For an upgraded inner glove pick there are polypropylene inners, but might be a bit bulky again: https://www.roostersailing.com/pd/PolyPro-Glove-Liner_105313.htm

It is in stock at Halfords? https://www.halfords.com/bikes/road-bikes/boardman-slr-8.9-disc-mens-road-bike-2021—s-m-l-xl-frames-365622.html?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=adgoal_eu&utm_campaign=phgreferral# but doesn’t have mudguard mounts?

You could probably get a BMC roadmachine X for £1500 if you make an offer (or find a last years model)

Having a good laugh at the Kingdom apologists here “don’t expect aerospace grade engineering”!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000074337087.html?spm=2114.12057483.0.0.7c1320c8dbfh1I I see you can get it from China w only seat mount for $16, and from spain with seat and seatpost mount for $26 which is delivered within a week.

i noticed one of those xl100 lights at commute time, it looked bright but not too bright and it’s flashing was enough to get my attention but not annoying, asked the chap who had it on his bike what it was as i thought “i want one of those”
expected them to be more expensive.

Had the Xlite 100 and it’s not bad but the Rockbros Q5 is way better (and twice the price), also with regard to the user interface.

@Daffy – Sure I bought mine from aliexpress with delivery from spain (just a few days cost a few bucks), it’s the newer model with a black button.

Inadvertently tested their brake light triggering when comparing their relative output, just shaking the Rockbros Q5 did NOT trigger the brake light but on the bike it works perfectly, the Cubelite II would trigger too easily like you mentioned.

The Q5 has a better lens, 3x stronger brake light, more useful modes, more precise battery life indicator (4 steps), better mounting system and brake sensing so I’m returning the Cubelite.

Review of the Q5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SanLQ2bWfj0

The rockbros light has a breathing mode where it goes gradually one and off and a faster pulsed blinking mode, which one was it?

Did a quick semi-scientific test of the Rockbros vs the Cubelite ii

Google Pixel 3 XL with 6 lumen background measured 24 cm from sensor, level.
Entfinix Cubelite ii 17 blink 86 brake lumen
Rockbros smartlight 21 blink 260 brake lumen (+23% and +300%)

The strength of the blinking light is comparable, but the brake light on the rockbros unit is 3 times more intense.

Tried 4 layers of 3M 33+ 0.17 mm electrical tape on each lever near mimicking Self amalgamating tape (not wrapped around just on the front), looks good and worked really well as far as I can tell. Grip seems slightly better too.

Nice, yeah those are 0.76 mm thick compared to around 0.18 m for regular electrical tape, maybe just try a few layers of 3M electrical tape first and see? Or do you think thicker sealing tapes give better grip (using softer rubber presumably)?

Heatshrink is also not a bad idea. Can’t find any road specific products atm.

Actually vaseline didnt make it unseat from the rim bed more easily.

Lol..

Wonder if it makes it easier for the tire to unmount too, there soapy water could be better as it dries up.. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Got the Rockbros light, substantial improvement over the xlite100

– stronger output perhaps 30%
– more flash modes
– better ui (don’t need to unscrew to change modes)
– battery life indicator
– better mounting (no zip ties)

TraceR does not however have any plans to implement USB C.. See how good the future Xlite usb-c will be..

TraceR says output is linearly proportional to runtime, so you may get 19 lm for 24 hours in the lowest power blinking mode or 38 lm for 12 hours in the second mode.

I’ve just got one of those cubelights to test. It’s nice, with nice features but is SUBSTANTIALLY less bright than my TraceR.

So the latest traceR has a 700 ma battery, outputs 75 lm or 120 lm when braking. In 75 lm mode you get 6 hours of blinking, in the lowest light setting (how many lm?) 24 hours.

Cubelight II 400 ma battery, 30 lm output, 30 hours runtime when blinking, auto start stop. More convenient for a commuter.

Rockbros Q5 claim 60 lm and 50 hour battery life..

I asked ENFITNIX and they are working on a USB-C Xlite100 :)

Do they still come with the typo in the instructions about operating the front bottom? 😮

Don’t have my instructions, probably! They’ve made a newer cubelight btw, smaller and brighter allegedly with a more practical clip on mount, no usb-c though.

Rockbros has something of an upgraded version of the round Xlite with charge light indicators and a better seat rail attachment plus some other stuff

Contact USE and ask them if they’d be willing to put a USB-C port on to a TracerR. Assuming it’s the same size and a port with similar connections is available, I can’t see it being a problem.

The usb-c connector is quite a bit wider, so unfortunately I doubt it would work needs to be designed for it ground up.

Yes that’s what i use but prefer not to fiddle with an adapter, not the end of the world of course but would be sweet to get everything over to usb c..

Got a 47 RC5 and although 46.5 would have been perfect 46 would probably have been too small.

Now there are new models on the market though like the RC3 with only one boa and no velcro..

Yeah hard to know, but the RC7 in 46 fits so maybe worth a try..

Wouldn’t expect less from ST 😂

Even the Bordo 6500 Granit Xplus can be cut with bolt cutters if you can leverage the ground

Not what i’d call lightweight, but they are compact. I like mine.

Yeah, weight is not a consideration for me though if I can frame mount it (with a quick release). You’d need an angle grinder to break into the abus folding locks.

Update: see the bordo can be cut by a big bolt cutter

I’ve found the solution, light folding lock + quick release strap mount:

Just mount it onto your downtube and off you go for rides where you want to make short stops.

Should also work with other (smaller) ABUS folding locks (with some modification), so you could get the smallest one that requires an angle grinder to open. Bracket alone is £15 here.

Do not recommend

This is a fatbike problem. SPD-SL might be unfeasible, guess the next step would be testing different/angled out cleats to see if the problem goes away then, if not I’ll need to put the flats back on.

Have the pads glazed? I give them a brief rub with a file and then re-bed in.

Probably glazed in oil and diesel by now.. seems like a temporary fix, guess ill just wear ear plugs lol.

To be fair the key to solving noisy Shimano road brakes is almost always put genuine Shimano rotors on.

Yeah so much for centerline rotors being quieter w Shimano calipers..but we are also talking a worst case scenario here; intense sudden downpour + dry heavily trafficked roads = pads drenched in grime.

They were really comically loud..

Manchester

So roads should be plenty dirty, and afaik the pads you run are the same as mine just with fins? hmm

Yohandsome – yes – you never need to clean the chain again

Ok so are these claims true dear putoline apostles:

1. 2-4x longer chain life
2. 2-4x longer cassette life
3. No chain cleaning whatsoever (no gunk buildup on rollers even?)
4. Reapplication every 3-6 months, takes 30 min
5. Marginally faster than wet lube
6. Turns the chain black-ish due to graphite content (pro or con depending on your aesthetic preference..)

Why get a fryer though

t’s not just 15 seconds to apply, it’s 5 mins getting all the crud out of your chain if you are quick and efficient, or cleaning off accumulated gunge if you just reapply all the time.

So you’re saying you don’t need to clean the chain at all for 3 months with putoline??

My application is for road so there’s not that much crud, clean the chain every 2-4 weeks.

ven if I figure my time at £20 an hour its still miles cheaper than anything else because the wax s so cheap and you do it so infrequently – and you save on drivetrain wear

Don’t think so. And I doubt chain wear with teflon lube reapplied weekly is that much worse than wax? Or do you get 3 times longer chain life out of wax? Which is the only thing I could think of that could warrant the faff.

Putoline time to remove and reapply: 30 min, frequency of application once every 3 months.
Time cost/year: 2 hours or £40 @ £20 pr hour.
Putoline cost £25/kg – not sure how much you use pr year, but let’s say 50g, so £1-2 pr year, total cost £41-42 + one time wax heating device cost, let’s add £5 for that so £44-47, more if you value your time more..

Weldtite TF2 Performance time to apply: 15 seconds, frequency of application every week (aggressive).
Time cost/year 13 minutes or £4.3
Weldite TF2 P cost £30/kg, 100 ml lasts me a year, so cost is £3 pr year, total cost pr year = £7.3.

Weldtite TF2 Performance is 6 times cheaper than putoline factoring in all the faff..

Wish it was this simple, there’s no way anything of that sort is going to withstand a long day of wet splashy trails and roads.

It is that simple, it’s long lasting for a low viscosity lube and the best of both worlds – no need to faff around with wax possibly with the exception of those squeezing out every last marginal watt gain – another UK forum review:

I’ve been Weldtite TF2 Performance since early Autumn last year and found it to be very good,especially in wet weather drivetrain remains quiet and rollers don’t shine up for ages,a sure sign the lube is still working internally where it’s needed most.Time/mileage between relubing is loonnnggg and it doesn’t attract road and trail dust and dirt much between chain cleaning.

Do you live in the countryside, a small village or in the equivalent of London with rush hour traffic.

I’ve used putoline for a year or so now and it is good, one of the few chain lubes that can survive a wet sandy Surrey hills, but there are a couple of downsides.
It covers your drivetrain in sticky black wax, never an issue for me with my SRAM eagle black cassette, but if you’ve a shiny gold, silver etc cassette and chain then it might not be for you.
Also if you get it on your clothes then it doesn’t come out. I’ve a couple of pairs of gloves that have black stains on the fingers where the chain has dropped and I’ve had to handle the chain to get it back on.
I’m happy to live with those issues for the benefits but others might not.

Forget Smoove or Putoline wax (Putline also has other chainlubes mind you); Smoove gunks up your jockey wheels ans chain terribly, re putoline wax – read the above, plus it’s a lot of faff to apply, one of the most expensive options if you factor in the time cost, only for people enjoy diddling around with their bikes.

What you want having tested a dozen lubes is Weldite TF2 Performance.

A very low viscosity all-weather lube with teflon, absolutely minimal gunking up of the chain or jockey wheels, needs to be reapplied more often than waxes and thicker lubes but this takes 10 seconds, extremely easy to clean off too and cheap as chips.

My L03a pads and RT800 rotors are silent wet or dry

Nice – how dirty are the roads where you ride? ;)

I replaced my pads with the new K03 resin pads. First few rides in the wet it was absolutely silent.

A few weeks on though and it’s simply terrible. Any water on the rotor leads to an insanely loud squeal from the brakes.

All I can take away from it is that the pads themselves don’t cause squeal when new and clean, but are extremely vulnerable to road spray contamination. Might try having a go at them with some brake cleaner but my experience is that once resin pads are contaminated they’re not recoverable.

This makes sense, but perhaps the Swissstop pads are more resistant to it? I ride on heavily trafficked roads here in Berlin so contamination gets bad when it pours.

Look on the bright side. The howl will drown out any noise made by the freehub.

You might have missed that I switched to the new Newmen Fade hubs which sound purrrfect xx