HC Bike/Cycling Thread

[Nebby]

That's cool of your shop to give you a good pricing on the C24's, I haven't had much luck with pricing leeway on the bike shops near me. I have the Alchemy hubs on the enve's and they're pretty nice, but availability on the hubs may be limited since they've been closed for the last few months and will be for a few months into 2014. If the builder has them stocked then that's not an issue, but it's still something to keep in mind.

 

I really do like the H Plus Son rims, that anodized brake track looks great even though it'll eventually wear off.

[raffy]

C24s for $750 on Paceline

 

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=142482

[Dreadhead]

Yeah apparently it doesn't last more than 200 miles though so not really worth considering when purchasing.

 

The R-SYS SLR's were bloody gorgeous and light but they weigh like 100 grams less and cost $850 more (at my pricing) and are way less aero than the C24s. No pricing yet on the Fulcrums but I expect $150 more than the C24s.

 

I'm probably going to go the Fulcrum route as they look prettier and aren't labelled Shimano on my SRAM bike. Either of them are about 300 grams lighter than my 2009 Zipp 404 clydesdale clinchers.

[Nebby]

If Shimano had done their decals the same way as previous versions (without clear coat) they wouldn't be an issue. Alas they painted over them for this iteration

[Dreadhead]

Fulcrums would be around $300 more for me. In the grand scheme of things for wheels I'm putting on a bike as expensive as the Calfee it's a feather in the wind but it does give me pause.

[Dreadhead]

I looked at my buddy's (shop manager) Fulcrums today and they don't seem worth it to me.

Instead he is trying to sell me blacked out Mad Fiber clinchers for a clearance price with the assurance that I get full purchase price towards a set of Mavics or something else if I break them within a year.

I am so fricking annoyed with myself for not just jumping on the V1 clinchers that were up on Paceline. I emailed about an hour too late.

[raffy]

IMO Chris, I would go with the C24s. Light like you want and has a great track record of being stiff enough for 180+ folks. The only downside is it doesn't match your otherwise SRAM bike but I think that is rather trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, just my opinion

[n_maher]

My vote is the waranteed Madfibers, Chris.  If the Paceline pair had any issue you'd be out a grand.  Sure the pair from your shop costs more but you're covered for the next year.

[VPI]

Mad Fibers without any doubt for me.

[Dreadhead]

Yeah I think I am going to take him up on it. He's matching the Competitive Cyclist price before they sold out which is pretty great. I just have to get tubes and gp4000s tires too.

[dimitris]

What is it that you didn't like about Fulcrums? I am looking at the c24s and to be honest I dont see the point. They seem to combine 2 different materials without the wheel actually being any lighter. God knows how the different materials are connected and how they will react under continuous breaking. At least the fulcrums have ceramic hubs and allow tubeless with no tape.

Edited January 14, 2014 by dimitris

[Dreadhead]

The C24 rims are much lighter than the Fulcrum ones, but they have heavier hub/spokes. No one has had any issues with the C24s other than wearing out the breaking surface. They are almost 30% cheaper and that's what mostly I was talking about.

 

My buddy's Fulcrums had Evo Corsas and they just felt heavy and high inertia and the ceramic bearings felt grabby compared to both the Mavics R-SYS (and other Mavics) and the Mad Fibers. They did not have C24s in stock just some of the ultegra ones and I didn't take them off the bike but I liked the visible carbon too.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Dreadhead

[Dreadhead]

He lowered his price by $300. It is done.

[raffy]

Which wheels, Chris?

[Nebby]

I'm guessing the mad fibers?

[Dreadhead]

Yes Mad Fibers. Could not turn down $1500 for unused Carbon wheels.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Dreadhead

[nikongod]

Squirt turned 2000 miles on the ride home tonight. 

 

The new hub, which has been converted to oil lubrication, is significantly awesomer than the old one which was just greased. 

[Dreadhead]

The dynamics of a bunch of things have changed at work and I am not going to be able to make the week I proposed for going to SC. I may be able to do it a few weeks later but I am not sure where my fitness will be as I am working almost all the time until March. Sorry Ben

Edited January 18, 2014 by Dreadhead

[Nebby]

No worries Chris, some other time perhaps

[Dreadhead]

Blacked out and ready to roll.

Too bad it is too bloody cold and I have work to do.

[n_maher]

Damn that's hot!

[Nebby]

Very nice, Chris!

[Dreadhead]

Thanks guys. The buyer hasn't bothered me to pick up the tubulars. I may just leave it and hope he forgot.

Gains about 0.7 lbs compared to the tubulars. 15.74 lbs.

Also ordered a new fork with lawyer tabs after Calfee gave me a significant discount.

[raffy]

Did a tour de cure training ride today and it was around 37 degrees when it started. While I was overall cold everything was acceptable except my hands and toes which were numb.

Next bike related purchase, full finger gloves and toe covers.

[Nebby]

Did a ride today with a couple of folks in the local tri group. It pretty chilly out, I think the forecast said it'd be 28F with a 22 windchill but my garmin shows it as 32; either way the windchill made it feel cooler than it really was.

 

I was definitely the slowest so it was a good challenge for me, but nonetheless it felt good. I did forget to eat around the 2 hour mark and started bonking at that point, which made the rest of the ride a bit rough.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Nebby