Seattle Forrest

It shows you the gaps in traffic behind you do you have a better idea when to move left to get around an obstacle, without having to look back as often.

bpcyclist

Those Blackset look interesting. I had not heard of them before. The others I will probably stay away from. The more I have read about carbon clinchers and rim brakes, the more I just think it's a recipe for badness. Even if there were an aluminum brake track, that heat still will be imparted to the surrounding carbon fiber/resin. I'll get carbon wheels with my disc bike. But thank you for suggesting them.

bpcyclist

I had an FSA crankset on a Wilier that I liked a lot. Why do they say these are for offroad and not road?

dim

get 2 rims (HED Belgium Plus) .... use your existing hubs (or search ebay for good used 2nd hand hubs) and have a wheelbuilder sort it ....

noodle soup

I'm guessing it doesn't have an 11 speed freehub body.

wirides

Maybe, but I'm not convinced the rims alone (using the hubs he already has) would make an perceptible difference and that's a lot of messing around. I'm also in the market for some wheel upgrades which is why I'm interested for something reasonably priced that will be worth the investment. Most everything this crazy expensive.

bpcyclist

Intrigued by the idea of using some of my Mavics to build my own wheels (with help, obviously). Hadn't even considered it. Gonna look into that some more.

I very much like the idea of the ShockStop and the Varia. I used a mirror for a couple of years, but it kept getting knocked off and ultimately became a headache. Now, I freely admit to constantly looking behind me. Maybe I can make the Varia work in the city somehow.

Looking at Cero and Hunt in the UK. Not super psyched about either, the more I read. Looks like there are actually a bunch of "budget" alum. wheels in Europe, just not so many here. Still doing research here, but I did come across John Neugent in San Luis Obispo (neugentcycling.com), who appears to be making some excellent wheels that are high value for the dollar/GBP/Euro, etc. Going to email him and see what he suggests. He has low visibility because he appears to do, like, no marketing. Already sounds like my type of guy.

dscoduc

I believe they are listed as offroad to appeal to the Cyclocross and Gravel bikes... Plus, they are a little wider rims than usual road tires in order to support the wider tire widths...

I especially like that these hubs can be converted between QR and thru-axle.

Seattle Forrest

I know I already said this, I'm going to repeat myself. Plus I'm in front of a computer now and it's easier to type.

I found the Varia radar to be really useful in a city. I think Portland and Seattle are generally pretty similar as cities go. It's not like being in Manhattan.

Pretty much everybody chooses to ride on low traffic streets where they're available. In a car you want to be on the arterials with high speed limits, where all the cars are concentrated, but that does nothing for you on a bike unless you need it to get around a park or to cross a bridge or something. But you'll be on a residential street if there's a good one available, right? So already it's not going off constantly, but still a lot more than when you take your bike out to the country for a scenic ride.

I try to ride as far to the right as it makes sense to. Sometimes you'll have something like a long section of no parking, and one car off on the curb. Or some nasty pavement, or glass from a broken window. And I'll want to get into the traffic lane to go around it. Without the Varia it's more looking behind you to time that, with, you have a pretty good idea when you're going to merge because your head unit doesn't just say there's a car behind you, it shows you how many and their relative positions, including gaps. And it's spooky how accurate the thing is. So you know when to merge, you still need to look back to confirm, but you can spend a lot more of your time looking forward. I think that's especially important in the city because you never know when a kid is going to run out from behind a parked car or tree or something. Or an elderly person.

It's pretty easy to glance down at the head unit for a fraction of a second and take the info in. Mirrors never worked well for me, this is definitely better. Plus, I always saw mirrors as a risk, if you go down hard and face first it's going to be broken glass in front of your eye.

Ferrouscious 

Tires. GP5000's with nice tubes (latex or lightweight butyl). Next, Kool Stop Salmon brake pads. $20.] New bar tape of your choice. SRAM SlickWire brake cables. Shimano Dura Ace shifter cables. Get a Varia radar with leftover money.

02Giant 

I bought this set; https://bicyclewheelwarehouse.com/PU...Wheel-Set.html about 4 years ago. I didn't realize BWW still carried them. They spin up quick, a fun wheel to ride aggressively.

zacster

I suggested this before, the Redshift Shockstop stem, so I had to buy it for myself. If you order directly from Redshift it is 20% off, so $119 instead of $149. I'm in no rush to get mine since I'm unlikely to ride outside for awhile. I was really impressed with how not fatigued I was when I rode that Roubaix. If the Redshift is only half as comfortable I'll be very happy.

bpcyclist

Thanks for the tip--I think I had heard of Pure, but don't remember where or when. Those are really light, though. I'll definitely check them out.

FlashBazbo

Is it legal to say here that I've got a Redshift ShockStop stem (100mm) in lightly used condition that I'm selling? (PM me, if you're interested.)

And the Varia tail light CAN be difficult to mount if your BMC has the D-shaped seatpost. I like the Varia a lot. But it prefers round seatposts and, if you use a seat pack, you'll need to make sure you have enough post left to mount the Varia under it. (Oddly, my OPEN doesn't have room for both and my SLR01 has the D-shaped post.)

But a set of wheels that saves 500g (1.1 pounds) may be a decent investment. Contrary to what an earlier poster said, 1.1 pounds is NOT 0.5% of the weight of a BMC SLR02. (I don't think BMC has ever sold a bike that weighed 220 pounds.) It's actually 5% and, because it is rotating mass (see also, gyroscope effect), the lighter wheels will make the bike feel more nimble -- because it is.

WhyFi

Lol - that was quick. That bad, eh?

FlashBazbo

No, it’s actually really good on rough gravel and rock. It was perfect for the Open Range 200k this year. But I’m not planning to do any of that next year and I’m refocusing the OPEN for paved/dirt road use. I think that stem is overkill on the road — and a little portly.

zacster

I just bought mine to use specifically on road. The Roubaix ride I took was entirely on road and that just smoothed out everything, even the wooden board bridge I crossed on the trail from Sausalito. I also have some ulnar nerve issues and I'm hoping this will help.

aboss3

Curious as to what you end up getting. Santa just brought me my gift early - 2019 BMC Teammachine w/105.... Looking for some upgrades as well.

bpcyclist

Nice ride. What color did you get? Mine's sort of charcoal.

aboss3

bpcyclist