They're about 1-1.5 cm shorter. Kinda halfway between the Power and the Toupe. Just picked up a swerks Romin EVO a week ago. So far I like it. Older Romins on all my other bikes feel about the same, but the new Romin is a little slipperier.

A 50-11 should be fine. I would definitely feel undergeared with a 12t, but an 11 is comfortable to me until around 40mph.

idk i think it's safe to say you wore out your steel frame...

cool thanks for the insight guys. nice to come on a forum and get constructive answers without being flamed for once. i also have an 11/28 cassette, i guess ill try both cassettes first and leave the front derailleur on until i deem i unnecssary

If you go single ring won't you need something to hold the chain on anyway? Either a different ring with a different derailleur, or a jump-stop type thing, right? Does that really cut 200g then?

You'd probably want a narrow-wide ring at the very least. I wouldn't bother spending money to make your bike less versatile. If you were building it up and wanted to save $$ on parts, maybe it would be close to the same amount of money even.

Re: single ring up front, I don't really see the benefit. Especially when going out of your way to change a 2x bike. Half pound won't really do much for the bike in the grand scheme of racing. But, if you're set on making the change, a 50x11 would be fine for most crits and Sram makes a reasonably priced 50t 1x ring.

well, my thought were a wolftooth narrow wide 1x ring. they make one offset specifically for road cranks. between the derailleur around 100g, cable and housnig around 40g, inner ring 35g, lighter new ring, it should be around 200. but again, im not concerned with versatility. i have a stable of bikes for other things and plan on using this one for crits only. like i said, ill leave it as is for a few races and see if i can justify changing it or not

I will rephrase that. The cocktail of salt and road chemicals has eaten away at three steel frames to the point of retiring them for safety reasons.

Anyone have suggestions for cycling glasses with better than average vision above the brow line that aren't frameless? Frameless lenses collect so much sweat they become unusable in about 10 minutes.

Maybe I have a funny shaped head with eyes set less than ideally. Maybe my neck doesn't rotate as far backwards as the average person. No matter the case I've long struggled with glasses that block forward vision in a stretched out flat back position on road bikes.

Continuing to fart around with my position on the road bike this year. So so so different from last year. Higher saddle and front end, a little longer too. Hip angle seems better, and less of a suffocating feeling when I bury the needle.

C'mon, Specialized! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now I'm going to have to troll eBay for NOS Romins the way I used to for NOS Selle Italia Flites.

Well, if you ride a 168mm there's still a bunch of stock (of the 2016 Romin Pro and Expert Gel) at Spec. warehouses. Honestly, tho, on my 143s, it's hard to tell any difference unless you ride on the rivet.

so based on your guys input, the 2016-onward romin evo is flatter, shorter, and probably more race friendly in changing positions or hip rotation? sounds good. thanks

I've been buying some older Fizik Arione CX variants lately. I cannot tell how things changed when Fizik went from the CX designation to the R-series.

Also, why do manufacturers have to change things. Many years ago, I bought a pair of Specialized BG-Pro shoes in a 44W. They were great. Then they tore. Specialized replaced them under warranty, but by then, they had redesigned the shoes, and they were different. I'm not sure how, but they weren't as comfortable.

Ha-ha.

Is anyone aware of a test comparing cycling shoe sole stiffness? I feel like there is a lot of variation in the shoes I own and I am really preferring the stiffer shoes.

Sounds like one of the pseudo-science projects Velo News has come to associate themselves with in recent years. Jan Heine could probably be pointed in that direction if you have a few years and nothing better to than breach the collective consciousness of his camp. The only serious contender here is the German magazines like TOUR who have a good record taking snapshots within currently available product categories.

The last option is contacting somewhere like D2 and see what they say about varied stiffness throughout a shoe and how well they can fine tune it.

What's everyone using for stage race TT clip ons? My wife gets the nice Zipp ones we have. I don't mind going aluminum and prefer something other than straight. Are the Vision mini style viable from a regular road position? I figure it'll be like IaB but with something to grab onto.

Yeah, we signed up for KSR again after saying "never again".

Also what's the cool new tire? I've been running Bontrager R4 and she's got R3s but they get cut so easy. She shredded one at Quabbin and luckily didn't flat. Needed to boot it when I found it at Wells yesterday. Then she flatted the rear during the race.

Where I live, most folks are running the S-Works Turbos or Conti GP4K (new version). Both are robust enough to use for training too. S-Works Turbo Cottons are good for race-only tires, though a local world-class IM guy uses them for his four-hour, 100-mile solo training rides.

i've been loving the new vittoria corsas but they are a strictly race day tire for me.

The Corsa Speed are good race tires for good surfaces, they've been tested as having the best rolling resistance on the market by multiple sources but they lack a puncture belt so I wouldn't recommend them for the training or even racing on really bad surfaces. I only use them on my TT bike where the fact that they only come in 23c isn't an issue.

The regular Corsa G+ tires don't roll quite as well but they come in 25c and have good road feel and seem to be a high-quality all-around tire.

Right now my racing tires for the road bike are Continental Grand Prix TT's, which are almost as fast as the Corsa Speed but have a bit more puncture protection.

I've started racing track. I am struggling to keep myself from going out and buying ALL the stuff I could use to race. I've got the bike and chainrings and cogs, but now I'm looking at race wheels, handlebars and a PM.

When I started road racing, I took my time slowly accumulating all my race gear. But now I'm finding myself just wanting all of it at once. I need to not spend the money.

cool video demonstrating frame flex

That's what my 531 Gazelle looks like. I'm glad it wasn't just my imagination or an optical illusion.

That video is kind of mesmerizing.

Any info on the frame in question?