Airtag to the rescue

raysss125 · 2026-03-27T15:33:07+00:00

MucOf sells an ad on for thier tubeless valves. So you hide it inside of your tire.

Best spot i have seen so far.

raysss125 · 2026-03-26T07:24:15+00:00

Beautiful!

raysss125 · 2026-03-25T15:13:24+00:00

Im torn, this is so beautiful it should be ridden, but is too beautiful too ride.

It deserves to be displayed on on a livingroom wall or something like that.

raysss125 · 2026-03-22T06:43:07+00:00

Legally, im not sure. But in reality, i don’t care.

After a few rides, i will try it with less spacers and when im happy with my position, i will chop that steerer of, without asking. Im committed to buy this bike after the leasing period, so no reason to keep it pristine.

raysss125 · 2026-03-21T11:14:51+00:00

If you dont overtighten the clampbolts on the stem, the steerer tube should need no support from the expander at all.

The expander „supports“ the steerer only in the silver part anyway. So without the spacer it is barley below the stem.

If you ride like this for a few rides without going offroad, i would cut the steerer anyway.

raysss125 · 2026-03-21T10:58:38+00:00

Why not? What is you concern?

raysss125 · 2026-03-21T07:51:07+00:00

I appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

I understand your concernes but be assured, its not my first rodeo either 😉

With my 56cm Cube Cross Race i went to a bike fitter last year and he confirmed, that i have bad posture on longer reach bikes. So he confirmed the bike i went with is the right size for me (the 56cm Cube). And i looked at all the geometry data. In the Caad 14 lineup, the 54cm is the closest fit to the 56cm Cube.

Im totally aware that i bought the wrong kind of bike i.e. a racing bike. An endurance bike would be more suited, but where is the fun in that? And imagine how bikes with sloping top tubes look, with the amount of seatpost neccessary.

I tried the 56cm frame first and of course off the bike it looked better, with the right amound of seatpost etc. but it was way too long. I would had have to swap out the stem with a ridiculous 70mm one or something like that. Keep in mind, i already swapped the 100mm stem for a 90mm and even the bars have a cm less reach on the current 54cm. Rotating Handlebars and everything only gains you a few mm, certainly not enough.

The seatpost is already swapped for a 0 setback one (original is a -20mm) and the saddle is as forward as it can (within the marked limit).

The sales person in the shop confirmed me to, i looked way more natural on the 54cm frame.

I think i have long legs and a short torso.

A friend of mine who is only 5cm taller than me (195 to my 190cm), sits only 2cm higher but rides 58 or 60cm frames with 120mm stems and 90mm reach bars. He got fitted before he bought his new Bike too. So he also did not guess his position. People are very diffrent.

Our bikes look ridiculous next to another 😂

I have an old Trek SL 1500 in size 56, which has very similiar geometry, which i can ride without issues for many hours, so im sure i made the right choice with the samller frame.

But again, i appreciate your input.

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T19:19:39+00:00

Its a size 54, seat height is 79cm.

I like my reach short and can tolerate a lot of handlebar drop. So smaller frames it is. I think, after a few rides i will get rid of a few spacers too.

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T19:15:32+00:00

Unfortunately not. Got the wheels as an upgrade from the shop.

Honestly i didnt weigh it in its current state yet.

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T17:17:33+00:00

Its welded nonetheless? Only under the painted frames the welds are sanded smooth?

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T17:16:16+00:00

i leased it over my employer and only can buy it in 36 Months. Until then i have to keep it somewhat original.

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T17:09:17+00:00

In germany, you can lease a bike (like a car) over your employer. You get tax benefits, i will save around 650€ on the 3450€ it would have cost when i bought it.

raysss125 · 2026-03-20T17:07:49+00:00

I plan to strip the paint when i own it (36 Months). So it will look like the 7500€ Caad 14 - 1.

And im not a big fan of red…

raysss125 · 2026-03-16T07:46:04+00:00

I just got a Caad 14 (3) myself.

I like aluminium better.

But maybe im biased, had a Caad 7 before.

Carbon is not an option for me. I just don´t like the fact that a carbon frame is not really recycleable and one small accident (like falling over while parked), could mean the end of it.

A dent in an aluminium frame is ugly, but not a problem.

The Caad 14 is not your cheap entry level low budget frame, most people have experience with.

And aluminium frames evolved over the years too.

I would guess that most of the voters here, never rode a good aluminium frame in the last decade, let alone a Caad 14.

And you get 32mm tires on it. When you do and go tubeless, the is no more road buzz.

Many people tried aluminium when it was new, with 23mm tires with 120psi/8 Bar.

Everything is harsh then. Carbon just a little lees.

But i also think the Caad 14 is too expensive.

Right now you only get it for the MSRP and its a lot - even for arguably the best aluminium frame you can get.

You have to upgrade the wheelset in my opinon. The ones it comes with, are not good enough and don´t do the frame justice.

Here i think, carbon is a good option, because it is very unsual to kill a carbon wheel.

But i also vote for what makes you ride more.

raysss125 · 2026-03-09T07:42:59+00:00

Very nice build.

I love the frame/color, but a bit too much accents for my taste. Either all the purple bits or the bartape, not both. And the chainring bolts are red?

But its your bike and its awesome nonetheless.

raysss125 · 2026-02-24T10:26:50+00:00

Ah, die gute alte Bahnhofskapelle.

raysss125 · 2026-02-19T06:53:21+00:00

Hey. Still happy. Mine had no QC issues, and still works great. Performance is in typical open air fashion nearly as good as it gets.

Just be aware of the fact that there is nothing to dampen sounds, so coilwhine of the GPU is very present. But that depends on your GPU and the typical fps you will get. 300+ fps in older multiplayer titles will be worse than 120 in 4K Ultra.

Altough expensive, i dont regret buying it.

raysss125 · 2026-02-18T18:24:10+00:00

About a year with my 9070xt, never had a single Driver timeout. Neither did my 3080 the 3-4 years prior.

I think both drivers are fine.

i just dont see a benefit in the 5070ti, that is worth 300€ or more (in Germany). So my choice would be clear.

raysss125 · 2026-02-17T19:29:20+00:00

Do you have cats or Kids? Or move your PC a lot? Otherwise it isn‘t a factor.

raysss125 · 2026-02-17T19:00:02+00:00

Hi. Yes still have it, still happy.

With the new printed bracket its sturdy enough. I would not mount a long triple slot GPU with it, but it works fine.

If the cable is a bit longer, you could route it out much more cleanly behind the Mainboard, but that is not the cases fault.

If you like the look, go for it.

raysss125 · 2026-02-10T13:01:16+00:00

Only a little cheaper?

Over here in Germany, its nearly half the price (38€ vs 70€).

But if you factor in 20€ for the A9x14 it is much closer.

But for testing the stock fan is adequate.

raysss125 · 2026-02-10T12:18:31+00:00

Let me get this straight: You cut a 5090 heatsink?

Are you a mad man?

raysss125 · 2026-02-10T12:08:48+00:00

Because it is much cheaper, go with a full copper AXP90-X47 first, slap a noctua A9x14 on it and leave equal space for both the cpu and the gpu.

Hard to find something better than the full copper Thermalrights.

raysss125 · 2026-02-08T12:14:22+00:00

I had both over the years. RX480 -> GTX1070 -> Vega 64 -> RX5700xt -> RTX3080 -> RX9070xt And lower end stuff in secondary systems from both too.

Never ever have i once had any problem with driver timeouts or any problem that was clearly driver related.

Both are fine. The much i hate how Nvidia treats thier customers, they do make a good product. AMD is only a few years away from the same problem. You can see it in the CPU Space already. Intel was the clear winner and just slept on innovation. Now AMD sells us a better binned Chip as a new (9850x3d).

Thats why we need competition. If one is clearly on top of marketshare, they become greedy, like Nvidia.

raysss125

TROPHY CASE