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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

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Old 05-13-14, 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
Ride something like this without them:
Jealous. Looks like great hill training, exercise. Nothing like that within riding distance from me. Looks fun. Also great job conquering that!
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Old 05-13-14, 09:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Gus90
Hows that then? I think the bike is hot. The difference with this thread will be people are free to give an honest critique, positive or negative. They're also free to inject some tongue in cheek humor. Personal attacks and being an asshat in general will probably still be moderated but if you still don't get it, I can't help you.
Now you tell me.
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Old 05-13-14, 09:48 AM
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Originally Posted by kleng
a shortish persons bike to balance it out, flame away !!!

Hot! I love this bike. Yes, I agree with most all of the comments (except the 'not hot' ones). The valve stem covers is almost enough to knock it from Hot to Not. Is there a reason people use these that I'm unaware of?? LizardSkins Bar tape in gloss black would help and all black seat post and stem would carry it to the rarefied 'Smoking Hot' status!
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Old 05-13-14, 09:52 AM
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Originally Posted by kcollier5
The valve stem covers is almost enough to knock it from Hot to Not. Is there a reason people use these that I'm unaware of?? LizardSkins Bar tape in gloss black would help and all black seat post and stem would carry it to the rarefied 'Smoking Hot' status!
If they forget to close the valve and put the cap on those carbon rims it will cause an asplosion.

I currently have Lizardskins on my bike and I never will again. I put it on in late winter and now it is early spring and I have already worn through the tape on the right hand side near the hood. Garbage.
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Old 05-13-14, 09:55 AM
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Originally Posted by RPK79
Not ideal. The roads I'm hitting are basically straight so I just pick a line and go; as long as you're not turning the tire doesn't seem to matter too much. I know I'm playing the odds on getting a cut tire though since they're Conti Ultra Race tires and not meant for gravel by any stretch. Although, they are not showing any excess wear.

I want to buy some gravel specific tires and I know my bike can handle some 700x28 (meh) and might handle 700x32 (mo' bettah), but since none of the bike shops carry much of anything and don't want to just order stuff for me to try out (understandably) I'm kind of waiting on feeling lucky playing the online order lottery.
Both Rochester Cycling and Bicycle Sports carry several tire models suitable for gravel. Stop in. They'll hook you up.
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Old 05-13-14, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
Both Rochester Cycling and Bicycle Sports carry several tire models suitable for gravel. Stop in. They'll hook you up.
Might be worth the trip. I haven't checked Penn or some of the smaller shops in the metro yet either though. The manager at the Eagan Erik's did offer to let me check clearance on 700x32 tires using his cx wheels that have them mounted, but I would have to let him know ahead of time so he could ride that bike in. I didn't know when I'd be through there with my bike so I didn't take him up on it though.

It will likely wait until a rainy day occurs and I have money to burn.

edit:

https://cycling-fitness.com/product/c...ch-82463-1.htm

Those look promising, but they don't stock them.

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Old 05-13-14, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Nagrom_


Hot as hell.
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Old 05-13-14, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by RPK79
If they forget to close the valve and put the cap on those carbon rims it will cause an asplosion.

I currently have Lizardskins on my bike and I never will again. I put it on in late winter and now it is early spring and I have already worn through the tape on the right hand side near the hood. Garbage.
Interesting to hear. I'm only on my second LS wrap on my current bike, the first was destroyed when I loaned my bike to my brother and he wrecked it. I know, I know, awful, right? 2 mi an hour wreck over a speed bump, cracked my carbon bars and destroyed the bartape. Only had about 1,200 miles on them and they were still like brand new. Now have another 1,000 miles on the new tape and it's showing little to no signs of wear. Obviously I always wear gloves, but I've had great success with this tape… Just a few questions: Do you sweat a lot? Do you wear gloves? Are you normally hard on tape? And is this the first LizardSkins you've ever used?
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Old 05-13-14, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by kcollier5
Interesting to hear. I'm only on my second LS wrap on my current bike, the first was destroyed when I loaned my bike to my brother and he wrecked it. I know, I know, awful, right? 2 mi an hour wreck over a speed bump, cracked my carbon bars and destroyed the bartape. Only had about 1,200 miles on them and they were still like brand new. Now have another 1,000 miles on the new tape and it's showing little to no signs of wear. Obviously I always wear gloves, but I've had great success with this tape… Just a few questions: Do you sweat a lot? Do you wear gloves? Are you normally hard on tape? And is this the first LizardSkins you've ever used?
I do wear gloves, the weather is still on the cool side so I'm not sweating, I've never worn through bar tap before changing it for other reasons, and yes this is the first LS I've used. I only have a few hundred miles on it ~300 road miles and a dozen hours or so on the trainer. It's grippy, cushy, and looks good (at first), but at twice the cost of what I have used in the past I had expected it to have more staying power.

This is not my picture, but my experience is similar.

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Old 05-13-14, 10:31 AM
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Loving the Fizik Performance tape, looks and feels awesome and no sign of wear. Also half the price of Lizard, possibly 1/3.
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Old 05-13-14, 10:52 AM
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Wow, that's awful. I wouldn't use it ever again either. For me, it's hard to spend $35 on bar tape, but it has worked SO well for me that I did it again when I needed new tape. Strange though that our experiences would be so different. Wonder if you just ended up with a bad tape?
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Old 05-13-14, 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by kcollier5
Wow, that's awful. I wouldn't use it ever again either. For me, it's hard to spend $35 on bar tape, but it has worked SO well for me that I did it again when I needed new tape. Strange though that our experiences would be so different. Wonder if you just ended up with a bad tape?
Possible, but reviews tell me it is fairly common and I was able to easily find a google image showing similar wear to what I'm experiencing. Risk isn't worth the $40 price tag to me.
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Old 05-13-14, 11:04 AM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
This one was "hotter", but I pretty much stopped riding it and sold it.

Old school cool, Mercians are the shiznit. I don't dig the tires and your crank is pointed the wrong way. Hot though.
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Old 05-13-14, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Nagrom_


Hot. The only thing I don't dig is the drops...they aren't very droppy.
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Old 05-13-14, 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by martinus
That is an all around nice looking bike. I dig it. I like how all the colors flow and aren't too in your face.
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Old 05-13-14, 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by nagrom_

hot
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Old 05-13-14, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by kcollier5
Hot! I love this bike. Yes, I agree with most all of the comments (except the 'not hot' ones). The valve stem covers is almost enough to knock it from Hot to Not. Is there a reason people use these that I'm unaware of?? LizardSkins Bar tape in gloss black would help and all black seat post and stem would carry it to the rarefied 'Smoking Hot' status!
The post should stay because the stem, bars, and post should all match. The crank matching is an added bonus.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Gus90
This forum is for presenting your bike in all it's glory to be critiqued by other members. If you have thin skin, best to post your ride in the original Hot R Not, where criticism is limited to "not".

Some guidelines:
1) For best results, stage your bike properly:
a) against a neutral background
b) drive chain out with chain on large crank and one of the smaller cassette cogs
c) cranks at any angle except 90 or 45 degrees
d) remove seat bags, water bottles, lights, etc. (we really just want to see your bike, not your accessories)
e) valve stems at 6:00 and, if possible, tire logos properly aligned on rim.

2) Be prepared to handle criticism and not take this thread too seriously.
3) If you must criticize try and be constructive and not mean. We all can enjoy a good ribbing now and then and some tongue in cheek humor, but let's not get carried away or make it personal.
4) A "not" should be followed by a pic of your bike. (Unless you've posted it here previously)

(if I left something out, let me know and I'll add it)
Good idea, thanks for creating this. I got slammed down for making these suggestions on the original post. A suggestion? Make this post (minus your bike) a sticky so it stays at the top of the thread and everybody can see the guidance about staging and is forewarned.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Niloc
Good idea, thanks for creating this. I got slammed down for making these suggestions on the original post. A suggestion? Make this post (minus your bike) a sticky so it stays at the top of the thread and everybody can see the guidance about staging and is forewarned.
Not sure how to sticky the post, happy to do it as you suggest if someone could tell me how.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
This one was "hotter", but I pretty much stopped riding it and sold it.

Very hot. But then I'm partial to lugged steel frames that offer enough clearance to run tires suitable for gravel roads. You don't need a 'cross bike to ride dirt roads, I think something like this is preferable, gravel / dirt roads are after all still "roads" and cyclocross is a completely different animal with specific requirements. European professionals rode dirt roads (Stadia Bianchi, TdF, etc) for decades on bikes like this. I have that same Campy drivetrain, it's very versatile.

Since you can't correct them I'll ignore the minor staging issues (valve stems, cranks). Personally I'm partial to black Brooks saddles, which in this case would match the hoods and pedals. However this bike is a classic, and the brown leather with brass rivets looks still looks great.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Gus90
Not sure how to sticky the post, happy to do it as you suggest if someone could tell me how.
I think you may have to ask an admin IDK. I've never made one.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:46 PM
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You can't sticky your own thread. If you could, there'd be 187 pages of stickied threads per week.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:54 PM
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...I don't get it ? How is this an improvement ??
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Old 05-13-14, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by WhyFi
You can't sticky your own thread. If you could, there'd be 187 pages of stickied threads per week.
I think he just wants to stick the original post, so that it's at the top of each page within this thread.
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Old 05-13-14, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 3alarmer
...I don't get it ? How is this an improvement ??
Post your bike and find out!
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