Quote from: Tijoe on November 11, 2025, 01:55:08 PM
... I ordered a set of the "Frog Wake" brakes this morning...

I was just about to order a pair, and thought I would look around here first 
Did you get them already ? Even if not installed, any first impressions to share ?

I did wear Darevie's bibs(not that particular model) in S for years (178cm/69Kg) but now I buy them in M, they've got tighter.
A positive, is that the legs as a result are a bit longer now.

Quote from: jannmayer on August 31, 2025, 11:47:03 PM
I'm a big fan of Roger Musson's wheel building book:
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

I don't build as many wheels as before, but last week I've rebuilt a wheelset from my first and 10y old lightbicycle MTB rims to an e-gravel set.
I used Roger Musson's spoke calculator, and got a quick refresh from the pages about lacing and building. I'm a fan too!

Quote from: amacal1 on August 28, 2025, 09:49:38 AM
At that point, just keep them sealed in a big cooled wax pot. When it's time to swap, warm up the pot to extract a new chain and deposit an old one.

I see ... but that won't work...
I usually remember about 5 minutes before a ride I need to replace my chain.
And I use an old rice cooker with boiling water to clean my chains before waxing them

Sensah was there before, if I remember well, and is a kind of better company. Isn't it?
Their mechanical groupset were quite good.
And their IIPRO MTB brakes are ok too. We'll see...

This is what I saw at Eurobike, they told me to follow their official Aliexpress shop to know when it would be available... waiting patiently for two months now...
They had one in their booth, the cassette/derailleurs looked good and light, the shifters a bit bulky but nice, and they apparently can be set to any cassette speeds: 10, 11, 12, ....
It is definitely a groupset I will try when out.

I'm not a kommard anymore so I didn't try it, but I saw the IGS800 has live segments.

I ride the IGS800 and K2. I love them both. And have excellent user support.
Unfortunately not perfect. But when I compare to my Garmin friends, who can't get their gpx at so many rides, I'm happy.

The big pluses of the IGS800 are the battery life, and the screen size, and readability under the sun(although not good when mixed with trees in woods) and richer software.
The two big downs are the contrast of their map: grey on grey is invisible, with sunglasses it's even worse, and it is always like 3 sec late at junctions.

They had a very slow update cycle on bugs/improvements but now under SRAM they are back delivering continuously.
The big down for me, and the reason of my IGS800 purchase, is when the climbing ladder appear over the map, your position on the map(the direction arrow), disappear below the ladder, making it impossible to know where to go many times.

Some other annoyances of the IGS800:
The trip from a Komoot route to start riding is uselessly tedious, and could be automated
The protective case is a joke

And some annoyance of the K2:
Let it dry before charging after a wet ride, the plug will melt inside.
However they quite nicely replaced mine 3 times under warranty, even if I was once out of the period!

Quote from: Da11as on August 15, 2025, 06:21:20 AM
3L... you probably have a lot of wax and a lot of chains. Or very hairy.

6 bikes at home (not all mine!), with 3 chains each, doing them in batches

I've built a few CF-1306 from Carbonda : https://carbonda.com/mtb/cfm-1306.html
It has a 69º, UDH, BSA73

Just be sure to drill where the lowest point is, to get all the water out

Quote from: Tijoe on August 13, 2025, 07:16:53 AM
...Then I read that people were dissolving their wax in Coleman gas, AKA White Gas / Naptha.
I decided to take some of my Baby Bell wax and put it in a container with the white gas. Over time, I added more and more wax, unit it became saturated in the fuel. Then I transferred my brew to empty 4oz and 8oz purchased wax lube bottles...

I thought Coleman gas was used to clean anything that the wax touches.
But you used it to make your drip bottle on the go? By pouring fresh paraffin in until saturation?...

From what I understood they "just" added a cog inward to a 12 cogs cassette, keeping the same space between cogs, so the chains can remain.
The design of old derailleurs maybe limited in the distance they can do inward.
Are you sure older shifter can't pilot a new 13s derailleur ? I thought it was ok.

I saw the e-groupset from Sensah at Eurobike(not yet available I think), they had as well the speed you want by the app(9? to 13)

Quote from: lidation on August 11, 2025, 07:06:42 PM
So True! You articulated it very well!

SRAM just released the new 13 speed cassette. You can use the same 12 speed flattop chain with it but they make sure you have to use new "13 speed" shifter and rear derailleur for it.  In electronic shifting systems, the derailleur moves by a step motor.  Technically speaking, it's just a smartphone app update away to get you from 12-speed to 13-speed. But SRAM made sure you can't do that. This is what pisses me off and make me go for Wheeltop to spite SRAM. We need to support the little guys to put the big guys in check.

Related... I'm now using this melter, which I find much better than the rice cooker I tried before
It's a little more expensive
A bigger capacity
It has a stable temperature(two preset 65ºC or 75ºC), and never gets too hot
It takes a little more time to melt fully

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007724099998.html

Quote from: dietherr on August 12, 2025, 06:30:48 AM
Hi carbonazza,

which size is your frame? Small or medium?

Best regards
Didi

Size M

Quote from: impmonkey on July 19, 2025, 02:19:35 PM
I know it officially clears 50s but really interested if you could squeeze 2.1 or even 2.2's in this frame.

I should get soon a 32mm internal rims wheelset for this bike with 45mm tires.
Depending on the space left, I could try a 2.1" to check.
They say you need at least 6mm between the tire and the frame.

But I have friends who ride with 45mm with their CFR-505 although it is set at max 42.
They accumulate more mud, and some debris scratches the frame a little but not so dramatic.