you suck for buying black tyres when you can bling it out.

no pictures of naked bikes allowed... all must be covered with a bike cover.

why lightweight wheelset on mountain bike... tak tahan lasak rite? stans ZTR paired to CK or I9 hubs laced with DT white spokes...

for the lack of pictures....


This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 5 2012, 05:06 PM

wheels are the 3rd and sometimes 2nd most expensive part on the bike.. and definitely the one that wears out the fastest if you use rim brake.

MTBs are not that worried as spoke sizes is not usually an issue and hand built ones are common...

i prefer handbuilt usually over factory wheels due to the fact that you can replace broken spokes more easily as J-bend spokes are everywhere...

get a reliable hub like chris kings and a nice set of rims to go with it...their hubs are already light so it should make a fairly light set of wheels..

generally i read online CK hubs can last a couple of rim changes as long as you take care of it...

pricey though.

as soon as your take out your money or plastic card... anyday is your turn...

bike geeks always have multiple cards.. burn 1 take out the other...

when all else run out... there is this thing called a "personal loan" in banks...RM20k repayment over 5 years

that is how we always head into epic credit debts : )

there is the problem... "u think"... but the reality is never what you think...

with a RM1000 bike comes a RM3000 desire to get a better bike... the effect is compounded as you go higher... RM5k bike will bring the desire for a RM20k bike and so on and so forth...

there will be a ceiling... RM50k i say is safe cos there is no mass produced bikes beyond that price

like aaron kwok says... "ask for more"...your boss will say... "just don't ask me for more"... reality sucks.

ride more... or as mercks put it... ride lots

H Plus Son is not available in malaysia rite... you ordered it off the net?

thought fixies like the velocity colored rims...


actually if money is not an issue... 105 is more preferable, but tiagra has now closed the gap to 105 with the launch of the new 2012 tiagra which uses 10-speed cassettes... tiagra equipped bikes would be available around sub RM3k region.

Cassette is not an issue. You might find that you will change the cassette depending on the riding you do and i got a feeling they went with Tiagra because they launch tiagra with a max 30T cassette for climbing that they did not have on 105 and ultegra. Not a bad combo if you ride hills a lot but you can always opt to swap it out during the buying process so you pay a bit more for what you want.

Rather than buying another one later and then deal with the headache of leftover parts and how to sell em.

they usually run lower end cranks and brake calipers if they mix and match.

select wisely...


This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 6 2012, 07:11 PM

carbonsport lightweights... nice wheels.. but will leave it only for race days... hope they have some sort of crash replacement program in malaysia...

campy bora ultra two's are cheaper by comparison.

if rim brakes, the noise can be reduced by toeing in the brake pad by a bit.

other wise check for oil on the rotor or rim and pads or signs of wear and warpped rotor

it is not very expensive keeping in mind that it is a focus.

a specialized allez will land you RM5k for the same 105 or apex configuration.

i go check with another sifu first.. you know him too ... it is called google.

that is autotrim which was available when they launch DA Di2, who rides the big chainring with the big cog anyways... they are just feeding us more things that we don't need...

campy has now came out with EPS on their super record 11..has multiple shifts by holding the shift button.

cranks are biopace / oval cranks... 2 company more famous for producing it nowadays

Osymetric - brad wiggins and sky is the more famous riders
http://www.osymetric.com/content/view/25/52/lang,en/

and

Rotor - carlos sastre and CTT team previously
http://www.rotorbikeusa.com/

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 7 2012, 02:38 PM

Missed out something... did you asked if they were a 2012 model or 2011 model? your link is pointing to the 2012 which is lacking quite a bit of details. But from the 2012 picture if that looks everything the same as you saw has a

Crank
i doubt it is this (expensive) but based on the big FSA livery on the crankarm which is not on the gossamer and vero usually paired at this price range
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/14/...egaExo-Crankset

2011 is a vero model FSA crank
http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/37/...ompact-Crankset

Rear Derailleur
seems to be a mid cage 105 to support in excess of a 28T cassette, would be a plus point if you decide to take it to ride lots of hills. this also makes sense as they have on the 2011 model either a triple or double compact crank. will sacrifice slightly on shifting speed and precision but allows you to run a wider gear ratio than the the usual ones like a 11-23, 11-25 or 11-26

General Drivetrain RD, FD, shifter, brake calipers
looks to be full 105 except for the crank, good idea to check the front derailleur as it might be from a lower range, can't tell from pics

Wheelset
looks like their own brand of wheelset, 3 cross lacing to their own rim and most probably a shimano hub

Cockpit
again their own brand of saddles and stem / handlebar combo i think

The only question here is the frame and the material used. The specs don't say whether it is a 6000 or 7000 series aluminum and the butting on the frame. Most of the bigger brands would have 7005 triple butted frames, 7000 series aluminum would have slightly more longevity against 6000 series and also slightly a bit more stiffer.

Generally, be it a 2012 or 2011 bike it is placed at a competitive price range @ 3.9k for the focus brand if you are brand conscious. Generally if you look at a 105 combo equipped aluminum fuji, scott, bmc, or even specialized it will be placed above RM4k with most in the region of 5.

Yes, the shop is right that shimano's have never used any form of cartridge bearings over the years for their wheels. They have stick to using cup and cone loose ball bearings all the while. For me sealed bearing are overrated and isn't a selling point, they are only normal cartridge bearings fitted with dust shields for minimizing dirt from entered the bearing and gauzing them in the long term.

Contrary to many beliefs, loose balls actually rolls smoother than most cartridge bearings. It is just that cartridge bearings offer easier replacement as cup and cone system is much more harder to service.

they spec'ed yours with the ksyrium equipped jeh u lucky *******. they also have it with r-500s

my old cable tektro's also had screeching sound when pulling on the levers, but due to the lack of the pad alignment adjustment on my lousy caliper i took the pads out and try to ground it down a bit with the finest sandpaper i can find. you might want to check with the MTB sifus to see if it is a recommended method to do.

the sound went away for a while but came back again after quite a few rides

---

Added on January 7, 2012, 9:28 pmgo fly a kite...

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 7 2012, 09:28 PM

the alcohol doesn't really work if it is an oil issue because the oil would have lodged on the porous surface of the rotors..i tried before to spray those oven cleaners onto my rotors and left it for a bit before wiping them off... but to no avail..

i think the screeching thing is a mystery... different people different case

on a rim brake, i just usually toe in the brake pads and it sort of dials out the noise. if the pads contact the rim squarely it will cause tiny vibrations which produces the sound.

but if you let the front most end of the pad to come into contact with the rim slightly ahead, then it will dampen out the sounds. not a physicist, not sure why or how to explain it.

not an option for discs unfortunately.

to get a bike cheap is 1 thing... after sales service is important as well since you will have to depend on the shop for anything after the purchase unless you are willing to keep on paying money to get it serviced somewhere else.

But if that is your first bike... don't really matter since you are treading into unknown waters.

Yes, bearings are quite exaggerated nowadays especially with ceramics. Bicycle bearings will have to balance between precision, load bearing, longevity mainly. Think even known bicycle bearing manufacturer like enduro only manufactures up to their claimed ABEC-5 grade for their ball roundness.Then there is the question of their hardness of their bearing races and whether the grooves are there and deep enough to let the balls track correctly in line and best if there are teflon retainers to keep the balls in place. No point having 1 thing harder than the other and then speeding up the wear rate like what most poorly made ceramic bearings are nowadays. Marketing schemes, i say

Not sure what hubs the focus are on but based on the review you posted. Again it is their in house product. SB or not, i don't really care since it makes my wallet flatter.

For me, why bother if i have to pay my bike shop to service the wheels anyways? They are getting paid to do the job i pay them to do. So no point i spend money to make it easier for them. It'd be different if i have to take apart the shaft to service it myself.

---

Added on January 7, 2012, 11:13 pm1 point for the in house wheels against shimano is that they seem to have more spokes... and hopefully normal j-bend spokes which are easily replaceable.

32 spokes in 3 cross form will allow you to be more harsher on it albeit some weight penalties.

shimano r-501 or rs-10, rs-20 models should be using straight pull which can be harder to come by...

---

Added on January 7, 2012, 11:17 pmjust make sure before you buy this bike that you don't have evil friends like me that will coax you into buying pointless upgrade...

105 still leaves room for future upgrades, mind you...

and most importantly i stress very highly... inner self control... limited $$$ or a very restrictive wive will be a very good substitute in this matter

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 7 2012, 11:18 PM

my opinions based on a weight conscious view on...

bike weight claims are very hard especially when comparing between models from different manufacturers... that is unless they come to state a claimed weight for a particular size.. which is why most manufacturers stay away from it nowadays.+

so when you put a focus in question with a giant... the first question comes first, did the majority of the weight savings came from the frame or components?

frame
the focus is a 60cm in the review and as you mentioned from bicycling's review of an XL which is 58 is almost 700grams lighter (which i pretty much doubt) if they are both weighing in the same manner and their scales are calibrated correctly... most of us asians unless you are yao ming sort of height would be getting something in the range of a 48 to 52cm..54cm at max so it might be as low as sub 10kgs easy and not accounting for the 32 spoke wheels vs what i think is a xero xr-200 (sub 1700gram vs a tad over 2000grams easily)

if the giant frame really did get so much weight savings compared to a focus, then the question is did they manage to skimp on materials to make the frame lighter and end up compromising the stiffness of the frame or did they use a different grade of aluminum than focus did.

components
giant did fit the SL2 with some fairly nice cockpit, composites seatpost and high grade alloy bars and stem which accounts for some weight savings

if you really are looking at an TCR SL and not a TCR, you do have to bear in mind the one important thing. TCR SL runs on the new overdrive 2 which they launch for 2012 models. This means both the stem and headset is now specifically for their fork steerer tube which is slightly larger than most current standards. You might have trouble finding a different sized stem if you have fitting issues or even a replacement headset when the fitted one wears out. If your shop has the stem and headsets in stock, then no big issues. Just a limited brand options to choose from.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/gian...d-launch-30729/

at the end of the day, if most of the weight came from components and you know you will be itchy handed some 6months down the road after purchasing it, then here is where i think the focus is no different from a giant since you will be swapping all the stuff that is saving you the weight in the first place. If the frame is the main weight saver, then giant is a good place to start with if $$$ not an issue.

Decisions, decisions. personally, i would go and weigh the bike bike at the shop first with both weight on a similar manner, no pedal, bottle cages and any other extra clamp on stuff.

you can't really get a carbon bike at RM5k unless you are looking for those taiwanese brands like stepdragon, tw26 and whatever i have yet to see before... the carbon frame is cheap but so does the quality of the layup work of the material in the building process..

reputable brand's entry level carbon with shimano workhorse groupset like 105 goes for RM10k starting.

as i mentioned above, an alloy frame is very finicky as metal fatigue is an issue... if they skimp on materials on sections where they think bears little stress to make the frame light.. the frame will begin flexing more due to fatigue some 2 or 3 years later depending on your ride volume and especially when your body weight is in the upper regions of your scale.

this is the downfalls of alloy frames compared to carbon which has no fatigue life... but this allows beginners some leeway especially when you have a tendency to crash it... alloy is more crash worthy compared to carbon in this sense.. and less expensive to begin with.

i've gone through 3 bikes in the last 4 to 5 years not because i am finding excuses for a new one (partly i have to admit is an excuse) but also that i felt the frame has deteriorated over time...don't ride carbon cause i can't afford one and don't have a good sense of balance..

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 8 2012, 01:19 PM

don't expect the prices for simillar bikes to be a direct currency conversion here.. it never works unless you are willing to travel over to said country and get them yourself.

if you look at taiwan or china, there are many instances where similar bikes are illogically cheap when you do a currency conversion but never gets close to it when it reaches our shores. not sure if price jacked up or due to some shipping charges of some sort.

so back to your point, a TCR composite series bike

Giant USA retails a TCR C2 for 1850 USD about the same as your Singapore MSRP... RM5.9k
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/...e.2/9007/48840/

In China a TCR C2 for 9800 RMB, even cheaper after conversion...RM4.9k
http://www.giant.com.cn/zh-ht/bikes/model/tcr.c2/8807/48051/

Here is the closest comparison without browsing through all the available countries.

In Canada for a TCR SL2 for 1899 CDN, RM5.8k
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bikes/...e.2/9746/49341/

Back to ryan3721's aluminum giant
A TCR SL1 in canada costs 1.4k of their money, RM4.3k here..
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-ca/bikes/...r.1/9748/49342/

by now you should be able to make a relation based on Ryan and Canada's price and what to expect for your carbon rig.

Ryan3721's SL2 is RM4.8k without discount and assuming this is their official retail price for malaysia. Assuming a hopeful 10% discount brings it down to RM4.3k bearing in mind that this is spec'ed with lower end components than the SL1 sold in canada for RM4.3k.

you can ask them to test the waters
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GIANT-BICYCL...123416481013368

i do remember seeing giant put up a tent at the kiara MTB carnival last year and they had a old model TCR not sure if an "advanced" model and i presume a 2010 model equipped with SRAM rival. They claim a huge discounts was given due to old model and still costed RM6.8k.

crazy, but i never like to compare or i'd be wondering why i never live in a particular country

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 8 2012, 07:45 PM

sorry.. had too many tabs opened at once.. and too many currencies to crunch... it is a non-SL TCR 1 which you are rite...

just doubt that there is any reputable brands that has an entry level carbon at RM5k.. not that i have a disbelief for it, but my aluminum rig costed me almost RM5k without wheels and pedals when i switched bikes last year. starting at RM7k i trust there is some lower grade carbon framed 105s available..i'd be punching my nutbags if there is a carbon one available for 5k...

you can email giant for their MSRP... that gives you a good gauge... just dun expect a huge cut of discount, maybe 5 %or 10%... i trust they don;t want to post it on facebook due to preventing competitions checking them out and they would use email as more of a 1 to 1 channel instead...

pink bike trading , cassie is another source you can ask.. they are in bukit mertajam.. http://pinkbiketrading.com

asked them for a giant trinity last time and they gave me the price but unfortunately no stock...

unfortunately, due to different demographics, giant is able to post retail prices on the site but malaysia could be complicated as the giant distributor is being transferred around for the past few years i guess...

you're most welcome, just offering my opinion which might not be 100% correct and accurate.

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 8 2012, 10:34 PM

compromising my wallet ain't gonna happen but 2 can play at that game

Look 695 on mavic ksyrium slr or rsys slr

and lightweights



This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 11 2012, 01:32 PM

if you buy me a carbon SL4 or 695... i am sure i am up to the task of riding it.. i jus don't have the pockets to ride carbon... different reasons, they are...

my argument has never been valid before..

Don't know which you are referring to? but...tembak all

1st and 2nd pic, Look bikes are KH Cycle in Mutiara Damansara
2nd and 3rd pic, specialized bikes are GH Speebikes in Kota Damansara
Last 3 pics, BMC bikes are KSH Bikes in SS2.

haha ... try a century next time

90k over rolling terrain or 90k flat?

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 9 2012, 10:46 PM

thought the hulu langat loop was longer than 90K... this is the one that passes a hill first into the semenyih dam right? near the broga area... quite a tough ride this is...

on days that i have nothing to do... i like to take my ride to batu caves -> ulu yam -> batang kali -> gohtong jaya -> genting sempah -> gombak and back home...

just over 100K from home and over 4000 feet of elevation... if i were any better a climber, i'd try genting highlands before i go down from gohtong jaya... but furthest i reached on my good day was the temple before i gave up.. the gradients are a bit too tough for me beyond those points and i have to worry about getting home...

nowadays i just find excuse to not go far... hardly even go genting sempah anymore

century is not hard if you have companions... i've done the longest at 190K which i spend like 2 hours slogging the last 30K of flat road going home... totally depleted of everything on that day...

This post has been edited by butthead: Jan 9 2012, 11:41 PM