I guess that if you publish your descending stats you put everyone here to shame.
Alibayexpress parts you love
- Thread starter Udi
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I do ride a lot of DH. My wife would put me to shame though. She always does 1-3 more laps when my back is done. It sounds like @6thElement has a similar situation?I guess that if you publish your descending stats you put everyone here to shame.
Don’t be jealous.
She assaulted my poor, poor puppy.
She assaulted my poor, poor puppy.
Oh, I forgot to mention all of the amazon special winter wear I've amassed. Riding in the cold can be...cold, and preparing for the cold can be wicked expensive. So, I trolled amazon to find a collection of cheap chinese winter wear. I have arm warmers, leg warmers, shoe covers, and a skullcap from "Rockbros". They also made my road sunglasses. I cannot understand why anybody would want to spend $200 on sunglasses, so I spent $25. They block the sun and have been robust and durable. All of this winter gear cost less than $75 in total, and it works very well. The concern with cheap shit is usually fit, but everything has been great so far.
Also, forgot if I mentioned my heart rate strap and speed/cadence sensor. The cadence sensor is just OK, but my "Coospo" heart rate strap has lasted well over a year of nearly daily use with no dropouts and only one battery replacement. I hear all the time about people's wahoo units failing and this sensor, for $20 less, just keeps trucking.
I'm guessing nobody cares, but I'm happy to dig out actual product names if people are shopping for leg warmers.
Also, forgot if I mentioned my heart rate strap and speed/cadence sensor. The cadence sensor is just OK, but my "Coospo" heart rate strap has lasted well over a year of nearly daily use with no dropouts and only one battery replacement. I hear all the time about people's wahoo units failing and this sensor, for $20 less, just keeps trucking.
I'm guessing nobody cares, but I'm happy to dig out actual product names if people are shopping for leg warmers.
i've had bad luck with the inexpensive winter wear, mostly with poor fit (as you mentioned) and also sometimes poor performance. i once got a pair of long bibs from nashbar i think, the fit was fine but the chamois placement was very bad. personally i've found that ponying up for the good stuff has been worthwhile especially since it gets used for a smaller portion of the year (at least where I live). most of it i've gotten on sale. i think about the only thing i ponied up and paid full price for was a pair of endura singletrack pants, which at $130 isn't all that insane compared to other pants, and i absolutely love them.
I am willing to spend for expensive lenses that 1. wont shatter to shards on impact, 2. have good UV filter, 3. have outstanding anti-fog coating. There's nothing worse than constantly fogged glasses in 80%+ humidity.
This. Plus lenses resisting scratches from their storage bag/pouch at least. I once had a pair of Adidas sunglasses which couldn't stand a quick cleaning with their own storage bag. After one year of mostly being stored, the lenses were mostly a scratches collection.
How do the rockbros pants fit. I'm short with a 34 waist and 29 inseam but muscular. Trying to figure what size I'd wear.
In general, much of the clothing is made for the Asian population which tends to be smaller and less fat. So I usually size up and also look in the reviews/comments section for information on fit. Its a gamble though as returns are just not worth the effort.
I just have their legwarmers. I think they were these:
Amazon.com: ROCKBROS Cycling Leg Warmers for Men Women Thermal Fleece for Cycling Running Winter Sports Outdoor Activities : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
Buy ROCKBROS Cycling Leg Warmers for Men Women Thermal Fleece for Cycling Running Winter Sports Outdoor Activities: Shop top fashion brands Leg Warmers at Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY and Returns possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
I got L/XL. If anything, they are a bit big. I am 5'11, 32in waist, 32in inseam, and relatively muscular (not a track cyclist though). I typically wrench the gaiters up pretty high and cover them with my bibs. There may be a touch of baginess at times, but definitely not loose. I have been consistently pleased with their warmth. I was out for 20mi in 45 degree weather with no sun wearing these, my bibs, my thermal turtleneck, my hat, and my full finger 100% gloves and I was pretty toasty aside from my feet (no shoe covers). I suspect as it dips into the 30s I may need more gear like a jacket but there's less appeal to riding outside at that temp!
The slightly more expensive Chinese Oakley Radar's are actually more robust than genuine Oakley frames.
They're also available in photochromic and polarised so ideal for the super changable light/weather we have here
They're just as UV resistant too
These are apparently UV resistant among other things. I've found the lenses to be very good for most things, and ventilation adequate for road and mountain use.
At 1/10th the cost of other sunglasses, you can buy an extra set if they do get scratched. I don't know about impact resistance, but if the lenses are polycarbonate they should offer some resistance.
That all being said, this thread is for people who are willing to take a marginal amount of risk to save a significant amount of money, so if the only answer is genuine PIT VIPERS, then go for it Bret Hart.
Lol! I can fit a 32" waist but my pants are typically 36" with a tight belt to fit my thighs in. But my abs and obliques are well developed as well.a muscular waist?
I'm stealing that.
IME, lightweight snowmobiling pants are pretty good for riding for a fraction of the cost of their MTB counterparts.
Anti fog coating does jack shit. I’m so tired of this BS. Anti fog shit helps to turn the water into a sheen, rather than tiny little fog droplets, that doesn’t work well at our temp, pressure and humidity, but it really goes to shit when it gets cold, that sheen just freezes as frost. Car crap, soap, cleaning, anti-fog coatings and wipes, all totally ineffective. The glasses still fog even when breath is directed downwards. In fact, ill try to scrape off the ice with a gloved hand and piece of t-shirt and as it doing one lens, the other fogs over in my hand. On the face, they immediately fog. I had some partial success last ride with a tiny little bottle of 99% isopropyl, it helped to evaporate the ice off, as it just won’t come off any other way or absorb into anything at that temp. I could at least ride one of our trails before having to reapply, rather than every minute trying to scrape ice off. I can’t believe we have fucking space tourism and electric cars but we can’t solve this one problem.
lots of people are usually ready to offer useless suggestions like “use cat Crap!”, there’s no way these people are riding in the same conditions or with glasses. One of them was saying “well it never happens with my sunglasses”, yeah, well I doubt you are riding in sunglasses at night. It doesn’t seem to happen mid day in the sun.
I just wear thermals under my shorts in those temps and if it gets too warm, just pull the legs up. Beats having to take your shoe off to change out a “legging”.
I am not saying that anti-fog sunglasses lenses work all the time and in all environments, but they work pretty darn well for me in humid summer. I am talking about these: Antifog Lens Technology - Ryders Eyewear
I agree that everything else is completely useless though. The only remedy for riding in humid freezing temps is contact lenses, but then I usually don't need any sunglasses.
I've struggled a lot with anti-fog coating in the past. Best bet I've found is to move the glasses away from the face and eyes, which is counter-intuitive to a lot of face-hugging sunglasses. I've tried the thick paste and the thinner wipe stuff. If it works, it leaves a film that makes it harder to see. If it doesn't leave a film, then it probably doesn't work!
My buddy bought front and rear Shimano XTs 2 years ago off Ali, still has a better bite than my Magura mt5s lol. I have never tried the sight but now this thread is tempting me
Rockbros make a lot of stuff. I have their nylon pedals which are nearly identical to those made by One Up. They are wide and very grippy but they are not concave and they also tend to creak and need frequent tightening at least in my experience. They've been durable so far but I've only done 3 foot drops on them.
It's such a trip for me that a chinese brand can take off with virtually no advertising. I guess ztto is another one that has a bunch of open mold stuck with a brand that becomes somewhat trustworthy. I'd much rather have ztto or rockbros than "Hwongbay" or "Chinbang" or whatever....at least there are good odds that it'll work for a while.
Just yesterday I replaced my old reverb on my Capra with a Brand X ascend and fitted a ZTTO dropper lever. Seems decent enough quality. Personally don't think a dropper lever needs a bearing but being winter and in Scotland I should find out soon enough if its a bad idea.
I still can't fathom the idea of idolizing any given dropper lever as many of the most recognized brands do. Having to pay almost a hundred bucks for something so simple still strikes me as a scam.
i just use an old front shifter. works just fine, other than the weight penalty
Curious on your feedback on this. I got a ZTTO remote too and while it works really smoothly and the finish is rather good, I find the ergonomics to be pretty bad. I use gloves size XL and feel that you'd need much bigger hand for the paddle to be in a natural position.
The Bontrager one is probably about as good as they get AND at £15 is actually even cheaper than the ZTTO (if you're not prepared to wait for shipping from China)
The Bontrager remote is good and cheap as Gary said. The shimano remote is good and cheap too, it also offers a slightly different ergonomic that might suit you better than the Bontrager
Re eyewear for proper winter conditions (as in well below freezing and on snow), I've been using these for the past 5 or 6 years: https://www.ryderseyewear.com/ca-en/men/lens-tech/fyre/roam-fyre. They work well in winter, mostly because I can bend the nose piece to sit well away from my face and, remarkably, the little vent in the bottom frame actually does what the marketing drivel actually says it will do, which is direct airflow across the lens to help evacuate moisture. I know it works because that piece is removable. If I take it off, the lenses actually fog up more.
They're still a pretty damn expensive pair of glasses though. That said, I've found them to be quite durable. I've been running them for at least 5 years, winter, summer, spring and fall, for mountain biking as well as commuting.
My only complaint is that I wish the lenses were interchangeable and you could buy different tints, and even a clear lens. There's no reason for them not to be interchangeable, but they just don't offer that option. I'd really prefer a rose tint for on snow (for nordic skiing and fatbiking), and a clear option for night riding. But I'm not going to buy a whole n'other pair just to have a different tint when these work fine.
@Jm_ There are limitations, that you probably run up against fairly regularly. When it's colder than -20°C, they'll definitely fog and freeze if I slow down too much (like going up a long steep hill). But generally, -20 is where I throw in the towel for fatbiking anyways. I think those temps are your bread and butter, so obviously YMMV. Have you looked into what they use for nordic skiing at those temps?
They're still a pretty damn expensive pair of glasses though. That said, I've found them to be quite durable. I've been running them for at least 5 years, winter, summer, spring and fall, for mountain biking as well as commuting.
My only complaint is that I wish the lenses were interchangeable and you could buy different tints, and even a clear lens. There's no reason for them not to be interchangeable, but they just don't offer that option. I'd really prefer a rose tint for on snow (for nordic skiing and fatbiking), and a clear option for night riding. But I'm not going to buy a whole n'other pair just to have a different tint when these work fine.
@Jm_ There are limitations, that you probably run up against fairly regularly. When it's colder than -20°C, they'll definitely fog and freeze if I slow down too much (like going up a long steep hill). But generally, -20 is where I throw in the towel for fatbiking anyways. I think those temps are your bread and butter, so obviously YMMV. Have you looked into what they use for nordic skiing at those temps?
Nordic is usually sunglasses, not goggles. Yeah, I'll try to note when I see them, but mostly I just recall sunglasses.
-20C is not necessarily our bread and butter, it's rather rare to get that cold actually, we've just had an early cold spell recently, but out yesterday I was noticing how the entire "move forward" thing just doesn't work at all. Heat circulating up from your face (not your breath) is what makes them ice over. When you hold them and try to remove it, the heat from your hand continues the process. It's only when it's warmer or the sun is out and bright that the "keep moving" thing actually works. All over there are people that are adamant about certain methods on our local FB boards (not accusing anyone here), but if you pry them you find they aren't really a serious rider and not out in these conditions and times, not doing any climbing, basically just never apples and apples. I saw one guy with his lady yesterday and she had goggles on and was all fogged up. I think people assume that since they are using ski-helmets (for warmth) and on snow that they must use goggles...but they don't work because the situations where you use goggles have massive airflow, skiing, snowmachines, etc. We talked about this on our Iditarod Racers (closed group) a bit too, most everyone agreed we couldn't make goggles work in those conditions, like -30C and massive blowing wind, not only do you get the problem of icing and fog, but the blowing ice crystals impact and build up on the goggles too. It just doesn't really work.
-20C is not necessarily our bread and butter, it's rather rare to get that cold actually, we've just had an early cold spell recently, but out yesterday I was noticing how the entire "move forward" thing just doesn't work at all. Heat circulating up from your face (not your breath) is what makes them ice over. When you hold them and try to remove it, the heat from your hand continues the process. It's only when it's warmer or the sun is out and bright that the "keep moving" thing actually works. All over there are people that are adamant about certain methods on our local FB boards (not accusing anyone here), but if you pry them you find they aren't really a serious rider and not out in these conditions and times, not doing any climbing, basically just never apples and apples. I saw one guy with his lady yesterday and she had goggles on and was all fogged up. I think people assume that since they are using ski-helmets (for warmth) and on snow that they must use goggles...but they don't work because the situations where you use goggles have massive airflow, skiing, snowmachines, etc. We talked about this on our Iditarod Racers (closed group) a bit too, most everyone agreed we couldn't make goggles work in those conditions, like -30C and massive blowing wind, not only do you get the problem of icing and fog, but the blowing ice crystals impact and build up on the goggles too. It just doesn't really work.
totally agree. this has been my experience too. and goggles... forget about it. Maybe they could work if you kept them stashed and only pulled them out for a long sustained run, but we don't have any of that out here.
the ski helmet thing is another one that I shake my head at. maybe if it's colder than -25°C, but even then, each time I've tried it I've noticed two things: 1) I get too hot, and sweat profusely. Then I just ice over and get cold. but worse is 2). Ski helmets are designed for looking down (the slope). when i look up, as one does in the biking position, the padding pushes against my neck and pushes the entire helmet down onto my brow. For me, there's nothing better than the right tuque for the temperature and a normal bike helmet. If standing around waiting for something, I'll throw the hood of my shell over.
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One thing that has worked is to have two pair and just alternate them, wear one, then as it ices up, take the other out of the pouch, wear it, when it ices up, go back to the other. Buys enough time.