LeoGrand

Very nice helmet!

RidingMatthew

Thanks!

I am bit worried about it fitting my head. I hope it fits my head well. Not wanting to have to figure out how to return if it doesn't fit.

CarloM

Self healing cutting board, acrylic ruler, rotary cutter and 3M VViVid paint protective film. To line the underside of the down tube, back of the seat tube, and maybe the underside of the chain stays. Basically as much of the area that gets pummeled by road debris as possible. I know my new ride will get damaged, but I don't see the harm in protecting the most-abused areas.


It's arts and crafts time!

phtomita

Short crank arms for my short legs. It is a 145 mm but is like 148 per seller. Got it yesterday but didn't measure it.
It will go for my experiment on my Centurion Ironman

noodle soup

The kit didn't include the fitting? That's strange.

noglider 

How short are your legs? I'm 5'9" tall and short-legged. My pants inseam is 30". I normally ride 170mm cranks which feel OK. Whenever I try a bike with 175's, it feels uncomfortable, and that's weird because I wouldn't think 5mm would be so noticeable. I tried some 155mm cranks on one bike of mine, and interestingly, I like them just fine.

phtomita

I'm 5'5" and 29" inseam. I ride 165 mm on Tri A and ProTour that have Shimano Hollowtech II on them - R7000 has a 160 mm available, but nothing short.
The Ironman has Shimano 600 crankset with also 165 mm.
Recently I have some discomfort on my right knee, and since this was a cheap find I am giving it a try.
Probably will try on Sunday, after my double century-ish (short) this Friday Saturday riding my TriA.

noglider 

@phtomita, I'm eager to hear how you like the 145s. That's pretty darned short, but they may be good.

The trend lately is for bike makers to use longer and longer cranks. It's not a well-understood science, so they're not crazy, but member @rhm has opposing theories. I decided to try them, and I agree that shorter cranks work better for me. Rudi is tall and long-legged, so when he uses 165s, they are short for him.

TimothyH

Kit?

No, Hope does not include tools for bleeding with their calipers, if that is what you mean. Shimano is no different - bleed kit has to be purchases separately from the calipers.


-Tim-

noodle soup

I was referring to this kit.

puma1552

I bought this exact helmet today to finally replace my god awful ugly $40 Specialized Align from three years ago.

And honestly, while a massive improvement in so many ways, I'm not sure I like it because of the really finnicky strap system - the little adjusters can move on the straps so easy and it also seems like it's easy to have it set up and then the next time you put it on any one of the straps is rubbing your ear.

I mean I plan to keep it, and eventually got it adjusted just right, but I played with the strap system for 30 minutes before I was satisfied. My Specialized was much simpler since there was a single adjustment point at the chin strap, and the chin strap was a bit more comfortable IMO.

RidingMatthew

it arrived today �� I will try it out tomorrow I guess


Tried it on sitting in the house so much smaller and less material sticking out the back. I think it will work well for me.

puma1552

Got a ride in with mine today, I decided I like it - I didn't think about it at all on my ride, as it should be. It is so much smaller and better than my fugly Align.

puma1552

Not so much a purchase, but a warranty replacement (for my hybrid):



Less than 4 months old, maybe 5 cycles on it (rarely ride my hybrid) and getting less than 2 hours battery life on a setting I should be getting 8.5 out of, thank god my gut told me to keep the receipt (had the same issue with the prior generation headlight but never warrantied it since I didn't keep the receipt). Emailed Specialized Rider Care, they said go ahead and just bring it back to the LBS and they will swap it out for a new one and Specialized will just go ahead and honor a warranty claim because it's so new.

Printed the email, brought the email with the light and receipt back and got the line that they can't honor anything Rider Care says because it's not the warranty department (AFAIK Rider Care is the only point within Specialized that a customer can even reach) and that we have to go through the LBS warranty department/process (...) despite the fact I'm sitting here with an email from Specialized - that I brought with me to leave with the LBS so they could include it with the returned light proving it's back on Specialized - explicitly stating that in this case the warranty policy is that the shop is authorized to just do a quick, direct replacement. So as he starts typing it up I'm thinking great, another strike for this LBS chain, probably be 3+ weeks without a light, 4 if they end up needing to order one later by the time a decision is made.

Luckily though as he was typing it up, at some point he changed and said he could just give me the new light today, and they had just one in stock luckily. So in the end I did get to walk out of there with a new light, so that's good. They did make it right in the end without too much hassle.

beckerfuffle

My last purchase was some Cinelli Cork Gel Ribbon Handlebar Tape to replace my old peeling fi'zi:k tape. Nothing too fancy but it feels great!

woodcraft

Unfortunately, IME those Specialized lights are garbage and this was also the report from a friend who is management at a Specialized dealer shop.

Just toss it & get something else- what I did.

puma1552

Yeah I know they aren't the greatest, and are overpriced. I had the preceding Stix Comp models and liked them more than the current Elite models, but oh well - had a junk battery on the Comp headlight.

What I like about them is that I just need lights to be seen vs. lights to actually see since I don't ride at night. The other thing I like is how clean they integrate on my Sirrus with Specialized's SWAT system. Plus since I ride the hybrid so infrequently, I don't need to rely on them too much - just can't have the batteries be junk, which right now I'm only batting .500 on the 4 I've bought, so I guess that's telling.

Sojodave

I've been through tons of saddles and I am hoping the Specialized Power Pro will be the one. The Power Expert has been the closest I've been to a long-term saddle. I'm hoping the level 1 padding will be better on long distances.

woodcraft

I hear you.

I keep going back to "Blackburn Click"- coin cell battery lasts pretty much all year and never leaves you in the dark.

Why can the equivalent USB one barely make it through one ride?

puma1552

Another warranty replacement...came apart real quick...

noglider 

The problem isn't so much the battery. The USB chargeable lights are more powerful because the goal of that kind of light is different. It emphasizes putting out some real light, whereas the coin cell light is just to be there and say you have a light. You should have someone ride your bike and look for it. You won't really see it.

dagray

29 x 2.5 inch Maxxis "Grifter" road tread tires for my mountain bike. SMP Evolution saddle in red, and I have platform pedals with dual sided SPD clips on order at the local bike shop.

I am loving the Maxxis tires on my Raleigh "Talus" 29er as it means I can come home, hop on the bike and get a short ride in without having to change shoes to ride my road bike.

woodcraft

Here's a brand new Blackburn on the left, and a 'Thunderbolt 2.0' USB on the right.

They're about the same brightness (bright but not blinding), but the coin cell one gradually gets dimmer while USB ones stop abruptly.

The one actually mounted on that bike is rather dim by comparison so I need to change the battery, but it still puts out some light.

Re: the Specialized ones, the problem seemed to be the switch, the mounting of the light onto the base, the mounting onto the bike, and the battery.

I like Specialized overall just not this item, but it's also a peeve of mine- lights that won't last even one ride, & leave you in the dark.

Flatballer

Taking pictures of lights and assessing their performance based on them is a fool's errand.

Sy Reene

Pretty sure the photographer was in the same room as his camera and used his naked eyes as well.