gear
If you don’t have a friend who rides the brand of bike you’re considering to make one of your own, the best place to warm up is on Road Bike Review. You may not find every bike model reviewed here, but you’ll get a sense of what people are sharing. BikeCrave invites you to share your experiences and contribute to Road Bike Review or right on this site. There are some hardcore bike owner forums. Moots, for example, has Moots Matters. Cervelo has a forum that requires registration before you can see any inkling of content. The Bianchi Forum is very Celeste #227 and lively. The CyclePeople is a U.K. site that serves as a bit of affiliate for bike products, but there is a user forum.
To get the skinny on six brands of cycling bibs, click here and here for reviews from late 2009.
What gear do I trust? A quick list:
- Moots Vamoots, 57.5 cm and Specialized Tarmac Pro SL, 58 cm
- Shimano DA 7800, 53×39, 12×27
- Mavic Open Pro, handbuilt, tied-and-soldered rear wheel
- Mavic Ksyrium SL
- Bontrager Aeolus, 5.0, non-paired spokes, alum braking surface
- Time RXS pedals
- Specialized carbon stems, bars, seatposts
- Fizik Arione saddles
- Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Microsensor bibs
- Assos F.I.13 S5 bibs
- Vermarc bibs
- Craft base layers
- Specialized gloves, arm warmers, knee warmers
- Pearl Izumi arm warmers, knee warmers
- Mad Alchemy embrocation
- Assos and Friction Freedom chamois cream
- Ozone Tone Cream
- Garmin 305 GPS
- Hammer Nutrition – Heed, Perpetuem, Whey Protein, Endurolytes
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I started wearing merino wool shirts for hiking and climbing in 2004. When I took up cycling a couple of years ago, I started looking for wool cycling togs, and found some great stuff out there. Ibex and Smartwool have several cycling specific items. Great stuff… and the hiking community has totally embraced it in the last few years. Hopefully, cyclists will get the picture too!
David, Agree! My first pair of cycling shorts were Black Bottoms, 100% wool with drawstrings. The bibs are a quantum leap, and Ibex makes nice ones. Enjoy the ride. JB
I’ve had horrible experience with Time RSX Pedals unfortunately. The spring tension adjustment on the side got worn out hecka easily and the hex bit was strippped, leaving the pedals sorta useless once the plate that clicks into place on the cleat got jammed/frozen.