[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Bike Update: I had bought Cannondale CAADX in December last year, and I used that bike for a few 200KM brevets and one 400KM brevet. However, I found that bike lacking a few features that I didn't know I will need at that time. Besides, when the rim cracked, I decided to return it for a full refund.

What are the features that were lacking?
Rim cracked because of manufacturing defect and hence they processed full refund?

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Wow 61 cm means you must be as tall as my son. 6'3.5". I'm a 54 in Cannondale and a 56 in Specialized. Most others like Trek, Merida and Giant too. Though the Bianchis probably also run large like the Dale frames.

I don't use my phone for navigation neither do I have a fancy Garmin. I map out my route on Mapmyride which helps with the gradients etc. and then take a blown up printout with my annotations scribbled on it from CP to CP (distance, planned time, etc) and waypoint to waypoint, making sure I concentrate on all the important turns and junctions.

I am 6'3" with long limbs to boot. My inseam is nearly 37". A 61cm frame is just about good enough.

Being able to navigate using printouts and road signs is impressive. I am terrible at that. There is a popular ride here, called D2R2 that I am thinking of attempting. It is supposed to be one of the toughest but most beautiful organized ride. They dont publish the route online. You have to use cue sheets. It's not exactly a brevet given that it is not sanctioned by ACP or RUSA but it is quite popular. I might try it if I am around.

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

What are the features that were lacking?
Rim cracked because of manufacturing defect and hence they processed full refund?

The fork did not have mounting options for a rack. I could have gotten by with a handlebar bag but then that would have left me with hardly any options to mount the light. Also, they could never adjust the derailleurs so that chain wont rub in bigger cogs. The cracked rim was just what broke the camel's back. I had bought it from REI (rei.com) and they have a 1 year satisfaction guarantee. I was not satisfied. So, they gave a full refund. Diverge on the other hand has eyelets in the fork where I can mount a light.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by amitoj

I am 6'3" with long limbs to boot. My inseam is nearly 37". A 61cm frame is just about good enough.

Being able to navigate using printouts and road signs is impressive. I am terrible at that. There is a popular ride here, called D2R2 that I am thinking of attempting. It is supposed to be one of the toughest but most beautiful organized ride. They dont publish the route online. You have to use cue sheets. It's not exactly a brevet given that it is not sanctioned by ACP or RUSA but it is quite popular. I might try it if I am around.



The fork did not have mounting options for a rack. I could have gotten by with a handlebar bag but then that would have left me with hardly any options to mount the light. Also, they could never adjust the derailleurs so that chain wont rub in bigger cogs. The cracked rim was just what broke the camel's back. I had bought it from REI (rei.com) and they have a 1 year satisfaction guarantee. I was not satisfied. So, they gave a full refund. Diverge on the other hand has eyelets in the fork where I can mount a light.

I guess the advantage (if you can actually call it that) in India is that the routes are usually along national and state highways. Very few if any back roads. So getting lost or taking a wrong turn would really require talent.

The cue sheets are mainly for the CPs (which are weird sometimes, especially at night) and turns or junctions for major direction changes.

Cheers, Doc

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Cheers, Doc

Where have you been Doc? Glad to see you back here!

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by am1m

Where have you been Doc? Glad to see you back here!

Taking a break and becoming a cyclist from.a biker. Lol

Cheers, Doc

[navin_bhp]

Originally Posted by amitoj

After a lot of research, finally got myself a Specialized Diverge Comp E5

Congrats! How do you like the future shock?

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by navin_bhp

Congrats! How do you like the future shock?

Thanks.
It does reduce the road buzz a little. However, I think I have the stiffest one in there. Once I get more experience with it, I will switch to the medium one and see how that goes.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by graaja

You can also add Merida and Specialized to that list. They too have good entry level carbon bikes. Check out the below video.

The advantages of Carbon over Aluminium is weight and less vibration.
For an entry level Carbon bike you will get a much higher specs Al bike. The weight savings too looks good on paper but not really worth the price difference.

IMO Carbon frames are an overkill if you are just another person who rides for pleasure or fitness. Carbon frames can give competitive advantage if the rider himself/herself is so fit that there is no scope for body weight reduction.

Cheap carbon is actually very risky. Carbon will shatter and not bend. Though Merida and other companies will surely have much better QC for even their entry level Carbon bikes the risk reward is just not worth it.

If you are not participating in professional events its better to wait and let the Carbon technology evolve and become better and cheaper.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by amitoj

The fork did not have mounting options for a rack. I could have gotten by with a handlebar bag but then that would have left me with hardly any options to mount the light. Also, they could never adjust the derailleurs so that chain wont rub in bigger cogs. The cracked rim was just what broke the camel's back. I had bought it from REI (rei.com) and they have a 1 year satisfaction guarantee. I was not satisfied. So, they gave a full refund. Diverge on the other hand has eyelets in the fork where I can mount a light.

Wow, you did 400km rides with chain rub!

Ah! Life in America with those 1 year no questions asked returns!

Here my friend's Triban 540's rear rim bent on our recent ride and forget refund/warranty, we are having trouble sourcing the Shimano RS-11 wheels. He had to buy another make as a makeshift!

Originally Posted by freedom

The advantages of Carbon over Aluminium is weight and less vibration.
For an entry level Carbon bike you will get a much higher specs Al bike. The weight savings too looks good on paper but not really worth the price difference.

IMO Carbon frames are an overkill if you are just another person who rides for pleasure or fitness. Carbon frames can give competitive advantage if the rider himself/herself is so fit that there is no scope for body weight reduction.

Cheap carbon is actually very risky. Carbon will shatter and not bend. Though Merida and other companies will surely have much better QC for even their entry level Carbon bikes the risk reward is just not worth it.

If you are not participating in professional events its better to wait and let the Carbon technology evolve and become better and cheaper.

I saw similar opinions in some previous posts on this thread when I was looking for a road bike. Eventually I bought the B'Twin Ultra 700 which has Aluminium frame with carbon fork and I am extremely happy with it. It's 9.5 kg (with pedals) which is very light for me and goes way faster than my Scott Metrix 10 for the same effort. In fact, I am enjoying a new fun game - matching my B'Twin time on a given route on my Scott the next day :-)

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Wow, you did 400km rides with chain rub!

Ah! Life in America with those 1 year no questions asked returns!

The chain rub was only on the bigger cogs at the back with the big chain ring at the front. I could get by by switching to smaller chain ring at the front.

The return policy for bikes is usually not as generous as it is for other goods here. REI is the only store that offers this on bikes, and that's also one time offer. Otherwise, you can't even test ride a bike without buying it if the store doesn't have your size on their floor. Some will offer a 21 day return policy at max, that too with store credit as refund. Full cash refund is rare.

[eyesice]

Are there any single speed road bikes available in India? I see brands like Fuji has a model called Fuji Feather but is anyone aware of a dealer in Chennai who sells Fuji bikes?


I was just contemplating on a good road bike and I live in Chennai which is mostly flat except for the flyovers. I thought I would rather get a good road bike with a single gear rather than having to spend loads on an expensive groupset.

[yogi1771]

In Chennai you can check with Probikers,they deal with Fuji
https://www.facebook.com/probikerschennai/

Longshine are the distributors for Fuji here
http://longshine.in/road-bikes/page/2/

[Jeroen]

I bought a nifty little tool sometime ago, that I thought I would show off here.

It helps to get a better understanding on how much your chain has worn and it comes in handy to replace the chain.

Much has been said and written about when to replace a bicycle chain. Many will say you should always replace the cassette and front sprockets as well. I am not going to argue that, but I’m just going by my own experience and what I have been doing for many years, if not decades.

Obviously, I clean my bicycle, chains, sprockets, cassette on a very regular basis. Make sure all the moving parts are properly oiled too. I do change out the chain on a fairly regular basis. For me that is usually every 2500 - 3500 km, give or take. With that I rarely have to change out the cassette, let alone the front sprockets. In fact I will easily go through 4-5 chain before the cassette needs replacing.

Of course, here in the Netherlands, the roads are all tarmac or cobbled. I never go offroad. I might come across the odd grit or dirt track, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

So here is the little chain measuring tool:



You just hook it into the chain on the one side and then see how far the long curved side ‘sinks’ into the chain. If it goes this far it is at 75% and really needs replacing



My current chain was at 100%, definitely need to be replaced:




Here is where this nifty tool comes into play as well. Very handy to stretch the chain so you can work on it!



Out comes my chain punch



Et voila



I have put two nails in the beam in my garden shed. So I can hang the old and the new chain and compare lengths. Actually the new chain was identical in length to the old. So I did not have to adjust it. Went straight on.



The new chain goes on, attach the little tool:



Fix the new chain and measure it. You can see the long curved part now doesn’t even begin to slide through, 0% wear as expected!



The new chain came with this special locking shackle. A little tool like this one is very useful to undo those:



All in all a ten minute job. I took my bicycle for a quick test run. Made a funny noise. Got the chain wrong on the derailleur. Had to undo it, thread it properly and all was well again!



I did have to adjust the front derailleur a bit as well. I think the new chain must have been marginally narrower than the old one.

But it all runs beautifully again. It’s gorgeous weather here and I have taken to commute to and from work on my bicycle a couple of times a week. It’s about 44km from my home to our office, so a decent work out. We have showers and changing facilities at the office, so that works pretty good!

Jeroen

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I bought a nifty little tool sometime ago, that I thought I would show off here.

It helps to get a better understanding on how much your chain has worn and it comes in handy to replace the chain.

This is just wow!
What is the tool called? Is it available online?

44km one way to/from office on a cycle must be fantastic on the Europian roads which are smooth with disciplined traffic. My office is 21km from home, it's fun to pedal in the morning, but evening/night ride back home is bad due to reckless traffic and pollution here in Pune!

[yogi1771]

The tool is called the chain checker
http://happyearth.in/store/tools/sho...indicator.html
or you can even use a ruler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5okJdYrANt8