Weight Weenies

While commuting to work this morning, I was in an intersection just before going under an interstate highway (big intersection, lots of traffic) when a person coming the other way decided to turn in front of me. I was jamming, then jamming--on the Zero Gs about as hard as I have ever had to. Lots of squeal from the brakes and carbon rims, of course, but managed to stop just as the driver hit my front wheel. She just looked at me as if I shouldn't be there--no apology, she just waited for me to move my bike so she could proceed to her destination. Had to pull over to the side of the road to catch my breath, and thank Ted for making a set of brakes that saved a whole lot of bacn for me this morning. Not that I wasn't already--but I'm a convert now!

cheers,

Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com

Hope your all right.

Did your wheel get ruined? Who was at fault? If she was I hope you got her info or liscence plate number.

gandini wrote: She just looked at me as if I shouldn't be there--no apology, she just waited for me to move my bike so she could proceed to her destination
cheers,

I know that exact look. Moments like that are among the few times I wish I was a bicycle cop! Good to hear you escaped harm ..

Thanks ZG, you're safe & sound

Hey Gandini,
I am glad you are okay
I have been suffering a lot of road rage recently
Winter nights and cars do not make for safe riding !

But lets not go over board here – you bought brakes to help you stop
That is their job – don’t act so surprised that they work !
The real question is whether Record/DA brakes would have stopped before you hit her front wheel

This thread is becoming a bit self-serving and strange frankly.
Just last week I saw a cycling commuter hit by a car in an intersection, and the rider did not get up.

I suppose others here have seen the same thing as well. And we all have our stories, but they don't make us or our components heroes.

So, while Gandini is lucky, and others of us should also be thankful we have not been damaged or worse in similar incidents, it's a bit obscene in my opinion to turn this topic into a ZG, DA or Campa lovefest, really...

Cadence
Get off you high horse
I am not trying to belittle to horrors of cycling accidents
I live in London, where cyclists are referred to as organ donors – and have seen enough accidents to freak me out

I just made the comment that ZGs should work – they cost enough !
Is the next message going to be praising Schmolke SLO bars because they helped a WW turn a corner

Gandini – I like your posts and am glad you are safe
Sue the women and then you can buy more trick components for your TCR

Thanks -- I was more shook up than physically damaged. And the AC wheel is just fine.
I didn't mean to start a controversial thread. My goal was simply to place an observation (in the statistical sense) on the table, concerning the performance of a set of brakes that is primarily bought to save weight. I feel that my Record brakes would have also stopped, but about 1 foot further into the car,, with more consequence since at that point 1 foot meant a whole lot. I know I bought these brakes because of the weight savings over my Campy units. I didn't know how they would perform under extreme conditions, and was impressed yesterday when they did. I recall lightweight brakes of yore, that didn't work under normal conditions, let alone in a panic.
So take it as it was given--an observation about our beloved WW components in actual use. btw, I was doing everything legally: crossing through an intersection in a vehicle lane with a green light. And I was all dressed in racing clothes (bright and colorful) in mid morning. The driver just wasn't looking for a cyclist. It's easy when over half the vehicles on the road are SUVs and trucks.

cheers,

I am not a luddite – I love technology and light parts
I have just got a new Time VXR on a team discount and am thrilled with it
My Lightweights are arriving in March via starbike
It should build up into a barely UCI legal, stiff, complaint, rocket !

This website is very informative – most of the parts mentioned are not available to look at and you have to order unseen -this website helps as people write in with actual comments

But my confidence has been shaken recently as my LBS has ordered in some very trick parts for a fellow WW
I have already mentioned the fact that I could bend the Schmolke bars merely by pressing inwards
This is far less stress than would be subject to in a crit !
Of course Stefan could make them stiffer – but also as heavy as the competition so why pay double??
There is no way I could do a long race on a AX saddle – the cramp I would suffer diminish muscle efficiency far more than 100g weight saving

I think Syntace stems look hideous in the flesh – unworthy of a 5k bike
I will not go into the tales of people breaking their Tune Concorde Saddles
Or very light seatposts which have dodgy clamps that limit adjustment
Light cranks thnat have bad Q factors or flex
The list goes on and on !

My point is that Record and DA may be heavier but they are backed by companies with millions of $ in R/D and have been tested/refined over years

Gandini if in your experience your ZGs helped you brake quicker and safer than Records then that is fantastic – the weight saving is just a bonus
They are therefore the best product for the job – not just the lightest

I trust LWs as they have been proven in the tour – too much other stuff is merely R/D work and we are unpaid guinea pigs

The motto – the best made as light as possible – is the way we should be going
We should demand more from the products we buy

Ps Sermon over - I may have had too much coffee today

I think Cadence is right we shouldn't turn this into a "my brake is better then yours" thing, nevertheless I'm surprised to hear it said that ZG work better then campy record, especially with it being such a lightweight brake .. so that's a nice endorsement by Gandini and I appreciate it. He earned the right to praise the brakes and it's fine with me. I'm thinking I'm going to eventually get some ZG's but either way, stay away from old ladies and cadillac's as much as possible!

bobalou wrote:I think Cadence is right we shouldn't turn this into a "my brake is better then yours" thing, nevertheless I'm surprised to hear it said that ZG work better then campy record, especially with it being such a lightweight brake .. so that's a nice endorsement by Gandini and I appreciate it. He earned the right to praise the brakes and it's fine with me. I'm thinking I'm going to eventually get some ZG's but either way, stay away from old ladies and cadillac's as much as possible!

i am rebuilding my giant, as getting a new bike would take some time. my review will based on the old cat brakes to the new 05 ti ZG. i did get a chance to put them on my friends bike, and he used them for a few hours (he uses mavic brakes). he used them around central park, for a few laps - but he said they felt smooth all through the brake movement, and that they were more progressive than my old cats, so the more he pulled the more power he got; my cats the more you pulled the more it grabbed the rim, but i had to pull harder to get the same amount reduction in speed. he felt very confidant about them. i did ride them for a few mins (bike was too small). but i felt like i had to give myself less time to brake, i could brake at the last min, not something i usually did with my old cats unless i was in a jam all of a sudden. this was with corima brake pads and zipp carbon rims.

more to come...

One of the main reasons I wear the jerseys I do is that they are very visible. With a Euskaltel jersey on there is no way somebody is going to be able to say they didn't see me.

You should always assume drivers don't see you because most don't. In the US at least opthalmologists are not allowed to make a call and get somebody's license revoked, so there are in fact virtually blind people out there driving around. I had to get a number of eye surgeries a few years ago to keep from going blind and after seeing who went out the door and got in the driver's seat I radically altered my assumptions about the abilities of drivers out on the road. It has saved me a couple times already.

Glad to hear you avoided the car Gandini. Also thanks for your views as to how you feel the product performed.

I believe there is benefit in posts about a products performance. For example, my TT bike has diacomp brake levers on Visiontechs aerobars with bar end shifters. And the levers are useless. So much so I rarely train on this bike as I don't trust the levers to do their job in traffic!

(any suggestions to a similar but better performing product would be much appreciated)

Martin

Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com

Good to hear you are ok Ghandi. I work in a bike shop and regularly meet riders who have been hit.

Should you go down after hitting a car, a general rule is don't get up and have them call the police as well as an ambulance.

It sounds a bit dramatic, but I know I've been given false details before and many drivers think the cyclist is always in the wrong.

Playing dead until assistance comes could help with insurance and resolution of the problem.