Muffin Man

I accidentally left my old pair at a race, so I used shop discount to make a custom pair and get a set of clear lenses for the track.

bianchi10

Those are slick!

FeltF2Tarmac

My wife thinks a bribe is enticing me to hang out with the mother in law. She doesn't get it. That's a very generous bribe, looks good.

rjones28 

Upgrade time.

Muffin Man

interesting. Why SR for only the fd?

Thanks! Much easier to store in the vents of my synthe than my frogskins haha

rjones28 

Reported to be stiffer, crisper shifting. Only a couple of bucks more than Record, so I figured I'd try it.


And it's like 7 grams lighter.

BounceCT

Repaired my leaking pump with a new specialized pump head chuck. lol

noodle soup

I have a few pairs of jawbreakers, and I love them for cooler temps, but prefer Flak 2.0XL for warmer rides. It's much easier to clean the sweat off them without stopping.

Nachoman

Six tubes due to three random flats and two punctures due to user error.

SpeshulEd 

I hate stretches like that. Mine always come in threes, almost always on different bikes, but always threes.

rekmeyata

I would have just bought a small box of a dozen glueless (I prefer glueless) patches for a lot less money. Lets see, $3.95 for a 6 patches use 5 patches and have 1 left over for another flat, or $53 or so for 6 tubes...I know, I'm just plain silly for thinking that way.

cave12man

Revolution Wheelworks REV30 Wheelset

HUGE step up from my Shimano RS30's.

CafeVelo

Tubes, co2, and some derailer cables. I had a rough ride yesterday.

SpeshulEd 

Time is money!

rekmeyata

That's code for "I don't know how to repair flats"

It takes me just as long to fix a flat then it does to replace the tube, and even if it takes an additional minute for sake of argument that means fo 5 flats it cost you $11.20 per minute which means you're telling me you make at least $672 per hour...

topslop1

Dope, I'm jelly.

SpeshulEd 

I was making a joke, but since this is the internet and we have to take everything seriously...

I fix my flats on the road by replacing the tube. I'm sure I can take a tube out and put a new one in faster than you taking a tube out, fixing a leak, and putting the tube back in...there are more steps to your process. Could I fix the leak on the side of the road, yes...do I want to while on my commute, not necessarily. Do I want to fix a leak on a 100+ degree day with no shade in site, not necessarily. My tubes come home with me, go into a box and when I have free time I repair the leaks.

Different bikes get different tubes tho. The road bike gets latex tubes, good luck getting a glueless patch to stick to one of those on the side of the road...good luck getting a patch to stick to it at home in controlled conditions. For that reason, I toss the latex tubes with holes in them.

The mountain bikes are setup tubeless. So there's about 4 other bikes that I have to worry about changing a flat where I could repair the leak. Four bikes that aren't ridden more than 10 miles at a time, that see the light of day maybe once a week and get a flat maybe once a year. And they're all beater bikes so cheap tubes work just fine. I stock up when I can get them for $2 or less a tube. So what's that, $8 a year. I can handle that financially.

rekmeyata

You sure do assume a lot. I can bet you that I can fix a flat, assuming I know where the hole is from the start, and fix my tube as fast as you can taking one out and putting a new one without the use of CO2. I have a method I've used for years, most of the time I don't even have to remove the wheel from the bike, I leave the wheel on and remove about 1/2 of the bead on one side with the penetration point being in the center, I then pull out about a 1/4th of the tube again the hole will be in the middle, I then buff the tube and apply the glueless patch and press as hard as I can for 30 seconds, check the inside of the tire for any perturbing objects if it wasn't sticking out of the tread and remove it, reinstall the tube and tire, pump and go. Obviously this method doesn't work all the time, but most of the time it does. When it doesn't work that way you will probably beat me, but I would rather find the leak while I'm there because everything is apart and I can index the tube once I found the leak to find the penetration point and make sure nothing is still stuck that would flat either a new tube or a patched one. And I use to live in the Mojave Desert, and Palm Desert area of Southern California, don't tell me about hot days, I did it plenty of time in temps in excess of 100 degrees.

I don't use latex tubes, I found them to be a waste of money with no discernible difference in flats or performance, although supposedly there is about a 1 to 2 watt gain which can't be felt anyways but if I was racing I would use them, they were a tad more comfortable though. Glueless patches do not stick to latex permanently they will stick for about 3 to 5 days, so you were partially right on that one. And to toss a $20 plus tube every time there is a hole makes my earlier example even more lopsided in regards to the point I made about time is money.

You can fix latex tubes though and save a lot of money on buying new ones every time you have a flat. You simply take an old latex tubes and cut a bunch of 1" diameter pieces, then when you have a flat you use Pastali rim glue that's used for tubular tires, and spread a very thin coat on both the patch and the tube, then apply it and press flat as hard as you can for about 30 seconds and the tube is good to go. The rim glue works better than trying to vulcanize it since latex is not butyl, it will work but I've found it doesn't last as long maybe a 6 months...I can't recall now it's been a long long time since I tried vulcanizing glue on latex, but even with regular patch glue you still have to put the glue on both the patch and the tube. So if I was using latex today I would replace the tube on the road instead of patching it and wait till I got home to patch...but I would still carry patches with me because one never knows if they'll get a 2nd flat in one ride.

I haven't found any reliable tubes for $2.00 or less as you stated that you use, I've had issues with those cheap tubes using poor quality presta valves, inconsistent tube wall thickness, seams that split, and the weight of them are heavier than other tubes. I also stock up on tubes but that's because my LBS has a running sale on Specialized tubes where if I buy 3 I pay $21 instead of $10 for one, but since I patch I only have 2 or 3 at the most in reserve.

f4rrest

I have a box of 100 derailleur cables -- had a streak of really bad luck myself a couple years ago and got tired of buying them one by one.

f4rrest

Whoa, lots of good info in the tube-patching-throwdown here.

Plus... latex tubes roll up really small, so they take hardly any space as a spare.

dim

A Trek 1000 (bought for a bargain and which I will use for my daily commute)... it is a WSD (womans version), but it was cheap and fits me like a glove. Feels a lot quicker and is a lot lighter than my existing daily commuter.

It comes with fenders and a back rack already fitted, carbon forks, carbon seatpost and carbon handlebar. I might even try this one for a few 200km audax rides

It is at the LBS for a service, and here is a pic of a similar:

CafeVelo

The ones I like don't come in a file box or I'd have done the same. We keep plenty on hand at work though, so I just went that route.

okane

A nos what looks to be a decent quality metric tap/die set at a flea market for $5. Due to medical issues in the family haven't had time to closely examine. He had some other things dirt cheap like a new in the box magnetic base work shop lamp for $1 that will be perfect for my grinder/buffer area. Purchased some other non bike related items from him too.

IN our area you gotta get there early (no later than dawn) to find the good stuff cheap.

rekmeyata

100? or did you mean 10? how bad of a cable breaking streak did you have? My cables are going on their 4th season, if I had hundred of those they would last me at least 400 years! Of course the cables might rust/corrode away by then, I think I save a cable in a package and see if they last 400 years.

ARPRINCE

If you don't have a flux capacitor, how can you check in the future?