The Gear in Review

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Dickie 41170 wrote:

Was looking for a similar solution myself for my new cross bike. The seat wedgie interferes with my rear lights and is a pain to get to. Plus I want to be able to reach my phone easier for amusing picture opportunities. How do you like the Bento? Where did you get it?

Taillight use was one of the big things for me. I picked up the bento at FreshBikes…just what they had on the self, as it doesn’t seem like a piece that requires a lot of review-checking and product research. I had to buy an XL because my cell phone is huge. I also bought a mini-pump that fits in there perfectly, making the whole thing even more useful for me.

[Amalitza]

@Dickie 41170 wrote:

Was looking for a similar solution myself for my new cross bike. The seat wedgie interferes with my rear lights and is a pain to get to. Plus I want to be able to reach my phone easier for amusing picture opportunities. How do you like the Bento? Where did you get it?

I stumbled into the same set-up (cage box plus bento) on my Dolce for totally different reasons. The bento turned out to be by far the best option I’ve found for having something easy to reach. In my case, I need to hand over two different badges to get through two different gates to get back to work from a ride (while not being at any risk for dropping one on the trail along the way, and hopefully without holding up the line too bad fumbling for them at the gates) but it would be just as convenient for grabbing a phone and taking a picture. Mine is a topeak I got from Amazon, i think. Works as advertised. Is not large enough to substitute for a seat bag on its own, imo you need something additional which is why i also have the cage box, but as a combo they work great.

[bikenurse]

@Dickie 41170 wrote:

Was looking for a similar solution myself for my new cross bike. The seat wedgie interferes with my rear lights and is a pain to get to. Plus I want to be able to reach my phone easier for amusing picture opportunities. How do you like the Bento? Where did you get it?

Serfas makes a bento that has a magnetic closure. Having crashed due to a velcro fail on my bento, I highly recommend the magnetic closure – easier and more reliable, especially if you’re doing something stupid like trying to put your phone away while riding fast downhill on your road bike….

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 41154 wrote:

So this is my new thing:

Top tube bag/Bento box: For a variety of reasons, I wanted to find a way to ditch the wedgie bag on my R3, at least for commutes/shorter rides around the area…mainly just to hold keys/phone/wallet. I thought about buying a CageRocket to use for my flat kit, but instead I decided to improvise one using one of my water bottles. Because of the shape, I had to cut out the narrow neck portion, and reattached everything, but it seems to have worked pretty well. I think I definitely prefer using the top tube bag+bottle combo…looks a little better than a wedgie bag, I think, and is actually a little more functional. I’ll have to use the wedgie for longer rides when I need two water bottles, but I think for most of my riding this will work well.

Careful, people are going to think that you’re a triathlete…

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Tim Kelley 41263 wrote:

Careful, people are going to think that you’re a triathlete…

That sir, was below the belt and uncalled for!

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 41287 wrote:

That sir, was below the belt and uncalled for!

Don’t worry–they’ll just think you’re a geeky triathlete.

You’ll never have true tri-cred until you get an aero bento box…

[mstone]

I thought the requirement was to crash into things.

[Dirt]

My problem with any version of the Bento box bags that I’ve seen is that I tend to sweat a lot in the summer and anything in the bento box gets soaked. I put my camera in a bag that is a little forward and off to one side and that seems to be okay.

On my cross bike I’ve been using the Ortlieb Saddlebag Micro: http://www.ortliebusa.com/prod-225.htm Holds 2 tubes, 2 CO2 cartridges and basic tools. It is waterproof, so my steel wrenches don’t rust. The mounting is very secure and quick to remove, replace, open and close. Only problem is that it rattles a little on the bumps. I put a piece of duct tape on one of the mounting clip faces and that quieted it down perfectly. It holds the bag a little lower and further back, so it doesn’t rub my legs. They make a bigger size that I have on my fixie. It works great too.

For endurance rides, I need to look into using a Revelate Feedbag: https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.catalog&CategoryID=2&ProductID=12
I think that would get a bunch of stuff out of my jersey pocket and a little more accessible.

[vvill]

I like the idea of the bento box but the one I’ve tri-ed always seems to get in the way somehow during my riding (granted, that’s on a compact road frame).

I like TwoWheelsDC idea – I don’t have a seat bag on my single speed and don’t really want one, so I’ve taken to just putting the one from my road bike in my jersey pocket. This would be nicer, especially since I rarely use two bottles with that bike.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Ooooooooh, my Nashbar Garment Pannier just came today. I was a little worried, as the reviews were kinda mixed (but skewing positive), but I was pretty impressed with the quality and the details upon opening it and checking it out. I also was worried about having room for all the extras, but it has plenty of extra pockets. It’s not really going to allow for grocery runs, but I mainly bought to ferry suits back and forth to work so I don’t have to take a day to Metro with a garment bag every so often. Also, in a year when my detail is over and I go back to a business-casual office, I can use this on the rare days I have to wear a suit, instead of driving in. Anyway, for $60, it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up. I’ll get a better of idea of how it works in the real world tomorrow, but here it is:

Fits jackets/shirts/pants with wire hangers and has a hanger holder thingy, just like a real garment bag:

Despite being black, it’s got reflective piping and two big reflective tags on the back:

Compared to my Novara commuter pannier:

I was worried about heel strikes, but it won’t be an issue. Instead of being too close the pedals, it overhangs the end of my rack by a few inches. Seems solid on the bike though:

[vvill]

Spiffy! I love it when I come home and new bike stuff is waiting for me. Better than xmas.

I got a delivery from the UK today – new bibs from ProBikeKit. Looking forward to trying them out tomorrow. Seemed a good deal for $38.

[DaveK]

@vvill 42643 wrote:

Spiffy! I love it when I come home and new bike stuff is waiting for me. Better than xmas.

I got a delivery from the UK today – new bibs from ProBikeKit. Looking forward to trying them out tomorrow. Seemed a good deal for $38.

Cool – PBK has way, way too much of my money already. Love them and the customer service is great.

[vvill]

@DaveK 42712 wrote:

Cool – PBK has way, way too much of my money already. Love them and the customer service is great.

Yeah they seem good value on sales and they actually carry good stock. This was my second order with them (of many, I’m sure). I also got a new Gatorskin for $35 or so.

New bibs are nice so far.

[Jason B]

Just to update. I started this thread by giving a thumbs down to Princeton Tech’s Push light. It pained me to do this, because P. Tech makes some of favorite headlights for backpacking and surf fishing. Well, on a whim I contacted them. They said send it in. With no receipt, and no questions asks, they sent me a new one in only two weeks.
It is back on bars, looking svelty, and happily shining away.

Hit: Princeton Tech customer service!!

[GB]

A little over 2 yrs ago I bought the Nashbar 105. It’s really only 105 in the bifters, and possibly the cassette, cranks were FSA and breaks are Tektro. At under a thousand dollars shipped the price was reasonable. After 2 yes and 8k miles here’s what I’ve replaced:

Wheels: These were bad wheels to begin with. After riding for a year and replacing 3 spokes I sent them back and got a replacement set. Those were bad wheels as well and I replaced them after 6 months with a set that I bought.

Cassette, chainrings and chain: replaced after 6k miles and minimal maintenance, no complaints.

FSA crank: replaced after 8k miles. This was not properly installed at the factory, and I didn’t properly correct it when I noticed the deficiency. I replaced with 105 but Nashbar is sending a replacement.

FSA standard English bottom bracket: replaced after 8k miles. I was just going to replace the bearings, but it was too rusted/fused/corroded to fix and I replaced with ultegra. No complaints here, 8k and zero maintenance doesn’t sound unreasonable.

Note – I ride in most weather and take the occasional curb if it’s in my path. I’ve put the bike on it’s side at speed more than once. I “clean” and oil the gears ~500 miles. It had a shop cleaning and servicing last spring at 4k miles.

That’s my experience, YMMV.

EDIT: it’s 105 in the brifters, front and rear derailleurs, and pedals.

[Author]

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