all purpose gear thread

I am wondering if I should start looking at alternative bikes - the Focus still isn't in stock, and it's almost two months since I ordered it. If I were to go for something else, do you think Wiggle would feel morally obliged to give me some kind of discount/upgrade if I had to choose a different machine?

i dont know about their moral obligation, but obv its in their best business interest to satisfy their customer in the face of unreasonable delay. did they advise you that there would be such a delay?

what are your damages?

btw i bought that basil bag w/ no performance review. hope its not a pos.

no free lawyering

yeah and its england. ive got a copy of chitty on k's right here on my desk tho, so solicitors and barristers watch out.

ok i had ordered a bag from carradice but it was on hold until i approved the shipping cost. i then figured i would cancel as it looked like shipping would be exorbitant. carradice just advised shipping from uk is affordable after all, and i really wanted their bag in the first place. gah!

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7941/bikebureaunfrontlb2.jpg

i think i need some new handlebars (i have flat ones now, but my wrists start hurting on longer rides). i'm not sure if i should get flat ones with bar ends or just get drops?

my old commuter had flats/barends and they were very good for alternate hand position. my current bike has drops, and i love having the hoods, but i almost never use the drops because the bar has a very deep bend.

also, refitting with drops gets pricey real fast if you want brifters

Bullhorns!

would like that bike

altho i don't really dig the straight forks

When I ordered the bike they said end of April. At the end of April this changed to the end of May. I got an email today saying they were sorry, they still didn't have it in and they'd chase up their supplier. All a bit disappointing although I haven't been misinformed (as far as I know).

Cutty, I don't think lawyers are the first people I'd go to with anything to do with morals :)

ledge, have you looked the Fixie Inc site recently. Sigh.

just CALL THEM AND COMPLAIN BRO AND BE NICE. summer's a wastin'

when i looked at yr bike on bike radar last week the second thing i saw was other ppl complaining about delays. obv its an issue, no idea when it got to be one.

true story-i net ordered a bunch of bike parts (airbomb), and they put my order on hold for one week, then two. i called them yesterday, said "what up?!," and very nice dude said, "how bout i replace with next model up for no charge, ship tomorrow?" and i said "cool."

so yes, even some net order houses will help you. (dont think it was a moral issue tho.)

Hmmm that sounds good! I shall take your advice I think. Thanks again Hunter (you ought to start charging for advice, like cutty, it's solid gold stuff).

cutty charges for advice?

Eww it's the spider bike.

??

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1117/1058568572_8c31a2f6a9.jpg

Bought today: teflon grease, teflon lube, track pump w/ gauge. 80psi feels really fuckin' inflated, or at least compared to the 60psi to which I was previously, and approximately, inflating my tyres. My tyres can take at least 115 psi, according to their info, but I am way too scared of explosions to test this out (I am also terrified of blowing up balloons in case they pop in my mouth).

100 psi for you. (im surprised you didnt have problems at 60 if yr on 23s- squishiness, pinchflats etc)

I honestly thought I was inflating fairly aggressively. Maybe it was higher than 60 - I should experiment from 1 bar and see if I can gauge a rough estimate as to my previous levels. I certainly had a couple of punctures about a year ago which I was pretty sure was because of over-inflation (I managed to blow a substantial hole in a Specialized Armadillo), but in retrospect I guess it couldn't have been.

couple of punctures about a year ago which I was pretty sure was because of over-inflation (I managed to blow a substantial hole in a Specialized Armadillo)

dunno. if the bead was seated right, i think itd take an awful lot of pressure to accomplish this.

i knew guys whod go 20 psi over the tire psi rating for tt's. i thot it was dumb, but they didnt appear to have problems.

Ah well, I guess I was wrong. I had a very brief ride today - did a 2/3 mile hill three times, interval training of a sort - but there was enough of a tailwind to be uncertain of any benefit. I was expecting the ride to feel much harsher but it wasn't as bad as I'd imagined.

Would it be a criminal offence to have auxiliary brakes on a 16lb carbon bike?

Oh, Hunter - do you read/post on any cycling forums? Any you'd recommend for a non-racer noob like myself?

bikeforums.net has some good info i think.

i dont do any others anymore as they usually are not worth the aggravation or i think the ppl are unreliable. rec.bicycles.tech is sometimes worth a perusal on tech questions.

i <3 my new bar ends

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/2539505395_b1fe6c348c.jpg

bar ends and risers! so unfashionable, my friends tell me. but i don't listen to them.

A wonderfully arch diss from the ledge there.

lol, no it's true, i sport the same combo myself!

i knew i was going to get clowned somehow for my bike setup!

responding to a post way way way back (sorry)... mark, do your eggbeaters have titanium spindles? if they do, it's better to grease them with ti prep instead of standard grease.

xpost to jordan (nice name, btw)- bar ends on risers have nothing on mary bars... the most hideous handlebar creation of them all.

bar ends on risers are barftown, get some nice wide bullhorns broski

Hi Jordan,

No, the eggbeaters have stainless steel spindles, so teflon grease will be okay?

Not that I'm getting the fucking bike, and am engaging in a deeply unsatisfactory exchnage with Wiggle who want me to take the next model down as an alternative. Fuck that (though I guess if they can, say, give me much nicer wheels on it, I might say yes).

xpost to jordan (nice name, btw)

???

bullhorns look nice, but it was so much cheaper and faster to get the bar ends. maybe later, although i am still kinda tuomas about why the bar ends/risers combo is bad.

How much of a wheel upgrade are they offering?

xpost to Mark C

xpost to jordan: my name is jordan as well.

Ed, Fulcrum racing 3 vs Fulcrum racing 5 (price difference: £211 at Wiggle). Basically, the way we've worked it is I'm getting both, so I might have the 5s to sell.

Bar ends/risers isn't bad, it's just unfashionable. Ignore the hataz.

ok wow that carradice bag got to me in colorado from lancs in 6 days total. meanwhile i've been battling to get parts from two different usa suppliers for almost 4 weeks. o my country.

so this bag seems pretty great for what i need. comfortable on the shoulder, easy to affix to the bike, looks normal enough that i dont have to transfer gear to another bag when i dont commute by bike.

Carradice stuff is damn good. I had an utterly indestructible pair of panniers made by them. What did you get?

bike bureau as pictured upthread. actually, silver/gray fastex buckles have been replaced by simple black on mine.

i looked at the arkel stuff which is highly rated, but their attachment system looks to be a pia for commuting (though bombproof). and more expensive, even after i paid 19 pounds for shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350071576486&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=022

How much is that worth in us$$??

$80 or so...I had a B-17 Narrow and hated it...i like the standard B-17..FWIW

just bought a black san marco rolls instead

Guys I just won a competition! Well, actually I was runner up in a competition but I won a Rapha Classic Sportwool Jersey! Are they any good? They're quite expensive it seems, so I assume so.

MARK, THEY ARE AWESOME!! KUDOS!

Yes truly awesome and worth nearly 200 quid or something ridiculous.

One thing that's great about my ancient Raleigh singlespeed conversion is that I walk into bike shops for parts and they go deep in the bin for the cheapest stuff they can find, and then discount it. Or maybe I just look like I need a hand.

Had four bikes stolen out of my garage on Friday night, including my fancy go-fast carbon di2 road bike. Luckily renter's insurance will cover the loss, and 2 of the 4 I was actually trying to sell. Ironically the only loss that hurts is the one worth the least amount of money: My wife's 1990 aluminum Miyata around-town bike. All the other ones were new and served a purpose, but that one was old and wierd and charming. The first bike my wife ever bought for herself, by herself, and the one she rode to all the protests this summer (it took some tear-gas and pepper-balls to the frame). That one was posted to OfferUP that day, and I made an offer, planning on showing up to the meet with a squad of friends to get it back, but got no response. Eat shit bike thieves.

noooo

damn that sucks asssss

Terrible terrible.

Terrible terrible.

Two of the four stolen bikes recovered! Last week, one (wife's trek/gary fisher presidio gravel bike) by the local bike shop. The guy who works there (a friend) noticed somebody with it trying to put air into the tire with the pump they have sitting out on the sidewalk in front of the shop. He ran out and grabbed it, much to the dismay of the noticeably altered dude who had it. I brought them a bunch of beer and halloween candy to thank them. The other one, my wife's prized Miyata, just today at lunch. One of my close friends noticed a woman holding it in the parking lot of the 7-11 right off the freeway offramp. He ran in there and got it back for $20.00. It's had it's saddle and pedals swapped out with another of the (still missing) bikes but it's otherwise in fine shape. Getting one stolen bike back is a rare stroke of luck, but to have two back is shockingly lucky.

good to hear. hope more horses make it to the barn.

Well the bike theft story ends on a very good note; Insurance gave us a big check to replace what was taken, and my friend coincidentally had a very nice 2019 Pinarello Prince with all the bells and whistles for sale. He is almost exactly my height, so it's a perfect fit. I can't help but be a little embarassed at how well I came out from the whole ordeal. If I were to try and sell my old race bike (which I was planning on doing), it almost certainly wouldn't have been this easy. Thanks thieves, I guess?

https://imgur.com/jkBYAWi

well that's nice!

spoke nipples on my city bike developing a light verdigris patina