spingineer

So I'm stealing this idea from George, in SoCal ... it's a cool thread, and we need one in here.

What did you recently buy? Show it off here.

damnpoor

I recently bought a new Fizik saddle, but it's not showing up till tomorrow. I bought some pants today too, but I doubt you want to see a picture of them.

kster

Last week I purchased the best tail light available:
https://www.dinottelighting.com/DiNot...Tail_Light.htm

Now, I'm just afraid I'll blind passing cars.

sj_roadie

kster, when you get that mounted up, do post up a pic of it in action. I'm curious and since winter seems to be approaching fast I need to add a headlight and taillight to my commuter. The above pic is impressive, but would like to see real world pics too...

twocoasttb

I bought a $21 indestructable seatpost to replace my latest failure (a Specialized something-or-other) which gave out coming down Mt. Hamilton last week. I've gone through two Easton EC-90 seatposts this year- the first exploded spectacularly when I was descending out of Foxen Canyon at the Solvang Century (ride over at mile 85); the second stopped maintaining its seat pitch when the plastic teeth got stripped (probably my fault). The Specialized turns out to have a spectacularly bad design and also stopped maintaining its seat pitch. I'd like to get a Thompson; I hear they're both light and indestructable.

spingineer

Wow, cool kster ... I'll have to check it out. Nothing I like better than to shock cars with how brightly lit I am ... you can never have too many lights. When I was double training, I had handlebar blinkies, another one under my saddle bag, a pair that wraps around my ankles, and another one at the back of my helmet. Much better to be seen, than not be seen!

kster

sj_roadie, I can post a pic in a day or two but I'm using this mounting bracket:
https://www.terracycle.com/Merchant2/...uct_Code=accmt

SesameCrunch

I bought not one, but two, folding bikes last week off Craigslist. I'm a bit of a folding bike nut.

First one is a 2003 Dahon Speed Pro. It's a fast folder, features SRAM Dual Drive hub transmission. Real cool.


The other is a 2006 Merc, it's a clone of the Brompton - best British folder there is. Folds into a suitcase.



I'm selling one of my existing folder, just to make room ....

jonathanb715

No pics yet, but I just bought an Acura TSX - 2007, black with tan (ok, they call it parchment) leather interior. The only option is navigation, which I turned down. It's a pretty neat car - the 4 cylinder engine is smooth and makes nice noises, the 6 spd. shifts with typical Honda feel, although I still manage to shift into 4th instead of 6th on a regular basis, and the suspension tuning, while softer than I'm used to, is still firm enough to be capable when I want to play. The engine does have VTEC, and really comes to life above 6,000rpm (my old Alfa felt the same when it came on cam), but that doesn't really help much most of the time. The rest of the time, it is good but not great - but it is good enough.

It also comes fully loaded - leather, bun warmers, mirror de-icers, sunroof, bluetooth speakerphone, XM radio, decent sized wheels and tires (unlike my old Acura Integra, where the first thing I did was call Tire Rack and replace the incredibly undersized wheels and tires). It drives nice, quiet on the highway but with a nice growl when I'm pushing it, rides far better than my old Mazda Protege (which in the end didn't go hummmmm, it went "Boom!") and generally is just a nice car to be in. Not bad at all.

Of course, I then needed a new bike rack - the old Saris Bones didn't fit (believe it or not, the panel gaps are too small between the trunk lid and the fenders to work with the straps). I was torn between a roof rack or a hitch mount. The final cost to carry 2 bikes would be close, since I needed to buy either a hitch or the cross bars - the ease of also carrying skis meant I now have a Yakima roof rack.

An expensive month!

JB

caloso

Recently?

Some new shoes:



And some new bars:

Siu Blue Wind

My very first pair of clipless shoes (yesss---thoseareclipless/platformpedalsthere), a couple of those insulated bottles that everyone is now telling me are bogus and some Pearl Izumi gloves that I found out will be falling apart soon according to everyone who has them.

*sigh*

jonathanb715

The insulated bottles are bogus?!! And no one told me? I've been using mine for the last few months, and they're great. They will keep stuff colder longer than non-insulated ones. Not like a thermos, but put some ice in the water and it will still be cold 2 hours later, even on a hot day. That's all I need.

JB

Siu Blue Wind

Really?? Are yours the Polar kind? I haven't tried them yet but my friend was saying they don't keep it cold THAT long and on another thread everyone was bashing them!

Thank you, you are giving me hope. I really didn't want to think I wasted my money.

hammern_frank

I got a wedgie..I dug deep and found $16 to splurge on this luxury item this morning. The description on the website says you can carry two tubes plus other essentials. One tube seems to be more accurate.

jonathanb715

Yup, mine are the polar ones. I've used them on some brutal days, too - we were doing Mt. Diablo repeats on the day it hit 108 in the shade at the junction ranger station, and it was pushing 100 on the day we did Mt. Hamilton and Sierra Road. It really is nice to grab your bottle and get a swig of something cold (or at least cool) when it's that hot.

JB

Siu Blue Wind

Great, Jonathan! I feel better now! I'll be taking the bike to Tahoe in a couple of days and plan on being ready for it.

mtnwalker

Yup, those polar bottles are great. Here's what I do with mine to keep it cold longer. I fill up the bottles a quarter of water. I then place that bottle in the freezer angled on its side the night before any ride. Fill it up with water the next day and you are good to go with a cold drink for at least 2 hours. For the really hot days, 90 and above, I fill it a third of the way and the ice lasts for the same duration.

Siu Blue Wind

Good idea, mtnwalker! I'm gonna try that. Thanks

alainp

I too can vouch for the polar bottles. Well worth the extra dough over the noninsulated bottles.

jonathanb715

By the way, the polar bottles will stand up just fine to being washed in the dishwasher - just turn off the heated drying cycle.

JB

alainp

Got a Thompson seatpost for the road bike based on a bunch of suggestions.
Liked it so much I got one for the mtb too.

Siu Blue Wind

Alain, please excuse my naivete but what is the big fuss over Thomson? I mean, is there that much of a difference between that and a Ritchey or Salsa? Not a sarcastic trolling question here. I honestly want to learn please.

alainp

I just like how rigid they feel. I had a Bontrager carbon on the roadie which felt too flexible. The carbon FSA on the mtb seemed week, especially when it creaked a lot. Very annoying . Haven't tried any other seatposts but the Thomsons are pretty cheap (both on ebay-one new one used) compared to some of the other ones out there. Plus, I like the look... clean and simple and, although I'm not a weight weanie, they're very light .

Siu Blue Wind

Oh I see. Thank you! I have never tried a Thomson so I really cannot compare. Maybe one day I will though. And as for carbon posts, they scare me.

alainp

I haven't done the research yet but I have read some references to carbon going KABOOM!!! Don't know where that came from but I'd like to see some video footage myself .