Author Archives: Justin Fox

His and Hers.

Finally got around to chopping the chimney.

Back in black. Off with the Corsa PRO Speeds, on with Pirelli P Zero Race RS clinchers in 26C.

160mm cranks from my Allez Sprint (still waiting for my Gemini chainring to arrive).

Going down!

Still to fit: Custom order JUIN ETF-A. Weight Weenie brakes at 71g per caliper.

LOL.

Less on learned? Do not use quick links twice.

Crazy light (OEM axles weighed 52g a pair).

I’m always on the lookout for lighter parts for the SL8. Overfast carbon thru axles have always been tempting but I’ve never been confident about using carbon for such a crucial part.

I’ve had my eye on the EXS titanium thru axles on the Panda Podium online shop ever since building up my Allez Sprint, and more recently I went to check them out again and found that Joe is now selling RideNow Titanium Thru Axles for the SL8 which not only come in lighter, but slightly cheaper too so I ordered a set.

They came in a nice wooden box and weighed in at 25g. I got to installing them but found that they sunk in way past the fork and frame (the OEM thru axles sit very flush). I sent a message off to Joe at Panda Podium and after sending some photos he got back to me to let me know that RideNow had forgotten to include spacers in my package.

He very quickly sent me 2 spacers, they’re conical, but very thin, and whilst they have stopped the axles threading out on the other side, the head of the axles still sits further into the frame. Not the best looking IMHO, bit of a shame.

It’s advised that you do not grease these axles like you do the OEM ones, instead you use Anti-Seize Compound (lucky I had some from my Better Bolts Ti bolt kit). And the torque recommendation is 10nm instead of 15nm (as suggested by Specialized).

No issues so far. Bike weighs in at 6.46kg’s now.

I just received and installed the Silca 105 Titanium Derailleur Hanger for SRAM for my S-Works SL8. Lovely little thing. The product listing states 2-6g lighter than the stock hanger, but sadly it’s actually 2g heavier than the OEM S-Works SL8 hanger at 11g vs the standard hanger at 9g. Not a big deal as it does look a lot sturdier than the stock unit, but a little disappointed with false advertising so I reached out to Silca and they’ve apologised and offered a full refund. I’ve decided to keep it on though. I’ve yet to test it but I doubt it’ll make as much of a difference as the Framesandgear direct mount on the Dogma (which has Dura-Ace).

The knuckle to be replaced.

The hype is real. Always wanted one, but SRAM already is a direct mount so now that I finally have Shimano (on the Dogma) the first modification I ordered was a direct mount rear derailleur hanger from Framesandgear. Sadly, it never got to me so I reached out to them and it turns out the package was returned. Kristoffer at Framesandgear was a champ about it though and resent the parcel with FedEx and it got to me in 2 days.

Fitting was super easy and I can 100% confirm improved shifting (it’s lighter too!). Very happy, what a great little product.

For the Dogma, because wavy.