Woo' just back from my 50km loop. Tried out the Endura 3/4 lengths again.
More comfortable than straight out the bag, but the crotch fit isn't quite right for me, too big in some areas and not tight enough in others. They are nice and warm and well made, but I wouldn't buy them again simply because my other bibs fit better. Not so bad to make me sell them on, but I prefer my Assos and Castellis, not tried Rapha.
It felt like I worked hard on the climbs, wasn't too far off my PB times on all of them all which was a good sign, wind wasn't pushing me up one to get a PB and holding me back on another.
I felt tired on the bike, but once I got home I felt worn, but not exhausted like I used to. Maybe my overall strength isn't increasing much, but my recovery time must definitely be improving and endurance.
Uploaded to Strava and looking at my past times, 6 minutes quicker than I was at the start of April! Huge difference! Ridden 2500km to date this year, which is more than I did in all of 2012 already.
With regards to upgraded wheels, I'm still procrastinating about buying some.
Shimano Ultegras are ~200
Shimano C24 are ~300 (most reviews say buy these if you can afford the extra 100 over Ultegras..)
Dura Ace are ~500
Now I would ideally like to build myself a new bike at some point this year, and would like to use Ultegra 11 speed when it is released. Only the Dura Aces have 11 speed hubs, but does anyone know if the new Ultegra 11 speed will be backwards compatible with the older Dura Ace. I would expect so, but don't want to find out otherwise, details may not even have been released yet...
I'm approximately 175lb (and will stay that way), the roads can be quite rough, and riding in a bunch sometimes you do hit something hard if its not pointed out. I don't want to turn them into a wobbly wheel first time out....
I can hear the rear R500 wheel has started to ping occasionally when climbing, I don't want to pop a spoke and end up stuck having to have it replaced as it will cost $$$$ over here which could go towards a new set of better wheels.