so it adds flexibility in that it lets people adjust to a variety of stem angles but removes flexibility in the ability to move the stem up and down the steerer. how is that "useful?"

Naw, it's fine and I even used a torque wrench to make sure it was spec. I just meant it looks doofy. Like if you let a really tiny mountain goat wander around on the stem the little bastard would head directly for the spacer stack in search of whatever thing it is that mountain goats search for.

It varies by brand a bit.
Last two years we've had the Cannondale EVO, MASI Evolution, two S-Works - Venge and Tarmac. The last 3 made in Taiwan. The head tube for the Specialized bikes will not take the expander plug that the Cannondale and MASI would. In simple terms - the ID is smaller, the walls thicker.

yea i wouldn't imagine it crushing either. I think if anything the concern for some manufacturer would be that if the stem clamps 'air' then there is only one bolt holding it on, and the top cap is pretty aestethi for connecting the bars to the bike

Top cap is only necessary to pre load the headset in the designs I'm aware of. You could take the cap off after tightening the stem and have no mechanical change. You might have a steerer tube full of water if it rains, but the joint will work just fine.

yea i agree with u, im saying the top cap doesn't offer much in the 'hold the stem down'. Is absolutely necessarily for preload.

Specialized uses an expander plug to support the inner part of the carbon steerer tube. Carbon steerers have to be supported on the inside to resist the compression/torisional forces of the stem. This means that if you run a spacer above them stem that the expander plug won't be properly positioned to support the inside of the carbon steerer (it will be sitting too high). I prefer the way Cervelo does it since you can run as many spacers as you want, for as long as you want, without risking damage.

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/Picture6.png

I think that there is a boatload of anecdotal evidence that while this may be "best practice" it is certainly not absolutely necessary.

basically spacers above or below the stem are ugly. #aestheticsareeverything

the fact that some people use it? *shrug*

i've had SPD pedals that came with my bike, but I was kind of wondering about spd-sl, or other more traditional road setup. based on what I've seen, any difference in power transfer might be pretty negligible, so I'm not really thinking of upgrading. but maybe someone can convince me otherwise...

Power transfer is a non-issue, but I prefer the firmer connection and greater security you get from a road pedal when on the road. I started racing with SPDs back in the day and pulled out once or twice while sprinting. I don't think that's really much of a danger if you have things adjusted tightly and your form is good, after all I've been sprinting on SPDs in cyclocross and that's fine. But I still feel better on road pedals.

I'm not going to try too hard to convince you. If money is no object, yes, do it. If you're looking to be frugal, new pedals and shoes might not get you a lot of bang for the buck. I try to buy nice shoes, infrequently. It's worth waiting and saving to get something great you'll wear for a long while.

admittedly tearing apart my only working bike in the middle of a busy week at work was not by best decision, but I was sick of fighting with my barely functioning old rear derailleur and I'm done boy. oh boy does 6800 feel nice. just hoping it doesn't explode when i ride tomorrow.

Yeah, the new Shimano 11 mechnical is absolutely beautiful (This is coming from someone who still loves SRAM and rides Di2 11). Enjoy the buttery-ness, just make sure you remember to replace the cables every 5k miles or so. (Lest they snap inside the shifter.)

yeah but snapping inside the shifter was an issue on 6700 as well.

first ride with the new stuff this morning...still some fine tuning to do on the fd adjustment but jfc this stuff is like magic.

I may upgrade my power meter from a Stages to an Infocrank in the Spring/Summer. Thoughts? I get a 15% discount, so it'll be something like $1300.

you can get a new SRM for $1600...

"InfoCrank" - what a great name! Who should have that user name? Certainly somebody!...lots of candidates, but who's the euro guy who's not around much anymore but always used to say, "Incorrect!"?

:)

Smart man.

I've heard very good things about Infocranks.

That was botto, and he's American.

I was wondering if this needs its own thread. Anyway - what rim width and profile do you use for what and why? Junior almost always chooses the lower profile (30mm) while many others are using the 60mm. I have not seen rim width matter so much.

Technically correct.

I use a set of 50mm wheels almost exclusively. They're 25mm wide and I run 25 (or 26) tires on them. Exceptions include a disc and deeper front wheel for the TT bike when TT'ing or a set of alloy wheels if I know I'll be in the rain.

The best kind of correct!