I have about $500 in items saved in my cart that are potential purchases.  I have spent the greater part of the last 3 days trying to find the best 11-11 sale deals from my hit list.   Very disappointing overall.   I got better prices overall on items I purchased during the past 2 months of "Choice" and $1.99 sales than I am seeing for the 11-11 sale.  I did not find any discounted prices for Carbon rims I want, mainstream carbon frames, wheels, or other major bike components.   Just a few big price drops on older 26" and 27.5" slow moving items.

Something else to consider.  If Congress doesn't fund the US government soon and we shut down before Thanksgiving,  Black Friday stores wont make their sales numbers.  (I'll stop spending if this happens.)    Therefore, if the US economy takes a big hit, we just might see some real discounts by the end of the year.   Therefore I will limit my purchases this year to only the items I want to stock up on, where I have confirmed the price is the best I have seen this year.  (Based on Coupons and coins to get better prices.)

Just ordered my first frame, from SP cycle. I have been reading a lot of thread but thought maybe I could get some help in getting everything in one place for future rookies like me.
The topic is what to ask supplier to check/document with pics prior to shipping, what to check upon arrival.

Pre shipment checks, ask for picture of:
-head tube and bottom bracket mating surfaces, check for no paint and general smoothness
-rear caliper mating surfaces,  check for paint, flatteness of mounts

Upon receiving:
Check above again


Anything else? What are you experience guys do?

I think even the real pinarello is a pretty weighty bike.  I definitely didn't go the weight weenie route, the 60mm Elitewheels SLT were about 1750g, cassette is a Shimano Ultegra 11-32.  I'm using a cheap set of IIIpro disc brakes, not sure if they're lighter than normal disc brakes.  Also, ERX groupset is quite heavy compared to a mechanical groupset too.


Quick question about the saddle bolts, how do you tighten a saddle without a cutout in the middle?  I realized that one of the bolt faces upwards, and if there's no cut out in the saddle, I have no idea how to tighten it.

cheapest Gravel Carbon Bike Frame Twitter R7

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001518961776.html

did anyone buy it?
I didn't find any reviews here

Very true. I just have a personal disdain for the internal routing through headtube. The ones I listed are "traditional" internal routing. Maybe its time I get over that and join the cool kids club.

Between Sensah and LTwoo GR9 11 speed mechanical cable pull shifters, which one do you guys recommend? I'm kinda liking LTwoo system for shifting but not sure.
P. S. I do have Shimano 105 R7000 shifters, just want to experiment.

Got it. Funnily enough the thumb trigger on LTwoo is what caught my fancy. I have Shimano and SRAM.. And this looked different.