Bontrager and Giant stems are ugly, imo. I'd go with the VO. I guess it depends on if colour or form is more important for your build.

Then again, what do I know? Five out of my six bikes have quill stems. :p

So I decided not to build up a Velocity rear wheel as found a H+Son Eero wheelset. He's selling for 100 with tires and tubes but the front wheel needs a spacer. I don't really know about front wheel spaces. Should I buy it and will it be an easy fix?

Yeah I'm definitely going with the VO, and to make it even better, I found a couple places locally that carry their stems, so I'll be able to try out the different sizes and see which works best.

EEROs are insanely heavy and designed for trick riding. Unless that's specifically what you're looking for, I'd pass.

Thanks for the help. If they're for tricking I am going to pass them up. I did notice they were nearly 800 grams a pop compared to the wheelset I'm running, jeez.

Should I sell my Aerospoke to go with something lighter/less prone to theft? I have a B43 rear which already adds a lot more weight than I'd like.. Any recommendations on an inexpensive but still sturdy front wheel? (machined preferably)

aesthetics aside, deep v's seem to be well made & hold up. velomine.com

Should I run 48x16 or 48x18 for my road ride tomorrow? It is about 50mi mostly flat with some rolling hills at around 18mph avg.

48x17 :-)
but flat with rollers, decently fast avg id go for 48x18.
Spin2Win

Hah I would go 48x17, but I don't have a proper lock ring tool :o. Mine is one of those pedal wrench, lock ring, chain whip combo tools. It's a nonfunctional multifunctional tool. I need to get a Hozan from Scrod.

edit: Also, if it matters, I haven't ridden fixed in about 3 months.

48x17 is what I'd go with too but if you are unable to switch out, I'd do 48x18. 48x16 would put you at like an average RPM of like 70 or so I think? 48x18 might be a bit spinny on the downhills but it wont suck when you go up hills.

Well I'm flip floppin tomorrow so we'll see where I stand :D

52x19 ftw

55x12

lol

Finally going to replace the tektro caliper on the Leader. Any preferences between the Shimano Tiagra 4600, and the Dia Compe BRS-100 (or any other sub ~$35 calipers)?

what's wrong with the tektro caliper? if those are your choices, it doesn't sound like much of an upgrade.

Just to put it out there, the 4600 is Super SLR and may not feel so good with other brake levers. I have matched to my older 5600 levers and Tektro R200 levers and they feel better than any Tektro brake I have used.

i rode a 42/18t fixed for 4 hrs split between M and T of this week.

but thats cause im a ***** with weak legz

Well, for starters, its the only black metal on my bike- I'd like to switch to something silver in any event. Besides that, the action has just never felt particularly smooth nor has the stopping force felt particularly substantial. I'd be willing to spend a bit more than that if theres a good performance upgrade in reach for a bit more money. Just looking for some suggestions, I suppose.

You'd be better off buying new pads, I think.

This makes me think of poor housing installion.

Koolstop salmon.

It doesn't take that much effort to remove the black paint either.

+1 to what everyone said.

Tektro generally makes a pretty damn good brake for the cost. In order to keep costs down, they give you crappy pads. Kinda like how electronic manufacturers use really crappy batteries in their products. It's to keep costs down. I'd much rather have ****ty batteries and pads, than a ****ty flashlight or caliper. The consumables are where the costs are cut.


+1 to KoolStops. The Salmons are really good in wet weather, but if you never ride in the rain, get the Blacks. They perform better in the dry. If you ride all year round, try out the dual compounds.