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Re: Suggestion for integrated handlebar with external cables
BTW - if you find a more boxy integrated bar, these non-integrated aero spacers are becoming harder to find. Gives the aero look without the integrated cabling! https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805885494386.html January 31, 2024, 07:21:45 PM |
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Re: Another Seaboard GR02
I finally completed my Seaboard GR02. I built it up as a cheap commuter using parts from eBay, AliExpress, my parts bin, and hand-me-downs from upgrading my road and gravel bikes. This was an incredibly easy frame to build up. No issues with alignment, and cable routing was simple, even without any guides. It's 1x11 with a 40T ring and 11-34 cassette. That's not much of a gear range, but it's about the same as the gear range I use currently on my commute. (I already had the cassette.) Without pedals, it came out to 21.6 lb / 9.79 kg. I spent a little over $600 building it up. The Sensah brifters shift pretty well when pared with a Shimano 105 derailleur. I'm not enamored with the Sensah ergonomics because it I have to be more deliberate when shifting to a larger cog than I do with my Shimano drivetrains, but it works. Brifters: Sensah SRX Pro Derailleur: Shimano 105 R7000 GS Cassette: Shimano 11-34 Cranks: Shimano GRX FC-RX600, 40T Brakes: Tektro MD-C550 Wheels: DT Swiss E1850 Spline Tires: WTB Byway, 700x44 (currently tubed) Saddle: WTB SL8 Comp Seatpost: Carbonda (from my CFR707) Handlebar: Easton EA700AX, 42cm, 16 deg flare Stem: UNO 110mm Tape: Blackburn thick EVA covered with Rocktape kinesiology tape (Experiment - I had this lying around. I Like the feel better than the Blackburn tape, but I'm not sure how it will hold up. I commute without gloves.) February 03, 2024, 03:01:37 AM |
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EDS TX electronic groupset
Anyone heard of this before? https://wheeltop.com/products/eds-bicycle-derailleur Wireless groupset. Price is comparable to L-TWOO ERX Here is a video of it in operation: February 08, 2024, 12:03:12 AM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
Link? I have been using these and they are quite good, but a bit rigid when you first install them and you need to really pull them hard so that they blend seamlessly. I have those which you linked. They look great but I noticed they smell bad pretty quickly (in summer months). The ones I like more are these - https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNKxWL4 Even better - https://a.aliexpress.com/_m07dP1y The second one is currently at $4 but keep an eye out, they go for $2 regularly on that 3 deals page. The below ones are bad. Shiny, slippery surface. I don't personally like that kind of tape. https://a.aliexpress.com/_mOHCIoq February 10, 2024, 02:54:19 PM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
I just received these bone conduction earphones for $2.69 USD from Pick 3 & Save. The sound quality is decent and it uses USB-C charging. For cycling I prefer this style of earphones because they don't need to be placed in-ear. It also allows me to hear traffic and have conversations even when the music is playing. Link for reference, buy instead from Pick 3 & Save for lower price: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805644677436.html  February 19, 2024, 08:01:49 PM |
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Re: Name brand di2 complete or Chiner build?
I feel like I'm fairly well-placed to answer this - having gone through basically the same process last year deciding between a Chinese bike, a Merida Scultura 6000 and a Polygon Helios with 105 Di2 (I'm also Australian-based, so these are basically the cheapest electronic options). TL;DR: I went with the Merida and upgraded. Full story below. The goal was: - Under $5k AUD ($3250 USD) - Decent frame (was willing to consider Chinese - bought a Velobuild 8 years ago and it was pretty good) - Under 8kg with pedals - Dual-sided or spider-based power - Wheels at least 50mm deep and at least 23mm wide, prefereably with name brand hubs and spokes, preferably under 1400g - Electronic shifting, preferably 12 speed - Hydraulic brakes - Good quality tubeless tyres at least 30mm wide - No totally proprietary stem/bar setups - not too difficult to find one-piece bar/stem combo - Easy to find a zero offset or short offset seatpost (my position requires a zero offset post on most medium size bikes) - 38cm c-t-c bars The Merida provided an extremely cheap starting point at $2750 AUD with 105 Di2. 99 Bikes were selling them at 25% off RRP, but for an extra discount, their gift cards were available at 15% off. Worth keeping an eye out for these deals for any Australians looking for one of these. The stock build for the Merida is not great, but I was willing to forgive that for the price. The issues are: - stock wheels are crap - 17mm internal, heavy, not tubeless ready. - tyres are some low-end Contis, not bad, but not tubeless and only 28mm. You expect that on most OEM bikes though - handlebar is much too wide, the 42cm bar measured at 43cm and the bar tape is cheap - stock saddle is heavy, but again, you expect that In favour, the factors were: - price gave me a lot of room for upgrades within budget - nothing unusual about the frame - BB86 bottom bracket, FSA headset, round 27.2mm seatpost(!!), fairly standard race geometry - world-tour tested (means little, really, but it's nice) - media reviews tended to be favourable, particularly for the frame - pearlescent white paintjob is nice In the end, I bought that and it's now been upgraded with: Kocevlo one-piece bar and stem, 38x100 Elita One 27.2 zero offset seatpost Elita One carbon railed, carbon base saddle Farsports Hyper wheels with DT Swiss 350 hubs and Sapim CX-Ray spokes Pirelli P-Zero Race TLR (Italy version) 700*30 Magene PES power meter Final weight: 7.95kg Final spend: $4,970  I'm super happy with it - it's a nice upgrade from my previous (lighter) rim brake bike, a Focus Izalco Max. It's significantly more comfortable - the 30mm tyres play a big part. The only thing I'm having issues with is the headset with the Kocevlo spacers - it's been a pain finding a balance between having the headset tight enough to remove knocking and stop the split spacers from coming apart, but not having it so tight that it binds the headset. Other than that very minor issue, it's been amazing. The FarSports wheels in particular are excellent - I ordered them without spoke holes for easy tubeless setup, and the Pirelli tyres were quite easy to get on and sealed straight away with a track pump - that impressed me a lot! I skipped the Polygon Helios because: - stock wheels are relatively heavy and only 19mm internal. Cam Nicholls also wasn't a fan of them (see his ride review on YouTube). - stock handlebars are much too wide for me (42cm) so the integrated bar/stem would need to be replaced anyway Apart from those two things, it ticks most of the boxes. I skipped the Chinese frames because: - groupsets are too expensive to get in Australia on their own compared to a full bike, unless you get lucky on a second-hand set - the price of framesets from the more reliable brands (LightCarbon, Carbonda, etc.) is starting to get to a point where it becomes better to buy a lower tier frame from a major manufacturer. - I'd have to pay extra for custom paint, I've had a matte black bike for the last 3 years so I wanted a change. Some are not willing to do custom paint without an MOQ. March 02, 2024, 11:14:18 PM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806309182455.html I've probably posted this before, but now that I've been using it for a while, the H52MM TY02 (TY01 are for wider fork tubes) expander plug is now my go-to for all my bikes. I swapped out all the stock expander plugs that came with my forks and replaced them with this plug. Excellent engagement and holds tightly. On Pick 3 & Save you can buy them for less than $2 USD a piece. Highly recommended.  March 07, 2024, 01:08:46 PM |
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Good night After 500 km with the bike, I can say that I am very satisfied. I leave some photos of the final assembly March 13, 2024, 05:35:54 PM |
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Re: TPU vs Latex innertube
a tpu user here, on 700c roadbike. my repair kit for these tpu tubes, I got myself the tubolito repair kit (yes, i patch my non-tubolito tubes with it). it came with glue and patches. The glue tube lasts a lot of patching job (so many nail n glass shards incidents). I create patches from my old retired tpu tube cutouts. I saved the tubolito thicker patches for only large cuts. patch success rate almost 100%. So as repair kit on the go (ie long distance, bikepacking etc) the reparability n reusability is close to/same as butyl with 1/3 the space. Never used latex, so i cant say for latex reparability March 15, 2024, 05:14:52 PM |
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Re: 11 Speed Cassette Recommendations - XD 10-42T or HG 11-42T
The SPEEDAO 1-piece cassette is a design that's been sold under a lot of different brands including S-ROAD and ZTTO. It's a solid unit, I've bought 3 of this specific kind of cassette in HG guise, used them for road, CX, and commuting. It's a solid-performing ultralight cassette for the price. I'll echo the sentiment that they aren't as refined, but I haven't managed to put noticeable wear into any of my units so far. Contrary to nicklej, I actually prefer the HG design. In the XD/XDR design, the cassette is clamped to the splines (near the hub) by the threads, and all static forces are cantilevered off these splines. (you could argue that some force transmits through the sleeve, but since this is a sliding component, it will only transmit force if the cassette flexes into it--potentially causing wear and creaking) There's also the issue that the soft aluminum threads on these XD/XDR bodies are super-fine and susceptible to cross-threading. OEM SRAM MTB cassettes are manufactured with super tight sleeves that are almost impossible to turn without using a lot of force, making it very hard to feel the engagement of the threads. I've watched a couple bodies get damaged in this way. The GOLDIX XDR cassette that I've used doesn't have this tight-sleeve problem, interestingly. The other issue is that since XD/XDR is a system of moving parts, arguably the manufacturing tolerances of the system need to be stricter in order for the system to work properly. The HG cassette is much simpler to manufacture in comparison. When you're buying cut-rate equipment on AliEx, it's generally safer to buy the design that has fewer moving parts and lower demands on precision. Lastly, HG splines do not really wear with these one piece cassettes. The main reason HG splines wear is that when you use cassettes with loose cogs (and fail to tighten them properly, which everyone does), the force applied to the spline is only distributed along the width of a single cog. One piece cassettes have solid engagement splines spanning the the width of ~2 cogs on each side. This means all forces are transmitted to the freehub splines over a much wider area compared to single cogs. I've been using one-piece cassettes for around 8 years now (SRAM Red before the SROAD cassettes), all freehubs I've put these one-piece designs on look virtually brand-new. If you don't have a pressing need for a 10T cog (i.e. 1X bike with large demands for range) I can't really recommend pushing for XD/XDR, but I also won't recommend against it. April 02, 2024, 10:06:52 AM |
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