Are 11spd SRAM and Shimano chains interchaingeable?<snip>Far more comfortable when full aero as opposed to up on the goods.
Fully interchangeable. Everything of mine is Shimano but I constantly run SRAM PC1130 chains as I get 30% extra life out of them for 80% the cost of Shimano. Win:win.
'up on the goods'. Love it
Aero bikes with 50mm of spacers and the shifters point skywards always make me chuckle.
Yup and those with their Dogma F10 XLITE's and beer bellies.
Thanks for the help. Could I get more guidance/suggestions?
My bike is a Planet X London Road - a £1k aluminium framed commuter bike with Sram Rival and hydraulic discs (I can sense the roady sick rising in the back of your mouths!) with £100 cx wheels. It's got clearance for wide tyres and isn't very aero.
<snip>
In the meantime, I'd like as much help up hills as possible (on a budget of £300-400)
Roady sick, not roadie sick?
I'm on your level bud - running a gravel bike as a road bike! No shame in it, I let my legs do the talking and there's not many guys I ride with who can keep with me on the hills. An aero frame won't make much difference to you, aero and lighter wheels may. Although at your price point the only way to go carbon would be cheaper chinese import lottery (and on the cheaper end of carbon weight isn't really light). You might be better at looking around 'premium' alu wheelsets, Campag Zonda's/Hunt aero light etc. Although the won't be a huge amount lighter than what you're running, they'll be stiffer and 'feel' lighter/faster. Encouraging you to ride harder/faster, which is what you're after! If you also look for slightly wider internal rims (your PX ones are probably 17mm) you can also benefit from running wider tyres, with no speed loss.
It has a crack in the shell near the middle. It might actually be acting as a sort of suspension when it flexes, improving comfort.
Almost exactly the same place my Arione is cracked right through! Not really rideable as think it would flex too much to judge fit...
Thanks
@Shamrock and
@#Chri5# Forgot to mention, I have a masisve preference for silent freewheels. My current wheels are pretty loud - I hate people hearing when I'm easing off!
Then don't! Or do like I do... Very clicky freehub (Zipp) and ease as I overtake people...
I'm like a ******* human air brake. Bike aero as anything... Ross not so much.
Same! Although gives me a good excuse for not owning an aero bike...
Friend is looking for some tubeless road wheels to go on his pinnacle arkose. Schwalbe g one and vittoria corsa g+ I believe are the usual recommended just think he may baulk at the price. Just wondering if there are other options. Probably looking 30mm or so.
30mm there are not many options. 28mm there are a few, 32mm there are far more!
tubeless seems pretty pointless on the road. for MTB and CX it allows running much lower pressures without pinching, but on the road that's not a benefit, you're always going to want pressures that are well above the pinch-risk point
Tubeless may seem pointless, as around the 25mm (and slightly at 28mm) the pressures you need to run for comfort there is a very fine line to pinch puncture territory. That's around 60psi for me and I tend to run my rear 28mm gp2ksii higher than I'd like (75psi) just so when it drops I don't puncture. Usually find myself topping it up once it feels close, if it drops any lower pressure drops really fast and feels squishy quick. Can feel it bottom out occasionally and that's not hitting any real edges! A tyre with stronger sidewalls may hold up better and run at 60-65 without losing the air these continentals do. The Specialized Roubaix Pro's I ran through the last couple of winters would.
Temporarily n-1
What happened?!
Snapped the bolt in the headset compression top last night.......****
Ordered a new one but missing riding the Wiggle Tempest today.
So annoyed with myself for such a basic mistake.
Rubbish but glad you got it out and it didn't happen when you where out riding!
Looking at getting a new commute bike.
I think its probably between a Trek Checkpoint ALR 5, or a Genesis Croix-de-fer 30
Will sort out some test rides, but just wondering if anyone has either and what their thoughts are...
Not heard much about the Checkpoint but they are quite new.
Croix are very well regarded but getting quite old now, should mean some good deals on them, or alternatives at the retail price point with better/newer specs.
With a LBS doing any of the work for you, assume you've got one in mind or a good relationship with one? Speak to them and see what they recommend and what they're trying to push you towards, there will be good reasons (brands they carry/prefer/best margins on) but also do your own research. They may even have some quality trade-ins.