Third Time's a Charm: Litespeed T3

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TonyM
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by TonyM

beeatnik wrote:I used to install my aluminum seatposts dry in my Moots frames but I'd swap out posts often enough that it wasn't an issue. Once I decided, to permanently ride a Thomson Masterpiece, I used carbon paste (based on some possibly dubious advice) as I sensed there was some slipping. At some point, the bike developed an intermittent creak, mostly when climbing (saddle or out). I stripped the bike and creak remained. Became convinced there was a crack but had it ruled out by the dealer. Sold the frame, bought a new Moots. Creak returned. Only after a few weeks did I realize I was using the same Thomson post and I hadn't wiped it down. Cleaned the post; creak disappeared.

Recently a pal's RSL was creaking up a storm. His wrench was convinced that his White Industries crank wasn't properly installed (you know, that goofy M30). They went through that whole song and dance. Finally, he listened to me and removed the post. His wrench reluctantly lubed it with anti-seize (had grease in there previously); creak disappeared.

Short story long, with a Ti frame it's always the quick release.
Interesting!
Thanks for the information!

RyanH
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by RyanH

It may but there's another very annoying issue with the Wheels MFG BB. Even lightly preloaded the bearing drag due to the thick dust covers causes the cranks to struggle to do a full revolution. When I put the SISL2 on with the wavy washer, it wouldn't do more than a quarter turn. Take the dust covers off and it spins freely. Overall, not very impressed.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

Klaster1 wrote:
Sat May 05, 2018 8:49 am
@pdlpsher1 what happened to your Flite's rails? The clamp area is so short, mine looks nothing like that.
I have a special version of the Flite, the Flite Friction-Free saddle. The body is much narrower in the middle, hence the rail clamping area has to be moved further back. The Selle Italia Monolink is supposed to allow a narrow saddle body AND a longer rail clamping area. However the unique design never caught on among the seat post manufacturers.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

RyanH wrote:
Sat May 05, 2018 10:30 pm
It may but there's another very annoying issue with the Wheels MFG BB. Even lightly preloaded the bearing drag due to the thick dust covers causes the cranks to struggle to do a full revolution. When I put the SISL2 on with the wavy washer, it wouldn't do more than a quarter turn. Take the dust covers off and it spins freely. Overall, not very impressed.
I have a bike with the Wheels Mfg. GXP PF30 converter BB and I don't have such a problem. I wonder if the seals take some mileage to break in. Just ride with it for a while and see what happens. You could repack the bearings with blue marine grease and run the BB without the seals. Bearings are pretty cheap and perhaps you can replace the bearings when they wear out and keep the cups.

RyanH
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by RyanH

The bearings are sealed and those are fine. It's just the dust covers. But, the BB is heavy and overkill as I'd much rather have my FSA 68g back in there for a >40g saving now that I know it's not a BB issue.

RyanH
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by RyanH

I snapped this the other day because it pertained to the tire width discussion:

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It's a section on Mulholland that's not exactly atypical on the route. Big deep cracks in the apex of turns. For me, 25mm Arenberg or Roubaix is the epitome of comfort for most roads. I go bigger for better ability to rail turns like the above without having to be super careful about my line choices. Yerba Buena is another example where the road almost approximates a grated road... It's bad... Really really bad. I've only done it a few times but once on 23mm tires and the other on 25. I think I averaged a couple miles per hour more on 25 because I wasn't being bounced off the road around turns.

So, when dealing with tubular tires, I think 25 is both the comfiest (up to chipseal quality of road) and best compromise of handling and such. 27mm tires help deal with crap like the above and provide extra cushion and traction for fireroads. 23mm for good roads and sprinting.

Lastly, how the bike handles with each size varies too and based on the progression from 23 to 25 to 27 (it's important that I remind that this is actual not label like clinchers where actual is several mm larger) I have a hard time imagining going larger than 27. Well, actually, I have gone 35mm on the Caadx and it was just how I would've expected, slow turn in, feels like it handles wide... Kinda like an old Cadillac. So, I've spent the last couple weeks almost entirely on the Lightweights with 22mm tires. I stopped riding 23s and smaller a long time ago and I forgot how a stiff carbon wheel shod with them has this knife edge like handling characteristic to it. If that's what you're in the mood for, it's addictive. The CCUs were a little too much of a good thing though as I was almost certain they'd kill me if I got complacent and wasn't paying attention to my turn.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

Do you run the same width both front and rear? I've been running different tire sizes front and rear (25mm front and 27mm rear, actual width), and I really like how it feels. It gives me both good bike handling and comfort that I seek. A very good compromise. If you have never tried it perhaps you should and give us a ride report.

muffinman
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by muffinman

RyanH wrote:@pdlpsher1

Thanks for writing that up, especially the tip about where to get a bigger clearance fork. Muffinman has a CAAD that clears 32mm actual. His tires looked...laughable...
When u thicc ur tires gotta be thiccc

I should try to put knobbies on the caad

RyanH
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by RyanH

Hopefully this will turn out better than Imaking20's cassette...

Omni Racer 11-25 ti cassette at 112g:

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dudemanppl
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by dudemanppl

Can you post your cassette again?

Imaking20
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by Imaking20

And maybe a ride report?

campagowlo
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by campagowlo

I'm using a seqlite cassette 11-27 and 110 grams. It seems more durable than a recon so far and little or no minor jumping which sometimes happened with my recon.

Delorre
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by Delorre

RyanH wrote:
Tue May 01, 2018 4:03 am

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Could you post the same pic , but from the non drive side. How are you running the di2 wire inside the frame? Look very clean!!

RyanH
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by RyanH

Can anyone that has time on both Campy EPS and 9150 give me a quick rundown between the two? Riding around on SR again reminded me how much I like the ergonomics and the braking feel but I'm also acutely reminded of how mechanical doesn't like to shift under heavy load (yeah, bad habit, but I blame Di2). How's shifting under load with EPS? How's shifting in general (speed and such) since Di2 is impeccable in that regard whereas eTap felt slow. Is there a known reliability issue with the RD? I heard the pin was kind of weak and prone to failure.

RyanH
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by RyanH

Got some new wheels today, FSE 25 laced to Extralite hubs at 990g:

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by Weenie


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