shot

Robot sex.

marqueemoon

Ok. Since I am an idiot and sold my fixed beater with real fenders while my one remaining nice fixed bike taunts me with its niceness and its rain-unfriendly 700x23 tires and fenderlessness while it has been raining daily for nearly a month I'm going to review my commuting gear instead. Clip-on fenders suck , so I have been commuting on a geared bike with fenders. Can you tell I'm getting sick of it?

Ortleib waterproof backpack
It's big. It's ugly. It's hard to see around when you head check. It's huge. It's really waterproof.

Bellweather Goretex tights
Look stupid and even have little dumb stirrups. The fleece lining is awesome and they shed water like a mutha. Best $8 I ever spent at a thrift store.

In Sport Illuminite windbreaker
Possibly the ugliest jacket I have ever owned. It's purple and green. Ugh. On the plus side it actually breathes and sheds water better than my "real" rain jacket. The material itself is reflective, and it rolls up small enough to fit in a jersey pocket. Not bad for $8 or so used.

Descente full zip fleece jersey
$55 or so on sale. This thing rocks. I wish I knew the exact model. It wicks really well and is great for layering under or over stuff. No big ugly logos or other stupid crap and the zipper didn't shred after a few months like a similar Pearl Izumi jersey I had. I pretty much wear this year round.

Small plastic bags
Good for keeping wind and rain offa the toes. Free with purchase or just go to the bulk foods section and grab some.

Swix lobster gloves
Awesomely warm when dry. Just ok when wet, and lately they have always been wet. No padded palm or reinforced areas on the fingers. I have been wearing regular cycling gloves under them to keep my hands from going numb.

Smartwool socks
These rule. If they were just a lil' bit cheaper I would have a zillion pairs of em.

Cheap Sidi SPD shoes (sorry, don't know the model. It's the one with 3 velcro straps)
These cost $100 just under 2 years ago. The soles aren't as stiff as they used to be and the velcro is starting to go, but otherwise they have held up well. I started getting hot spot problems about a year ago , but after throwing some Specialized Body Geometry insoles in there, problem solved. I may get some Dominators this spring, but I also might just try to find another pair of these since I doubt the Dominators would last twice as long for twice the price.

Shimano 737 SPD pedals
These are the big ol' chunky double sided black ones. They're probably 10 years old. I bought them for $5 used. They look like hell but the mechanism is totally fine and the bearings are smoooth. Shimano makes a lot of garbage, but sometimes they get it right.

Turbocat S10 lighting system
Got this new on ebay for about $90. I was tired of shattering crappy plastic blinky lights and wanted to actually see the road. My version has a cool CNCed clamp and the light can and clamp are all aluminum. The battery is a little cheesy. It's encased in a little rubber enclosure that straps around the top tube with velcro. Not very elegant but it does the job. Runtime with the battery is 3-something hours. It only has one setting and the on/off switch is a little tricky to activate when riding. It will light up a dark alley pretty well, but under streetlights it can be hard to tell it's even on. It gives you no greater visibility from the side at all (I still use a white blinky that gives me this). The best feature of this light is the clamp which allows it to be moved from bike to bike easily. It ain't bad at all for the money. It's just not as bright or feature-packed as more expensive lights.

anokandpeace

Conti Ultra 2000
Cost me 23 dollars at the LBS and are the best tires I've ever had. They have NEVER gone flat on me and I've ridden over glass and all this other crazy ****.
I highly reccomend them.

crayonsemble

i have the giro xen it has deep coverage and i got a good deal for from a site called
wheel works that had it for 70$. most comfortable helmet ever!

karmical

thats good to hear on the 2000's just put a set on grabbed em' off nasbar a couple weeks back...$17-10% discount coupon, wish i would of bought more. nasbar has raised their price back up to $24.

bigbikerbrian

armadillos.
selle italia awesome ti saddle thingy.
patagonia lightning jacket.
rei midweight fleece.
craft wicking layer.
smartwool (awesome)
adidas sambas.
pearl izumi leggings.
carbon pneumo.
reload.

after looking at this list, im starting to feel like a brand *****. can i say that here? *****?

edit-i guess i cant say that.

12XU

My thrift store Swobo was only 5, granted it's short-sleeved. Hooray for uninformed thrift store employees!

Re: Helmets

If you want an inexpensive, yet amazing helmet, go with the Trek Anthem C. It just came out and is nearly identical to the Giro Atmos (MSRP $189.99), yet less than half the price (we actually had the Anthem on sale at the shop for $49.99 (MSRP $99.99) during the holidays which is almost 1/4 of the price). It has a rollcage design, just as much ventilation as the Atmos, and a protective band along the front underside to protect from chipping. The Anthem also has a quick release adjust in the back for even easier adjustments than with older models. Avoid paying out the ass for a brand name (Giro) for once!

sabretech2001

Those low-end Contis are only good until the casing flexes enough to get soft, about 200 miles. Then they flat every fifty yards, as you found out. You can stretch the useful life out a bit if you use a larger width. I found that a 25 on the front and a 28 on the back worked for messenger work.

Get the 2000's or higher if you want to use Continental. The 1000's weigh a ton. Last I checked the 25mm size was 320 grams. Jeez!

chicagoamdream

Yup, I think this is it (they also get a lot easier to pull on and take off the tires, which is sort of a mixed blessing). I am EXTREMELY happy with the Michelins. They DO make an awesome zip-tie sound when you skid, and the ride is really quite nice.

mascher

I thought I had such a hard time getting the Ultrasports on because road tires were just like that - glad I'm not just a wuss.

For the price, I can't imagine riding anything else - all the fancy folding racing tires at the stores here are on the order of 50-65 bucks apiece, and I can't see how much better they could possibly be. I bought a pair of Vittoria Tecnos from chucks bikes, and they're definitely lighter, but I still don't feel that good about ultralight tires as a clyde.

I can't imagine, without it being a really dead-feeling tire (holding Armadillos in my hand I couldn't imagine using that rubber on the road) how much tougher a tire could be anyway. I've had maybe 15 flats since April on them, and 90% of them were with a fully loaded bag riding (decending) on a gravel path.

At first I thought they weren't very grippy until I realized I was comparing a 25mm tire with a contact patch of like an inch at 115 psi with whatever it is on a 1.25-2.25" tire at lower pressure. I have lots of cuts in the rear from glass and the gravel they put on the roads here, but nothing major. Probably put 3000 kms on them, and the rear is going strong, front looks practically new.

Ymmv I guess, and I don't have anything to compare them to, but they beat the heck out the panaracer paselas in 1.25" tires on my winter bike a couple of years ago. I don't skid or skip either, except the odd time for amusement or impressing people.

BadAssBiker

I'm all about this thing. I picked it up at Trackstar a couple of months ago.

edit: Shimano TL-SR20