What have you bought/upgraded today.

[toast2266]

Got this thing built up. I can rest easy knowing that I'm up to speed on 2022's silly HP trend. Now I just need (ok, want) some temps above freezing to go ride it.

[rideit]

Tried to request to be put on an industry pre-order or waiting list for some 165 Sweet Wings (knowing they might be a year out). My contact at Cane Creek said they are likely 18 months + out. Their #1 in demand item. He said *maybe* some 170’s by November…

[J. Barron DeJong]

Got this thing built up. I can rest easy knowing that I'm up to speed on 2022's silly HP trend. Now I just need (ok, want) some temps above freezing to go ride it.

Bad timing. Just after Pinkbike announced mid-pivots are the cool new thing



(kidding! Should be fun)

[toast2266]

Bad timing. Just after Pinkbike announced mid-pivots are the cool new thing



(kidding! Should be fun)

I'm just gonna start bolting singleators to all of my seat tubes to make every bike a mid-pivot.

[Eluder]

I'm just gonna start bolting singleators to all of my seat tubes to make every bike a mid-pivot.

I have a Paul Melvin in a bin somewhere, I'm thinking two jockey wheels should be better than one.

[Jax]

Going all-in on gravel this summer. Cross-post from bikepack/gravel-nerd thread but anyway. Just need a few more days for my bone bruise to heal and for roads to dry up again. Already swapped the skinny G-One 40cs with Rambler 50s & Orange Seal. Cannibal H2O cages. Ready to roll, got a few gravel centuries lined up this summer including here at home, SBT. This bike will also see it's fair share of singletrack and chunky stuff on long rides all around the Yampa Valley, Flat Tops, Wyoming & beyond.

I will say those Ramblers were so easy to mount up & seat with just a basic Spec HP floor pump, my first time to do it instead of my bf or some shop dude. I did put them on backwards, didn't notice until after took the pic, lol. So, I got practice doing it all over again and somehow managed to not make a mess of it. God the internet is great, heh.

Planning on Revelate Shrew seatbag & gas can for top tube, Garmin Varia radar tail light. Still deciding on options for temporary front light. Eventually would like sinewave beacon, Dynamo hubs & carbon wheelset, frame pack for the GDMBR 2023, as well as conversion to 1x... A girl can dream right. But first things first.

[climberevan]

Nice ride. I prefer 2x, but the Easton cranks make it easy to swap to 1x if you like the bigger gear steps on the cassette.

Why a Varia? You know it's not a force field, right? Unless you're going to ride into the shoulder every time it beeps, i don't understand what it will do for you. Either the car will hit you or it won't--knowing it's somewhere back there doesn't change that.

Have fun! Gravel is way more fun than I expected it to be.

[Dumbest Known Time]

Looks like a blast of a bike. I've left my half-framebag on my gravel bike just about since I bought it. Might give you a little more on-bike access compared to the small seat bag. And you can cram a bladder style water bottle in there for extra dry rides.

[climberevan]

Agreed on the half frame bag. I made one for my first gravel bike and it's worked for the subsequent 2 as well. I never take it off.

However, on that small frame a bag will probably make bottle use difficult or impossible. Top tube bags are good, but get a narrow one so it doesn't hit your knees.

[rideit]

Banjo brothers makes a nice sized one that still allows for water bottles. This is my bike fully loaded for a 140 mile ride (around the Rock)

[VTskibum]

Nice ride. I prefer 2x, but the Easton cranks make it easy to swap to 1x if you like the bigger gear steps on the cassette.

Why a Varia? You know it's not a force field, right? Unless you're going to ride into the shoulder every time it beeps, i don't understand what it will do for you. Either the car will hit you or it won't--knowing it's somewhere back there doesn't change that.

Have fun! Gravel is way more fun than I expected it to be.

I bought one after a situation where car was coming ridiculously fast with a car in oncoming lane and I was hugging right white line (no shoulder). Had I know would have taken the lane completely instead of letting this Human waste give me <1’ of room. Honestly though that experience has mostly pushed me off the road bike. Too many horrible pieces of shit behind the wheel these days.

Varia small step to piece of mind. Couple riding friends were both hit years ago and neither ride w/o now as well.

YMMV and I hear your point, but proactively taking the lane in some scenarios can make a huge difference in your safety


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[climberevan]

That's the first time I've heard of anyone moving INTO the lane when the radar says traffic is approaching from behind. Ballsy! (But why not just ride in the middle all the time, then?)

I see so many people saying they swear by radar but no one has really been able to articulate the mode by which it increases safety. I personally think it's a false sense of security and fully acknowledge that I'm rolling the dice every time I ride on the road.

[dannynoonan]

That's the first time I've heard of anyone moving INTO the lane when the radar says traffic is approaching from behind. Ballsy! (But why not just ride in the middle all the time, then?)

I see so many people saying they swear by radar but no one has really been able to articulate the mode by which it increases safety. I personally think it's a false sense of security and fully acknowledge that I'm rolling the dice every time I ride on the road.

I'd love radar purely so I knew when a vehicle was approaching, so that when they blow the horn as they overtake (to be a dick) it's not such a fucking surprise. I hate that shit.

[sethschmautz]

I got a varia last year also and I think it's invaluable. I'm going to buy my wife one this summer also.

For me it comes down to awareness. I can (generally) make better decisions with more information. Sometimes I can hear cars approaching from behind but on windy days I'm much less likely to realize that a car is there for a variety of reasons. The first place the varia helps is chirping to let me know that there is one or more cars coming up behind me.

At that point it's a quick scene survey exercise - Are there any cars approaching from the front? How fast is the dot moving up the screen? You can generally tell from the speed of the dot and the closing distance of the car approaching from the front whether they are going to get to you at the same time. You can tell if the car behind is slowing down for a safe pass, and if so, it's reasonable to think that same driver is likely to give you room when going around.

You can tell if the driver continues his/her speed when going around and if you realize they are going to go around you at the same time a car passes from the front you know you have little room and better get over to the very edge.

Is there more than one dot? How close are the two dots to each other? You can tell if the second driver is giving the first driver space and if not, you can assume that they may not give you space either.

There is more that you can glean from the little dots but I don't find myself getting surprised by cars anymore. I've never had the varia NOT detect a car so even when the driver cuts it close I'm already paying close attention to my line on the road and ready to react if I have to.

I originally bought it due to needing a tail light and finding a good deal. I really think that it's one of my best pieces of safety equipment - right up there with my helmet. I can't recommend it enough.

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[kathleenturneroverdrive]

I see so many people saying they swear by radar but no one has really been able to articulate the mode by which it increases safety. I personally think it's a false sense of security and fully acknowledge that I'm rolling the dice every time I ride on the road.

There are times (like in traffic) where I totally ignore my Varia.

There are other times I’m stoked to have it because it gives me info that would be difficult or impossible to get without it. Like spotting a car a turn or two back on fast, steep downhills, or quickly telling me the relative speed of the car behind me without me having to look, and showing me there’s an otherwise invisible car tucked in right behind the dually coming up behind me, etc. Does all that info add up to increased safety? Yeah. I don’t think you could argue otherwise.

Is the Varia some life changing thing I tell everyone they have to buy? Nah. But like Seth above I got a good deal on mine and now I’m getting one for my wife.

[Jax]

Why a Varia? You know it's not a force field, right? Unless you're going to ride into the shoulder every time it beeps, i don't understand what it will do for you. Either the car will hit you or it won't--knowing it's somewhere back there doesn't change that.
.

It's not so much as a safety thing for me, so many of the gravel roads I ride I don't see cars for sometimes hours, remote. Always nice to get the bloop bleep from my computer that a car or cars are behind so I'm not totally surprised while in the zone. Happens a lot when I'm 60, 70 miles out, so this will reduce that annoyance. And taking the lane is my line of defense in certain scenarios. The integration with my Wahoo Roam looks seamless and I like the features.

Half Bag is already in the mix for S24H or super long day rides, forgot to mention. The shrew is just for day trips, easy to swap back and forth with my other bike but has overlapping repair stuff. I also have two revelate feed bags that I've used past few years, love them and will use one or both depending on length of ride. Between those, 2 cages, top tube strap on, I can carry a lot of freaking water if needed without a pack, but I'll use that too if needed (chase pack). Also stoked with the bosses on the fork, opens up a lot of options I haven't had previously.

I started getting into endurance riding only 2, maybe 3 years ago. I've yet to do more than 100 two days in a row (back to back), but now that I have the right tool, that's a goal of mine this summer, see how things go for the future. It's how I get over skiing now.

[VTskibum]

That's the first time I've heard of anyone moving INTO the lane when the radar says traffic is approaching from behind. Ballsy! (But why not just ride in the middle all the time, then?)

I see so many people saying they swear by radar but no one has really been able to articulate the mode by which it increases safety. I personally think it's a false sense of security and fully acknowledge that I'm rolling the dice every time I ride on the road.

Depends where you live. No shoulder at all means I’m taking the lane when there’s oncoming traffic and prevents someone from squeezing in. I’ll move over as soon as it’s safe to pass so people can semi-cross double yellow to get around. Again this all happens on 35mph type quiet roads. I’m not out taking the lane on anything where people are really hauling. I ride road less and less each year though, just not worth it.


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[sethschmautz]

Depends where you live. No shoulder at all means I’m taking the lane when there’s oncoming traffic and prevents someone from squeezing in. I’ll move over as soon as it’s safe to pass so people can semi-cross double yellow to get around. Again this all happens on 35mph type quiet roads. I’m not out taking the lane on anything where people are really hauling. I ride road less and less each year though, just not worth it.


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I'm in agreement on this also. It's a case by case. Sometimes hugging the very right side of the road encourages people to try to sneak by when they should just wait putting me more at danger. It isn't super common but there are situations where I'll do the same.

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[rideit]

Just like with a car, I use to fantasize on long rides about having an led scroll on the back of my Jersey, with changeable messages like “look, there’s no shoulder!” And “Chill, bro!”

But given the average ‘Murican, it would just make them madder.

[parkmeister]

i was actually really satisfied with the lyrik that came with the bike. butt, i gotta a bias for coil springs, so i went for this fox 36 performance with push acs3 conversion found on pinkbike. initial impression: fuck yeah.

[Touring_Sedan]

New bum bag. This company makes the most overbuilt bags I've ever seen.

https://waveproducts.com/

[skinipenem]

i was actually really satisfied with the lyrik that came with the bike. butt, i gotta a bias for coil springs, so i went for this fox 36 performance with push acs3 conversion found on pinkbike. initial impression: fuck yeah.

That looks nice! Speaking my language right there

Coil is good

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[GeorgiaSnow]

About to build up this GG Smash and throw a Secus on the Lyrik while I’m changing the travel. Big shout out to Dee Hubbs and ssmokan for parts going into this build.


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[Touring_Sedan]

Whelp, I'm pretty sure after 11,000 miles my Evil The Following is just about used up. It's a good thing tax season was kind.

[Phall]

Nice, that’s on my list for next bike. Will be interested to hear your opinion. (Yea, I still ride)


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