Road Cycling Essentials

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Rusty_Noob said:
I can afford to spend money on things like Assos, Rapha etc but choose not too in favour of the "best bang for buck" purchases - what makes those Assos and Castelli shorts worth two to three times more than pairs of these? http://road.cc/content/review/38516-dhb-aeron-pro-bib-short

Maybe it's something I'll never understand with my penny pinching ways :p
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The pad. I spend time in the saddle and its the most important thing, followed by longevity (lasting of panel stitching for example). DHB gear is good, don't get me wrong, but it's never stood up to the higher quality gear I've had.

I've used plenty of brands and for me the quality of Castelli gear was spot on until I discovered these Assos shorts (I'll still buy Castelli). Fair enough I've only done a few days in them but the pad is amazing. I can't overstate how important that is for my unmentionables.
 
Crawf said:
I received a set of 38mm clinchers rims w/ Basalt surface in May 2012, after a few weeks use and a few hundred km's with bog standard cork pads, they developed bubbles and pitts all over every breaking surface, as you can imagine braking performance was rough and I hadn't even gone anywhere near a big decent. I couldn't be a55'd chasing up the issue after just building them up and left them until returning here and seeing all these issues.
I've not heard back from Smart after filling out his form.
rims.jpg
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winstonw said:
Yep, I am aware of a spate of Farsports rim failures over the past few weeks, including mine.

I'd advise anyone considering buying to hold off, and query Farsports about what the hell is going on. They acknowledge there's an issue, and are apparently trying to get to the bottm of it. I can only presume their quality control has been compromised.

My 50mm clincher brake surfaces developed a bilateral bulge, which means the rim is trashed. I presumed it was rim heat from braking downhill, even though I don't do long or steep hills. My bike mechanic found bubbles at the point of bulge, which indicates an area of poor resin impregnation and curing, and resultant weakness.

Since then, I have become aware of over 10 rim failures in my city, from delamination around the valve hole and along the brake surface, to spokes pulling through. Whatever is going on, there's been a serious compromise of quality control at Farsports.

photo below of my rear rim bilateral blow out.

Farsport50mmCCblownout.gif
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Some failures seem to be popping up on Farsport carbon wheels currently, for those tempted to buy some cheap carbon wheels. So far it seems to be isolated to clinchers as far as I can see, I hope it is the case as I've got cheap carbon tubulars on the way, not from Farsports fortunately!
 
Rusty_Noob said:
When I hit my goal weight I might treat myself to some Castelli/Rapha/Assos gear as a treat to see if it's really worth the extra to me - only 12 pounds to go!
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this is a good motivator to lose weight lol.. how can i motivate my self?! once i manage 160kg deadlift ill buy my self a new set of brakepads..
 
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Just get double sided pedals. I've got these and you can always use the flat side while in stop/start traffic. Getting out in an emergency is easy enough too as you can also release them with a sharp pull upwards instead of the usual sideways twist.
 
those do look alright, i have no idea what shoes i need? as cheap as possible i guess - nothing in the 300 quid range

what would you recommend, im really used to skate shoes/trainers and my foot is quite wide so finding a comfy pair wont be easy.. i would love skate-shoe look alikes with spd cleats lol.
 
Get to a cycling shop and try some on. You want a shoe that fits pretty snuggly all round and the shapes can vary a lot. I really wanted Sidis but they rub my big toe, Northwaves are too big in the toe box and Specializeds rub the heel.
 
Noticed something last night, when going down gears (easier) on the rear if I move the lever a small amount it moved one gear, but if I move it all the way it clicks twice and moves two gears. I wonder if that's to do with the 105 derailleur or if it's just something I've not noticed before..
 
godinman said:
Noticed something last night, when going down gears (easier) on the rear if I move the lever a small amount it moved one gear, but if I move it all the way it clicks twice and moves two gears. I wonder if that's to do with the 105 derailleur or if it's just something I've not noticed before..
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Welcome to the modern world ;-)

My 9 speed Tiagra shifters do this.
 
grudas said:
easy.. ;D ill find a reason to treat myself to some biking goodies..

my pedals are giving up lol! i guess getting shoes + clipless pedals is a way to go.. but do i want them while riding in london :eek:
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Yeah. Once you're over the first fall they become second nature. If you're really worried get Shimanos or other double sided that can be pulled out with enough force.

Get your shoes fitted at a shop, don't buy them online. And afraid I can only recommend Sidis.
 
platypus said:
Yeah. Once you're over the first fall they become second nature. If you're really worried get Shimanos or other double sided that can be pulled out with enough force.

Get your shoes fitted at a shop, don't buy them online. And afraid I can only recommend Sidis.
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Never fell off crew checking in :p

I've got these shoes. I can't fault them for the price.
 
Berger said:
Massive stack of spacers, stem halfway up them, then has massive rise....
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To be fair, you shouldnt clamp a stem right at the top of a carbon steerer, you need at least 1cm of spacers above it.
Although, if you need all those spacers and such a high rise stem, it would have been better to get a frame with the correct geometry in the first place :p
 
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