All the other stuff. Strange that not many have done frame reviews. Well,
until we get more, here's where they'll be.
|
SHADES
Oakleys M-Frame.
2nd pair after first pair lost in a race. Great style, high X-factor,
great optics but older M-frame cracks easily. Both pairs suffered similar cracking, the
frame, not the lens. - Oldman |
SHADES
The $15 "Oakley" Frogskins available at the local "nothing is real but
can't complain about the price" shop in Far East Plaza. Make sure that they are 100%
polarized or else it’s a quick trip to my friendly opthalmologist friend who will not
give you a discount becos' you can afford to buy the $3000 piece of metal that moves on 2
wheels. Don't forget I said that here! - Doc |
FRAME
Giant TCR Compact Road
It was exciting to
see a Taiwanese company getting into the big time by sponsoring ONCE, one of the world's
top professional racing teams. Not only that, it gets in with a totally radical bike with
sloping top tube, loud yellow and black paint job and unique aero carbon seat post and
fork. What a bang! Although the bike that I'm riding is the mass production version of
what team ONCE rides, it is close enough if you don't stare at the welds too long. This
bike is fast, tight and stable. It lunges forward with every input. The best thing is the
price. The Alu frame with full Shimano Ultegra, a pair of Mavic Open Pros and carbon fork
costs less that 2.5K. With this bike, your hard earn money goes to the material, design
and shipping...not the paid holidays of some high zoot bike companies' employee's claim
they must have in order to produce quality. 5 tapeworms for Giant. - Elvis |
FRAME
Klein Pulse Pro
The Trek made, "budget" one, not the original. Excellent aluminium hard tail
frame. Not really cheap, but performs better and is lighter than other brands high-end
frames. Costs as much as other brands high-end frames as well. Problem with the paint
though. Found bubbles along the top tube around the cable guide welds and the paint also
chips easily. Waiting for my replacement frame to come (4 months and still
counting….), it has lifetime warranty from Treknology, you know (blatant advertising
plug again) - Wanker |
FRAME
Dean Colonel Ti
At one point, I just had to have a ti bike, thinking that it’s gonna last me a
lifetime. Never belief that crap that a ti bike will last you a lifetime. Your attention
span won’t! After 2 years, you’ll want a new bike.
Anyway, the Dean was good value for money, relatively speaking. Cheaper than Merlin and
Litespeed, workmanship was better than Litespeed, plus the DEAN logo was just so cool and
understated. That was back in ’97 though. Can’t say the same now as the new
Dean’s workmanship seems a little less refined, plus I think their new logo and
decals are, how shall I put this…….just no so nice anymore.
Still, it has to be one of the better value 3/2.5 ti frames around. Lighter and cheaper
than the Merlin Taiga, which isn’t full 3/2.5, plus the geometry suited me better. -
Wanker |
MAGAZINE
Cycle Sport
If there is an Ansel Adams
for landscape photography, there's Graham Watson for cycling photography. There is no
better way to admire his work than to grab a copy of Cycle Sport magazine. The print
quality is excellent and it is as close as you can get to world class cycling in soccer
infested Singapore. Kudos to Borders and Kinokuniya for bringing the magazine in for our
viewing pleasure and not wraping it in plastic. Not that it makes any difference since I
would buy it either way. 5 tapeworms. - Elvis |
SHOCKS
Mountain Speed Spring
Springs were all the
rage back when RockShox's elastomer sprung Judys didn't quite deliver the kind of
performance mountain bikers were looking for, or should I say the Mountain Bike Action
Wrecking Crews. It is a love hate relationship with this product. First of all, it revived
my rusty...I mean trusty 95 RockShox Judy. It transformed the Judy from "Thud"
to "Zud" when hitting a bump. Although not as buttery smooth as the latest air
forks, it feels nice enough when riding it. The part I hate is that the upgrade wiped out
all excuses to buy one of those SIDs or X-Flys...Boo Hoo. - Elvis |
SHOCKS
Marzocchi Z5.
The lowest end fork of the Bomber series. Heavyweight, or should I say
rock-solid. Reasonably good shocks but after 1 year, it finally gave up
the ghost, its fluid rather. Leaking oil from the right stanchion due to a
worn seal. Holds air pretty well though for a cheap shock. Not much
adjustability as the air chamber is really small. Schrader valve is
accessible with gas-station pump though. Now that's a bonus for me. -
Oldman |
SHOCKS
Rock Shox Judy XC.
I decided to try coil-sprung shocks since I hate the thought of blown
shocks though it never happened to me throughout my one-year ride with the
Zoke Z5. Still a heavy shock but better sensitivity and linearity in
response. Not much adjustability either, not that I can be bothered. I
usually ride at close to max preload and it tracks pretty well in that
setting for me. - Oldman |
LUBE
Shell Synthetic Motor Oil.
I used this on my chain since I had some leftover from my oil-change for
my car. Definitely lubricates as well as any other chain oil I've used but
it lurves dirt and mud. Hard to keep my chain clean after that. -
Oldman |
HEADSET
Cane Creek CT2
Headset.
I have no luck with this
reputable brand. Maybe it's just me, but my Cane Creek creaks no matter how I tightened or
grease the parts. Seized after 1 month of rainy weather use. - Oldman |
| LUBE Dri-Lube. Doesn't seem to work at all. Leaves a layer of
white crud on my chain. Bad! - Oldman |
SHOES
SIDI Techno Fire MTB
This is revenge time. I got this pair of SIDI MTB shoes
(black) because they were so cool and Bartman wore it to take the Olympic gold. But these
shoes are not for the Asian climate or any unsponsored riders. The soles started to
delaminate after 1 month of use. In fact, the orange outsole fell off during a group ride
making them walk like a pair of road shoes. When I emailed SIDI, I received no reply. I
took the shoes to the Singapore dealers hoping for an exchange but to no avail. They could
only offer a pair of new shoes at a discount. Not wanting to suffer the same consequences,
I took their road shoes instead and that's why I am wearing SIDI for road riding. For the
rigors of off road riding, I wear Shimano's because until SIDI do something about their
product and customer service, They SUCK!!! No tapeworms for SIDI. In fact they have
to give me some. - Elvis |
NIKE
CAIRNS MTB Shoes
I love this brand. Ask anyone on the team. All my stuff is
from Nike. I wish I could work there...but.. I HATE these shoes. I bought them from a mail
order place for huge $$$. After about six months of use, they BROKE! Right where the cleat
is screwed into the sole. I wrote Nike in the US and they told me to bring the shoes to
the local office for action. Victory of the little man I thought. I guess they just wanted
me to make the trip down so that they could put a face to another sucker that bought these
lame shoes. Local office told me "No worldwide recall for these shoes so forget
it!" After much wrangling and feet stomping I did get these shoes exchanged (not at
the local office though). And guess what..they broke again...in the same place. No more
Nike MTB shoes for me. The problem is that the shoe flexes right at that point due to the
stress caused by studs that you screw in. If Nike would have listened to the rest of us,
they probably wouldn't have had this problem.
These shoes are on sale at a whole bunch of mail order places now..DON"T BUT THEM AT
ANY PRICE!!! If you think this is just one person's isolated incident, go to www.mtbr.com and check out what the rest of the world
thinks of these shoes. I am not alone... - Beef |
FRAME
Klein Quantum Race
By now, you would have guessed that I like Kleins. Traded in my old steel road bike for
this one. Takes some time to get used to the way it handles. Elvis says it feels nervous.
You have to pay attention or your front wheel will start to wander. Maybe Kleins have a
tendency to stray too. Hmmmmm………maybe that’s why I like them.
Again, problem with the paint. Bubbles started to form around the cable guides again. Got
my replacement already. Lifetime warranty again, in case you forgot. (Eh Haresh, do I get
commission for this??) Y2K model some more. Just love that white-silver fade paint. Love
the old green-purple fade paint on the old one as well, but I have a short attention span,
so……….. - Wanker |
FRAME
2001 Trek 5900I did not walk into the store planning to buy a new bike but I made 2
mistakes. First I picked it up. This bike was unbelievably light. Considering that I was
already riding a Trek 5500, it was amazing. Second mistake, I took it out for a test ride.
This bike was amazing. It felt rocket fast. So to cut a long story short, I sold my left
arm and bought the bike. It has been nothing but pure joy to ride. Of course with a full
Shimano Dura-Ace group it is pretty hard to go wrong. For the techno geeks, this bike is
not quite the exact replica of Lance’s mountain steed. The wheels are Rolf’s and
I have the front STI lever. I don’t really know about the angles and all that but the
bike handles well although I did lose it taking a 90 degree corner at speed. No real
damage to either the bike or me. (Phew!) I just wished that it cost less and guess what,
Trek did. They released a 5700. Same great frame, same wheels, Ultegra groupset. Go get
one. - Beef |
LIGHTS
Cateye Opticube (3 white LEDs):
Super bright LED lamps. Long battery life when used in flashing mode.
Works great until the mounting bracket cracked under it's own weight! Now
it rattles at every little paint strip on the road. - Oldman |