Exciting Tour de France this year so far. Something about seeing Alaphilippe in the yellow jersey makes me happy...I think its because he seems himself to enjoy it so much, even if his chances of winning the Tour overall are slim.
Exciting Tour de France this year so far. Something about seeing Alaphilippe in the yellow jersey makes me happy...I think its because he seems himself to enjoy it so much, even if his chances of winning the Tour overall are slim.
To be fair, the Tour has been pretty good this year. There's some good, young talent flexing their muscle. It hasn't been the usual who's going to finish 2nd behind "insert Team Sky/Ineos rider" for the GC. And if it wasn't for the stage where Bora threw everything into chaos trying to get Sagan back in green, he seems to be a little off for whatever reason. I've been quite enjoying it.
With all the wild fire smoke and a minor foot injury I've been out of commission since the middle of last month! Finally got back on my bike today and it felt great...though I do felt like I lost a little fitness unfortunately. Also my calf hurts for some reason that I can't explain. Ramping into things...did a 10 mile ride mostly flat. It will be a while before I feel good enough to take another crack at 7500m in a month.
So after casting about for a while, I've decided to switch things up and order SPD pedals for my CAAD12. I am more of an adventurist cylist rather than any sort of wannabe racer, and so being able to walk around seems rather nice. I also commute on my bike (well, I would if the whole pandemic nonsense hadn't happened) and the road cleats are just not pleasant. My road shoes (some cheap specialized shoes I got from my LBS) are also not great and too big (size 46, I should have size 44...). In addition to all that, I'm looking at getting into more gravel riding in the future so an SPD shoe just seems like the right move. At the same time, I don't want some gnarly looking g-shock watch/oakley sunglasses looking mountain bike shoes for my road bike, so the selection is somewhat limited. With all that in mind, I'm looking at the Giro Privateer Lace or the Fizik Terra X5 Powerstrap. Both are around $150USD
Giro: A kind of classic low key look - almost Chuck Taylor like. I don't mind the idea of laces at all actually, and I've read that these shoes are extremely comfortable and last a very long time.
Fizik: Pretty futuristic and, in my opinion, a cooler looking shoe than the Giro. But I've not heard as many glowing reviews about these, so I'm not convinced. I really like the color options though.
Anyone have experience with either shoe? I'm considering ordering both and keeping the one I prefer...only trouble is the Giro shoe is out of stock everywhere in my size.
Does anyone have SPD pedal recommendations? I was thinking of getting some Shimano M520 (or slightly pricier M540) pedals as they seem to be cheap and pretty much bomb-proof - as one comment claimed "the Honda accord of SPD pedals". I don't know a whole lot about pedals, but would love some input if anyone has any to give.
Those Shimanos you posted are the way forward. Minimal maintenance (a lick of WD40), easily adjustable and bullet-proof. Mine were about USD$50.
I’ve used them for several years and never had an issue. I use them on my Trek and the benefit over road type clips is that the shoes offer walkability without destroying the cleat.
Shoes wise, I had a pair of Specialized boots which worked fine. Currently I use some reasonably priced shoes from B-Twin (Decathlon brand). They’ve survived relatively well for the price but I’ve had to super glue a few things back into place.
I needed a pair of shoes that were wide width and the local bike shop didn't have much for options (and in looking since there really doesn't appear to be much out there that isn't expensive) but he suggested the Shimano CT41. Nothing special in the looks department but they've worked well enough with no complaints so far.
As for pedals, apparently I split the two you're looking at and opted for the M530. Depending on how you're planning on using them there are potentially 2 reasons I'd steer you elsewhere. If you EVER plan on riding with normal shoes, don't get the double sided pedals. They are a pain. A big enough pain that I 3D printed 2 platforms so I could ride with the kids without having to get all geared up.
The other being that when I bought them from Amazon they were $38 and now they are listed at $100.
If anything ever happens to the pedals, I had considered trying the Eggbeaters but those would be even worse with regular shoes than the M530s.
If the issue is riding without cleats it’s very easy to get regular pedals with clips on one side. My 10 year old Giant road bike has had flats + clips variant and has served well for commuting and riding with the cycling shoes. Can’t remember the brand but they’re basically SPD clips on a flat aluminium pedal. One side to clip in, one side to ride with regular shoes.
I have another bike with flat pedals. The cannondale will probably never be ridden without cleats (I've ridden it 2 times in 2000 miles without cleats, and both were to the LBS) so I think the lack of flat-shoe compatibility is ok.
@Eunos_Cosmo I have a pair of Shimano M089 shoes (also in a wide fitting @TB.) I've used Shimano SPDs for years but that's the first shoe I've had with a ratchet clippy thing and they're really comfy and fit well. As for pedals, I have 520s (probably) on my Ridgeback and a pair of EH 500s (one side is spd and the other is flat,) on my E-bike. Only used the flat side once.
I also got a bike cam recently. I was looking for one to record rides, not for any speed related gnarly downhill stuff, but more for a "lets have a look at my route and see why that driver knocked me over" kind of thing. I settled on a Techalogic DC-1 as t is one camera that looks both forward and back at the same time. It can with a couple of mountings and sat really high on my helmet at first, but you can take one of the sections out and it now sits lower. As it records 2 video streams simultaneously, it requires the fastest SD card you can find. Sandisk Extreme in my case (an Ultra didn't quite manage.) Like a dashcam, it records in segments (I've got it set to 5 mins) and once the card is full it overwrites the oldest files.
So everything finally came in and I was able to mount up my Shimano SPD pedals (M520 was what I went with) and SPD shoes (Giro Privateer Lace). I have to say, the ease of clipping in vs the road cleats and the ability to walk around is awesome. If there's a weight penalty, I don't think I can feel it and the stack height actually feels lower than my old shoes. The fact that the shoes fit properly (size 45 - had to send back a too-small size 44 annoyingly) is also huge because I finally feel like my foot is properly positioned relative to the spindel. The lace-up shoes are great and I immediately prefer the feel of them to my hook-and-loop road shoes I had previously - they just feel so much more uniformly snug. Laces, huh, who woulda thought? I suppose the caveat is that mid-ride adjustments are more tedious...but on my initial 21 mile, 1100ft ride I didn't feel any need to adjust the laces. Overall, gotta give the change a big thumbs up. 👍
First ride in months on my proper bike and I’m considering selling. I feel like it’s a waste sitting in my shed collecting dust when it should be out conquering the mountains. I just don’t have the time or enthusiasm for it any more.
With a new bar wrap and a polish is should fetch a good price, definitely enough to retire my commuter beater and pick up a replacement.
It’ll be sad to see it go but happy that it’ll get ridden as it deserves.
Fair enough but if you do decide to go down the custom route (and if you can afford it I'm a huge advocate of it) you have an absolutely cracking bike shop near by to do it.
I only know they exist because they are the sole distributor of Baum bikes (who made mine) in the US.
Oh wow, I'm not the only MTB rider here it seems ... Awesome Specialized btw! Love the color and I don't care about the reflectors (considering they will be a mandatory next year over here... thanks government...)
Anyway, had a little drawback with the Sierra a month ago... yes... a month without riding .... Found one day after a little delivery to my coworker that the tail's pivot was pointing a bit sideways to the left (like it suffered a side crash or something)... of course, it was worrying, so I took it to a friend's bike garage to see if could repair it, but no, it was a frame issue (as a bonus, the (beep)ing tail suffered a desoldering on the left side!) ... that meant going to the bike shop I bought it to ask a frame change under warranty... Usually, it would take 2 weeks minimum, but the shop didn't have stock available to do the change... So here I am waiting for it . Here's the poor lady that day...
Yeah, I changed the original saddle to a green Velo Pronto gel too since the original broke during a ride... Really comfy! . Thankfully, the human relationships lady told me last week a new set of Sierra's arrived in Peru ready to be sold and the frame change will be ready next week! ... But I decided to sell it to get myself some cash for a new bike, I already have the setup (my current savings + the selling money + my next payment = a new bike as a birthday gift!) ♥... I have Sierra's maker (Goliat) as a strong selling point, the fact it's an FS 29er, and that it has the right things a beginner MTB should have (like a replaceable derailleur hanger and the upgrades) to sell it quickly as a project bike (or at least as a commuter)
Also, I was already looking for some bikes and I found one that could be a killer with the right budget-friendly setup!
Local bike, 2020 Jeff MTB Cityzen 29er... A bit ironic name for an MTB (and yes, a hardtail), but that HQ aluminum frame is quite a looker
Caad from memory? No problems with those, good bikes. I had one many moons ago.
Fair enough but if you do decide to go down the custom route (and if you can afford it I'm a huge advocate of it) you have an absolutely cracking bike shop near by to do it.
I only know they exist because they are the sole distributor of Baum bikes (who made mine) in the US.
Try to hold on to it mate, have a few more rides to see if you can get the passion back before making any decsions. 👍
I went out for a very casual jaunt to see if I could be motivated to get back into the mountains.
I dressed in chinos and a polo and took my suicide bike (the commuter without brakes) and while the ride was particularly mundane I did have a great time.
The weather was perfect and it was 4 hours at pedestrian pace so I doubt I covered more than 40km. I even came across a “damsel in distress” on the cycle path which turned out to be the weirdest conversation I’ve had in a long time, but that’s a whole different story.
As for passion, well I love riding, my fitness is at an all time low, my arse hurts like I fell on it from the balcony but the feeling I have now after an afternoon on the back roads has certainly convinced me too keep my Trek and build up on my kms again so that I can experience this feeling more often.
A friend sent me this, I thought it would be correct to post it here considering what's sadly happening over here in Peru... To put it simply, last Monday the congress, against the constitution and democracy, impeached out president due to supposed corruption allegations (fyi, 68 of them are being investigated for the same) and the congress president (who doesn't have ANY kind of degrees at all) became the new president by voting from the congress board, as a result, 3 MASSIVE riots all over the country (and part of the world), incredible police brutality, hundreds of people missing and now even 2 killed due to injuries (caused by the police)... right now as I'm posting this, a massive group of cyclists are now riding pacifically in protest to over what happened yesterday ♥
Trust me, this photo is NOTHING in comparision to what i'm seeing right now on TV ♥
Oh wow, I'm not the only MTB rider here it seems ... Awesome Specialized btw! Love the color and I don't care about the reflectors (considering they will be a mandatory next year over here... thanks government...)
After beginning the modifications - the pedals and saddle came from my earlier bike, the seatpost had to be bought as the diameter differs from what I had previously. And the reflectors are gone... the plastic ones that is. Those wheel decals were designed by me and then custom cut from traffic sign grade reflecting vinyl.
Probably won't be long before Ineos is back up front again. 
. Thankfully, the human relationships lady told me last week a new set of Sierra's arrived in Peru ready to be sold and the frame change will be ready next week! 
