A.R.S.E.

Ok, so let's start a thread where we can just show of stuff we've just bought.

Today I got some of these...


Shimano AM45 MTB SPD clipless shoes

My 1st adventure in to the world of Clipless, and from the short little ride I squeezed in tonight they are nothing to be scared of. It might be different on the trail though but they felt quite good.

I also got some new race rubber all ready for the 24 hour and some new shorts and a couple of Jersey's, one of which feels so tightly i look like a sack of potato's...

oh.. and some fluro green grips.. to filth it up.

This arrived yesterday
got this not too long ago too.. pretty happy with it

Hz-Lab wrote:My 1st adventure in to the world of Clipless, and from the short little ride I squeezed in tonight they are nothing to be scared of. It might be different on the trail though but they felt quite good.

my only advice is to make sure that the release is on the pedals is set as easy as possible. Found out the hard way that the pedal mech and cleat love to attract dirt/sand/mud which in turn will jam the release mechanism!

Glad I start my refereeing this week to pay this lot all off:

Specialized Sirrus ($600)
Yeah yeah, already probably know that. Arrives in 2 weeks from now hopefully.

Cygolite ExpiliOn 250 ($125)
Should arrive this afternoon so I might give it a try on the street tonight Two shops here had it but it was worth going online for it until the shop matched the price yesterday after I ordered it. Derp


PDW _radbot 500 ($30)
Great use last night heading home from the station. Couldn't justify going for the 1000 after seeing this in action.


Other than that:
Mudguards ($40)
Very light plastic ones that are sturdy and have a quick release.

I still have panniers to order yet and one or two good locks but I've spent less than I was expecting. Might plan to get a jacket within the next few months all depending on how I feel the commuting/riding is in colder and wetter weather.

Also got a couple of these recently for myself and Miss V when they were on special at Torpedo7. Haven't tried them out yet.

Have you tried that headlight at night yet, Crowella?

I did a ride on Wednesday night and the one I have is virtually pointless, though I didn't buy it with night riding in mind. I need something much brighter if I'm going to ride at night again.

I didn't get a chance to try it because I needed to charge the battery and it wasn't ready in time for soccer training. I'll try to give it a run tomorrow morning before work.

The box was totally belted though when it arrived which doesn't say much for the couriers

I chose it because both bike shops highly recommended it and all the staff but one runs one of them on their bikes.

Not totally bling but I reckon these Fulcrum Racing 5's should do me as good training / commuting wheels for a while.
It's my first Campag (albeit suedo) purchase so let's see if they can live up to the hype.
$265AUD (20% off sale) from Wiggle, they sure do have some neat features for a mid-speck wheel even if they are a little weighty.

Flash looking shoes Hz

Nice looking wheels Flinty , I'm sure you'll be happy with them . I've got Khamsins on my bike atm , they are indestructable . I'm going to upgrade to some Zondas when I can afford it , I like cone and cup bearings

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... AMPWHFR505" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The last things I bought were Shotz energy tablets



and a couple of new tyres , not very exciting

Darren, I gave my headlights a spin tonight. I have no problem with the ExpiliOn. Unless you are going race pace in the middle of the night on a dark road they won't be a problem. I might try a full length night run when I get the chance to really put the light through its paces but for my commute and fitness runs, it fits what I need.

@CLP, will be interesting to see how the camshot goes.

Lets see how many times I can fall over before I figure out how to use them

Wind the tension in the SPDs back a fair bit to start with. Makes it easier to get used to.

i have a bell.

That's the end of that plan. Time to go test ride some bikes.

DarrenM wrote:

spanner.jpg

That's the end of that plan. Time to go test ride some bikes.

Couldn't get the pedal off?

One pedal is a left handed thread.

Yeah, I checked the thread on the new pedal to make sure I'm 99.99% sure I'm going the right way, but they've never been taken off so they're nicely seized up.

Trying to remove the crankset at the moment but looks like I need a special tool to do that, so off to the shops again. If I can get it off then I'll see about replacing it.

DarrenM wrote:Yeah, I checked the thread on the new pedal to make sure I'm 99.99% sure I'm going the right way, but they've never been taken off so they're nicely seized up.

Trying to remove the crankset at the moment but looks like I need a special tool to do that, so off to the shops again. If I can get it off then I'll see about replacing it.

I got one of those all purpose tool kits off Cell/Torpedo7 that Carl recommended.

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/TOBE-35-PC-Tool-Kit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty similar to that one.

It has a few things that are hard to find at hardware stores. Cone spanners, cassette lockring removers etc.

DarrenM wrote:Yeah, I checked the thread on the new pedal to make sure I'm 99.99% sure I'm going the right way, but they've never been taken off so they're nicely seized up.

Trying to remove the crankset at the moment but looks like I need a special tool to do that, so off to the shops again. If I can get it off then I'll see about replacing it.

Nice effort on the spanner
Drive side goes anti clockwise to remove, non drive side goes clockwise.

Just had a look at the photo of your bike posted.. bit hard to tell what style cranks you have from the size of the pic, but i suspect that you need a socket to undo the nut holding the crank onto the crank axle , then a crank puller to pull it off the square tapered axle.

Those all in one tool kits also have pedal spanners which i find to be better than regular spanners for pedal removal.

I guess cheap spanners aren't made withstand ~65-70kg of someone with the shits standing on it and giving it some dirt bike kick start action

Got a crank puller and when I got them off it became evident that someone had replaced the contents of the bottom bracket with sand. At least that's what it sounded like when I rotated it. Hubs are probably just as bad but they aren't making grindy noises.

So I drove down to cell which ended up taking 2.5 hours all up because the traffic was horrendous.

crankset
bottom bracket
chain
tool kit
grease

Couple hours fucking about and I'm in action. Took me a bit of tweaking to get the cleats feeling the same for both feet but I got them comfortable. Min tension and I also angled the cleats in slightly. No issues getting out of them, until I try it an emergency and forget.

The ball of my foot is a little in front of the pedal axis. Can't find any consensus on cleat positioning, but a few sites suggested having the foot forward to reduce knee stress. My feet are also higher now which makes my seat feel like it's a bit low. It's already at max extension so I'll just have to see how it goes. Not too long before a new bike anyway I'd say.

What a marathon Darren but glad to hear your on the go again.
Having the ball of your foot in front of the axle is fine. Pressuming your talking it's in front when the crank is parrellel to the ground and your foot is level?
If so the general consesus is the ball of your foot should be 5-7mm forward of the axle in that position. Reason is that when riding your heel will actually be lower when at the position which in effect changes the foot position making the ball centered to the pedal spindle. You can see this by dropping your heel a touch when you next check it.

As for knee position, that is dictated by the fore/aft position of the seat, again general consesus is that a plumb bob dropped from just under your knee cap should line up with the pedal spindle when in the same position I described above.

When you can I would try get a seat-post that will allow the correct positioning. This is the single most critical element to getting knee soreness in my experience.
Again the best starting point is to have the crank in-line with the seat-tube then your foot on the lowest pedal should be parrellel to the ground (get someone to help) and your knee should just about be straight, I reckon a slight bend is better than having it straight.

Again this is all personal preference but the above are very good starting points to fine tune from.
Hope that helps.

New shoes for the beast. Conti Gator Skins. Lets see how these go.

Looks Schmick Mate, my reputation is on the line now isn't it
Let us know how the tyres go.

Flinty72 wrote:Looks Schmick Mate, my reputation is on the line now isn't it
Let us know how the tyres go.

it is driving me mad having different rims on. That sure isn't Euro cool.

norbs wrote:

Flinty72 wrote:Looks Schmick Mate, my reputation is on the line now isn't it
Let us know how the tyres go.

it is driving me mad having different rims on. That sure isn't Euro cool.

sure it is.. you picked up a spare from the neutral service vehicle.... right?

Nothing over the top but scored a great deal from Torpedo7 on this saddle for $99.
I've been a Fizik fan for years using their Arionne saddle but I've found since I lost that 12kg that I've never found it as comfortable.
I'd been eyeing off a switch to the Antares since they released them and with it their whole spine concept fit methodolgy.
It seemed like the right saddle for me. It is a touch wider so should catch my sit bones better than the Arionne which always put a fair bit of pressure on the perineum and after getting to sit on a mates bike with a Antares fitted that was confirmed.
If it feels ok once I get used to it over the next 3 weeks, the minimum time to decide if a saddle is comfortabke & right, then I'll eventually upgrade it to the carbon railed Antares00, this one is the base model so only has hollow Manganese rails.

Hell you got a bargain, Fizik stuff aint cheap. I need to invest in a Fizik seat because silly me bought a massive Fizik saddle bag without knowing that it only connects to their own clip system on their branded seats... boo... They make some awesome stuff though.