I kind of am starting to prefer the half frame bag + two bottles for most stuff. full frame is probably more efficient for maximizing storage capacity though.
never really done the hydration pack in the frame bag but it’s probably a good move if you’re not worried about the bag bursting. usually I just put my water bottles on my fork when I’m rocking the full frame bag but I don’t love the way that looks and it’s definitely not very aero
I’ve made both a half frame bag and a wedge frame bag with the seat tube bottle. I like the wedge + bottle more probably, but it’s lace up and I never want to put it on or take it off so I really just don’t use it. I love lace up for aesthetics and security but it is a pain if you think you’re gonna take the bag off sometimes.
I have a wedge (full frame bag other than seat tube) with a bottle on the seat tube. I can’t imagine not having a bottle easily accessible while riding unless you go for a bladder or something, and I don’t really like stem bags or fork cages esp for a normal day ride. Nice thing about having a bolt on is you can run a second bottle cage inside the frame bag, rather than just having it loose.
Cos im a lightweight I always go with a full frame bag, which is not very big, and have pretty much settled on a bottle each side of the stem and one under the frame which is kind of a risk for picking up faeces. I actually prefer my tool cask to be in that location, but I do like to have 3 bottles. I also have no aversion to a camelbak so thats probably a better option to me for the 3rd water source, I just have to keep an eye on strap pressure which might aggravate my carpal tunnel syndrome. So lolly water in the stem pouches and plain water in the camelbak to rinse the tooth dissolving carbs away.
Yeah, after thinking about it, this is my strategy.
The ‘one bottle always handy outside’ is huge, because I use a bottle for carbo drink mix, I never goop up the inside of a bladder with that. And I don’t mind a camelback for carrying a bunch of water on a truly hot day, my Mission pack is light and not terribly sweaty.
Pulled my hard tail (Kona honzo) out of the basement after about a year now that my wife has decided kid is old enough to sit on the macride. However the brakes suck now! I tried a quick bleed, sanded down the pads and brake cleaned the rotors. When I got to the rear it was covered in oil so maybe the caliper is leaking? None of my dithering made anything better. The brakes are just plain Shimano. What should I replace them with? Seems like i might as well get some pre-bled calipers+levers and new rotors too.
Dithered back thru all thru of those bars and back again. Dammit. Will stick with the ergo i think cos it looks the dumbest. Ordered a 17 fixed cog but unlikely to get it before Sundays race so will have to go with the free-wheel.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my current drop bar bike (2020 Orbea Gain) isn’t giving me all of it. Some of that is my fault, because I’ve stopped bike commuting. I’ve really lost the motivation to be out in the cold/wet. But, the stack is lower than I need it to be. Plus, I don’t need to be hauling a motor around if I’m not using it.
The Coffee Grinder has almost the same geometry as my previous bike that I put 10 kmi on. I’m having doubts that the CG could be my next long term bike, though.
Do I build up a Coffee Grinder or get something from Giant or Bianchi?
Where do you see yourself riding the bike the most and for what kind of distances?
I’m pretty happy with my giant revolt, even if i don’t ride it a ton. For rough gravel/4x4 roads I will just ride my mtb. But the revolt is good enough for pavement and smooth gravel roads and I wanted to have a nice light bike in the stable if there’s lots of climbing.
I’m also getting older and lacking flexibility, so the stack height on the revolt works well for me. The TT is longish but it comes with a short stem and the stock bars have a bit of backsweep to them in the tops.
The newer ones have a nice little frame cutout to stash your flat kit and they come in cool colors. I got a sample bike so mine’s a model year older now, but not too different.
They fit up to 53c tires and they do have mounts on the fork and dropouts.
Definitely not a bike i’ll keep for life, but for the off the shelf big brand stuff, they did a pretty good job on this bike.
I’d like to get back to doing metric centuries up into the hills where the Peacock ride is. Cracked county roads and the occasional buffed gravel road is what I’m primarily riding. I have my MTBs for doing anything rougher than that. 35c with fenders seems to be my ideal setup for most things.
are you hesitant to make a long-term purchase (like the CG) generally, and you just want to try something new? Giant is probably going to be your best deal for a trial sort of purchase. Otherwise there’s a pretty good selection of “endurance” bikes right now - check out the Ritchey Montebello. Everyone seems to like that Fairlight frameset too, and with tariffs pretty much cancelled it’s even more accessible.
I think I got sticker shock thinking about the frameset price and then all the components of the build. The big appeal of the CG to me is keeping the money in the community.
I might go kick some tires at the local shops this weekend and see what else is in the same price bracket.
modern components have kind of stabilized for now, so you could always buy a decent plastic bike for a while, then once youre ready to spend the buckets on a frame, transfer everything over. parts always cost less when already attached to a bike.
right now is also a great time to look for good condition used prices as the used market is still pretty cheap from the discount-crazy bike world of the last couple years.