all purpose gear thread

I gotta say that shifting w/my new ultegra gruppo is v nice (not a shimano stan btw)

kinda think i got lucky with nu-ultegra as my first 'real' road group experience tbh. think it might've dropped the chain... once? otherwise shifting has been rock-solid, comfortable brifters, brakes are good. i like the twin-levers shifting too - have a feeling i'd get over-excited on a sram setup and go down when i wanted to go up or whatever.

serious qn: is front mech trimming not an issue anymore?

only arksing because of smooth gear changings across the board w/the ultegra 6700

does anyone experience with vermarc stuff? a friend is doing a shitload of gear for his informal club (the group that rides from his restaurant), and all my old shorts are wearing/worn out. it would be weird to wear kit from a non existent "team" but the price is right-- if the gear is good. looks nice.

One of my top 5 favorite "feeling" (as opposed to "looking") bib shorts I own which are from Vermarc Sport DK. I got them in the Sports Basement bargain bin for ~$20 and they declare very loudly across the butt and thighs in Electric Blue and Gold: "PROCYCLING" in three different futuristic Fred-tastic fonts. No team name nor illusion of sponsors like their QuickStep kit... I like to think that the usage of "PRO" is in the advocacy sense but who am I kidding. Bear in mind I would never wear these on a day that I would have any chance encounter of anyone I know, and mostly these see the most saddle time under the wintertights.

But yes... PROCYCLING!

The chamois looks "medical grade" if that makes any sense. Very nice.

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/BacaroKit_FINAL_OLcopy_Page_2.jpg

no "procycling." "eat to ride, ride to eat" = fat mantis approved imo

hmmm, i'll probably take that down in a couple, its not my image.

boo... img rip

thinin' 'baout compact cranks

you can get 110 bcd rings up to 52, so why don't you see more bikes with 52, 38 on a 110 bcd. OK so the chainrings will be marginally heavier or less stiff, but more choices on 110?

guys I just want to point out that I've been wrenching half assedly for a few hours and my bike RULES

so why don't you see more bikes with 52, 38 on a 110 bcd.

you do in the pros when they go to the mountains. some guys rock a 52/36 which must wreak havoc on the chain/rear d but i think they install chain guards (?).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81965454@N00/3115540665/
― cutty, Thursday, December 18, 2008 1:15 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

cutty wht is this bike? it is pimp

ah raleigh one way, p.nice

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1018/4721829372_2c61cf0794_b.jpg

that's awesome. at my old job, we had catalogs like that going back to the late 80's with all kinds of innovations that seem totally ridiculous by today's standards.

reminds me of a kidney pool.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124052/index.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bicycle-Road-Touring-FACET-BioCam-1000-50-Speed-/280476276840#ht_575wt_954

cutty iirc u been using dura ace tubeless - what's yr verdict?

OHHHHHH btw... my teammate who I was supporting in my race on Saturday was riding.... Dura-Ace tubeless. Just an FYI... those conditions sucked though. I was riding reynolds attack front (crabon) and easton circuit (alum) rear.

he flatted... that was my point.

my flat count for the last 12 mths

commuter: 7 (incl. 2 in space of @ 3 hrs, was not happy that day)
roadie: 1
singlespeed: 0

moral of story: never commute by bicycle

what kind of tires do you have on your commuter? i'm tempted to go with some bomb-proof tank tires this winter.

I have superslick, superlight Ultremos on my commuter and I never puncture (twice, on a tyre that had started to delaminate (and had been recalled), in 7000 miles)

anyone got a spare set of 27" x 1 1/4 alloy wheels going spare?

spare spares

GEAR!

http://bikehugger.com/images/blog/roadwheels.jpg

^great for conquering the col nagl

Not in a UCI sanctioned race you won't

i got a 16 spoke rear race wheel that looks like the one on the left... some weird Astana-era Bontrager re-brand of a Hed 50mm carbon rim with DTSwiss bladed aero-spokes and DTSwiss high flange hub.

The decals were rather annoying so I modified the "BONTRAGER" to, at first, "F N RAGER" and now to simply "RAGER"... which may not last the week tbh.

http://www.ibikesports.com/detail.aspx?ID=84

I wonder if Apple would be interested in sponsoring my new Apple iBike Team

the reviews on that thing are all over the board but the bad reviews are really brutal on the accuracy (esp the tests done with multiple systms). for that kinda money just buy a powertap.

ayo i just scored this sweet 20 spoke straight laced wheel from a buddy but neither of us can figure out what the manufacturer is. the hub and skewer clamp both have an S shape with an N or Z cut out of that and a 3 in the empty space and no combination of any of those characters gives me a hit with googles. anybody know what i'm talking abt? will post pic in a bit for clarification . . .

Specialized?

Suzue?

Sounds like Neuvation.

http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/cycling/images/Neuvation_logo_for_blog.gif

Maybe this hub laced to generic rims?
http://www.neuvationcycling.com/product155.html

that is not the hub on that m28, the one i got is probably kinda old now
there is some light corrosion in and around the qr clamp thing
and i can't discern any markings on the rim, so that is a good guess that i would be the hub and a generic rim.
points to steve shasta totally nailed that logo looks the same as hub and qr clamp, thanks!

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd210/jdchurchil/bike%20stuff/DSC_0029.jpg?t=1279803058
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd210/jdchurchil/bike%20stuff/DSC_0028.jpg?t=1279803100

ingenious carradice quick release solution
http://www.cyclofiend.com/working/2009/wbph001-andreball0909.html

the gear system (shimno positron!) on my gf's bike is pretty shonky - if I wanted to change it for something cheap and reliable (5 spd) what would be my best option? i.e what am I looking to score off of ebay?

Even hardened stainless steel wears down after a few thousand miles:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4827369721_08b0329c7b.jpg

http://www.rouleur.cc/uploads/gallery/101_01.jpg

http://www.rouleur.cc/the-laurent-tshirt

Spent some time today fettling up the old neglected 1998 marin muirwoods, put lovely new jagwire cables in, looked bang on, except the front shifter will only find 2 positions (of three) and the rear will find 5 of 7. None of them are particularly sound either, feels well wrong, have a horrible feeling the springs etc in the trigger shifters are gone, which will only incur more cost, may as well have just got a new bloody bike. Am well pissed off with it.

so, im not riding slack but i keep dropping my chain off the cog. i've retensioned twice but the prob keeps coming back in a few rides. the alignmnent is perfect and has not changed. is this just what happens with ss drivetrains/cogs when they get worn out? cog looks to be ok to me, but does have pretty high mileage.

Probably not the problem but is the chain clean/lubed? Frequent problem with dirty rusty chains.

thx. could probly be more lubey, but is def clean. worth trying tho. i'm dreading tryna pull the snapring out of that nexus hub in order to replace cog. snapring is diabolical to put ON, can't be easier to get off, im guessing.

so, im not riding slack but i keep dropping my chain off the cog. i've retensioned twice but the prob keeps coming back in a few rides. the alignmnent is perfect and has not changed. is this just what happens with ss drivetrains/cogs when they get worn out? cog looks to be ok to me, but does have pretty high mileage.

vertical, horizontal, or track ends?

track ends