Road bike recommendations

23's are for old men and ladies- 19mm is the black.

fuck the tyres - just put two layers of rim tape on and feel that buzz

I did just that for 30 miles.

Let says it's interesting and leave it at that.

I had did a bit of rimming on Saturday. 35mph descending and the front tube blows.

:O

fuuck that.. I had a back tyre blow at 35 mph this summer after the wheel jammed. That was terrifying. I would have been toast if it had been my front wheel

I was in the drops with a finger on each brake...

...the temptation was to brake hard and it took a 'moment of clarity' to decide that was a very bad idea.

Just shifting my weight back and slowing (mostly with the back brake) was fine. I do now need to true my front wheel though.

Did the tyre stay together?

Yes. There is a knick in the outer casing but I think it's ok (couldn't see any tube when reinflated). I'll give it a better look when I true the wheel tonight.

It got me back the last 35 miles of the ride ok.

The tube had a massive (like 15mm long cuts) snakebite.

Pothole?

new wheels, 700/21 tyres feeling a burn coming on, hit 30+ mph up Caledonian Road, feeling good, all going well until I drop down on bars TT style, vinyl bar tape and Lycra/polyester arm warmers don't mix well - arms shoot off bars forwards sending me all over the place at 30+ mph, proper heart in mouth moment, manage to pull it back together by using legs and crazy balance...needless to say the next 10 miles home, done at a very leisurely pace whilst contemplating how much damage I would of done to myself and the parked cars had I hit them

Pothole?

No pothole. The bang was accompanied by a ping – so I'm pretty sure I hit a small rock head-on and that was enough to compress the tyre and cause the pinch.

new wheels, 700/21 tyres feeling a burn coming on, hit 30+ mph up Caledonian Road, feeling good, all going well until I drop down on bars TT style, vinyl bar tape and Lycra/polyester arm warmers don't mix well - arms shoot off bars forwards sending me all over the place at 30+ mph, proper heart in mouth moment, manage to pull it back together by using legs and crazy balance...needless to say the next 10 miles home, done at a very leisurely pace whilst contemplating how much damage I would of done to myself and the parked cars had I hit them

My fixed bike has Cinelli tennis tape on the bars.

It stays grippy with whichever gloves you use, even in the wet.

Inappropriate 'aero' positions should be encouraged. Next time sit on the top tube. That's gotta be safer right?

No pothole. The bang was accompanied by a ping – so I'm pretty sure I hit a small rock head-on and that was enough to compress the tyre and cause the pinch.

Glad you were ok- reckon a tub would have been ruptured in the same situation?

Total conjecture I am aware, just wondering what your thoughts are.

I think even a badly glued tub would have been totally fine. I hit the mystery object bang on.

Tubs can tear, but don't pinch-flat. A rapid blowout is less common in my limited experience (3 years with tubs on the 'best bike' riding on the wet and dry UK roads).

Every time I'd punctured a tub the deflation has been relatively slow, and the rim can kinda be ridden on for a few seconds giving a bit more time to loose speed.

weight make the tyres feel slow, not size.

so chevrons for you

On this ed, do you know what are the lightest big tyres in 28c, 32, and 38 are?

Grand Bois Cypres 32c (not 30c as I wrongly stated) weight 290g.

Rivendell Jack Brown 33.3c weight 295g.

The latter is now being sold in Tokyo Fixed.

For a slightly smaller size, the Grand Bois Cerf weight 220g for a 26c and 248g for 29c.

Ultremos come in 28c at 220g.

just noticed this tag "just buy a fekkin bike!" ha!
so i ordered mine...

:)

A CAAD10 for less than 1k.

It comes with 105. Put the Shimano your winter bike for nice reliable shifting... and get SRAM Force/Red on this thing for racing.

tidy.

http://www.wheelbase.co.uk/product_15692.htm

If your winter bike is BB30... :p

Would rather keep the 105 - 5700 is really nice - and invest in bling hoops.

105 isn't BB30 specific and neither are those cranks so no problem there. It (105) is on the heavy side for racing though.

Yeah I know, but the crankset on the CAADX is BB30, and after blinging it up it's unlikely you'd be able to do anything with the BB30 FSA crankset.

Not that your suggestion is bad, just sayin'.

It would be pretty good to go with just Red shifters, perhaps a lighter cassette (and wheel obviously).

Yup agreed like my CAAD9 105 that's getting similar treatment for next season :)

As an aside, I've built a bike with 105 5700 and the cranks are really nice, probably the nicest part of the group. I'd much rather have those on a standard external BB than those FSA cranks on BB30, personally. But the manufacturers can pitch the BB30 as an upgrade (it makes things lighter, certainly) and save money by using FSA cranks.

Problem solved.