Cycling (Road Bike) Thread

Speaking of shifters....check out my new tiagra triple shifters along with a new rear derailer.

Came a week and a half early

Ordered them off of ebay if that matters any, came from Taiwan.

 

It does not matter, you scored for 1/10th what the LBS woulda charged ya. Don't feel guilty. Enjoy the new parts. Long cage der? What cassette you running? BTW, saw you over on cyclingforums.

 

Thanks. I'm skeptical buying from ebay. Especially from Taiwan or Thailand... How are those shifters? Authentic?

 

I find it kind of shady to all of a sudden come out and admit to all kinds of stuff which most people already knew. As a cyclist, he definitely hurt himself. However, the idea of an alterior motive just seems too clear, especially when one considers the whole admit to everything and then throw a bunch of people under the table to make yourself look like a savior to the sport concept that comes with comming clean about cheating. It's definitely a shame that this was the case and i look forward to seeing the outcome in the future. Cycling is one of those sports where doping has and will always play a major factor in which is unfortunate. Just my two cents.

Off topic but Chive On rmb_crew! A tacoma enthusiast (i presume lol) and chiver, what a great combo.

 

Yeah they seem pretty legit. My front derailleur seems a bit rough but I am sure is getting use to the difference in shifting.

My old front only clicked once, and the chain moved these click twice, one to to adjust if I shift the back and start to rub and then one farther to actually move the chain.

The back shifter and derailleur work flawlessly. Overall I am pretty happy and would buy from them again. Shipping was pretty quick as well, the tracking didn't work though

I retract the message I sent you on cf...its 9-26....at least that's what it says

Are there any advantages to the different car lengths? I've most read stuff about chain slack. I want to assume the short cages are eastern at shifting?

 

9? think the smallest cog on back is 11. sounds like maybe 9 spd 12-26 cassette. 26 on your biggest cog would explain mid cage der. my cassette is 10 spd 11-23 so my der is short cage. the longer cages are for bigger 1st gear cogs and bigger 53 tooth chainring. longer chain and bigger der = more weight tho. also running double compact 50/34 up front helps with weight. i dont have crazy hills so going without triple up front is OK.

 

True, no hills in Houston.

I emailed Merlincycles to see when they will restock. Best price I've seen.

 

Well, there are "inclines", lol, and lots of headwind/crosswind fairly often but nothing the compact double can't handle tho. Actually I could probably get away with just having a 50 up front with no front derailleur. Can't remember the last time I even used the 34 up front. Having it isn't worth the weight savings trade off because you just never know, there could be elevation change or even an actual hill lurking just around the corner when you least expect it. Believe it or not there are several trails around town with enough change in elevation to keep me content until road trips to places with more challenging stuff. Keeps the good stuff an adventure instead of just everyday now I'm bored stuff. I'm in moderation mode anyway so it's decent enough. Trying to conserve mobility for quite awhile longer since becoming a grandparent recently so not wanting to get too crazy......well maybe wanting but thinking better of it.....most of the time.

 

True, you can always drive 2 hours and go to Austin for some nice hills.

 

Yeah I have a triple up front. I never use the smallest, and while I am in the city I usually stay on the middle just because I stop and go all the time.

There are a few steep hills back in my parents area which I think the triple will help....Some times semi trucks have to run all the stop signs just to make it to the top, which gets kind of sketchy sometimes...

Now that I have gotten a few miles under me and know what I need/don't need. Around November or so I want to hop on some year end deals and pick up either a cross bike or a hardtail mtb. I'm going to try and do things right the first go round with the purchase

 

Anyone ever do a wingate test?

I just did one....that kicked my butt!

 

Any of you guys on Strava? Im fairly new to cycling. Been running. Thought Id just say hey.

 

Alrighty then, Thursday, pimping out a fresh set of pics of the road whip...................in it's Valentine's Day compliant color scheme even.

 

Nice looking Spec! I hope nobody from Spec sees these pics with the Bontrager goodies or they'll surely initiate the self-destruct sequence

 

What's weird is....I did swap the original wheelset for credit towards the wheelset in the pics that the shop had on hand when buying the bike because they were better and lighter and matched the color scheme of the bike but I don't remember getting skewers with the new wheelset. I thought I kept the skewers that were originally on the bike so that would mean it already had some Bontrager wheels to begin with? Either way, good, hope it does self-destruct some arrogant weenie snobs. I like that it could even. I hope someone does see it. I don't care if it pisses off the Trek people as well. They all probably would get bent because of the 105 with SRAM Rival brakes and a FSA carbon crankset with eggbeater mt bike clip-in setup too......hope so.

 

LOL! I love it....and totally agree.

 

On Strava, great app on the Iphone. Does run the battery down fast, need to get a Garmin.

 

so here is my 2012 blue axino right after i finished building her... have done some other stuff to her since then just don't have a pic handy lol
the build is:
force shifters, red rear deailur, force cranks. Thompson seat post and stem, force front derailer, delta bars
finial weight at that time was 16.4lbs

then the second pic is of my 2013 stumpjumer fsr evo witch i just finished building
the build is:
rockshox revelation xx world cup fork, s-works carbon rear end, roval control sl trail (carbon) wheels. xtr shifters/front and rear derailer, xo cranks, thompson stem, spec command black light seat post, whiskey carbon handlebar, and magura mt8 brakes
finial weight for this is 24.5lbs

the last pic is just me racin on my Jet nine, witch im selling to build a carbon anthem.

 

I don't mean to sound like a hater, but i understand your skepticism buying from ebay. Most of the taiwanese bike shops will sell their legit brand name goods and ship internationally to USA to make a profit because they realize that they pay a cheaper price than an American LBS that has to pay for importing and various taxes. In this past summer 6/12-8/12 i was in taiwan for a 240KM bike race, days before the race i brought in my bike for general maintenance and i looked at their prices and everything is way cheaper in taiwan. A Giant FCR Hybrid there cost around 250 USD, but in the US it is like 800 USD.

 

Never seen a road bike like that.........