Cold one this morning, actual bit of ground frost and the first signs of morning fog (I ride towards a river on my commute). Changed chain and cassette last night. 5200 miles on the cassette and 1900 miles on the chain. I've gone for a R8000 30t cassette this time (rather than my usual 32t) as it was a bargain price and to smooth out some of the gaps I seem to have found the last 3-4 months commuting. Although that buttery smooth new goodness was ruined by some disc rub from somewhere this morning. Probably just some muck in the caliper as it did eventually clear up. Realised it's a 3+ weeks since I cleaned things and did a Sportive on some mucky back roads a couple of weeks back...!
No mid-week Zwifting for me this week as a bit of autumn/change in season sniffles/coughs going around I'm trying to avoid/shake off before it sets in. Also little one is potty training so some interrupted sleep. He's somehow got the hang of it in less than 3 days?! Just proves he really was ready for it... Just less than 25 months old and has been dry through the night for 6 months or more. So proud of him - but now gotta carry a potty everywhere, including in the back of 'The Chariot'! Yet more luggage! The 2 nursery commutes this week have involved Child+bag containing 3 changes of cloths+potty. He's now 13.8kg so luggage must be near 16kg meaning my tow weight must be nearing 20kg now. No wonder it seems to be fatiguing me when I'm not 100%!
I get this abuse from my club mates, don't need it on here too!
Not many of us post our mistakes on here so it's always good to jest when people do... Providing I can get away with it! It's always intended in good humour from me, never worry about that!
Helpful as ever Roady - ta! The guards will go on and stay on as it's a commute / hack, so time spent getting a good fit with minimal rattles is well spent.
No worries, it's good to share experiences. As I said, these Spesh guards are good once fitted but take some fettling which I assume will be the same for most fixed guards. I really liked SKS for the cheaper side of things and after a couple of instances of dealing with their fantastic support, if they did a range of metal guards I would certainly be very willing to try them! Great designs, great price, great support. Quality companies like that deserve our business!
I'm converted to mantel. Ordered a couple of bits on Saturday and Monday and they turned up today. Think unless I'm in a major rush I will be going to them in future.
The couple of times I've used them they've been good, have generally been for things I couldn't find elsewhere. I have a feeling they're a supplier to some etailers? When it came to finding the ELEMNT puck for my K-Edge Wahoo pointed them to me as being the 'EU distributor' for theirs and others products. Don't know how true that is/was.
I'm looking for a cheap 2nd set of wheels for my triban rc520. Even though my bike takes 6-bolt, if I buy a set of centre lock wheels with the hubs & rotors will it still fit?!
Is there anything else I need to look out for other than 11-speed compatability?
Axle compatibility & if you require tubeless or not. Width if running low pressures, height if going aero etc etc.
I'm actually a bit worried about getting a puncture as the current wheels are notoriously hard to change tyres on. There are literally stories of 2 decathlon staff being unable to change the tyres...
Plus I'm 110kg so something sturdy.
'Tubeless ready' rims are particularly bad/hard and some rim & tyre combo's are known to be really tricky. Worth researching/googling first before a tyre purchase. My Zipp 30 Course are bad, even without much feedback online. Although the tyres I'm using are not that flexible (Specialized Roubaix Pro 2bliss). For them it's a technique - get the beads both sides in the rim bed. 40% of the time can just about mount by hand, the rest of the time (if rim tape is tight, or tyre not totally in centre all the way around) it takes 2 tyre levers, some swearing or I even got
1 of these tyre mounting tools and it works well. Much easier to use that in the garage, but still use the tyre levers a couple of times just so I know I can do it roadside if required...
https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycl...=thgppc&switchcurrency=GBP&shippingcountry=GB
They are pretty solid in terms of the actual wheel build in my experience, the hub bearings could be better going by how often customers wear them out but on my own non disc ones I had no issues as I don't pressure wash the bike.
Mavic Aksium disc are cheaper but I don't feel the wheel build is as strong as the Fulcrum. Saw too many come out out alignment and sit to one side or spokes that seize up all the time. Hubs run smooth for years though!
Good well regarded wheels, good price. Quite a traditional narrow rim (17mm internal) so would use them with 28mm tyres max. Probably better with 25's. Good road wheels for frames with tight clearances and riders not wanting wide/comfortable/tubeless/low pressure riding. Have been really happy with the cheap Campagnolo (Kamsin's rim brake) wheels I bought several years ago, but as Jonny says the bearings/protection can be a bit rubbish. Mine are on their 3rd set in 4 years. The other half has them on her commuter. Still bombproof wheels for the money, I'd happily buy Campag/Fulcrum wheels again. The Zonda's where an amazing wheel and loads of people had them, they do a disc version of most of them now but heard very little about them recently, most disc riders going for the fulcrum branded ones.