Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!

[pushpush]

I switched to an OSPW and while the efficiency benefits are unverified and debatable, the reduction in drivetrain noise is very real. I have no plan to go back. IMO this benefit alone is worth the change. Silence is golden.

[kbernstein]

Has anyone tried this reusable rubber bartape stopped instead of electrical tape?
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006080137242.html

[Greenred]

A question regarding UNO Stem users with integrated frames:
How is that stem covering your spacers? Or how do you do it?

Especially if it’s a frame for fully internal cable routing like the vbr 168, 177 or GF002, I assume that the spacers would be misaligned with the stem on top, as in not perfectly overlapping/covering the spacers probably.

My plan is to use the Uno stem, drill 2 holes into the stock spacer on top  and then route the cables through the drilled  holes into the frame.

Alterntively, maybe sth like this could work? https://www.bike24.com/p2532375.html?sku=1819122

[Confused]

Has anyone tried this reusable rubber bartape stopped instead of electrical tape?
https://aliexpress.com/item/1005006080137242.html

They seem like they will work. My experience was I managed to get the shifters mounted, brake cables routed, and everything positioned well to start wrapping the bars. I even bled the brakes. At that time I noticed that the rubber stoppers were still on the workbench.

[kbernstein]

They seem like they will work. My experience was I managed to get the shifters mounted, brake cables routed, and everything positioned well to start wrapping the bars. I even bled the brakes. At that time I noticed that the rubber stoppers were still on the workbench.

lol i'll make sure to put them on the bars first before doing any work. do you think they stretch enough for integrated aero bars?

[coffeebreak]

A question regarding UNO Stem users with integrated frames:
How is that stem covering your spacers? Or how do you do it?

Especially if it’s a frame for fully internal cable routing like the vbr 168, 177 or GF002, I assume that the spacers would be misaligned with the stem on top, as in not perfectly overlapping/covering the spacers probably.

My plan is to use the Uno stem, drill 2 holes into the stock spacer on top  and then route the cables through the drilled  holes into the frame.

Alterntively, maybe sth like this could work? https://www.bike24.com/p2532375.html?sku=1819122

I have not used Uno stem on internal routing frame (GF002) but I can imagine its going to be a pretty ill fit. For one, the spacers are kinda rectangular shaped to accommodate for the cables to go thru them. Are you trying to not route cables through the stem but still hide them somehow? Look at FSA SMR ACR stem and Kocevlo spacers underneath to almost fully conceal the cables.

[jonathanf2]

While I'm extremely sceptical you were actually able to percieve a difference that wasn't placebo, these have much larger bearings than is usual even for OSPWs (excluding the shitty absolute black one). That means there is more surface area making contact inside the bearing and with the seals, leading to higher friction losses.

I spend more time in my lowest gears than my high gears. I find the bigger jockey wheels much more beneficial for spinning and slow grinding up 15-30% plus road and dirt climbs. A lot of the local MTB/gravel dirt climbers do the same here in SoCal. I don't even care if I'm using ceramic or steel bearings, it's more about getting that smoother chain line for me.

[jonathanf2]

Used them today on a 125km gravel ride. All is well... 

I tried them yesterday. I think I'll need to ride them a few more times to really bed in the pads and rotors. They didn't bite as well on the steep downhills, so I had to take it easy.

[kbernstein]

Used them today on a 125km gravel ride. All is well... 

How often do you brake in belgium? 

[jonathanf2]

How often do you brake in belgium? 

Whoa, I just looked it up. The max elevation for Belgium is 697m or 2287 feet. That's like doing a local climb in my neighborhood!

[toxin]

I spend more time in my lowest gears than my high gears. I find the bigger jockey wheels much more beneficial for spinning and slow grinding up 15-30% plus road and dirt climbs. A lot of the local MTB/gravel dirt climbers do the same here in SoCal. I don't even care if I'm using ceramic or steel bearings, it's more about getting that smoother chain line for me.

Lots of fantasy physics but hey, it's your money

[hsaus]

lol i'll make sure to put them on the bars first before doing any work. do you think they stretch enough for integrated aero bars?

I managed to remember putting them on for my second bike build. They're a tight fit on a round bar, you may get them to stretch enough for wide flat tops, but it'll be a bit of a struggle I expect.

[jonathanf2]

Lots of fantasy physics but hey, it's your money

Narrow bars, full integrated frames and electronic shifting are fantasy, but hey your money!

[TidyDinosaur]

Whoa, I just looked it up. The max elevation for Belgium is 697m or 2287 feet. That's like doing a local climb in my neighborhood!

Yeah, and that 697m is far from where I live
When we have 500m of height difference in a ride it has been fairly hilly for us. Anything above 1000m on one ride is quite a lot and comes with 100km+ of riding

But the ride I did Saturday was a gravel ride. And since we don't have a lot of gravel here, it is a lot of twisting and turning in the (small patches of) forests and singletracks, so I did use my brakes sometimes. But never more that a couple of seconds at a time, so I have no idea how they perform on longer descends.
But on the whole ride I did not once think about the new discs (good or bad), so I guess they were OK.

[chineesje]

Narrow bars, full integrated frames and electronic shifting are fantasy, but hey your money!

Narrow bars fantasy? I think it's fairly easy to understand that (when you are not a really big rider) a 38cm handlebar is gonna lower your surface area quite a bit comparing with a 44cm handlebar, and thus saving you some watts (and you might actually be able to feel the difference ). Next to these savings, for the majority of people, a 38-42cm handlebar will feel way more comfortable than a 44-46cm one, especially when just riding on asphalt.