hi i have questions...let say if i put ultegra shifter..can it mix with the rest of my 105 groupset? better shifting? shorter stroke in gear change? or no difference at all? thx guys

hmm..let's ask le_sifu_butthead_k. I'm using complete matching groupset.

i think that is MSRP maybe... i remember the 105 only costs around RM2k to RM2.2k after discounted depending on where you buy from... very slightly above the price of an Apex group...

at least his RD don't cost as much as your RD... that worries him a little less whichever way it goes...

i though u gonna racun him Ultegra Di2

you can mix ultegra-6700 with 105-5700 with no problems... i heard only the 7900 Dura ace have problems with a mixed FD... remember it shifts but not as well as a full 7900 series components as it involves a different cable pull ratio on the front shifter... never tried before, but i read it on velonews...

as for better shifting, shorter stroke... i trust not since it is from the same generation x700... if you say you have a 5600 to change to a 6700, possibly some difference... major difference would be the weight and price i'd say...

if you notice closely... the ST-5700 and ST-6700 is actually almost identical to each other... like carbon copy except the ultegra utilizes some carbon on their lever production..

some forums does say that the lever feel is different, that i am not too sure about... maybe due to difference in material between both the calipers causing some flex when engaged... the 105 caliper does say that it is compatible with dura ace and ultegra...

WAIT!!!... there is no sifu this and sifu that here... we are all here as contributors and knowledge sharing only...

if there is any sifu's in this world... it is called...


i too have to verify my learning there sometimes... if there is any sifus... that is the one...

This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 13 2012, 09:33 AM

My drivetrain setup used to be like this : RX100 dual control STI, Ultegra FD, 105 RD, 8-speed cassete. That got me into Sukom 98 project team & also to helped my team to a gold medal in Sukma 96 scratch race.

But drivetrain nowadays.. I think butthead is right. It used to be that way as well for Shimano products. U can mix anything except for Dura Ace components. The problem shud be the dual-control shifter, becoz the shifting geometry is there (cable movement). To use different FD/RD shud be no prob. In Ur case, Ur setup shud be fine.

When 8-speed shifiting was introduced, I was still on downtube lever (I wonder how many of U know this thing, downtube shifter...). I had 8-speed cassette with 7 speed indexed downtube shifter. To get to the 8th cog, I had to pull the shifter to the end until it shifts... had to live with that for a few months, until I managed to but the RX100 STI....

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Added on February 13, 2012, 9:45 amJosiah came back to Malaysia late in 1999, when we started the Gemilang 2001 project. He started riding for the country in the 2001 Sea Games where he won the sprints & the kilo I think. 2004 he was already in the Athens Olympic keirin final.

When he 1st came back, a lot of ppl (the seniors especially) didn't like him that much, maybe becoz having been raised in the US, he can be a bit brash.. but I used to talk to him a lot, proly becoz he din know much BM & my English was better than other cyclists. So we became friends but I lost contact with him after I quit the sport. I dunno if he still remembers me.

Quite funny when the newspaper write him off becoz he turned 31 this year. In sprints it's totally different, sprinters get better with age. A lot of world class sprinters had very long careers, well into their 30's & some into 40's. Michael Hubner, world champion at age 35 I think. Gary Neiwand, Jens Fiedler... all late 30's & still won World Cup races. Pavel Buran, a Czech, retired only at age 40+... our own Rosman Alwi, still wins Sea Games gold at 35-36 .. (used to train with him & his father, the late Pak Awi..)

This post has been edited by tenno: Feb 13 2012, 09:46 AM

we don't even have the downtube shifter boss nowadays...haha...

the only way we get to approach one is through the current TT bar end shifters... they are essentially the same units except being given a additional bar end plug to mount the shifters...

those were the days before STI levers became common...the good thing with downtube shifters is that you can loosed the screws and you lose indexed shifting but you shift any amount of gears you need to... just by feel and not that precised...

we are too spoilt nowadays

i think partly Josiah was raised outside of malaysia and also partly his performance was intimidating other riders... in the world of sports, no one likes to be outshone and 2nd rated... heard he nowadays live in australia for training purposes... not strange that it is hard to meet up with him...

i saw him once before... he looks surprisingly thin by comparing to photos while most of the shots of him on the track was very big sized and bulging muscles... maybe it was off season for him...

Rosman's father died sometime 2 years ago i remember from stroke.. and i saw some pictures of Rosman in recent times... his facial features seems to indicate like he got affected by a stroke before... or maybe that was the way the shot was taken...

i guess the main reason that track cyclist has a longer career is that track events don't require the same endurance levels as a road rider does... just my thinking.. trackies just need to worry about an all out effort for less than 10mins depending on their specialization while a road cyclist might have to put out considerably less wattage but deal with as long as 30-40mins of effort especially on mountain top finishes... something like 500 watts for 30 mins maintained.. while sprinters like Mark Cav who is also a trackie in his days puts out in excess of 1300 watts i heard during the final finish line sprints...

but if you look at the trend of road cyclist nowadays... it seems that their career peak has also change statistically... 10-15 years back.. you see back in the days of 1990s... indurain won his first tour at the age of 28 for five consecutive times.... Armstrong won at age 28 for 7 consecutive times...

in the 2000's you see the likes of Alberto Contador winning their first grand tour at the age of 24 or 25 and further examples like Andy Schleck who just turned 26 last year... he also won his 2010 TDF title at the age of 25 with the current exclusion of Contador for the clenbuterol incident... Ullrich is until now i believe by far the youngest tour winner at the age of 23 when he won in 97....

maybe it doesn't give a full picture from the statistics... but if you watch the careers of indurain and armstrong albeit different characteristics in terms of riding... they have both lasted many seasons before you see a change in their form...

when you watch Alberto or Ullrich reaching their peak so young... you see that their form either falls onto a plateau or starts dropping after a short couple of years... 2007 you can see Contador attacking Rasmussen on the climbs very aggresively... 2008 wasn't bad with what was no preparations for the Giro and back to back went for the Vuelta in a 3 month period (2 fitness peaks in 1 season)... in 2009 he was also very aggressive combating with Schleck and finally seeing a more mortal contador in 2010 with the first indication of getting dropped by Andy's acceleration on the Avoriaz ascent...Ullrich fared no better after his first win in 1997...

we can all argue that the competition is far more aggressive in the latter part of 2000 decade and Ullrich met with a relatively strong Pantani and arrival of Armstrong.. but the way the sport works where in recent GC contenders is no longer aiming for long breakaways... but rather hide in the peloton until the last climb of the day and then shoot off like a rocket to disintegrate their opponents... how races works nowadays is much more different with more complex strategies... having to concentrate on 1 big race rather than trying to win every damn thing like Merckx also changes the way the sport works...

This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 13 2012, 11:14 AM

We dun loosen the screw (on the downtube shifters), actually there's the friction option U can switch to, U have to turn a knob on the shifter boss, until it points to friction. Friction shifters, for the uninitiated, is the old form of shifting, before there was indexed shifting, before dual control STIs. U just pull the lever until it shifts to the next cog (up or down) & then trim it. Then in the late 1980s Shimano came up with the indexed shifting, with shifters that clicks into the next cog, eliminating the need to trim & also the guessing game (whether the chain's already on the desired cog).


The whole elite track team is based in Australia. Australia's been the country of choice for overseas training since the days of the Sukom 98 team. I never had the chance to go though.

Road sprinters are indeed a special breed. In one interview with Indurain, when asked who he admired most, Indurain said it was the sprinters. Why ? Becoz they suffer so much just to get to the finish line, & in the last 200-300m they're transformed into a different animal, with incredible speed. Road sprinters typically reach 60-70km/h, which is phenomenal if U consider before that they had to ride 150-200km of road stage.

maybe mine was a paria one... there is this small little ear ring look a like thing and when turned slightly and loosen... it loses the index shifting and goes into the friction mode you mention...

hahah... everyone has their chances... why did you left the team anyways?

yeah... the sprinters are the worst to suffer in grand tours especially with the inhuman stages nowadays... riding 150-200KMs is not the problem for them... on flats they have their rolleurs to shield them from winds... the main problem is that they have to ride the high mountains and fight off getting eliminated off for missing the time cut... Cav almost got eliminated in the 2011 tour for missing the time cut... he was given a points penalty instead or he would have lost his green jersey going into paris..

which is why sometimes this long breakaway riders get lambasted for attacking off the gun and risking elimination of riders at the end of the stage... although they can form a big group to force the judges to increase the time cut limit... but they still get penalized in one way or another...

Thor Hushovd knowing he wasn't able to fight with Cav on sprint points did an amazing ride in one of the 2010 tour stages over several mountains ahead of the main peloton to take the sprint points and effectively take the points jersey...

Mario cipolini was another fine example that infuriates tour officials so much when he was riding back then... he will ride to win as many stages as he can.. and when the tour reach the mountain stages... he will just climb off the bike and exit the tour... he also popularized the method of using a lead out train for finish line sprints like the ones used today...


This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 13 2012, 12:28 PM

oh sorry im in the wrong thread...

oh wait...

Interesting conversation going on...good to know there are so many passionate cyclist on this thread.

On the earlier subject of falls and recoveries, almost had my first major crash last weekend. Was on MRR2 when I went over a rock or something...My hands completely slipped from the handlebars, resulting in my chest falling straight unto the stem and handlebars. Panicked for a moment as I was my clipless pedals and shoes. Somehow I managed to steer the bike with my chest and regained control. luckily was not going very fast, probably around 20kmh plus. Felt extremely foolish and careless, not paying attention to the road.

On the way home got caught in a massive thunderstorm, was drenched to the bone. Had to decide whether to stop and take shelter at a bus stop or press on...managed to get back on in one piece even though I was completely soaked.

Fun all the way...

Amazing recovery! don't forget to relube your chain again after getting your bike wet like that

riding in the rain is fun... it's just not so fun to the bike itself and even worst when you find out stuff like bearing rusted after many rides in the rain..

there is no such thing as a guarantee not to crash in cycling... else helmet makers habis adi.. jus do everything to make sure that you get back in 1 piece..

you forgot to mention wash first.. the old coat of lube might have attracted a lot of road grime..

'

and also dun ride behind bunch or aunties when going down steep...

only you will do that...

haha...first thing i did when i got back. Dried the bike with a rag, then used a hair dryer to blow off the excess water. after that degreased the chain and relubed it.

Have not had a chance to ride it since though...maybe tonight

any riders around cheras area? sri petaling, bkt jalil or sri permaisuri?
i hv a saddle sore after the long ride...hence I bought prologo scratch ti 1.4 (titanium railing not carbon as the latter is way too expensive) saddle after reading so many reviews about it..

hopefully that will fit my butt the best. but I know I will always buy a saddle until I found the right one..huhu..

now im thinking and thinking of making my bike lighter..already remove my saddle bag..all the kits will just go into my jersey back pocket next time..will be eyeing for a carbon handlebar and stem..any recommendation? budget 1.2k n below but is changing to a lighter rims/wheelset will be more significant in reducing the weight of a bike? thx guys

edited: yea of course lighter rims will shed more grams...silly question..

This post has been edited by mrjgx: Feb 13 2012, 08:47 PM

yup.. take care of your bike... most importantly take special care of the headset and BB areas... those area can contain water quite badly...

other places will just drain out by itself...

Le Butthead this for you~

http://www.baikbike.com/cycle-helmets-not-fit-for-purpose/

Hi. i wanted to cycle as a new hobby. can anyone reccomend me a good entry level mtb. i wanted hardtail as i dont want to spend much first.

My weight 100
Height 1.78

Which should i get?

My budget is around 1.5k.

i agree with the article in some aspect of it... the main problem nowadays are not whether a helmet protects your head effectively but rather the effects of wearing helmets and understanding safety in the first palace...

i would have refrained from posting this.. but lemme warn.. readers beware that this is not an excuse to "not wear a helmet"... read and digest at your own risk...

there is this term named "peltzman effect"...it is a psychological hypothesis on the topic of risk compensation... it wasn't classified as a mental disorder... what peltzman effect itself is practically talking about the human tendencies to perform riskier acts or maneuvers given they have the knowledge that they have a safety net in place...

as examples :-

1) safer cars nowadays leads to drivers driving faster on the road and be less attentive, driving faster does not necessarily cause more accidents. but will give you less time to respond and react in an event of one... although it might not have caused more accidents than before ABS, but it generally did not lower accident rates by what it was intended to do... hence, cancelling out the advantages of the newer safety systems and better developed cars...

2) with the advent of ABS, drivers are driving closer and closer to the car in front and braking later knowing that the ABS systems will save them in the event of a lock-up

and the kicker...

3) bicycle helmets, cyclist wearing helmets think they are better protected when wearing a helmet and takes more risk when riding their bikes

it is a very simple thing and is even applicable in day to day life.. earn more, spend more? you think you are covered, take another step further...

here is something written in more detailed manner...if you have the time...
http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/bicycle-...roven-not-safe/

that being said... the intention is that for you to know that a helmet is a helmet and your actions are what you are held responsible to yourself... although helmets are proven to have worked protecting our skulls , but utilizing it is not factored in with the human condition which could actually cause somewhat of a negative effect that the intended aim of a helmet...

a very simple test... ask yourself.... would you be doing the shanghai CN tower edge walk knowing that you will not be tied to a safety harness?


let along be doing this...


in summary.. dun think you are the indestructible ironman after wearing a helmet... ride knowing what brings you safety in the first place and not what protects you in the event of a fall is all i can say...

this is a post that i wish you gimme the TLDR and moved along...

This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 13 2012, 10:38 PM

for RM1.5k... you won't be able to get much of the best MTB possible...

if possible, try to go for brands like giant, jamis, KHS, Fuji or Merida.. although not as big brand wise as Trek, specialized, Yeti and etc... but it is more reputable than many upcomming taiwan bike manufacturers...

RM1.5k should still get you 9 speed with some fairly good components with mechanical discs and entry level fork...

there is not point telling you which specific model to get since you might have personal preferences on how your bike is going to look.... try browsing the sites for the mentioned brands and see if you like any of their low end or entry level models...then try to find the shop that sells it to check out the price...

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Added on February 13, 2012, 10:48 pma new arrival...


This post has been edited by butthead: Feb 13 2012, 10:48 PM