majority are held on with just a rubber o-ring), wipe clean the bearing with a rag, smear some more grease on, then push the cap back on and refit the wheel. Best not to use any cleaning product on the bearing seal as you don't want anything getting into the bearing (what you're actually trying to stop happening - there's grease in there that needs to be there, don't strip/wash it out!)
Would just be postage mate (Avri), as it's been used for 6-7 years and owes me nothing!
Good call about Amazon for easy returns!
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Well that's kind mate. Drop me a trust I'll send you my address and ill sort the postage costs.Haha yeah, all these chinese composite carbon factories seem to be great at copying! Just caught me as knowing they say it doesn't actually do much with the Ti frames where they physically twist the tubes to do it (or those riding/reviewing don't really report any difference) the fact your frame is carbon means they can't twist it, so must be build up in a mould like that have to consider the extra material used to provide a twist without weakening the carbon structure which then adds weight to it, for likely zero gain or a loss in stiffness, to then add weight to a frame where one of the USP's is low weight, what the actual point of it is... Would hate to think they've cut any corners. Always question someone in a design studio doing something that 'looks cool' meanwhile the engineers are having breakdowns/sleepness nights over it!
Looks like they can be had for £63 (the one I got was for standard bars for £46, is now £55) with the Garmin IHS mounts being one of the most expensive.
£400 hike is crazy! We where quite lucky that we fixed ours a few years back (before covid) so hadn't seen many differences until the last 12 months it's crept up, then only marginal. One of the biggest things for us we'd previously done a few months overpayments and seen the 'lumps' of time remaining it took off the term (3-4 months at a time for an extra £400-500!). Then done a bunch more the last few years. So realisation aware when considering the monthly amount per year that how much of it went on the interest and not actually towards the mortgage amount. So we did more overpayments when we had the money rather than it going into 'savings' or spends. When we became pregnant we stopped overpayments, then other half switched jobs and with kiddo in Nursery it costing us £650 a month was no option to resume. When he was old enough for the government funded childcare (and continued into school) I resumed putting the same 'nursery' fee away into the joint account which we then resumed doing monthly overpayments (able to do £500 pcm without incurring a fee). So really I guess the last ~2-3 years doing our monthly repayments, while still being able to put a bit of money to one side into savings (which we've now used for the early payment). We also waited for the annual 'tick' of the term to go down, as that reduced the overpayment fee by 1% per year. But probably the amount we paid on interest since last year was probably more, but would have been even closer to maximising everything to get it paid. The way it stands now I even have a couple of grand left in my savings.
It might have, but it's also something you can easily do yourself and probably needs doing every few months if you wash your bike frequently and/or ride in lots of wet weather as the grease although 'waterproof' can get worked/washed out to some degree over time.
Happy to share some pics/more detailed instructions if needed, but majority with cartridge bearings should be as simple as taking the wheel off, pulling the endcap(s) off (majority are held on with just a rubber o-ring), wipe clean the bearing with a rag, smear some more grease on, then push the cap back on and refit the wheel. Best not to use any cleaning product on the bearing seal as you don't want anything getting into the bearing (what you're actually trying to stop happening - there's grease in there that needs to be there, don't strip/wash it out!)
Would just be postage mate (Avri), as it's been used for 6-7 years and owes me nothing!
Good call about Amazon for easy returns!
Soldato
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- 29 Dec 2004
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Congratulations on the mortgage @Roady! That’s the dream.
Thats an insane price. Just checked there myself but none of the sizes are what I am after. Just had to return a paid of CX238 and CX403 wides because they were slightly too small.
Also, good luck on the arrival and make sure you take your old ones either way incase they aren't comfortable immediately!
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Yeah. Cheapest I’ve seen elsewhere is £150 at Alpkit.
Good shout on taking the old ones. I’ve also seen a pair of Fizik R4’s on Facebook for £20 I might pickup as cheap enough to sell on if they don’t work.
Hopefully the Lakes come. It’s a size 11.5 so hopefully ok. The wider toe box should be good for my foot as it’s tight shoes which exacerbate the intermetatarsal bursitis.
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I have size 9 feet which is on the smaller side but width wise I want something around 120mm wide which simply doesn't exist outside of custom I think. Currently I have some specialized shoes that are way to thin but they kind of work OK. Having high volume, smaller and wide feet is quite hard to cater for and I assume uncommon. I'm going to a local bike shop to try on some of their lakes to see what size I actually need. If they can do a good price I am happy to give them the business.