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Had the exact struggles when doing my first hydraulic disc brake bleed, too. Although in my case the results (amount of leakage) were not as drastic, as I'm pretty neurotic when it comes to carrying out maintenance procedures. So for example, I always keep an eye on the hose on the caliper end so it doesn't pop out (I made a note of the connection being flimsy very early on, so I knew it was something to be observed throughout the process).
In the end, what I do is I have the syringe on the caliper end resting on a chair similar to what's shown in your picture, and then play with the height of the workstand so that the syringe rests on the chair without too much tension on the hose, so it doesn't get disconnected so easily on those moments when you can't support the hose with your hand. I know it's a faff and I could probably rig up something to make the bleeding easier (I saw an interesting setup by Free to Cycle on YouTube, which involved using a spray bottle of some sort hanging from the wheel through a metal wire).

I also learned the required torque for the hose fastening the hard way, as I noticed some brake fluid on the hose after the first ride. Carefully tightened the hose fitting slightly more and it fixed the leak. I must say I'm still very careful tightening the fastenings when assembling a new brake system, but I think I've gained some confidence now. It especially pays to be cautious on the lever end as stripping the threads on the lever will be much more expensive compared to the caliper. But I have never had leaks from the lever end, even though I'm pretty sure the torque I've set by feel on the fitting is below the recommended torque setting.

Oh, and actually there is a tool bit from Shimano which you can attach to a torque wrench and it appears to be not too costly (https://r2-bike.com/PRO-Adapter-Open-End-Wrench-8-mm-fuer-1-4-Mount). I think the keyword for this type of bit is "crowfoot wrench".

Anyway, it's usually only the first bleed that's the most laborious but after filling the system and doing the first bleed, the Shimano brakes are extremely easy to maintain (if properly bled the first time, they might actually go perfectly fine for two years or more without any maintenance, though they recommend a bleeding to be done once a year). You only connect the partly filled funnel on the lever end and pump the hose to get some air bubbles out, which is basically a 5-minute job.

Edit. also wanted to add that my front and rear have a different bite point even though they should be properly bled and IIRC, I've read similar reports from Shimano users (which is obviously no proof that it would not be a user error...)

Bump

Would like to buy a pair of Klampers - short-pull version - PM or FM standard. Preferably in all-black or all-silver colour.

PM please if you have a set (or a single caliper) you'd be willing to part with.

As mentioned above, it depends on the diameter of the inner slot on the dropouts. The ENVE G series gravel fork (for 12x100 hub) for instance has dropouts that accept a 15mm hub end cap with a wider diameter when using the 15mm to 12mm adapter sleeve. Some Ritchey forks have swappable dropouts and because of this modularity they take a 15mm hub with either dropouts (with the 12x100 dropouts the reducer sleeve is required and with the 15x100 dropouts, obviously without a sleeve). There might be others, too, but these two are the ones I'm aware of.

Tbh, I find this a real PITA. Currently waiting delivery of a frameset which comes with a carbon fork specced for 12x100, fingers crossed it has the wider dropouts so I can use my 15x100 SON 28 front wheel with the sleeve.

If not, I do have a pair of spacers which came with a rear boost hub adapter kit I got off aliexpress (2 x 3mm spacers with an inner diameter of 12mm and outer diameter of 19mm) and which I've filed down to about 1.2mm of thickness. I used these on another fork when I found out that the old shitter precision 12x100 hub had end caps with 21mm outer diameter (essentially the diameter of a 15x100 hub) even though it was 12mm inner diameter, so it didn't fit together with the dropouts on that particular fork without placing those spacers on both sides of the hub. I did end up buying a new thru-axle with a longer threaded section just to have slightly more threads engaged because of the ~2.5mm wider hub spacing due to the extra spacers. Worked fine many thousands of km, nevertheless.

I don't think there's a road-specific Shimano 12s chain... they basically use the MTB chains on the road groupsets. All of the product codes for their 12s chains have the initial "M".
https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/technologies/component/details/new-technology-hg.html

mental journeys

The (borderline delirious) state of mind with hallucinations and all on a multi-day ultra certainly counts as a "trip" of some kind, doesn't it 😉

PM sent about the fork

Perhaps you're already familiar with this, but just in case not... on bikeinsights you can insert quite a few of your criteria on the filters to get a list of candidates. Just an example search including some of your criteria here: https://bikeinsights.com/search?frame.stack_to_reach_ratio.min=1.45&frame.bottom_bracket_drop.min=75&frame.bottom_bracket_drop.unit=mm&level_3_category_id=5bfb1888b812dd00049c1a0e,5bfb1887b812dd00049c1a08,5bfb1888b812dd00049c1a0f,5bfb1887b812dd00049c1a07,5bfb1887b812dd00049c1a06,5bfb1888b812dd00049c1a10,5bfb1888b812dd00049c1a0d,61b243e718c21a00423580c9&brake_type=disc&base_build.tire_width_max.min=37&base_build.tire_width_max.unit=mm

It has a surprisingly comprehensive bike database, though I'd reckon there might be some bikes/frames from smaller builders/brands that are not on the list.

Seconding this. I previously had the Ultegra R8070 hydraulic shifters for a few thousand km's but recently decided to give the RX815 GRX Di2 shifters a go, after long hesitation. I was concerned about the longer bracket body compared to the Ultegras but there were so many positive reviews I wanted to find out what all the rage was about. Having now done a few longer rides with them, I regret not having done the swap earlier. The ergonomics is absolute bliss. I never thought that the feel of the shifters could have such a huge impact on ride comfort. Don't get me wrong, I was fine with the Ultegras but the GRX is a vast step forward. With the GRX I can easily wrap three fingers around the shifter and still have enough room for pivoting the brake lever with just my index finger. Can also wrap four fingers around it when cruising along. Braking is superb with the Servo-Wave (which the R8070s don't have, despite it being mentioned on the box of some of the first units sold; that misleading label was later removed from the box).

The latest 12-speed Di2 shifters also have a longer bracket body and I reckon the feedback from riders using those GRX shifters probably played a role in it. For reference, I'm wearing size 8/M or 9/L glove so not very large hands either, which was a reason for my hesitation with regards to the longer bracket body.

The extra hood buttons are differently positioned on the inside of the hoods rather than on the top, but I'm using them for controlling the bike computer which happens rarely so not a big issue even though I think the buttons are better positioned on the R8070s.

IIRC the Rival AXS RD jockey wheels (or at least one of the two) have a narrow-wide profile specific for the flat-top chain (or its bigger rollers, to be precise). Some people reported getting around this (i.e. avoiding having to use the flat-top chain) by buying a set of GX AXS jockey wheels and swapping them, then use an Eagle chain. Not sure if the Shimano 12-speed chain is different and works with the stock Rival AXS pulley wheels. I wonder if it was possible to just do some dremeling to modify the (potentially) incompatible Rival pulley wheel.

On one of the TCR podcast episodes (think it was one of the earliest ones), there was discussion about how the advent of pro/semi-pro riders is thought to impact these sort of races. Anna was also commenting on it and she mentioned their team would be sitting down after the race to assess whether they need to change things in future editions.

No longer relevant

Bump

No longer relevant

PM'ed

Dibs the frameset, seatpost

Hi everyone,

Installed the said freewheel (w/ 16t & 18t cogs) on my hub and noticed there's slight play on the freewheel. It's tightened snugly and there's no play on the hub.

Wondering if it's something built-in and designed this way (which I really doubt) or whether it's faulty.

Short video of the problem attached.

Cheers!