I'm fine with 12 speed, but I think it needs to stop there (I'm sure it wont). People aren't going to buy 13 speed because we don't need any more bad juju out there. 14 just seems excessive, even with a 1x setup.

I switched to 11 speed and I use an 11/32 rear cassette. I find the spacing between one of the gears too great and when I am around that spot in the cassette, I am constantly shifting trying to find a Goldilock's cadence. So another cog would probably solve the problem.

I don't really care about 12 speed.

A 10-tooth cog (which is already a thing I believe) sounds cooler. 53x10 is too much gear for pretty much anything, but still.

This will open a whole other can of worms, but the more gears we get, it seems the worse chainlines will become. i was doing a lot of reading at work today about 1x setups and I really liked them but every article about these fancy casettes they use (9x36 or the like) seems to forget that you lose a massive amount of efficiency in the top and bottom of the casette. The big hit-squad in seattle is all racing on the 3t Strada this year, and they look like really nice bikes. 12 speed will help out a lot with that, but doesn't solve our chainline problem.

Yeah. The friction I feel when I just put it in my 53x11 (on the stand) is appalling. Makes me really want a 54 so I can run a straighter chainline. No way on earth I'd ever want a 10.

According to Friction facts, 53x11 was measured at ~8.7W of drag. 53x14 was ~7W. 1.5 Watts. 53x28 was ~7.8 W. So it's not huge, but the feel of it matters. And a 10t is going to be less round than an 11 and, I'd predict, would probably produce more drag.

My wife's derailleur hanger has fallen off twice now in the last two weeks.

It first happened a few weeks ago when she went to put her bike on her Kick'r. The DH screws were found on the floor. I had her take the bike to the shop to be checked/reinstalled.

It happened again today when she went to take her bike off the Kickr to ride outside. I'm not sure what is going on. The screws look fine. My only thought is that maybe the threads in the frame have stripped and the screws will no longer hold, though I can't really understand how that would suddenly happen?

if it was cross-threaded on initial install and holding tenuously, some impact or other wiggle when moving to the kickr might have stripped the screws from the frame?

I looked at it last night. The good news is that it doesn't look like there is anything wrong with the frame. Still, the derailleur hanger will not stay on. I think we need to get a new one.

this is why it is important for people to understand why and when to use different combinations.

"zOMG <insert pro's name, but Bert Grabsch was really known for it> runs a 58T ring so he must use 58x11."

lots of misunderstanding. 1x setups involve numerous tradeoffs (mountain and road) and those trade-offs are not fully understood by people who jump on those setups.

Both of my 11-speed bikes have mid-cage RDs, and the 11-32 comes out when I have lots of climbing on the agenda. But since I live where it's flat, my favorite cassette is the 12-25, AKA "geezer's corncob". :) With a 50t chainring, the 19t cog gives about 18.5 mph at 90 rpm, and it's a one-tooth jump all the way to the 12t. The 11-23 gives the same spacing to the 11t, but I get a better chain line with the 12-25 and the 11-23 isn't available at the 105 level.

With the 11-32, I'm actually pretty comfortable with the 20t-18t-16t spacing, more so than with the 19t-17t spacing on the 11-25 on my other bike.

has anyone had an issue with breaking derailleur cables inside shimano ultegra 6700 shifters? I must've gone though 3 rear derailleur cables over the course of last year and 1 so far this year. Additionally, this past weekend the front derailleur cable snapped which I never had happened before with any previous groupset I've had. I'm debating just changing out the shifters

Sadly, yes 100% on my 6700 shifters. I prematurely replace them, usually every 3 months or so now to avoid problems.

What helmets are good these days? I'm so out of the loop, but it's getting warm here and I'd like to start riding again (with all my free time, we'll see if it actually happens). Went to get my helmet the other day (one of them anyway, my nicer one) and some of the plastic came apart in my hand, so I think that's probably time to trash that helmet.

I probably won't be racing for a while, so comfort is probably more important than aero. I like white helmets too, loved my Rudy Project Kontact, looks like they don't make that anymore though.

I recently got a kask mojito and I love it both from comfort and aesthetic. I also have a lazer bullet from my road team, only used it once so far at a race but it was pretty comfortable as well.

This is normal. This is frustrating, but normal.

Yup it's a done deal. Sad but true.

I watched a lot of riders try and do this with cross. It was fine for 3-4 years then it was like a light-switch. All bikes were disc and the riders without were getting screwed left and right. How? "I just got a flat and my race is in 5 minutes - anyone have a wheel I can borrow? No?" - that kind of stuff.

Indeed. Too normal. Even in current versions of Shimano groups - mechanically.

Went to the start of a race last year and had a rider come up - "I adjust the shifting and it's fine then like in a day or two it's off again. I keep tightening the cable with the barrell-"

"You have Shimano?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Your cable is about to snap the head off."

"That's what the NRS guys said. they said I need a new cable."

"You do - why don't you ask them to do it. I just got here and I am still unloading and setting up."

"I have a Madone. It's all integrated. They said they refuse to perform 'open heart surgery'"

"How long until your race?"

"Hour ten."

"Get me 1-2 other people to hold stuff and I'll get the swap done."

....One hour and 5 later it was done. A single derail cable swap. Now you know why I think integrated bikes have no place in actual races.

Theoretically I try to replace my RD cable every 2k miles to be safe, but in practice I usually don't until the shifting gets wonky. To be fair to Shimano I do find it reasonably easy to replace the cable, it's just annoying that it happens so often. I guess it's the price paid for routing everything under the bar tape.

What does integrated actually mean? Stem and all that?

Agreed, Completely reasonable. Just slips a lot of people's minds. I usually see them and ask when they last changed cables, "You're supposed to do that? Well I guess I have had the bike like 3 or 4 years...."

:D - without that I wouldn't need to be around.

Not a fan of how far down in the back it looks like it goes. Is that a new safety thing? Doesn't look comfortable.

So I'm an idiot and mistakenly bought an S-Works Aerofly without the external cable exit holes.
It's the VIAS version so the cables are supposed to enter the frame through the stem. This is for an Allez Sprint.

Do I have any options (outside of drilling holes) or should I just re-sell it and take whatever loss is coming my way?

Yeah. In this case all 4 cables go through the integrated 1 piece bars and stem and into the head tube. down the steerer though holes in the headset spacers and around the headset. Into the downtube to a box that acts as an adjuster. Then through weird routing internally all the way around the BB and to the rear of the bike.

In order to get it all replaced and run new housing and cable where appropriate you essentially have to drop the front end out of the bike - disconnecting at least the front brake that is integrated and hidden in the fork with those "wind brake" flaps that open when you turn.

I can swap a cable on an externally routed bike in like 1-2 minutes tops when in a race situation. Tops. Less than a minute if it's mega-go time.

Rider podium'd. It was worth it but...

"Why is this so hard? Aren't these like top end race bikes?"
"Yes, they are but those using them at the top end have mechanics working on them daily and when there is a problem they have 1-3 spare bikes ready to go so they can fix the problem later."

My no-neck can barely wear a Kask Protone. I keep moving the harness down and then put it on and hear it go right back up as soon as I look up while on the bike.