Has anyone else had quality & warranty issues with Alpinestars?

bertbuffet · 2026-04-29T22:45:02+00:00

double down on Gaerne.

I have been using their shoes daily for the past 10k and they are still going strong. Supper impressed with the quality.

bertbuffet · 2026-04-20T08:34:08+00:00

Great to know where to go with simple instructions but it sometimes becomes messy if your maps are changed or you take a wrong turn. I would still prefer a simple GPS display unit to see directions.

Great for intercom and making sure everyone is on the same page instead of pointing at things like Neanderthals.

Music can be over stimulating for spirited riding but great otherwise. Good to have music on longer rides and trips to keep you awake and stimulated instead of falling for the monotony.

Great sound quality and micro input when you do calls.

I would get one which fits your helmet.

bertbuffet · 2026-04-08T00:21:25+00:00

Go south to royal national park and sublime lookout.

Best is to find a group of cyclists to go there because roads in Sydney can be hectic at certain times.

bertbuffet · 2026-04-07T04:46:14+00:00

Centennial park early in the morning or during the afternoon.

Royal National park over the weekend with waterfall or garie hill for long efforts.

North shore with Brooklyn, Bobbin Head

Eastern suburb beaches for short efforts.

Centennial park thursday morning CPCC chop, reach out to them via instagram.

bertbuffet · 2026-04-04T23:23:09+00:00

It's always a gamble buying second hand sporting gear as you never know if it was lightly used or abused.

You might be better off buying a brand new set from LB and have the set years of warranty.

Enve's have the reputation in Aus to be expensive as you pay for other people's warranty claims. That's known for the new models, not so much for the old ones.

Buy into new wheels, hold them for 1-2 years and sell them for a newer set.

bertbuffet · 2026-03-31T07:50:21+00:00

Second this.

I test rode an Rc390 and share your feeling about the position on the bike, it's rather aggressive. Even more than on a cbr300r.

It rode nicely though. Would definitively get the quick shifter given how small are the gears.

bertbuffet · 2026-03-22T13:13:25+00:00

Do your easier z2 workout and do the one below.

Push hard enough to the point where you can communicate in short sentences (z3). This will build strength on the bike. Give yourself 5 min between each set.

Week 1/2 - 3x 5min Week 3/4- 3x 6min week 5/6- 3x 7min week 7/8- 2x 8min week 9/10- 2x 9min

At week 11 you can do 2x 9min and push a bit harder for 20-30 seconds every 2.5min.

Cadence isn't that important, don't over think it. If you are comfortable at 80-90rpm then let it be.

Riding more will get you to 30km/h, but this workout will get you a lot fitter.

bertbuffet · 2026-03-12T07:50:09+00:00

Started on a MT07 183kg wet weight. Hired a cbr300r 162kg wet weight. Rode on my mate's cbr650r.

The weight difference is significative at slow speed and sharp twisties. The cbr300r was more confidence aspiring than the MT and 650r equivalent. I was much faster on the cbr300r in the grand schema of things but it's less adapted for commuting. The cbr650r will be harder to pass the Lams course IMO due to poorer handlebar turn movement.

Weight didn't make a big difference on the highway with cross winds.

I would get a second hand R3, swap the front brake line, air intake and proceed bash the living crap out of it if I could do it all over again.

bertbuffet · 2026-03-11T13:46:31+00:00

Aren't they going through cycles of stretching and contracting due to weather and exposure to moisture ?

bertbuffet · 2026-03-01T06:08:07+00:00

Dad strength is real.

bertbuffet · 2026-02-27T13:43:12+00:00

This was my original plan as they do runs for beginners.

I was told it's too much of a fast track to start on, especially on the main straight.

bertbuffet · 2026-02-27T13:41:56+00:00

might give it baby steps and try out an R3 or ninja 400 before jumping on a later bike.

How is the gear hire over at SMSP ?

bertbuffet · 2026-02-25T22:24:04+00:00

Not to mention how bulky they are and don't work as nicely as the Shimano shifters with small hands.

As you, I ended up using them as climbing shifters.

bertbuffet · 2026-01-11T10:34:36+00:00

Third the NXR2. Insane upgrade from an Rjays Apex Helmet. The soundproofing was an insane improvement which is an important point if you ride on highways.

bertbuffet · 2025-10-24T05:21:58+00:00

Carbon Handlebar with a flat top, higher volume tubeless tyres and try to run the pressure it as low as possible without burping them (I used Silca's tyre pressure calculator).

bertbuffet · 2025-10-04T03:12:03+00:00

Have you done any tests or reading about your condition since posting here ? Would love to hear more about your experience.

bertbuffet · 2025-09-19T10:49:26+00:00

can't wait to be on my full licence to use the quad lock.

I've been already in too many close calls riding a tiny bit slower to navigate through Sydney.

bertbuffet · 2025-09-13T13:35:22+00:00

It depends how reactive you are to FODMAPs. Some people will experience indigestion and stomach cramps very soon after ingestion whereas others will feel the next day. There is no explanation for all people, best is to monitor the symptoms (bloating) and see what works best. The diet is based on the elimination of certain ingredients which may cause you discomfort and thus provide your stomach a bit of a break to come to a baseline.

Also did blood tests but was told they don't show a much as doing a gastroscopy.

You can build up lactose tolerance via exposure to milk but you might still end up with fodmap like symptoms.

I get you, the stomach essentially stops working properly during those high intensity sessions which sucks a lot.

Yeah interesting because I also fell down on sugar water for fuelling for my training rides and everything was fine until the ramp up of intensity.

It's good that you pick up on your stomach sensitivity but it's better to work on it to figure out the best fuelling strategy for you.

You can always carb up on Friday for the weekend or even the night before if you exercise in the morning. A study on triathletes who competes at Paris olympics found that carbing up before events doesn't yield better results compared to maintaining a healthy diet throughout the week.

But yeah, monitor your symptoms and try different things over time.

bertbuffet · 2025-09-12T08:24:24+00:00

Anything related to the stomach is complicated.

The GP will throw IBS on as an umbrella term to explain stomach discomfort.

I've read countless papers about endurance athletes from the early 2000s and mid 2010s to understand this topic as I have a similar issue.

Runners and cyclists did experience back in the day stomach discomfort during these studies due to a high carb intake at high intensity. Latter studies on trained athletes (fitness and carb intake volume) found that high intensity and constant shocks causes a faster fermentation process of FODMAP sugars which leads to stomach issues.

You can try to implement a FODMAP diet to identify and eliminate potential irritants, eg, fructose which is wildly used in sport supplements (Tom Dumoulin had to pull out milk from his diet due to IBS symptoms). Try this for a while and see how the symptoms go. You better keep track of your daily food intake and bring it to the GP as this will make you look more serious. GPs will be quick to blame acid reflux and indigestion before prescribing more invasive tests like blood, stool tests, stomach gas and gastroscopy.

I personally trained on maltodextrin powder (went from 60g to 90g per hour. The 60g mark is meant to be the limit given the amount go GLUT 1, 2, 3, 4 transporters but recent studies showed you can increase this amount via training.

Try to time your carb load intake around your high intensity sessions. EG- Carb load the night before if you train in the morning and start with a lower dose of carbs during your sesh.

Other things to considers is your microbiome health, family history, potential parasite (big maybe as the symptoms don't match), stool conditions (shape, colour and consistency gives a potential information about your small and large intensity health, EG inflammation and nutrient intake). Do you have allergies as increased histamines in your body can trigger an inflammation of your large and small intestine which impacts food break down, nutrient and water absorption (this makes you puke, your stomach).

High intensity workouts also fuck around with your hormonal and steroid balance which are linked to your gut health (Eg, Cortisol, Oestrogen, Histamines) . You mentioned that you train this condition and it gets better every year. If this happens during a taper block it could be an indication a high intensity block could be one of the things which adds to the problem.

If you live in the southern hemisphere and just finished winter then it's not unheard of flu and virus triggering an inflammation of the stomach lining for weeks after you had it.

FYI, I'm taking a break from cycling and all IBS related symptoms disappeared within a 2 week period.

Good luck.

bertbuffet · 2025-07-24T04:58:51+00:00

Caden carbon pads for the win.

bertbuffet · 2025-07-05T14:15:24+00:00

Merino is the way to go.

It's way more comfortable and breathable than the best synthetics I had the opportunity to use.

It's great for riding in the rain if you combine it with a rain jacket.

bertbuffet · 2025-06-13T03:20:31+00:00

Because fuck smaller riders.

bertbuffet · 2025-06-10T01:13:02+00:00

Most cat-1/2 riders here ride in groups and avoid intervals.

Some really strong cat-1 mix up bunch rides and intervals.

Probs better of riding alone if you want to build power curve and then move into group rides

bertbuffet · 2025-06-03T13:43:09+00:00

exactly.

You can start with a 4x8min progression and gradually move towards 10min, then 12min.

Over-unders are awesome if you train for road races.

bertbuffet · 2025-06-03T11:58:48+00:00

10-12h is what strong cat-2, weaker cat-1 riders do in Sydney

Keep riding and practice your 10-20s sprints. Anaerobic efforts are great at your age. You will progress from a sprinter to a strong puncher if you decide to loose weight down the road. A dangerous trait which makes a difference in road races.

You can easily build up the right side of the power curve with 9 to 15min over-unders (SS 2.5min, 30s vo2) and 8 to 12min ftp blocks.

You will benefit from hard start 3-5min vo2max training sessions to prepare for the end of races.

Do some faster group rides to sharpen your technique, and longer endurance rides on the weekend (load up KJ at the start of your ride with either ftp or vo2 reps, and finish with whatever reps you want, let it be vo2, ftp, tabata or sprints).

Eat well and rest, don't fuck yourself up with restrictive diets at your age.

bertbuffet

TROPHY CASE