[Harry Meatmotor]

@vvill 91364 wrote:

Yeah I think you’re paying a bit of a premium for the HED name, but I feel since it’s one of those brands that helped pioneer a worthy trend (wide rims in this case), they’re worth supporting. Same goes for Stan’s and their tubeless stuff (even though I haven’t tried running tubeless yet!)

Stan’s are a good bet EXCEPT for the 340s – stay away from them, IMHO.

If you’re wanting nearly HED Belgium quality without the price tag, check out the Pacenti SL23s.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@bikesnick 91254 wrote:

I assume it is time for a new wheel.

Yes-sir-ee-Bob – though if you’re spendthrifty, you could just re-lace the hub to a new rim. One thing you can keep in mind when choosing a new rim is to look for an eyeletted rim – the Mavic Open Sport has eyelettes, as well as most other low-ish profile aluminum Mavics (like the CXP22 and the A319, which is nice and wide). It might also be good to look at H+Son’s TB14 – I built a pair of TB14’s laced to 105 hubs for my commuter and they came together quite nicely.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Steve 90893 wrote:

I’d also add that depending on the reason you want the lock, you might want to get two of them. Because my primary need for a lock is commuting, I leave my u-lock on the rack at work. That way, I don’t have to carry it with me every day (as I keep my bike inside at home). I have the benefit of it not really being a public rack, more just in front of our building, and so leaving it isn’t a big deal. It’s nice then to have an extra lock around the house in case you run out for quick errands.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This.

Depending on where you’re riding to, and if it’s a regular destination, definitely scope out parking garages. Many have racks within eye sight of the attendants. Some even have racks that are fenced in and require a key (from the garage operators) and a deposit for use. I regularly keep one U-lock on the rack at work, and one on the rack at home.

[Harry Meatmotor]

A good alternative to consider, too:

http://www.abus.com/us/Recreational-Security/Bike-Safety-and-Security/Locks/Folding-locks

The 6500 Granit, though a bit pricey, is top-notch.

[Harry Meatmotor]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere but NomaBID installed 5 Fixit Station in the BID:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomabid/sets/72157645771942196

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Geoff 90766 wrote:

I’m afraid you misunderstand, PeteD. I don’t know Jay Miller (the person) either, but if you see hills as the gift of a loving God who wants to help us observe Rule 5, Jay Miller is one of the best roads in the area!

I dunno – Whispering Ln is pretty fierce, too.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@TwoWheelsDC 90760 wrote:

After a couple months of collecting parts:

-Cinelli MASH Parallax frameset
-SRAM Omnium crankset (170mm 48t)
-3T Ergonova bars (38mm)
-3T ARX stem (90mm, -6 degrees)
-3T Palladio seat post
-Selle Italia SL Kit Carbonia Flow saddle
-H+Son SL42 wheelset w/All City cog (17t)
-Continental GP 4 Season tires
-SRAM S500 brake levers
-SRAM Apex front brake

Man – in a world of “me too!” rainbow bright fixies that’s positively tasteful! well done!

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Powerful Pete 90712 wrote:

Most excellent. Very curious how the alu frame rides… sounds like it is making you happy.

Curious as to your thoughts on the November wheel set…

Also, while I am certain it is financially painful, I am sure it is far less painful than a CF frame, no?

As my daughter would say, That Is Totally Plobnerd (apparently, that is what a 9 y.o. says when she means something is very, very cool).

I’ve got prolly about 2k miles on the Rails so far. I was unsure whether I’m fast enough to notice any aero gains when I first started looking at them, but over the last year I’ve started to push into “should be racing” territory and can tell when the wheels start doing their magic. On the flats, once i hit about 22-24 mph, it feels like i have to do very little extra work to get the bike up to 28-30 mph. The November guys seem to be pretty straight shooters – definitely check out their blog. They’ve been doing some more wind tunnel testing and have built a rim deflection rig to compare different rim profiles and spoke count builds.

As far as the frame, it’s a poor man’s Tarmac – retails for $880 and has the Tarmac fork (the claimed weight on the 54cm frame and fork is 1100 grams or so). I’m pleasantly surprised at how smooth it rides – definitely stiffer than my Salsa Pistola, and I’m feeling a little more road stutter through the handlebars, but through the saddle it’s just as comfy (if not more so) than my Pistola. I’ll need to get some more miles on it before I figure out all the little handling nuances that are different – gonna put another few miles on it this afternoon!

ride ride ride!!!

[Harry Meatmotor]

@KLizotte 90687 wrote:

Wow – that is some bling!!!! Congrats on the new steed.

thanks!!!! my wife calls it “The D*ck Bike” cause it looks to her like a bike some Type-A personality, under-qualified jerk would ride (maybe one of “those” snobbish Velominati guys? Lolz!). not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Powerful Pete 90684 wrote:

That, kind sir, is a gorgeous ride. Can you tell us more about it?

2014 Specialized Allez E5 Smartweld 54cm, Sram Force 22 (39-53/11-26 175mm w/ a KMC 11spd Ti-Nitride chain – will soon be upgrading to a Red 22 11-25 cassette once my wallet recovers…), Zipp Service Course SL cockpit, November Rail 52s, Vittoria Open Corsa tires, Lizard Skins tape (i’m giving this stuff a second chance…), Specialized Romin Pro Evo saddle, and a few other little ding dongs. it rides like f-ing gangbusters – really stellar. 16.3 lbs weight.

A little history: last summer I was ready to pull the trigger on this frame, but Specialized ran out of stock so I ended up waiting a year before placing my order. Needless to say, an extra 12 months to plan out a build ends up better in the long run, if you ask me. I took it out on Saturday and only intended to ride 10-15 miles as a shake-down cruise – ended up doing 45, woot!

[Harry Meatmotor]

Build complete and with 90 miles in the saddle so far – (dnnh-nhh-nhh-nhh-nhhhhhuh) I’m lovin’ it.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6238[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6239[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6240[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6241[/ATTACH]

[Harry Meatmotor]

MOAR pics.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6235[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6236[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6237[/ATTACH]

[Harry Meatmotor]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6226[/ATTACH]

Gentlemen, BEHOLD:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6233[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6232[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6231[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]6234[/ATTACH]

[Harry Meatmotor]

One shop that popped onto my radar 2 years ago due to it’s presence at the NAHBBS was this guy:

http://sixelevenbicycleco.com

He’s down in Roanoke, VA – about a 4 hour drive south of here. Very good looking paint coming out of that shop, tho who knows if he’d be inclined to just do a quick and pedestrian respray plus decals & clear.

I’ll also second the powdercoating – highly utilitarian, but cooler colors (candies, bassboat style flake, and pearlescents) are becoming available.

Or, you could just strip it and rattle can it yourself – you’d be surprised how well a basic rattle can respray can look. just spend 10 times as long as you think you should on prep and cleaning and you might come out with a pretty baller paint job.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Phatboing 90304 wrote:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/73107113@N05/d7w7c0

A thing-schlepper 9000!

FAWESOME!

My latest purchase should be delivered to the shop tomorrow – build resumes this weekend.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6196[/ATTACH]

Gonna upgrade to a Red 22 cassette and a KMC Ti-Nitride gold chain.

GOLD CHAINZ FTW!

[Author]

Posts