B E N D E R's non sweary review site, roubaixcycling.cc (and general kit discussion)

oldbazza

Those Planet X shoes are very similar to my 2-year old Spiuks(which have been excellent).

bendertherobot

Yeah, think there was talk about that when initially released, they are similar. Though more likely made by Carnac who PX swallowed up.

ugo.santalucia

bendertherobot wrote:

https://roubaixcycling.cc/2016/…/10/planet-x-365-road-shoes/
Pretty good shoes for a measly £40. £40 today, what they'll be tomorrow is anyone's guess.

I was after some SPD road shoes and got the Shimano ones instead... I should have got the Planet X, as mine are not that good... impossible to walk on them and the sole hurts on long rides

bendertherobot

These are ok, very good really. Not high end comfort but certainly good enough for 50 miles plus. Harder to walk on, of course.

ugo.santalucia

bendertherobot wrote:

These are ok, very good really. Not high end comfort but certainly good enough for 50 miles plus. Harder to walk on, of course.

I'm OK with 50 miles, I am OK up to 4-5 hours, but if I use them for longer, they are painful. The thing I didn't consider is that walking on a road shoe with SPD is considerably harder than one with SPD-SL

bendertherobot

Yeah, the spd-sl cleat is the gripper essentially

johnboy183

Wondered if you had any views on this?

http://madison.cc/p/roadrace-men-s-wind ... ey/cl83427

Madison seems to be generally good stuff from what I can gather. It's been suggested that it's fine in anything up to a "decent" downpour. Anything heavier then will need a lightweight jacket over the top. Best feature presently is use for up to 30 days and turn for full refund if not happy. Deal maker?

bendertherobot

Looks good IMO. Windproof so should do very well in showers. More of a spring/summer one. Interesting.

And probably cheaper elsewhere on the net. Nice colours as well.

oldbazza

ugo.santalucia wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

These are ok, very good really. Not high end comfort but certainly good enough for 50 miles plus. Harder to walk on, of course.

I'm OK with 50 miles, I am OK up to 4-5 hours, but if I use them for longer, they are painful. The thing I didn't consider is that walking on a road shoe with SPD is considerably harder than one with SPD-SL

I found this out last week,actually nearly came a cropper putting my foot down at a junction too.

Will have to look at getting some proper spd shoes as the North Waves I have have always been a bit big but are fine with thick socks for winter.

Might keep an eye out for these if they come up in a sale(have the road versions and really like them);

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giro-empire-vr9 ... 60746864uk

These as well(and cheaper);

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/giro-republic-c ... 60746759uk

letap73

Bender. what is your take on See Sense's attempt to raise capital on Crowd cube?

bendertherobot

It's par for the course nowadays. I've no idea if they tried other means, but remember that the first £250k was venture capital anyway. I think we'll see more of that kind of thing. I reckon they're onto something with what they make and it's all good.

I guess I should write something.......I'll try to make contact with Phil and Irene later to do a scoop.

bendertherobot

So, used these today in anger. Not quite recovered from RUNNING (I know) on the weekend so didn't hammer average speed, just wanted to see if they could nab me a couple of elusive KOM segments. I say elusive, I share one with another bloke and was 2 seconds off the other. They are out and out sprint sections up hill. Short ones but require a deep breath and POWER!

Getting close to beating them has been elusive for ages. So today with the benefit of these wheels I had another shot. And smashed both. Placebo? More rotating motion? Easier to maintain? Certainly not lighter. Who knows, so initial impressions are great. Squeaky pads though so may need to toe them in.

MBCaad8

The greens don't match very well....

bendertherobot

Indeed. The saddle is getting swapped to a plain black one

mfin

bendertherobot wrote:

So, used these today in anger. Not quite recovered from RUNNING (I know) on the weekend so didn't hammer average speed, just wanted to see if they could nab me a couple of elusive KOM segments. I say elusive, I share one with another bloke and was 2 seconds off the other. They are out and out sprint sections up hill. Short ones but require a deep breath and POWER!

Getting close to beating them has been elusive for ages. So today with the benefit of these wheels I had another shot. And smashed both. Placebo? More rotating motion? Easier to maintain? Certainly not lighter. Who knows, so initial impressions are great. Squeaky pads though so may need to toe them in.

Ah, but did they "roll well"?

bendertherobot

Not only do they roll well, they also "spin up easily."



I'm rather trying to find a way of keeping them

bendertherobot

So, a few things on the go, the wheels, some Juin Tech R1 brakes, a piece on See Sense and their future, a small article about my SuperX. That should do me for a week or so.

bsharp77

bendertherobot wrote:

Not only do they roll well, they also "spin up easily."



I'm rather trying to find a way of keeping them

I see Zuus now have a set of 50mm "super light" carbon clinchers available....1590gms apparently.
I wonder would they send you a set to test?!!

I definitely want to go for a set (lets face it, mainly for aesthetics!) - I was set on the Bax until the new Zuus wheels just made me hesitate....although its only 150gms difference and they're £100 dearer....I think the Bax win!

bendertherobot

I have asked. But I think they want me to be a bit bigger before they would. I think they're happy with social media etc to do the job. Clearly a similar wheel but the fact that the Bax one is bespoke to them is a clincher (sic) for me. Bespoke as in having their own design printed on rather than just using a generic rim with stickers.

bsharp77

bendertherobot wrote:

I have asked. But I think they want me to be a bit bigger before they would. I think they're happy with social media etc to do the job. Clearly a similar wheel but the fact that the Bax one is bespoke to them is a clincher (sic) for me. Bespoke as in having their own design printed on rather than just using a generic rim with stickers.

I agree with you there Bender, as a large percentage of the purchase is about aesthetics, the Bax win hands down as they look like a really well finished product (and of course the green matches my Domane!)

bendertherobot

Here you go, better surface shot.

bendertherobot

cookeeemonster

I got a pair of the 50mm zuus wheels this week (the cheaper ones, £360 with discount code - will put them on for the weekend) and they come without stickers if you want, which is what I went for. So basically matt black with no clashing colours on the wheels. If they roll as good as they look and spin up easily I'll be happy :P

daniel_b

CookeeeMonster wrote:

I got a pair of the 50mm zuus wheels this week (the cheaper ones, £360 with discount code - will put them on for the weekend) and they come without stickers if you want, which is what I went for. So basically matt black with no clashing colours on the wheels. If they roll as good as they look and spin up easily I'll be happy :P

That's good you can de-sticker - the Zuus labelling would put me off, merely because I feel it is trying to compare to Zipp.

Be interested to hear what you make of them, and to see pics as well.

Oh and would you be able to weigh them to see what they actually come out at?

cookeeemonster

Daniel B wrote:

CookeeeMonster wrote:

I got a pair of the 50mm zuus wheels this week (the cheaper ones, £360 with discount code - will put them on for the weekend) and they come without stickers if you want, which is what I went for. So basically matt black with no clashing colours on the wheels. If they roll as good as they look and spin up easily I'll be happy :P

That's good you can de-sticker - the Zuus labelling would put me off, merely because I feel it is trying to compare to Zipp.

Be interested to hear what you make of them, and to see pics as well.

Oh and would you be able to weigh them to see what they actually come out at?

sorry dont have the scales to do it accurately...but they 'feel' ok

Will write a review after the weekend and will update after a few weeks/months use.

By the way you dont have to desticker them, you just order them without the decals. Mine are the £399 '1699g' ones...so under 1700g

I used the code SECONDSET to get the discount, has probably expired now but if you sign up for their newsletter they may well send another out soon. You get skewers, rim tape and brake pads with them btw

darkhairedlord

On the subject of aeron bibs, anyone else find the pad poor. I took delivery on Thursday evening and rode 40 miles on Friday afternoon, great first ten miles but just got really uncomfortable. Felt like the wife had swapped her cane for a cricket bat. Just awful. The bibs beautifully made but the pad is worse than any other bib I've had. Way short of the santini slice and no better, if not worse than, the economy dhb action bibs I paid a fiver for last autumn. I really hop they just need getting used to but otherwise not much fun on a long ride.

bendertherobot

https://roubaixcycling.cc/2016/07/24/se ... f-cycling/

Done that Q&A with See Sense.

bendertherobot

darkhairedlord wrote:

On the subject of aeron bibs, anyone else find the pad poor. I took delivery on Thursday evening and rode 40 miles on Friday afternoon, great first ten miles but just got really uncomfortable. Felt like the wife had swapped her cane for a cricket bat. Just awful. The bibs beautifully made but the pad is worse than any other bib I've had. Way short of the santini slice and no better, if not worse than, the economy dhb action bibs I paid a fiver for last autumn. I really hop they just need getting used to but otherwise not much fun on a long ride.

It's not the best pad ever but it does improve with age. I still rate it highly, just not as highly as the Parentini Shark.2 or RedWhite Race.

darkhairedlord

bendertherobot wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

On the subject of aeron bibs, anyone else find the pad poor. I took delivery on Thursday evening and rode 40 miles on Friday afternoon, great first ten miles but just got really uncomfortable. Felt like the wife had swapped her cane for a cricket bat. Just awful. The bibs beautifully made but the pad is worse than any other bib I've had. Way short of the santini slice and no better, if not worse than, the economy dhb action bibs I paid a fiver for last autumn. I really hop they just need getting used to but otherwise not much fun on a long ride.

It's not the best pad ever but it does improve with age. I still rate it highly, just not as highly as the Parentini Shark.2 or RedWhite Race.

Hopefully I just need to break in my arris. I really can't afford to ditch the monolink ALU seatpost and perch at the moment. Unforgiving it may be but I can't find any more cash down the sofa until the summer is over.

pinno

darkhairedlord wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

On the subject of aeron bibs, anyone else find the pad poor. I took delivery on Thursday evening and rode 40 miles on Friday afternoon, great first ten miles but just got really uncomfortable. Felt like the wife had swapped her cane for a cricket bat. Just awful. The bibs beautifully made but the pad is worse than any other bib I've had. Way short of the santini slice and no better, if not worse than, the economy dhb action bibs I paid a fiver for last autumn. I really hop they just need getting used to but otherwise not much fun on a long ride.

It's not the best pad ever but it does improve with age. I still rate it highly, just not as highly as the Parentini Shark.2 or RedWhite Race.

Hopefully I just need to break in my arris. I really can't afford to ditch the monolink ALU seatpost and perch at the moment. Unforgiving it may be but I can't find any more cash down the sofa until the summer is over.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Selle-Italia- ... SwRgJXhPGR

I have one cheap if you want to try it.