Additional to yesterday’s put up and my column about fixing flats, I mounted that flat:
And sure, I’ll concede that on this specific case a tubeless set-up would have simply taken care of it:
No matter.
In the meantime, I don’t pay shut consideration to the most recent and newest in crabon bike blobbery, so I didn’t understand simply how absurd inner cable routing had develop into:
Sure, because of this bike trade aversion to uncovered cables (coupled with fantastic advances comparable to hydraulic disc brakes and digital shifting), a easy stem swap now includes a go to to the bike store and $300 price of labor:
Nevertheless it’s price it for all these watts you save as a result of lower in wind resistance.
As I famous in my Twitter kvetching, the easy bicycle headset has now gone from one thing you tightened as soon as and that allowed quick and easy bar peak adjustment forevermore to an built-in nightmare. (And that’s not even addressing these revolutionary new “auto-centering” headsets.) In fact the trade-off is price it for the elevated stiffness of as we speak’s outsized fashions…besides it seems we didn’t want the elevated stiffness in any case so now it’s important to purchase a particular stem to eliminate it:
Between the price of the stem swap and the price of the stem you’ve now spent over $500 to get the identical efficiency out of your crabon “module” as you do out of a motorcycle outfitted with a quill stem in a one-inch headtube.
By the way in which, Cane Creek’s cutting-edge “ee” line additionally contains a titanium crank that prices over a grand:
Scoff if you’ll, however they’re completely price it as a result of they “relieve joint fatigue” and depart your “ankles feeling recent:”
I admit I’ve by no means tried titanium cranks. Nevertheless, I’ve ridden just about the whole lot else, from one-piece metal to outboard-bearing crabon. Whereas the passage above additionally signifies that crabon cranks are someway “chattery,” I’ve by no means skilled this. In reality, in addition to apparent stuff like size and “Q-factor,” which you would possibly discover, I’ve been unable to discern any distinction in any way in “really feel” between any first rate crank, most certainly as a result of it doesn’t exist on a stage that’s detectable by people. Granted, I admit I’m not ready to spend $1,000 to show that this additionally extends to cranks made out of titanium, however I’ve bought a excessive diploma of confidence it’s the case. (Now’s the place you inform me in regards to the titanium backside bracket spindle you had within the ’80s that flexed a lot you bought chain rub in the event you a lot as turned a pedal, and that snapped on you after three months.)
There are quite a lot of methods to piss your cash away on bike stuff, however in the event you’re really keen on in most expenditure for minimal return on funding, go purchase your self a very costly aftermarket crank, they provide no profit in any way.
However sure, it’s nice to see Cane Creek now presents a complete line of parts that can make your stiff race bike experience like a Rivendell with a Brooks saddle:
The seatpost prices $219 in aluminum and $319 in crabon, which implies that when you issue within the backside bracket and spider and chainring an entire Cane Creek plush-ification improve will price at the very least as a lot as…a brand new Rivendell body.
Humorous how that works.
Talking of which, they’ve bought Sam Hillbornes in inventory over at Previous Man Petersen’s Home of Ferrous Velocipedes. No internally routed headset cables, sadly. Nevertheless, if you wish to make cockpit swaps a ache within the ass for your self or your mechanic, you possibly can at all times use a single-bolt stem and wrap the bars with a number of material, twine and shellac.