What have you bought for bicycle today?

[Mr Moofo]

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/leatt-hydration-dbx-xl-20

Still need a bigger bag for proper days out.. i bought a Camelbak one but it sat horribly so went back.

So just bought this Leatt.

My day pack is a Lidl special ( I think it was 10.99) - come to think of it all my group now seem to ride with them. Holds a camelback bladder, lasts a season, maybe two. Then buy a new one ...

[weeksy]

Not been to Lidl in 10+ years... i think there's one in Reading... but that's 15 miles away.

[lostboy]

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/leatt-hydration-dbx-xl-20

Still need a bigger bag for proper days out.. i bought a Camelbak one but it sat horribly so went back.

So just bought this Leatt.

Nice. Not tried that one. I never got on with Camelbak which is why I have the Dakine Nomad (30l) pack. It's superb.

[Mr Moofo]

Not been to Lidl in 10+ years... i think there's one in Reading... but that's 15 miles away.

You stockbroker belt people are so posh!

[weeksy]

Not been to Lidl in 10+ years... i think there's one in Reading... but that's 15 miles away.

You stockbroker belt people are so posh!

Lol I'm far from it. But I'm not driving 15 miles to a random supermarket just in case they have a bag.

[lostboy]

Pirelli Cinturato 32mm TLR road tyres. 1 pair.

The Goodyear Eagle that felt so good when I first rode it punctured on about the third ride and although it held up with sealant it wouldn't repair so was leaking slowly every ride. Very disappointing. Then the 2k mile old Schwalbe One on the front punctured and again, held up with sealant but I decided to replace the pair.

The Pirellis seem very good. Went on very easily, went up easily, I have dropped the pressures further to 60psi front and 70psi rear and they seem to still roll superbly and give awesome comfort. One mixed road and gravel ride tonight of 21 miles has seen no issues, so fingers crossed!

[MingtheMerciless]

A new set of road bike wheels, MAVIC Kyrisium SL's with Conti 5000 tyres and some new SwissStop brake pads. The old wheels wear indicator has well and truly disappeared (it was nearly an ECU tune for the ZH2 but I'll wait till after winter for that one once the maps have had further refinement).

[weeksy]

New stem arrived yesterday for the Sworks. Reason is, we've trimmed the boys bars by 50mm, we both felt he was holding them a bit wide, so trimmed them off.
However when we go out testing tonight we needed a plan just in case... So i have a set of Renthal Fatbars that came on the G-170, but it's a 35mm diameter stem, so needed a different stem for him if we need to fit them.

[Taff]

A pair of Shimano AM9 shoes to replace the old black version that I've had for several years.

This version has a bigger slot for cleat adjustment meaning that they can be placed further back by about 20mm (at a guess).
I've always struggled with my calfs cramping up on a long downhill but always thought it was just me being fat and unfit.
It turns out that putting the clears further back sorts this out completely

These ones also work far better when not clipped in as well

[weeksy]

Funny enough, i'm just in the process of potentially buying some for the lad. Both him and Olly want to experiment with shoes and pedals to see if it helps their technique. Personally i don't like them, but it doesn't mean i won't give the boy an opportunity to try some himself.

[Taff]

I've always ridden clipped in, spd-sl on road, and started on spd off road but found them sometimes hard to get clipped in so I tried crankbrothers mallet. Big platform so if you're not clipped it's not a problem but the clipping in is far easier and it doesn't matter if your shoe is full of mud.

I'm now on my second pair of pedals

If you want to borrow my old ones as an experiment your more than welcome, I guess that the shoes will be a bit big for boy at size 45

[Mr Moofo]

I always rode clipped - from the very early days of MTB. It certainly helped with bunny hops etc. But as bikes and brakes have got better , I think I ride faster and steep than I did as a 30 year old. Hence bailing out is sometimes the best option - and also dabbing a foot. Hence I have gone flats.

If you are racing, I can see why you would learn to love SPD...

[weeksy]

If you want to borrow my old ones as an experiment your more than welcome, I guess that the shoes will be a bit big for boy at size 45

That would be awesome if you don't mind for a week or two mate. Shoes i can buy used for him and if he doesn't like them just flog them on.

It was interesting watching at Caersws on the roots, it's a sharp right into a tight left drop down, as the guys in SPDs got to the transition between right and left, they were picking up the back using the brake/pedals and flicking it round. My lad can do this, but it's easier in SPDs i think, so things like this may benefit him.

[millemille]

SPD's are all of the awesome, been using them ever since they first came out.

My tip is to start with the spring tension backed all the way off and start riding, you will pop out/unclip waaaaay too easily just riding normally but just increase the tension incrementally until you strike a happy balance between popping out and being able to unclip.

Too many people start with the tension too high and put themselves off because they struggle to get unclipped early on and have a proper heavy fall.

[MingtheMerciless]

Never got on with Shimano SPD's. TIME for me, loads of float and takes a lot for them to get clogged with mud. Currently got Speciale 8's on the Curtis. It was originally flats but I thought I'd give clips ago and definitely quicker according to Strava.

I got the chance to sit in on a BikeFit lecture given by the TREK head mechanic and their TDF Team Doctor/physio. Amongst things they said the top riders were guilty of were excessive slamming of the stem (not required) and ALL the riders had pedal tension turned up to the max and minimal float as that was obviously more efficient (it isn't). When asked if they had dodgy knees they all said yes and having ridiculous levels of unnecessary pedal release tension and no float really wasn't helping. Despite being shown empirical evidence that pedal release tension had no effect on power transmission efficiency they all insisted on having the tension set to 11 and zero float and not worry about needing new knees later in life! (typical racers).

[lostboy]

A pair of Shimano AM9 shoes to replace the old black version that I've had for several years.

This version has a bigger slot for cleat adjustment meaning that they can be placed further back by about 20mm (at a guess).
I've always struggled with my calfs cramping up on a long downhill but always thought it was just me being fat and unfit.
It turns out that putting the clears further back sorts this out completely

These ones also work far better when not clipped in as well

Good feedback, thanks. I'm clinging on to my AM45s (as posted in the clothing thread) but they're likely to pass on this winter and had been thinking about these as the natural successor. Ridden then much in the wet yet? Are they as good as the AM45 through the puddles?

[lostboy]

Never got on with Shimano SPD's. TIME for me, loads of float and takes a lot for them to get clogged with mud. Currently got Speciale 8's on the Curtis. It was originally flats but I thought I'd give clips ago and definitely quicker according to Strava.

I got the chance to sit in on a BikeFit lecture given by the TREK head mechanic and their TDF Team Doctor/physio. Amongst things they said the top riders were guilty of were excessive slamming of the stem (not required) and ALL the riders had pedal tension turned up to the max and minimal float as that was obviously more efficient (it isn't). When asked if they had dodgy knees they all said yes and having ridiculous levels of unnecessary pedal release tension and no float really wasn't helping. Despite being shown empirical evidence that pedal release tension had no effect on power transmission efficiency they all insisted on having the tension set to 11 and zero float and not worry about needing new knees later in life! (typical racers).

I didn't get on that well with SPDs so went with Crank Brothers. Brilliant system - again, plenty of float, easy in and out, very mud friendly. And I've had no reliability problems with their pedals - which was the old moan about them years ago.

[Taff]

A pair of Shimano AM9 shoes to replace the old black version that I've had for several years.

This version has a bigger slot for cleat adjustment meaning that they can be placed further back by about 20mm (at a guess).
I've always struggled with my calfs cramping up on a long downhill but always thought it was just me being fat and unfit.
It turns out that putting the clears further back sorts this out completely

These ones also work far better when not clipped in as well

Good feedback, thanks. I'm clinging on to my AM45s (as posted in the clothing thread) but they're likely to pass on this winter and had been thinking about these as the natural successor. Ridden then much in the wet yet? Are they as good as the AM45 through the puddles?

I've only used them a couple of times in the dry but other reviews I've read day they are as good as any other non goretex shoe. This is one of the reasons I changed them tbh.

When I changed the cleats on the old shoes a while back I must have left something out because I was suddenly getting wet toes every time I stepped in a puddle and the water came up through the hole.

I initially had the cleat set up too far to one side and it was a pig to clip in and out until I moved out closer to the centre

[millemille]

Pedals are a disposable item as far as I'm concerned, no point spending loads of moolah on them to have them clanging off rocks and ruts etc. To that end I used Shimano DX's...



Cheap, reliable, plenty of float, enough surface area that if you can't clip in (or pop pot) you can still ride them as platforms and the plastic cage offers a degree of protection for the mechanism...

[Mr Moofo]

I used ti use Funn Mambas for the best of both worlds..
But now use the Nukeproof composite of DMRs