Well, I had actually thought about a carbon fork: https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Then I found the Kona, which is less expensive, and has disc braze-ons: https://64.78.59.47/merchant.mvc?Scre...ct_Code=KPT7DF

The Kona runs $70, and the Nashbar $180. I can't find how much the Kona weighs, but being steel is gonna be more than the Nashbar.

Yeah, my bike can be unweildy at 40 lbs. Sometimes I'll have things on the rack (gallon of milk - 8 lbs) and it gets even heavier. Recently I had a flat while towing my B.O.B. trailer loaded with groceries - 1/2 mile! *That* was fun, walking it home. Not.

Okay... I've been reading around the various forums, and someone made me think. (Oh, NO! Run and hide! RUN AND HIDE!) *ahem* Anyway... I read things like Shimano is the Microsoft of bicycling. I see where someone is thinking about Campy (Campagnolo) parts. So, opening this can of worms:

Who all makes hubs/cassettes/freewheels/derailluers/etc? Which is your personal favorite manufacturer? Why?

Here's my take on it. STI works great, but.... The levers are expensive to replace, and you can't get internal parts for them when they break. They also seem to have a history of failing. I had a right side Dura Ace STI fail about a month ago. This lever looks new, but doesn't shift anymore. I switched to Campy Ergo. For shifters I'll go ergo, now that I have them, I wonder why I didn't do that to begin with. The cost of the rest of campy drivetrain sobers me up. My LHT will be running with Ultegra or XT derailleurs depending on the cogset in the rear. XT Rear D for the mountain bike cogs, and Ultegra for the road bike. Shimano cassettes and compatible wheels are more plentiful, and they have a wider range of gearing. You can mix and match Campy (rebuildable) with shimano by using a shiftmate
https://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm . I run shimano XT hubs, which are bomb proof and cheap, I also have Mavic MR601's and Shimano Ultegra and DA wheelsets. All work just fine. Basically I get the best of both worlds now. Shifters that can be repaired if they break, and cheaper but good drivetrain components. However Shimano offers a better bang for the buck on the rest of the drivetrain. Ultegra rear der is $54 while the comparable campy centaur is $100. Same way with fronts. So all my rides are Ergo+shiftmate+shimano derailleurs, shimano cassettes on shimano compatible wheels. My searches only turn up the STI brifters breaking, the rest of the stuff just works.

Thanks, markw!

OK cool...so you have a starting point. I'm not a weight weenie but I do consider the weight of each replacement component. Hubs, wheels, and other stuff usually weigh more than a few grams!

check the close-outs at spicer!!! rigid steel fork w/ disc mounts for for 10 bucks!

so far I have shimano 105 and some oldschool suntour 4050 Edge. Actually I am mixed ont he two...the shimano STI levers are hella nice, but my old suntour setup shifts better....all you hear is the click from the downtube shifter, and like silk, it's on the next gear.

The shimano is a bit slower to shift over, but it's not too bad of a shift....I just feel slightly disappointed spending the cash I did to get lower shifting performance than a 15 year old low-range suntour drivetrain.

Don't get me wrong, shimano isnt bad really...they do the same thing campy did...their standard or nothing. It's just how they design their stuff. From my understanding:

shimano:
STI lever hoods are thicker, and uncomfortable to some.
their use of ramped cogs give good shifting early on, but it degrades as they wear out (good to know when to swap them out I guess).

campagnolo:
Ergoshift levers have thinner hoods, so are more comfortable to some.
lack of ramping on gears, so you dont get the shifting advantages of shimano...however the cogs are all of uniform tooth design and thickness as a result (maybe this is why my suntour seems to shift better than my 105 group).

Schweet! *scampers to Spicer's site*

I think I finally asked a really good question, because I'm getting some great answers! Thanks, catatonic!

I was over in the Road Cycling forum, and someone was mentioning 180mm cranks being better than even 175's for tall people. I'm rather tall at 6', so I thought I'd stick this link https://www.xoutfitters.com/bmx/crankarm/ here as a good place to keep up with stuff for my bike.

Question: I did some measuring. Can 5mm (~3/16") or even 10mm (~3/8") on one crankarm really make that much difference in pedaling??

longer cranks are for longer legs, you will have to make a few measurements on your legs to determine what your ideal crank length is. Wish i could tell you what measurements, but I really don't know.

If I understood it correctly, that other post said it was 18% of the distance from the top of your femur to the ground. That's not what it said specifically, but when I simply measured my inseam and took 18%, I only got like 155mm - and I'm currently using 170mm just fine. Plus, I'm 6' tall, so I could concievably be "qualified" for the 180mm. So I recalculated from the top of my femur, and was indeed within the 180 range.

My main question is whether that extra 5 or 10 millimeters makes much of a difference in pedaling?

Found it! At https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm it says:

"One writer in a major magazine article quite a few years ago claimed that after considerable testing with many different riders, 18.5% of the distance from the top of the femur to the floor in bare feet should be the crank length. You can find the top of the femur pretty easily. It's 5" to 6" below your hip bone, and moves rearward when you raise your knee."

Hi,
there are several formulas. This one worked for me. Measure your thigh bone. Mine is about 16.5". The length of your thing bone -in inches- is the length of your crank -in centimeters. So my cranks are 165. I put a 165 crank on my commuter this spring, and then the next day ordered a 165 for my good bike. Love 'em.

One of our newer members asked me how tall I am... I used to be six foot tall; I've shrunk a bit. I'm now 5' 11". According to the femur-to-the-floor measurement, I should be using a 172mm crank. I have a 170, and want to at least try the 180.

Here's a question... I've been absorbing my bicycling catalogs, and finding mention of Ritchey components. What do y'all think of them?

i have some ritchey parts on my mountain bike...pretty good, but if I could get easton for close to the same cash, I would go easton.


edit: to elaborate....the ritchey seatpost i have has all kinds of problems with not wanting to stay put...so I had to get creative to make it stay. The handlebar stem on the other hand is awesome, light, strong, and cheap (well, relatively cheap).

So Ritchey is inconsistent? Or are you saying that overall they're *okay* but not among the better parts?

Easton... another name to investigate!

ritchey makes decent parts, but when they do have a dud product, its a really annoying dud.

Once I get some cash, that post is being replaced, possibly with a truvativ post.