Gah! I meant to ask you how they stood up to the rocks and roots on Sunday. Glad to hear they worked well. I may be in the market for a new set of wheels for my cross bike before the season starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by hozn
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Gah! I meant to ask you how they stood up to the rocks and roots on Sunday. Glad to hear they worked well. I may be in the market for a new set of wheels for my cross bike before the season starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by hozn
Right now I would easily recommend these. I'm going to spend more time with them off-road at some point when our trails dry up. Not my first set of LB rims, though, and I think LB have done well to earn themselves a good reputation in the MTB scene. You can get entire wheelsets from their Pacific Northwest branch too now (https://us.lightbicycle.com/), though they cost a little more and options are more limited. I imagine it's easier to warranty with them if there does happen to be an issue; hopefully one could warranty Asia-sourced rims to the NA location too. I hope I never need to find out!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunyata
While LB isn't the cheapest, they're certainly a great value compared to bigger-name brands. The 36mm-deep rims were just under $400 after shipping fees, etc. They threw in some valve stems too, which I guess is nice when you're spending that kind of money on rims.
I went with cheaper hubs on that build. I wanted to try out the newer D791/792SB Novatec hubs. The hubs were probably $90 shipped slow-mail from China. I replaced the bearings with $40 worth of Enduro bearings, since the bearings they use in the mainland-China versions are allegedly not very good -- so still a pretty inexpensive hub option. On this particular wheel I actually used CX-Ray spokes, because I had half of the spokes already from previous projects. So it wasn't *that* much more expensive to do that. But my default would be Laser spokes. Which adds up to something like $400 (rims) + $120 (hubs) + 56 * $1 (spokes) + 56 * $0.4 (nipples) = ~$600. So not cheap, but also not very expensive wheelset when you consider they're carbon rims. Upgrading to Hope hubs for another ~$120 might be worth it for a primary or gonna-get-abused-a-lot wheelset, though I'm not at all nervous about the Novatecs as I know replacement bearings or parts are readily available and inexpensive.
My next (and final, for this bike) wheelset is gonna be Yishun's asymmetrical, 33mm-deep, 21mm-wide, hookless rims. They're a little cheaper. (Around $370 shipped.) I like that they're asymmetrical. Yishun also has a good reputation for their wheels; we'll see how they turn out.
From the custom graphics dept: The original helmet in the Starduster Racing gold & white (circa 1981) and the newest...Attachment 17276Attachment 17277
A few new-to-me updates on my main commuter:
I replaced the handlebar tape and bottle cages with new hot pink ones (and by "I replaced", I mean I asked Steve O nicely and he wrapped my handlebars for me while I fiddled with the bottle cages) a few weeks ago. I regretted using blue handlebar tape right after I did it last time, so I'm glad my bike has been returned to it's rightful hot pink.
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And on Saturday I finally gave up and had a kickstand installed on this bike, and my other flat bar commuter. I moved a week ago, and to get out of my home I need open my front door, prop it open, carry my bike down 4-5 stairs to get outside, set it down on the sidewalk, and then go back up the stairs to lock my door and grab my bags. Same thing for going in--I need to leave my bike, get up the stairs, unlock and prop open the door, and then go back and get my bike. There are no trees or poles to lean the bike against anywhere near my entrance, so it's been a daily annoyance of watching my bike tip over when whatever I tried to prop it up against fails, or laying it on the ground. So as much as I didn't want to add a kickstand, it seemed like the only solution short of breaking the condo association rules and planting a giant tree or pole in the ground by my stairs.
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I've used it for the past few days and I will say it's totally worth it, even if it causes me to lose the few cool points I had left. It's made my life a ton easier.
I am so glad there is both a tree and a pole outside my place! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Emm
But I have actually been wanting to add a kick stand to my commuter for a while now. Once I move and will not have to carry the bike up and down a flight of stairs every time I want to go for a ride, I think I will add one.
Not a whole bike, but related: today I took my recently purchased Ikea SLADDA trailer out for its maiden voyage. I had some old UPS (battery backup) units to take to the Household Hazardous waste dropoff site at Fort Totten, and thought riding would be better than driving the things there. Was probably getting close to the trailer's 100 lb. weight limit, but honestly it rode pretty well. Seemed slightly easier than pulling the loaded trailercycle, actually. Things rattled around a little bit, but it was more stable than I thought it would be despite not having tied things down. Also, since this is my first trailer (I've rented one for #kidical hauling before, but that was also with a rental bike so a totally different feel), I'm not sure how it compares to a nicer trailer ride-wise, but for $129 (the Ikea Family member price - which is free to sign up for), I think it turned out to be a pretty good deal.
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NBD!
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Spec Sequoia Pro Module, Roval Fusee, Roubaix Pro 700x32, Campy Potenza (52-36, 11-28), Paul's Klampers, Zipp cockpit (waiting on stem...). PDW fenders coming at some point.
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As always, very nice!Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Meatmotor
What's that saddle?
Also, someone is selling a set of Compass 32mm tires on eBay if you want to try them out (sadly not tubeless): https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F192496454157
Cool - I think I'm going to grab something in the 40-44mm range, probably compass, eventually. I do intend to not try to beat the p*ss out of this bike like i did my last commuter bike. Also trying the new cool sh*t for long wearing chain/lube: KMC DLC + Silca NFS lube. Also, the reflective clear coat on the frame is insane!
I am enjoying my 38mm Barlow Pass. They are fast tires (certainly feel faster than the Schwalbe G-One speed or the Roubaix Pro 2BR), especially at low speeds. I am just using standard casing -- and have no burning desire to go to the extralite. No flats yet -- knocking on wood. Though a couple of punctures (e.g. a thorn in sidewall) that were sealed by sealant. I have ridden these on a fair bit of gravel now; I think I am brave enough to even make these gravel race tires, if the course isn't too rocky (e.g. not HBR, nor Iron Cross).Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Meatmotor
Compass makes a 44mm option. Can you fit 44mm under fenders on that bike ?!
Did you do that paint job? It is very bling -- and very distinctive.
The brakes are a nice complement too. Too bad Paul doesn't make those in flat-mount (yet).
Actually, I am really surprised you didn't do the new Campy hydro.
My midlife crisis bike might be a steel road disc bike, I think -- Campy hydro. Maybe even CK hubs :-)