I assume it both rides your bike for you and then washes it when you're finished as well for that price.
Assos always going to try and out do everyone with price seemingly the most important over actual performance.
Really enjoyed my first ride on the cyclo-cross...
Looks great, fantastic choice of colour too!
Also props for finding/riding some actual mud and filth with it on the maiden voyage!
So, a few questions. The crank is SRAM Apex 175mm, I'm not sure I can find a power meter for it?
Also, if I actually wanted to ride at night, I would want a better front light. One that actually illuminates the road/way ahead, not just showing people I'm there. Any suggestions? (**EDIT** I'm assuming something
like this?)
I've not seen anything about Stages/4iii on an Apex crankset so think crank arm is out unless you also changed cranks/BB. The Halfords website lists the BB as a 'SRAM PF30'. So probably Quarq or Rotor (Inpower?) are the way to go. Quarq certainly have lots of SRAM crank spiders (they're owned by SRAM after all), although SRAM tend to be moving everything over to DUB. There would be a DUB BB option for it (one of the main things about the SRAM DUB BB standard is compatibility).
Pedals probably off the cards due to riding flats/SPD on off-road, rather than SPD-SL/Keo road pedals/cleats...
Well,the new wheels arrived from Hunts. They look great, and they're light AF, but jesus christ am I having issues.<snip>
5 inner tubes punctured so far and I still don't have a set of usable wheels. I wanted to see what had happened in the front but I can't even get the tyre off now so this shoot will wait until another day. Probably farking April when the weather picks up.
Brutal what you've been through, but really is a rite of passage for many of us. So many 'tubeless ready' type rims are a really really REALLY tight fit. Some tyres will be better/easier than others to fit. Continental are quite generous, I do recall Mitchelin being tight but it's been a couple of years since I used them (and certainly not on TL rims).
The Hutchingson I've got where SO tight on my Zipp 30 course rims I'd have to use levers just to get them on/off with the beads in the centre channel of the rim to stand any chance of getting them on. Then I've been able to mount them on my Fulcrum wheels by hand (without levers) and fairly easily even though they're tubeless.
Pinching tubes is easy/common when you've got tight tyres and have to use levers. There's quite a technique to it - getting the tyre on without 'catching' the tube is key as many times you'll probably have pinched it with the lever before even putting any pressure in. Having a little air in the tube does help, it's less likely to 'sag' out of the tyre as you fit. Put enough in that it holds it's shape, then slacken it a bit as you get the tyre on, ideally finding a 'sweet spot' of enough pressure in the tube for it to want to stay within the tyre, keeping away from the rim/bead, while also being low enough pressure to have enough slack to the darn bead over the rim.
The tip about getting the tyre bead in the 'middle' of the rim channel is a good one - it'll give you a little more give/slack in the bead, so will require less work with a lever to get it all over, so less chance of catching the tube.
Also the tip from
@Jonny ///M about getting it on, then checking around the tyre bead/rim interface before you put any air in, giving the tyre a little squeeze all the way looking around the gap (both sides) and teasing any tube you notice into the tyre out of the gap. Then add some air, maybe to 10/20PSI so it starts to take up the slack, started to take shape and repeating the squeeze to be absolutely sure there's no tube stuck - before you add enough pressure to pinch/damage it.
It blowing the tubes after you've got it up to pressure, is 90% likely the tube stuck between the tyre and rim. The pressure there puts such a strain on the tube it either blows/bulges the tyre out until it can 'escape' through the gap, or the bit of tube there being caught than rips a hole as the pressure tightens the tyre against the rim and 'nips' it.
I found tubeless ready road wheels are a pain to get the tyres on. I got this tool
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A855QRY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_QHgPFbVN3QVBB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 and they went on without any issue.
I've got one of those and it does work well, although I found with my hutchingsons it put so much pressure on the tyre it would just 'pull' off to the sides as I mounted the middle. I had to get the tyre much further on the rim with levers before the tool would 'work'. Tyres with a bit more slack it mounts well. It's quite a handy tool as you can hold the pressure and tyre one handed with it, while rolling/teasing the bead on with the other hand.
It's really a tool for tubeless, as very easy to catch a tube with it, then the pressure the tool puts on it will tear it very easily!