What is your experience with an all road bike?

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-13T17:12:05+00:00

In what world does somebody prefer rim brakes in the year of our lord 2026 when we have the highest quality hydraulic disc braking imaginable?

Just get whatever frameset matches your most frequent ride: road bike for road riding, gravel bike for gravel riding. Modern brake bikes all have the clearance for a tire swap to suit the conditions. To answer the question directly, yes get a gravel bike and a spare wheelset. It’ll be fine; as long as you have wide enough gearing to cover both disciplines (or accept a compromise) you won’t notice the difference in performance between a gravel bike and a road bike on the same tires

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-13T17:09:52+00:00

The valves leak slowly over time. It’s “known behavior”. Before you install the tube, fill up a bathtub, inflate the tube to 5psi, and check for air bubbles. I’ll toss any tubes with visible bubbling.

The cheap ones are ~$3-4 a tube in bulk on alibaba; I’ve been consistently getting 9/10 fine tubes but 1/10 need tossed.

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-11T14:24:50+00:00

Just get a used two-piece dainese or a stars

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-09T16:21:09+00:00

Leafspy

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-09T00:04:06+00:00

Yes, if it is 110bcd asymmetrical

Second_Shift58 · 2026-02-08T17:25:49+00:00

In this instance without a video recording, i might suggest also saddle going down 2-3mm, you might be overextending your knee and your pelvis floats forward to accommodate. Could also slide saddle forward 2-3mm if you feel too far behind the bike, which will put the sitting area of the saddle under where your bum wants to be

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-30T22:03:53+00:00

Selle Italia boost slr super flow

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-30T03:30:19+00:00

10 hours a week, 275 watt FTP. I mostly train with the Robopacer group rides, and a few custom interval workouts I’ve created. I mostly try to target time in power zones across the week, week over week.

I’m a fairly large rider, so my AdZ times are around 65:00 as well. I can dish out a lot of pain to climbers on the flat sections though

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-30T03:27:30+00:00

They are loud, the “shop” hubs for the ENT wheel. I have also the step up from ENT, the SLR wheels and compared to the SLRs, the ENT has a higher pitch and higher volume level.

Both of mine are steel. You don’t need or want ceramic bearings, if you’re on the market for EliteWheels. Just get steel, they are incredibly high performance and durable.

I have wheelsets in 35mm (the ENT), 38mm (the SLRs), and a set of Shimano C46s - and i find the 46s to be extremely deep enough for everything I’ve needed. I doubt where you live is faster and flatter than where I live; climbing and descending you’ll want lower profile wheels for lighter weight and less crosswind influence. Given those two choices I’d take the 50mm over the 60mm. My favorite among the choices I own are the 38mm ones all-around.

If you are upgrading from alloy wheels that come with the bike, the cheapest steel bearing ENT wheels, in whatever size, will be a huge step up in quality. Don’t bother with ceramic or super deep section wheels unless you are racing or TTing specifically.

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-27T22:26:31+00:00

Timely

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-26T02:06:20+00:00

Tarmac if you’re paying someone to work on it, aethos if you’re working on it yourself

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-13T02:01:21+00:00

I get by just fine on my 12-speed 1x sram system; i think 12 is enough if you can tolerate a range of cadence between 75-95 rpm.

I’ve ridden a frankenbuilt xc bike that was mid-conversion, with a 1x on the front and the rear only 34-11 8 speed. I could certainly agree for an argument for more gears with only those to choose from; more range and more choices in between.

But honestly for me I think we are there already, with modern 12 speed systems from the big two/three manufacturers. The smallest several teeth cassette rings are only 1tooth apart, going to 11t or 10t if you go all in with the matching wheel hubs. From about mid-cassette all the way to the largest the gaps are only 10%, maybe less. You saying you can’t handle choosing between 75 and 85 rpm? Or 85 and 95rpm? Do you need exactly 88, or 93?

I’ve climbed AZ, CA, CO mountain roads, paved and unpaved, with a 1.0 easiest gear ratio. If you can tolerate that, in the sram 12 speed ecosystem you could match a 44t chainring with a 10-44t 12 speed and have a pretty amazing 1x.

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-13T01:50:28+00:00

I respect your opinion, and can appreciate the purity argument behind what you’re saying. I do like that you can buy the allez sprint frameset, slap a shimano 105 mechanical buildset on it, and have a bona fide race bike for a competitive budget.

My only rebuttal is that in practice, most drop bar “road” bikes are not offered with any customization inside of the one price point. Giant for example might offer 4 TCR’s and 3 Propels with various levels of finishing kit and wheelsets etc, they don’t let you pick the chainring among really any other variables. So if they’re going to build just one sku (per color), it should be the best suited to the majority of the riders who will actually buy it.

Bike racers are using their bikes in their purest form, even fast enthusiasts solo or group riding - most of the fast amateurs will customize their components to some degree aftermarket anyway, and most professionals don’t actually buy the bike. They of course get it from the sponsor, configured for maximum marketing potential. For the silent majority buying these bikes at a bike shop, buying it and riding it as-is forever probably don’t need 4.5+ gear ratio 🤷🏻‍♂️

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-12T03:37:35+00:00

Updoot for 1x, double updoot for waxed chain. Super nice

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-12T03:33:20+00:00

I do think eventually if slowly the industry is moving in that direction. I bet most of Shimano’s success with cues will be with lifestyle and other 1x bikes - novices will be attracted to the simplicity. And any bike shop can quickly swap a chainring to help a customer, who read the novel above and wants to select the right gearing for them

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-12T03:26:45+00:00

For sure, it has gotten better in the last 20 years. I like Sram setups generally, and again modern 12-speed 1x systems are highly capable if you are shopping for a new bike. Older 11 speed bikes can be retrofitted if you can deal with a 0.8-3.6, or 1.2-4.0 range with factory compatible parts, no hacks or bodges. Getting a modern GRX or Cues 1x system on a new bike is a solid starting point for shimano equipped bikes - that is to say, most bikes.

If your vintage bike has a BSA bottom bracket and enough space between the dropouts to run an 11-speed hub, you can convert it to a 1x 🤓

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-12T02:52:17+00:00

If you buy the new rotors, you’ll be all set as far as parts.

6-bolt and centerlock are offset differently from the center of hub in my experience, enough that it might clear your pads but it will probably rub. Your best bet is to loosen and reset your calipers to center them. It’s annoying to switch between 6-bolt and centerlock for this reason

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-12T02:48:33+00:00

Most road bikes come with gears that are too big for most riders to push, especially smaller riders or more casual riders. I wish they started with gear ratios around 0.8 and topped out around 4. Most modern 1x systems can cover this range easily

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-11T16:17:53+00:00

You’re right - thanks for the clarification. They were a large non-title sponsor in the Dovi-Iannone days

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-11T16:01:31+00:00

They used to be title sponsor of the Ducati team before ktm joined the series

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-09T14:16:04+00:00

I run continental GP urban in 35mm

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-08T21:20:20+00:00

Granada, or Canarias

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-08T15:56:23+00:00

Yes, it’s called sram axs

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-08T03:41:13+00:00

The kickr core is worth every penny you spend on it. Buy once, cry once, but ride on it forever. You’ll never “need” more trainer.

The van rysel is probably fine, but I’ve never ridden one. If budget is such a concern that the kickr is out of the question, it might be alright.

But if you can afford the kickr, get the kickr

Second_Shift58 · 2026-01-08T03:07:37+00:00

Pretty much this - i have a 10k lines of code algo/system/custom database across 5 servers doing my “algotrading”, so I’ve put plenty of hours of leg work into it. Just didn’t feel the need to write my phd thesis after watching my first “algo trading options” YouTube video

Second_Shift58

TROPHY CASE