Got $500...what to spend it on

[Walrus]

I have a gift voucher for $500 at my local LBS. It's a nice dilemma to have, but I don't know what to spend it on. My roadbike has Shimano 105 9spd, carbon bars/seatpost/cages, new saddle, new wheels & Shimano 105 pedals.



Here’s what I’m considering:

Compact: I’m heading to France next year and will consider going Compact. I can get FSA Gossamer compact setup for $420 including new BB. Alternatively, I can just get a new 27 cassette for $150 (Ultegra) and switch it when I leave. The Shimano compact setup is about $575 and is equivalent to 105 level.

Pedals: I am planning on getting new pedals, I would go for LOOK Keo Carbon’s are $299

Shoes: My Carnacs are 3 or 4 years old now, still in good nick, but they’ve either stretched or my feet have shrunk, cause they’re a little loose. New nice shoes of various brands for $300’ish.

Clothes: Could always use a new set of full length knicks and jersey for winter (and those Alps I’ll be hitting next year).

Groupset: I guess I could get a Dura Ace component or two (deraileurs, crankset, brakes, BB).

New lights for winter.



What would you do given my situation and current setup?

 

[artemidorus]

I have a gift voucher for $500 at my local LBS. It's a nice dilemma to have, but I don't know what to spend it on. My roadbike has Shimano 105 9spd, carbon bars/seatpost/cages, new saddle, new wheels & Shimano 105 pedals.



Here’s what I’m considering:

Compact: I’m heading to France next year and will consider going Compact. I can get FSA Gossamer compact setup for $420 including new BB. Alternatively, I can just get a new 27 cassette for $150 (Ultegra) and switch it when I leave. The Shimano compact setup is about $575 and is equivalent to 105 level.

Pedals: I am planning on getting new pedals, I would go for LOOK Keo Carbon’s are $299

Shoes: My Carnacs are 3 or 4 years old now, still in good nick, but they’ve either stretched or my feet have shrunk, cause they’re a little loose. New nice shoes of various brands for $300’ish.

Clothes: Could always use a new set of full length knicks and jersey for winter (and those Alps I’ll be hitting next year).

Groupset: I guess I could get a Dura Ace component or two (deraileurs, crankset, brakes, BB).

New lights for winter.



What would you do given my situation and current setup?

Lights and clothes - your bike sounds fine. Worry about gearing for France next year.

 

[Bleve]

artemidorus wrote:
>
> > What would you do given my situation and current setup?
> Lights and clothes - your bike sounds fine. Worry about gearing for
> France next year.

Agreed. A 12:27 will get you up anything and you'll wear it out if you
buy it now and a compact crank is for people with broken collarbones
and other people's blood! For $500 you'll get most of an HID light or
a good halogen lightset.

 

[petulance]

Walrus wrote:
> I have a gift voucher for $500 at my local LBS. It's a nice dilemma to
> have, but I don't know what to spend it on. My roadbike has Shimano 105
> 9spd, carbon bars/seatpost/cages, new saddle, new wheels & Shimano 105
> pedals.
>
>
>
> Here's what I'm considering:
>
> Compact: I'm heading to France next year and will consider going
> Compact. I can get FSA Gossamer compact setup for $420 including new
> BB. Alternatively, I can just get a new 27 cassette for $150 (Ultegra)
> and switch it when I leave. The Shimano compact setup is about $575 and
> is equivalent to 105 level.

<snip>

Were you referring to the new Shimano R700 compact crank? I thought it
was meant to be specced somewhere between Ultegra and DuraAcel

 

[petulance]

Bleve wrote:
> artemidorus wrote:
> >
> > > What would you do given my situation and current setup?
> > Lights and clothes - your bike sounds fine. Worry about gearing for
> > France next year.
>
> Agreed. A 12:27 will get you up anything and you'll wear it out if you
> buy it now and a compact crank is for people with broken collarbones
> and other people's blood!

Surely you don't mean that only Tyler Hamilton can use a compact crank!

 

[Tamyka Bell]

Bleve wrote:
>
> artemidorus wrote:
> >
> > > What would you do given my situation and current setup?
> > Lights and clothes - your bike sounds fine. Worry about gearing for
> > France next year.
>
> Agreed. A 12:27 will get you up anything and you'll wear it out if you
> buy it now and a compact crank is for people with broken collarbones
> and other people's blood! For $500 you'll get most of an HID light or
> a good halogen lightset.

I don't think a 12:27 would get me up 35km of 10% grade, unless it had a
motor!

Tam

 

[EuanB]

artemidorus wrote:
>
> > What would you do given my situation and current setup?
> Lights and clothes - your bike sounds fine. Worry about gearing for
> France next year.

Agreed. A 12:27 will get you up anything and you'll wear it out if you
buy it now and a compact crank is for people with broken collarbones
and other people's blood! For $500 you'll get most of an HID light or
a good halogen lightset.

Depends on the use of the bike. Trust me when I say that my compact set up (FSA Gossamer btw) has made the hills of Blackurn Road a lot easier with 10-15kgs of stuff in the panniers.

 

[Walrus]

Were you referring to the new Shimano R700 compact crank? I thought it
was meant to be specced somewhere between Ultegra and DuraAcel

Yep, I apoke to the LBS and they said it was "around 105 level". If you look at the Shimano site, they list it under "High Grade Components". So not really sure on that one.

 

[Bleve]

EuanB wrote:

> Depends on the use of the bike. Trust me when I say that my compact
> set up (FSA Gossamer btw) has made the hills of Blackurn Road a lot
> easier with 10-15kgs of stuff in the panniers.

Or, get fit and ditch the panniers full of rocks

 

[EuanB]

EuanB wrote:

> Depends on the use of the bike. Trust me when I say that my compact
> set up (FSA Gossamer btw) has made the hills of Blackurn Road a lot
> easier with 10-15kgs of stuff in the panniers.

Or, get fit and ditch the panniers full of rocks

Telecoms and radio don't lend themselves to light tools. I've pushed (and mainly gotten) for a complete set of tools in each centre but there are some things I still have to carry.

I could lose two kilos, but with a resting HR of 42 and recovery of 90 beats in a minute after an hour at 85% max HR, I reckon I'm fit enough for most purposes

 

[Bleve]

EuanB wrote:
> Bleve Wrote:
> > EuanB wrote:
> >
> > > Depends on the use of the bike. Trust me when I say that my compact
> > > set up (FSA Gossamer btw) has made the hills of Blackurn Road a lot
> > > easier with 10-15kgs of stuff in the panniers.
> >
> > Or, get fit and ditch the panniers full of rocks
>
> Telecoms and radio don't lend themselves to light tools. I've pushed
> (and mainly gotten) for a complete set of tools in each centre but
> there are some things I still have to carry.

But this is your daily commute, right?

> I could lose two kilos, but with a resting HR of 42 and recovery of 90
> beats in a minute after an hour at 85% max HR, I reckon I'm fit enough
> for most purposes

Fit's a funny thing, and difficult to really compare. What's your best
time up the 1:20? What do you weigh? How tall are you? What's your
max steady state power output over 20 minutes etc?

 

[flyingdutch]

Lights, clothes, compact/etc in that order

PS hillbrick do a compact for $400

 

[petulance]

Walrus wrote:
> petulance Wrote:
> >
> > Were you referring to the new Shimano R700 compact crank? I thought it
> > was meant to be specced somewhere between Ultegra and DuraAcelYep, I apoke to the LBS and they said it was "around 105 level". If you
> look at the Shimano site, they list it under "High Grade Components".
> So not really sure on that one.
>
>
> --
> Walrus

from Cycling News

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2005/newarrivals/11-17

 

[EuanB]

EuanB wrote:
> Bleve Wrote:
> > EuanB wrote:
> >
> > > Depends on the use of the bike. Trust me when I say that my compact
> > > set up (FSA Gossamer btw) has made the hills of Blackurn Road a lot
> > > easier with 10-15kgs of stuff in the panniers.
> >
> > Or, get fit and ditch the panniers full of rocks
>
> Telecoms and radio don't lend themselves to light tools. I've pushed
> (and mainly gotten) for a complete set of tools in each centre but
> there are some things I still have to carry.

But this is your daily commute, right?

Three centres to support, two in the CBD and one in East Burwood. Some days I get to go to all three in one day.

> I could lose two kilos, but with a resting HR of 42 and recovery of 90
> beats in a minute after an hour at 85% max HR, I reckon I'm fit enough
> for most purposes

Fit's a funny thing, and difficult to really compare. What's your best
time up the 1:20?

I've done it once and didn't time it, will remember to time it this Sunday.

What do you weigh? How tall are you?

83kgs, 175cm

What's your
max steady state power output over 20 minutes etc?

No idea, don't have a power tap. The most I recall pushing in recent times though is about 170. The maximum heart rate I've recorded recently is 185 but that was mountain biking. On a road bike the maximum I've recorded is 180.

My legs generally give out way before my cardio does. 160 I can maintain for extended periods of time, but I need a good reason to do that because I'm basically lazy

 

[flyingdutch]

No idea, don't have a power tap. The most I recall pushing in recent times though is about 170. The maximum heart rate I've recorded recently is 185 but that was mountain biking. On a road bike the maximum I've recorded is 180.

My legs generally give out way before my cardio does. 160 I can maintain for extended periods of time, but I need a good reason to do that because I'm basically lazy

go to the dentist to do a REAL MaxHRTest™

 

[JayWoo]

Bleve wrote:

> Agreed. A 12:27 will get you up anything and you'll wear it out if you
> buy it now and a compact crank is for people with broken collarbones
> and other people's blood!

Surely you don't mean that only Tyler Hamilton can use a compact crank!

Basso's an advocate too;

http://tinyurl.com/nd57s


Jay "Old-School-27-12" Woo

 

[Bleve]

EuanB wrote:

> > But this is your daily commute, right?
> Three centres to support, two in the CBD and one in East Burwood.
> Some days I get to go to all three in one day.

Telco in east Burwood? At the tower on Canterbury Rd? Downhill all
the way home .... w00t!

> > > I could lose two kilos, but with a resting HR of 42 and recovery of 90
> > > beats in a minute after an hour at 85% max HR, I reckon I'm fit
> > enough
> > > for most purposes
> >
> > Fit's a funny thing, and difficult to really compare. What's your
> > best
> > time up the 1:20?
> I've done it once and didn't time it, will remember to time it this
> Sunday.

The weather will be awful again. I have to do the ******* thing twice
this Sunday .. my coach is a *******!

> > What do you weigh? How tall are you?
> 83kgs, 175cm

Ok, not too heavy.

> > What's your
> > max steady state power output over 20 minutes etc?
> No idea, don't have a power tap.


You don't need one. Try doing a 20 minute ITT (flat) and see what
speed you can maintain. Velodrones are good for this.

Speaking of which, the 3 monkeys that sucked my wheel at Hawthorn on
Tues arvo, you're not getting quality miles by just drafting me .... I
don't mind you mob doing it, but at least say thankyou or something.


> The most I recall pushing in recent
> times though is about 170. The maximum heart rate I've recorded
> recently is 185 but that was mountain biking. On a road bike the
> maximum I've recorded is 180.

HRmax and fitness have very little relation. HRmax is just a
genetic/age thing.

> My legs generally give out way before my cardio does. 160 I can
> maintain for extended periods of time, but I need a good reason to do
> that because I'm basically lazy

Yes, but what can you maintain speed-wise at that HR? For you,
160-bpm is E3, I'd be quite interested to see what speed you can push
at that workrate for 20 mins.

 

[Tamyka Bell]

Bleve wrote:
<snip>
> HRmax and fitness have very little relation. HRmax is just a
> genetic/age thing.

*frown*

I know that's supposed to be the case, and many refs will agree with
you, but since I took up training, my HR_max dropped from being approx
equal to the age-predicted max, to being well below the age-predicted
value.

Tam

 

[TimC]

On 2006-04-06, Bleve (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>
> EuanB wrote:
>> Bleve
>> > Fit's a funny thing, and difficult to really compare. What's your
>> > best
>> > time up the 1:20?
>> I've done it once and didn't time it, will remember to time it this
>> Sunday.
>
> The weather will be awful again. I have to do the ******* thing twice
> this Sunday .. my coach is a *******!

Sunday Becoming fine. Min 11 Max 18
?

Should sack 'im

--
TimC
"Thanks to the joint efforts of OpenOffice, Mozilla, and a few others, Emacs
officially entered the category of lightweight utilities." -- kalifa on /.

 

[TimC]

On 2006-04-06, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> Bleve wrote:
> <snip>
>> HRmax and fitness have very little relation. HRmax is just a
>> genetic/age thing.
>
> *frown*
>
> I know that's supposed to be the case, and many refs will agree with
> you, but since I took up training, my HR_max dropped from being approx
> equal to the age-predicted max, to being well below the age-predicted
> value.

You're better off with a larger difference between resting HR and
maxHR though. More clearance to go harder.

--
TimC
"Some people think that noise abatement should be a higher priority for ATC. I
say safety is noise abatement. You have no idea how much noise it makes to have
a 737 fall out of the sky after an accident." -- anon. air traffic controller