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Messages - eeney

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1

Now my confusion is cleared.
Bclear is a pretty good shop, but doesn't offer cycling glasses.....

Ah, we ordered the TR90 model which is a wrap-around style and doesn't let too much air, but I'm probably not so sensitive. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004681288131.html?

3
Did you oder the prescription also at the kapvoe store? Are you happy with it?

I got a kapvoe  at a choice offer recently and I am very happy about the photochromic effect.. I was thinking on using them with the clip to get rid of my contact lenses.

Yes, I got the lenses from the same store, I gave them my prescription and they gave me a link to which lenses to buy.  Two others in our group did the same and are happy. You order the frames and lenses as two separate orders, send them your prescription, and the glasses arrive with the prescription lenses fitted.  I can't give too many compliments on how responsive and helpful the seller was.

To be honest I bought bifocal lenses and wish I hadn't, they're fine, I just don't normally wear bifocal even though my new prescription requests it.... therefore when I put on the glasses I need to adapt to it each time. I'm told you get used to bifocal, I'm just walking around with less than perfect eyesight because I refuse to wear bifocal full time.

4
Metal Frames / Re: Chinese Titanium Frames...
« on: November 30, 2023, 09:08:28 PM »
If you are up for posting some photos of this build, I'd be grateful. I'm considering Waltly for a gravel build and I'm currently looking at one of their standard frames. Not sure if it's the same one you have.

Sorry, hadn't seen this post Photos

5
How did ordering from them go?

It went very well, easy, good info, prompt comms. I think the contact was 'Justin', I chatted via email and Skype.

I have heard some saying he isn't responsive, I acutally mentioned this to him via chat and he said these were cases when he didn't have stock.... My experience was great, happy with the product and communications. Seems they're great if they have or can get stock

6
IMO, Elitewheel Edge. Not the cheapest, but they're 555€ shipped right now due to sales, which is insane value for 50mm wheels that weight less than 1400 grams.

I order wheels from Speeder Cycling which came in at $608 delivered.  Depths of 35mm ftont and 45mm read at under 1300g with Sapim spokes. It'll be tough to get much under 500 euros including delivery.

7
Prescription sunglasses for cycling.  Saw some threads earlier....

Me and a few friends have bought from this Aliexpress seller (BCCLEAR). They have one set of wrap-around glasses, model TR90 which comes in multiple colours. The TR90 are one size, medium width which is wider than my usual glasses, but I'm very happy with them for cycling, often after a ride I just keep them on for normal use, I just look a bit odd walking around in sports glasses.

If you contact the seller, give them your prescription, then they'll tell you the cheapest/best lenses to purchase from their site.  You order the frames and lenses, the seller matches the two orders , then builds and sends you the finished glasses.

I, and my friends have been very happy with the finished product. We all have prescription, photochromatic lenses at a fraction of the price of big name brands. I think I paid USD $50 for my multi-focal, photochromatic finished spectacles with thinnish lenses.

I'd be interested to know if there were similar options from other sellers.

8
This one looks kind of really good, even with the gimmicky length-adjust insert. Would happen to you know Q and the maximum bb with for this?

Not entirely sure how to measure Q Factor.  I just replaced a 6800 crankset and it feels the same, BB fitted without any spacers, I assume it's a standard BSA BB.

From outside of the crank arm near pedal, mine measures ~145mm from outside of crank arm on one side to the other.

Not sure of the weight. I use it for my Zwift bike.  I wanted this to try different crank lengths. I thought 160mm would be best, but by testing I've found that I prefer 165mm. So this crank was good for my needs and is working brilliantly.

If you email Driveline they are very helpful.

9
I've gone down two different routes for a 165 crankset.

  • Driveline do some shorter cranks, I went with an adjustable length crank from Driveline because I wanted to try 160mm as well, but they have others that are a single fixed length.  Adjustable length Driveline crank, I emailed them and bought it via email. Paid USD $100 plus postage, with chainrings installed, I'm sure you could get your preferred chainring combo from Driveline.  I run this with an Ultegra 6800 setup, works fine
  • Wanted Power Meter for my gravel bike, so went with Xcadey crankset from aliexpress for USD $305, plus $20 shipping. This is 5 bolt sram which I just setup 1x, you can choose the spider type, eg. 110 BCD 4 or 5 bolt, or 104BCD

No complaints with either.  Xcadey is quite new but power readings are accurate next to my Powrlink pedals.  Have done many miles on the Driveline without any issues.

10
Looks like Xcadey is now selling a generation 2 spider (on panda podium and aliexpress) for $250. Anyone try these yet?

Intersting, do you know what is different with Gen2? The specs look identical.

Funny, I have just ordered an Xcadey crank, not realising a Gen2 was about to drop. Hope I didn't miss out on any significant upgrades to the product.

11
I'm looking for a 165mm lightweight crank with power meter, with or without chainring on a budget of $350 USD - it's going to be 40T 1x but I can reuse my current or buy a chainring separately. I'd prefer a spider PM, I think.

I was down to Magene, Sigeyi and Xcadey Xpower.  Seems the Sigeyi is out because they don't have stock of 165mm cranks. Then between the Magene and Xcadey, the Xcadey seems to be 100g lighter. So at the moment I'm heading towards the Xcadey. With a lightweight chainring I might be able to get the Xcadey t0 ~600g, that's IF the crankset matches the claimed weight.

Note that I'm only 65kg and can't put out a lot of power (250 FTP). I also have other PMs to calibrate against if I need to test and adjust the power +/-. Mostly riding in dry conditions.

Any thoughts, do you think the Xcadey is a safe lightweight bet?

12
Maintenance, Mechanics, & Tools / Re: What lube?
« on: June 29, 2023, 02:17:29 PM »
I sonic clean and wax.  Before waxing I used Smoove for a long time quite happily.

First step was when I bought a heated sonic cleaner from Aliexpress, so sonic clean then Smoove.

Then I bought some wax and a $10 mini slow cooker/crockpot.... never looked back.

10 minutes in the sonic cleaner, a dip in the wax and the chains dry amazingly.  The effort involved is less than a standard chain clean and lube, but you do need more waiting time, eg. 30-60 mins for the wax to melt, then 10+ hours to leave it to fully cool & dry (it could be less, I just leave it all day or overnight). But the results are brilliant, I have 3 bikes all with waxed chains, and the one bag of wax I bought looks like it'll last ages.

13
I have wheels with both Carbon and CX Ray.... I don't actually notice a difference from the spokes in regards to performance, there may be marginally more stiffness but I do not notice it.  I don't regret buying the carbon spoked Hypers but I don't feel that the spokes make a big difference, it's not like going from a noodle-carbon-frame to a stiff racing frame where you can feel the responsiveness difference.  I just wanted the lightest, fastest wheels I could afford, so I went Hypers with carbon spokes, I have these on my race/climbing bike and I’m happy with them.

When I had a crash, I had to wait for new spokes to be shipped from Winspace which took a while and cost more than expected (shipping).  Therefore, when I bought lightweight wheels for my endurance bike, I went with CX Ray for the ease of replacement with very similar performance.

Basically, I'm happy I have the carbon spoked wheels because I've 'scratched that itch', I bought a pair because I could, I wanted an affordable 'no shortcuts' wheelset.  However, now I have them, my next wheels were CX Ray for similar performance but much more practicality when replacing.  Does this make sense?  Two things here: 'rational' and 'emotional' decisions... emotionally I wanted the carbon spokes, but rationally the difference is negligible. If I hadn’t bought a pair of carbon spokes wheels then I’d have been left wondering.

So like above, if you want all-out , no chances taken, fastest wheels, or just emotionally ‘want them’ then perhaps go carbon. If you just want really good fast wheels, which are probably 'as fast' but want spokes that are easier to find and replace, then go CX Ray.

14
I personally went with a custom built Titanium bike from Waltly - see the metal frames section.  Slightly more expensive than carbon frames, but I was attracted to the ride quality, durability and strength of Titanium for touring and gravel.

So I ordered a bike with a gravel geometry, but with bosses for all racks and mounts.  To finish it I have 35 degree flared bars and two sets of wheels (700C wheels with wider road tyres + 650B wheels with 50mm gravel tyres). By swapping wheels I basically have two very different bikes.

With the frame Waltly provided me their 'standard' option, which just happened to be very similar to another premium brand frame. With custom, you could take geometry from any bike webpage and provide it to Waltly to recreate. As part of the build you can also get personalise pattern or text on the frame by using shiny v matte finish... I forgot to take advantage of this.

For me getting a good frame was important, then I saved money by going Rival mechanical groupset... easy enough to upgrade the groupset later.

15
I'm sure there are plenty of options - my wheels from speeder cycling are 35mm front, 45mm rear in depth and under 1300g with Sapim spokes for USD $500 - just have to also pay postage.

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