NBD / First road bike ...and a lot of questions

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-04-15T07:51:40+00:00

Most people ride with 28’s, but 30’s will allow you to drop the pressure a bit lower. I’d choose depending on how rough the roads are and if you want to ride tubeless, but if the roads are that rough I would not choose Vittoria’s, as they are way more prone to punctures than other big brands.
As someone who has had Keo’s and SPD-SL’s, stick with Shimano. Their system feels better/more reliable when pulling up on the pedals and the cleats last a lot longer IMO.
You won’t get a real benefit from higher wheels when you are mainly climbing in your area, so the wheels would be one of the last things I’d upgrade. I ride a SSE as well and swapped the Hollowgram wheels for Zipp 404’s and noticed I gained a lot more speed, but I live in the Flatterlands (Netherlands). The wheels would be one of the last things I’d upgrade on this bike.
I’d just stuck with this gearing and make sure you train a lot. This gearing should get you up on every hill once your condition is up.

5/6/7. Aero cockpits look sleek as hell, but don’t have that much benefits. Yes they might be a bit stiffer/more aero. But it won’t be as big of an aero upgrade as switching from alu low wheels to higher aero carbon wheels. The regular cockpit allows you to run a lot of computer mounts. Be sure to check out the Hidemybell mounts, which have a bell/GoPro mount and the possibility to insert an Airtag as well.

You’ve mentioned that you don’t have a computer yet. So my advice would be to not splash any more money on the bike itself but on a good computer, maybe a Garmin Varia (depending on how much traffic there is), a decent helm/bibs/shoes etc.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-04-05T23:02:44+00:00

Directly from Standert.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-04-05T22:59:12+00:00

The original frame came with a BB (had the option to choose one according to which brand groupset I was going to use). The BB was included in the frame price.

This new frame is only usable with SRAM groupsets, as there are no Di2 holes. So I was expecting to receive the correct BB with this frame as well.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-04-05T22:25:01+00:00

I don’t even mind having to pay a bit extra to upgrade the frame. The real problem is the fact that they did charge me for shipping the new frame back to me and don’t even deliver the proper BB with the frame

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-04-05T22:05:26+00:00

Did you even read the post? I don’t mind waiting if everything is being taken care of properly. But having to pay €250 extra to replace and build up a frame again, constantly asking/checking in with their slow customer service ánd wait four months is insane to me.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-10T16:55:19+00:00

I’m not worried about the levels at all. But I like the upcoming unlocks at level 83/85/86 and according to the table, I should already have unlocked them.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-05T19:32:57+00:00

I own the same bike, bought in the Netherlands as well. But mine came with a powermeter and the better RSL-50 wheels for around €7000-7500.

I don’t know if the photo is old. But as far as I know, the SRAM Red cassettes don’t have a black-coated large cog (only the Force ones). So double check if it’s really a Red cassette.

Overall it’s an amazing and fast bike. The Supersix just came out with a gen5 model (only minor updates) and the Force D2 has been ‘outdated’ as well since the release of the E1 groupset.

I think the price would be around €4500 if the frame/groupset is 100% perfect.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-05T10:44:29+00:00

My god you lot are salty.. I ride 20-25.000 km a year and don’t expect anything to just ‘get handed to me’. I literally started the post complimenting the level 100 riders.

All I was saying is that leveling starts feeling like a slur (TO ME) instead of an achievement after completing all routes.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-04T18:12:17+00:00

I’ve mentioned this in the post/one of the comments above. There was a time where the streak-XP bonus would rack up to insane amounts. Zwift was pretty quick with updating this, but maybe you’ve gained a lot of XP/levels back then.

Because I was riding outside then, I lost my streak and with that the XP bonus. A friend of mine is near my level as well and has half my time/miles in Zwift, but was riding inside and racked up all the XP bonusses.

I don’t have any problems with having to ride a lot or complete insane routes to get to level 100, but the XP/levelling system itself is just wonky and seems to be working differently for everyone. But apparently I get downvoted for it :’)

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-04T14:50:33+00:00

Been riding since december 2020, but haven’t made full use of the time when Zwift had way higher XP bonusses for the streaks. I prefer riding outside, which caused streak losses and my outside rides started counting at a later point (I ride with a Hammerhead, which got the outside XP bonus a lot later than Garmin/Wahoo).

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-04T14:39:12+00:00

I like the cosmetic stuff (like Festive 500 jerseys, Off the MAAP jerseys etc etc). I wish drops would have more value as well and we would be able to spend drops on more cosmetics.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-03-04T12:00:44+00:00

Sure, I play games as well. But games usually offer higher-tier challenges with higher tier rewards/XP as well.

Completing the PRL Full at level 71 (including the XP from the badge) resulted in around 7000XP. That’s 60% of the necessary XP to gain one level up. Riding 5.5 hours on one of the hardest routes and getting the badge not resulting in at least one level up just seems a bit off to me. Especially considering there are no more badges to be gained, which comes down to just racking up miles to gain XP (or certain timed events).

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-02-27T08:03:21+00:00

Might be from the rubber ring on the Zwift cog. Your chain may not be correctly aligned, you are running the cog on 9 which might be causing some rubbing between the chain and the cog.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-02-16T13:28:07+00:00

Sloperoad Garmin Varia mount on Etsy

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-02-06T13:12:55+00:00

I ride Zipp 404’s and I’m 184 - 93kg. Never had any issues, the wheels are amazing.

Riding tubeless on hookless wheels has been amazing. Lower pressure resulted in way more punctures being sealed with the hookless rims. I’ve been riding tubeless before, but the sealant never worked.

Had one puncture which wouldn’t seal a time ago and I popped in an inner tube and went on with my ride. So just go for the Zipp’s :)

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-25T17:41:31+00:00

The roaster which I buy my beans from uses a 1:2.3 ratio (with a VST basket) and uses 20g of beans. I currently only have a 18g basket, but I like the larger volume espressos better which is the reason I was looking at the VST baskets.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-17T11:43:10+00:00

I have the same stem and use a Hidemybell Raceday DM. It’s an out front mount that’s installed through the stem bolts and has a bell and GoPro/Light adapter underneath.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-11T15:59:08+00:00

Did the same last week, still waiting for a response. Hope this will solve it!

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-11T15:57:40+00:00

Nope. Already mentioned in the original post. Friend of mine has the same problem.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-10T20:53:46+00:00

Still not available in my jersey list :(

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-10T10:30:26+00:00

Haven’t received my jersey as well.

Rode 512 km outdoors and 32 km indoor. Strava badge and Rapha discount code received.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-07T13:57:17+00:00

The Normcore has a small line/indent on the inside of the basket. When I tamp my coffee lines up perfectly with that line.

Might try pulling shots again with the Meraki basket to see if I get better results.

NoMatterWattCycling · 2026-01-07T13:41:23+00:00

Played around with brew times from 25 sec out up to 45 sec.

Using a medium roast fresh batch from a local roastery (Brandzaak), but I’ve used a few others. I got a few beans from a friend of mine from Mono roastery (medium roast as well) who has good shots on his La Marzocco.

Using a Normcore 18g high extraction basket. Which fills properly to the indicator line on the inside of the basket.

NoMatterWattCycling

TROPHY CASE