Shoes and torque wrenches.

il_principe

I'm looking at purchasing some new shoes. Have always used Specialized in the past, but am considering Sidi and Lake as well as the new Spesh ones. Lake and Spesh both use BOA - anyone had any experience with this?

Must admit, I am being drawn towards the Lake-CX401 as they can be moulded to fit. My current shoes have insoles from cycle fit which have been very comfy and sorted out some niggling knee pain.

Anyone have experience of Lake?

I've also finally decided to get a torque wrench. Looking at the Effetto GiustaforzaII model on Wiggle (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/effetto-giustaforzaii-torque-wrench-bits/), but does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

jonginge

I've heard good things about those wrenches but i've got this and it seems to do the job:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-btl-73-torq ... anner-set/

asprilla

I've got the Boa system in my Lake winter boots. It's brilliant, especially when you are wearing winter gloves.

davis

I wouldn't buy that torque wrench. I bought this when I think I got a deal on it around 60 quid. You can still get equivalents for around that sort of money. As long as it's certificated, you really, really don't need a bike-specific (i.e. overpriced) torque wrench.

phy2sll2

Torque wrench? I have this one and it's very good for £28.

http://www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?catref=STW1012

meanredspider

Yup - that torque wrench looks like it's about twice the price of one that you'd pick up at a (proper) engineer's supply shop - think I paid £60 quid-ish for mine with a 1/4" drive which is perfect for a bike-sized socket set like the Halford's Professional one that sells for about £17.

EKE_38BPM

You could buy that torque wrench at ~£130, or you could buy this one at ~£20.
Doesn't come with sockets (which you probably already have) or a fancy Italian sounding name.

il_principe

Thanks folks. I'm not of an engineering bent so know naff all about these things. Will have a gander at the recommendations.

EKE_38BPM

Double post.

davis

They're basically a compressible spring built into a moveable head. The head resists moving (i.e. turning force) up to a certain point; how high that point is depends on how hard the spring is compressed, really.

So, that's it; they're spring-loaded release mechanisms with turny-dial threads in them for controlling the amount of force required.

EKE_38BPM

When it comes to bike bits, I'm sure manufactures think "Bike pricing = n x normal pricing" when n = a number between 1.5 and 3

That torque wrench is a great example. £130 because it says "bike specific" whereas torque wrenches usually cost about half (or less) of that price.
Tyres are another example of cyclists getting ripped off. Compare how much rubber and other stuff there is in a bike Vs car tyre and then compare the prices.
Continental Gatorskin 25mm ~£25
Continental 175/65 R14 (to fit a Fiesta sized car) ~£40

Why are things like chainrings or chainsets so expensive. Its hardy heavy engineering.

davis

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Why are things like chainrings or chainsets so expensive. Its hardy heavy engineering.

Because we buy them.

EKE_38BPM

davis wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Why are things like chainrings or chainsets so expensive. Its hardy heavy engineering.

Because we buy them.

Not me. I just use lead nicked off a church roof and cut to shape!

bigmat

Lake shoes are very well made - I have a pair that are now my spare pair for commuting, they have a lifeetime guarantee and I fully expect them to last forever. Avoid Diadora - customer support is appalling.

Can't really comment on torque wrenches, I have a Ritchey torque key and seldom needed anything else...

SimonAH

EKE_38BPM wrote:

When it comes to bike bits, I'm sure manufactures think "Bike pricing = n x normal pricing" when n = a number between 1.5 and 3

That torque wrench is a great example. £130 because it says "bike specific" whereas torque wrenches usually cost about half (or less) of that price.
Tyres are another example of cyclists getting ripped off. Compare how much rubber and other stuff there is in a bike Vs car tyre and then compare the prices.
Continental Gatorskin 25mm ~£25
Continental 175/65 R14 (to fit a Fiesta sized car) ~£40

Why are things like chainrings or chainsets so expensive. Its hardy heavy engineering.

It's economies of scale Eke. They make about a gazillion car tyres compared to cycle tyres. Try getting some more low volume tyre sizes, like ones to fit a lambo or something and see what happens to the price......

spasypaddy

i love my specialized sworks, cant and wont say a bad word against them.

bunter

The Boa system is great but gives an even pressure all around the foot. I have some Lake shoes (extra wide) to fit my slab-like feet. Sometimes I would be able to put less pressure around the toe area and more grip around the tongue of the shoe. I can't do this with boa but you could with individual straps.

thecrofter

EKE_38BPM wrote:

You could buy that torque wrench at ~£130, or you could buy this one at ~£20.
Doesn't come with sockets (which you probably already have) or a fancy Italian sounding name.

I find there's a whole raft of stuff on my, not particularly high spec, bike that requires less than 5Nm, I would imagine that if you've got lots of carbon you might want something that goes to a lower torque

Tricycleboy

For 90% of jobs i use this

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?rlz=1T4GGHP_enGB466GB466&q=bontrager+torque+wrench&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=14301154026861659001&sa=X&ei=DQM0T_X7LMbG0QXir5CiAg&ved=0CFEQ8wIwAg#

Comes with a 4mm allen head but a sharp yank and you can have it out and pop in whatever size you like.

Most things are 5nm or thereabouts so does the trick nicely- and its cheap as chips.

EKE_38BPM

Yeah, I know Simon, it just bugs me that something simple and lightweight (e.g. chainrings) costs more than something so much more substantial (e.g. a starter motor).

PBo

I wouldn't use a torque wrench on my shoes......

itboffin

JonGinge wrote:

I've heard good things about those wrenches but i've got this and it seems to do the job:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-btl-73-torq ... anner-set/

yep +1 i have one and its the nuts

ddraver

5Nm is quite high and they tend to be most accurate in the middle of their range (torque wrenches that is, not shoes). Try looking for one that goes down to 2Nm so you can use it to tighten controls and such like (I have a 5 to 50 (or something) and hardly ever use it over 20Nm, I can think of only 1 place on the MTB.)