Thank you to everyone who voted for me. It turns out your votes counted and I’m going to be doing the Tri with Alistair this weekend 😛

Thanks Jonny, appreciate that. They definitely cropped off the best bits…….the other people walking 🙂

haha, not sure about flying….possibly flying into barriers…..

haha, thought about it. Beer sounds good though.

Yeah I think you are right. If its a success, its going to be a regular annual thing like the Otley and Sheffield Crits. Its about time 🙂

A few shots stuck together on this one.

oooow just had a gander at one, not as bad as I had anticipated….very Santa Cruzie, which isn’t such a bad thing in my book.

Did somebody say lets see your Rush pictures…..oh sorry my bad, must have read it wrong! Not heard anything about the 29er, but I bet they dont look as good as the 26!

hummm draggy is the last thing I want. They’re on a 120mmFS trail bike. Quick and grippy is a better requirement description.

My ultegra,s exactly the same, fairly sure I haven’t clattered it on anything!

Right, must just be a grumbly derailleur, maybe some adjustment screws need a fiddle.

Hanger’s fine, and freehub is new and tight. It just made me think as when you look at the image above it seems to flair out as it goes up and the little tag half way up the cage isn’t big enough to fill the gap properly, that just emphasises for me.
Just put in some new jockey wheels I had in a spares box and still the grumbling. If I pull the very bottom of the cage a few millimeters to slacken the chain tension is runs much quieter.

I have a whippet and am interested in going SS. Tyre pressures are key to a plusher ride. As above its a stretched out speed machine.

Yup all done. Thanks for all the help 🙂

Right, got the cap off with no eyes missing. There was a fair bit of green oil in there. Probably a bit more than the 5cc of float fluid I was putting in. Is this normal?

it is separate oil.

should there just be a bit of float fluid knocking about then….whats its purpose if its separate? whats it lubricate….in layman terms.

haha glad I asked the question as a pneumatic cannon in the face may not have been pleasant.

t is separate oil. unscrew the cap and drain out any oil that is in there. clean as well as you can and replace the oil. for future reference its best to clean it out with the forks apart. did you drain all the oil out of the damper cartridge? have you got the lockout working ok?

Yeah I think so, if thats where you poke an allen key in to it and compress the assembly then yes. Lockout working just splendid 🙂

I got mine from All Terrain Cycles, West Yorkshire. They usually do some crazy offers between Xmas day and New Year, it was on everything! Mine had 20% the latest model 🙂

Xmas is a bit to wait though.

The Defy is more relaxed than an out and out race bike, but not as relaxed as the Roubaix for sure. It’s reasonably easy to get a much racier position on a Defy just by dropping all the headset spacers, whereas on a Roubaix you’d need a -30 degree stem!

Just dropped my stem by around 20mm last month and its livened it up no end, much more responsive and in my head Im faster 🙂 I originally tried a TCR and I thought it was a bit too aggressive riding position, it had a short steerer and the stem was slammed. Whereas the Defy had plenty of space to move the stem down when I was ready to have a go and wish I’d done it sooner.

Defy Defy Defy.

Borrowed a Roubaix for a while off a friend to see what it was like.
Really nice and comfy as has been said. Tried a Defy and purchased.
Had it nearly 2 years now and I love, definitely more “racey”, agile and eager is probably a better description.

The one in Slawit is a bit wham bam thank you mam for me, did some bits for me which I wasn’t too charmed with. Nice people but that doesn’t help anyone if the finish is sloppy.
Id be looking at the pics above and going for a careful pro job.

Sounds like a lot of effort to me

I’ll second that 🙁

That allows me to be lazy

I live 3.5miles from work but managed to squeeze a 40 miler in this morning…showers at work so that’s a bonus.

I use a 46×12 on my commuter and while this is a 700c wheel the narrow tyres mean it isn’t that much quicker and I rarely spin out even when shadowing buses at 30+mph.

Rarely but you do…not to hard to believe then is it.
I aint gonna be changing things if it will affect shifting so I’ll just have to stick with it.

if you wanna go fast on the road why are you using an mtb?

Got one, but its safer commuting with the Yorkshire pot holes.

Spinning…somebody is about to post the video of the Chinese group on rollers no doubt!!

I have to say I think you’re going to compromise your MTB for the sake of a bit more speed on the road.

Thanks for the repkies and I’m thinking that seems to be the case.

40×11 top gear. If you are, it must be downhill and you can probably tuck and not lose any speed.

Yup those are the ratio’s,Im no riding genius but on a slight incline I can end up spinning out.
And yes I rarely use the 28. I wonder why the XT Double doesnt come in higher ratios as the triple comes with a 44.

Looks like I’ll just have to coast more and stop being in such a rush!

I think a 90mm stem looks a little short. What size is the bike and how tall are you.

Well the bike is a Small and I’m only 5’7″, plus my torso is a little shorter than my legs! (hobbit)

Report: Well went out for a spin last night as yes I had a positive experience on the whole. The lowering of the bars made a big difference to climbing ability enabling to get lower and over the front wheel better which aided power transfer, felt more connected to the bike.

On the flats the bars felt a little more racey as I was tucked down slightly, which I liked and was very comfortable with. Whether it was any faster or not is another matter.

However, I had rotated the bars a little to drop the hoods from their previous position (which I thought were a little too high from the start)and may have gone a degree or so too far. Out of the saddle pushing on the flats felt a little twitchy than before, maybe I’ve mistaken this for sharper handling! I’m pretty sure id have issues with reach on a longer stem, so I’ll stick with this for the time being.

Other than that it has been a positive experience so far.
I’m borrowing some tri-bars this evening for the next stage of keeping my wallet in check…….but cant stop looking at Mavic Ksyrium SLR 🙁

SL is 200g lighter than the Advanced and I guess that the Advanced is about 200g lighter than the Composite (possibly more if you factor in seatpost differences).

mmm Im thinking mine must be a bit more. From memory mine weighs 18lbs, which is a porka for a Small.

For stem, I think you will need to go a 10-15 mm longer. As you rotate your body over, the hands move out further (for the same angle at the shoulder). A good check is to put your hands on the drops and your elbows should be bent slightly. Put your hands on the hoods and the angle should be just over 90 degrees. Less than this and your stem is too short. Part of the Defy “comfort” label comes from the choice of the shorter stem, flipped up and spacers it comes supplied with. But a perfectly acceptable racey position is just as possible (which is why I bought mine). My saddle to bar drop is 8cm.

Yeah all that makes perfect sense. My arms are 90 deg on the hoods so to get just over the lowering of the bar and/or lengthening the stem may be the solution for the better racey position.
Still have 10mm to go if I need too but at a quick measure saddle to bar height is 85mm, the second spacer down is a 7mm one which I hadn’t noticed.

Ksyrium Elites look nice, Ive also considered these in the past to get a light setup.
http://www.justridingalong.com/custom-hand-built-wheel-sets/in-stock-handbuilt-wheels/american-classic-micro-58-and-205-road-hubs-laced-to-notubes-ztr-alpha-340-rims.html
The Mavic do look really nice with the oversized spokes though.

Is the stem flipped as well? I think you will want a longer stem really.
The Advanced is lighter. The advanced SL is a totally different beast with integrated seat post and more lightness and rigidity. I test rode and test raced an Advanced, then bought the SL unridden.
To be honest, you’d feel more difference with a better set of wheels and some race tyres.
EDIT: And I placed my TCR and Defy up next to each other in the dining room tonight, and all contact points are in the same place and the wheelbase looks the same on our floor tiles. Photos won’t really show it, but the fit is identical. That’s because I need 2cm of spacers on my TCR (14.5 cm head tube) and only 0.5 on the Defy. So the true difference is 0.5 degrees of head tube angle. I can’t tell that from riding.

thanks for that clarification on the model differences. Wondering what mine weighs now! Any official weights anywhere, struggled to find published ones.

Can’t flip my stem as its already downward facing. I’ll see how I get on with the ride tomorrow to see how crippled I am 🙂

Wheels: a deep rim is only going to add more weight wouldn’t a lighter build be better in my position? Or we’re you just meaning a light pair full stop regardless of depth?

Stem now dropped 20mm & bars tilted a little forward than before and probably nearer level. Out on it tomorrow.

So what the difference in the Advanced to Composite, other than the shape?

Most people are posting with images of Defy “Advanced” with the mahoosive headtube, my Defy is just the “Composite” model. What are differences…..just so I’m on the same page….I got lost a while back 🙂

Possibly not terribly objectively

But a good opportunity to sell its good points 🙂

the vast majority of carbon frames are made in Taiwan,

they’re not. Brant are you able to give any comparisons on the N2A vs my Giant Defy? stiffer, lighter, sharper, etc?

Email in profile if you would like some cover.

Thanks.

oooofffff that looks really nice.

I’d suggest trying out a more racy position (though you may need to work to it over time – drop the bars, fit a longer stem

Will drop the bars for sure, longer stem may be an issue as Ive longer legs than torso and even then Im 5’7″ on a children’s small frame.
Any recommendations on clip on aero bars as Im keen to give them a go too.

And don’t underestimate how much difference a good set of tyres (I always recommend Michelin Pro2/3/4s) can make to the feel and speed of a road bike.

Although I said I hadnt changed anything, just come from Pro3’s which I liked now on a set of Ultremo’s which aint bad either.

My Defy is faster than my TCR, but it’s almost certainly down to frame comfort, possibly position and perhaps only then, wheel choice.

what wheels do you have then? pics pics 🙂
Out the box and only the addition of a Fizik saddle since.

Am I making my point clear?

You sound like my wife, always trying to get me to stop spending haha

And regarding the Planet X… You own a Giant… Giant are the number 1 in Carbon Fibre bicycle design and manufacture by a margin.

How little do I know!!? I bought the bike 15 months ago not knowing much at all about road bike and only based on great magazine and online reviews. Guess I landed lucky then with the frame. The wheels are definitely on the cards for an upgrade as Ive had endless issues with water and muck ingress in to the freehub and they aint the lightest wheels (Giants PSL-1)by DT Swiss Onyx hubs I think.

Oh and back on the aero wheels thing… Pro’s use them on flat stages cos every tiny little advantage helps, no matter how small. But get onto a remotely hilly stage, and they’re all on shallow rims.

Anyone watch the short (mainly) uphill TT in the Giro last week? Was funny seeing all these guys on TT bikes, decked out with shallow section rims and huge cassettes! Waaaaay different to a normal TT bike setup, but then the winning time of Nibali equated to only about a 15mph average speed, and down at those speeds, shallow section lightweight wheels and a good range of gears are more important than aero and close ratio cassettes! They still look damn good though 🙂

A 10mm longer stem and swap a couple of stem spacers from under the stem to above it…

Will definitely try this as its free.

Is the Planet-X N2A frame ruled out as a no go then from everyone?

Aero wheels really make a big difference, and what sort of depths are we talking 50mm? 100?

Any links to tri-bars that are lower than the handle bars…do you mean something like these?
http://www.wheelies.co.uk/Images/Products/58883.jpg

Johnson Wellfield Quarries – Huddersfield.

Stans podium MMX rims, Sapim C-Xray spokes with American Classic Hubs is a good combo.
I run a Crest rim as I cant pick a line to save my life and plough through everything with D-Light spokes – 1370gms built

Can easily get in the 1200’s though.

I love the speed of the 2013 Ralphs, anyone know how the Spech Controls compare?

The weight penalty for snakeskin used to be much more than that, nearer 100g per end. almost not worth worrying about if those figures are right.

You’re right I wouldn’t notice that. Its the loud hiss and followed by a muffled rubble that’s easier to notice 😐