SpeshulEd 

A cat jersey.


A garmin/go pro combo mount:


And the Two Fish bottle mount because it's getting warm in the desert and my seat post mount looks ridiculous.

T13

Yeah, kitchyness aside, it's pretty cool. Really good hot chocolate too.

steve-in-kville 

From Retrogression: Nitto riser, headset, stem shim, grips and brake lever to finally complete my 80's Bianchi SS/FG conversion. Looking forward to it!

nocluejimbo

Picked up some lock-on grips and levers so I can throw a Salsa Salt Flat Carbon on the Nature Boy. Just need to run new brake lines.

Tahoe41

Hey guys Im new to this forum and new to biking in general. I recently bought an Opus Belcanto SS off of craigslist to be my first "real" bike. I also bought some small stuff for it: a little emergency pump that works decent, an under saddle bag, and a new riser handle bar and grips because I didn't like the handle bar the previous owner had on the bike.
The new stuff, nothing special:

the bike before:

handle bars on backwards...

bike after:

Now the only problem is the brake lever doesn't fit on the new bar somehow and the brake cable is too short to place the lever near the grip. I think I can solve both by getting a properly sized lever but getting a right lever instead of a left, but if that doesn't work how hard is it to install a longer brake cable?

SpeshulEd 

You might be able to get the current brake cable to work by removing some of those spacers and lowering your stem (and ultimately cutting down the steerer a bit).

Not sure about your height - maybe you need all of those, but it does seem a bit excessive.

franswa

First pair of clipless kicks

T13

Do most people on here just not cut their steerer because of resale or what? I notice that alot. I'd go insane with that amount of steerer/spacers sticking out. Or is it compensating for a slightly too small bike? I'd flip that stem too. That way always looks like a "comfort bike" to me...

50voltphantom

If they weren't lace-ups I would be all over those.

SpeshulEd 

Chainlove had a similar pair of Giros from their new road collection marked down from $150 to $50 yesterday and I would have bought them had they not been too small.

I highly recommend giving laces a shot. I have two pair of the giro empires - a road set and a mtb set, both are awesome. Easily my favorite cycling shoe.

I hear ya! Both of my road bikes are slammed, my fixed has 20mm of spacers, and my mtb has 30mm. I usually give it a few months of riding when I get a new bike and adjust things accordingly. I do think a lot of it is for resale...others are afraid to make the cut. I'm sure others have fit issues, but that opus has about 6" of spacer stack, you could definitely cut that down a bit.

Mumonkan

i never understood that resale mentality on anything except maybe a car.

idunno about you guys but when i buy a bike im thinking about how it fits and rides, how much its gonna be worth selling it to someone else never crosses my mind

i buy my bikes because i want them, not because i want to sell them to other people. im not a bike shop.

franswa

I'm confident they will be a substantial upgrade from my slip-on Vans.

Tahoe41

This is how the bike was set up when I bought it. Im fairly tall 6'2" with long arms and legs and the guy I bought it from was the same height as me maybe slightly taller. I think Im going to ride the bike for a while before making any major changes to see how it feels. Right now I would rather ride more upright, that may change as I ride more though.

TejanoTrackie 

You need to realize that a lot of the peeps on this forum are more concerned with form than function, and post their bikes in the expectation of getting a lot of love. I always leave extra uncut steerer tube on my bikes until I've put hundreds of miles on them, and get my riding position fully dialed in. After that, I typically leave at least a 5mm spacer on top of stem and below the top cap. I don't get a lot of love here from the cool crowd, but enjoy riding my bikes a lot.

prooftheory

Also, people who change their bars out at all regularly are not going to want a slammed stem and cut steerer.

SpeshulEd 

I don't mean to be an ass here, but I usually buy bikes that fit me, so form equals function. Between the stem and the spacers on that Opus, there seems to be close to six inches of extra steerer tube there. Obviously, ride the bike and get acquainted with the ride and what fits best, but if the owner really need those six inches, perhaps they should have purchased a different bike. A 5mm spacer on top of the stem is one thing, 80mm below it and another 30mm on top of it is a bit excessive no matter how you try to rationalize it.

Edit to add: in no way am I suggesting the guy slam his stem, he said the brake cable was too short, and I just suggested that he could most likely move his stem down some to accommodate the brake cable.

prooftheory

There were two separate questions. 1. Why does that guy have so much steerer? 2. Why do dudes have so much steerer showing? TT was responding to the second one. You were responding to the first one. It's all good.

TejanoTrackie 

How about just buying a longer brake cable and housing ? Do you adjust the bike to fit your parts or to fit you ?

T13

I agree with this too. And I'm sorry if I kinda derailed his question. I just always wondered why no one ever cuts their steerer down "to fit". I usually get my bikes in my size too, but there have been times in the past where i compensated with seat post/stem length etc etc because i found a "good deal" and needed/wanted a bike. I like a happy medium with form and function, I'm not 100% on one side or the other, honestly.

Also, I can't imagine needing "100's of miles" to get my bike dialed in.

Mumonkan: Yeah, I don't get the "resale mentality" either. With anything really. Tube amps, guitars, bikes, etc etc, if I want it, I want it to keep it. Seems weird when people talk about resale value, especially when they just got something. Shows no connection to anything. Weird and robotic, to me.

SpeshulEd 

I wouldn't call a bike with 80mm's of stack below the stem a bike that fits. Honestly, it doesn't look like that steerer has been cut at all and is still sitting stock from the factory.

Bernd Kraut

I've bought a bit stuff for my fixie, but haven't installed it yet. (Maybe I wait until the current chain and sprocket wears out and change them then on.)

TejanoTrackie 

I guess I'm not seeing the same photos you are, but I don't see nearly 8cm of spacers there, maybe half that. Anyways, the bars are level with the saddle, which is not unreasonable for a relaxed riding position.

SpeshulEd 

I dunno, 8cm is just over 3", I'd say it's pretty close.


Here's mine with 20mm of spacers:


And my old Fuji (RIP) right after I bought it with 40mm of spacers.


Anyway, the point I was trying to make was, the guy could just drop his stem his bit and make do with the existing brake cable...ultimately allowing him to ride his bike safely the same day rather than waiting for brake cables to come in the mail or having to make a special trip to LBS for some.

Tahoe41

Thanks guys, just making it clear that no one has offended me. Im still trying to learn as much as I can and just enjoy riding. After really looking at it, the steerer tube does seem long but I will see how it all feels once I get the brake situation sorted out.

TejanoTrackie 

Well, here's my Wabi Lightning with 4cm worth of spacers, so I dunno.