Category Archives: Bike

Music whilst riding is a revelation!

No issues with the Galfer rotors and the Berk saddle felt instantly comfortable. It’s noticeably harder than the S-WORKS saddle, but it’s definitely comfortable enough!

I’ve been struggling with riding solo as I just get bored 2 laps in so I thought I’d look into an MP3 player, seems like Apple don’t make them anymore (lol). I found plenty of cheap China ones on eBay but then I came across these “Bone Conduction Headphones” which allow you to hear music and the outside world at the same time, making them a pretty safe candidate for cycling! They don’t actually go in your ears which is awesome (I am an over ear headphone guy for sure and have always hated ear buds), and they’re advertised as having good bass, but yeah I fucking doubted that but I thought I’d give them a go.

Pairing them up to my phone was easy as, and today’s ride with Spotify randomly selecting Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada definitely helped push me to do one more lap. The sound, as expected, is super tinny. If you turn the volume up too much the bass ends up vibrating on your skin, but hey I’m just happy to have music for my solo rides now. 100% will put together a cycling specific playlist ASAP!

My Berk Lupina Short 132mm came in the mail today. Great packaging, quality and so light in the hands.

Came in under the advertised weight of 95g.

Galfer rotors.

160mm front (advertised weight 98g).

140mm rear (advertised weight 76g).

I’ve been wanting to try out a Berk Lupina Short saddle for a while. They get rave reviews for being super comfortable despite being so silly light in weight. I’m really happy with my S-WORKS Power saddle as is, but when I spotted the Berk saddle on sale at Creative Cycles Workshop in Victoria I had to pull the trigger.

Packaging was super sexy (came in a nice box and Berk pouch too), the saddle is SO light in the hands and quality is amazing. I test fitted it on the Allez just to see what it would look like (still waiting for a zero offset Hylix seatpost to come in the mail from China). If I’m being honest I think the S-WORKS Power saddle (visually) suits the bike much more than the dainty looking Berk saddle. Looking forward to trying it out when my seatpost arrives in any case.

Also picked up a pair of Galfer rotors. Nothing at all wrong with the Shimano rotors I have on the bike (again I think the existing rotors look better), but they’re lighter and they were on the Creative Cycles Workshop online shop so I thought I’d try them out as I’ve read many great reviews on them (some people even suggesting they’re better than Shimano and SRAM rotors).

UPDATED SPECS: 2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp Size 49 in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil

GROUPSET: SRAM RED AXS E1 rear derailleur, shifters and calipers, SRAM DUB BB, SRAM Red AXS E1 chain, SRAM RED AXS E1 cassette 10-36, SRAM RED 1 AXS crankset 165mm, 50t SRAM X-SYNC chainring.

WHEELS & TYRES: ENVE 65 Foundation wheelset, ENVE SES 27mm tyres, Galfer rotors (160mm front 140mm rear).

COMPONENTS: S-Works Tarmac SL7 stem 110mm -12 degree, Tarmac SL7 stem cable bat and stem cover kit, RaceWare 3D printed spacer, Specialized Roval Rapide handlebars 380mm, Burgh Lightning Bar Tape, Berk Lupina Short 132mm, Specialized carbon rail clamp, S-Works Tarmac FACT Carbon seatpost 20mm offset, Xpedo Thrust SL titanium pedals, Specialized front derailleur mount cover, S-WORKS bottle cage bolts.

WEIGHT: 7.52kg.

This morning’s ride.

Legit parking the Allez in the lounge room so I can stare at it whilst on the couch lol.

Since I’m not running a front derailleur I removed the derailleur hanger and found this Specialized block-off plate to cover the 2 mount holes.

S-WORKS bottle cage bolts.

S-Works Evade 3. Aero bike calls for an aero helmet!

UPDATED SPECS: 2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp Size 49 in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil

GROUPSET: SRAM RED AXS E1 rear derailleur, shifters and calipers, SRAM DUB BB, SRAM Red AXS E1 chain, SRAM RED AXS E1 cassette 10-36, SRAM RED 1 AXS crankset 165mm 50t AERO chainring.

WHEELS & TYRES: ENVE 65 Foundation wheelset, ENVE SES 27mm tyres, Shimano Ice-Tech centerlock rotors.

COMPONENTS: S-Works Tarmac SL7 stem 110mm -12 degree, Tarmac SL7 stem cable bat and stem cover kit, RaceWare 3D printed spacer, Specialized Roval Rapide handlebars 380mm, Burgh Lightning Bar Tape, Specialized S-Works Power saddle 143mm & carbon rail clamp, S-Works Tarmac FACT Carbon seatpost 20mm offset, Xpedo Thrust SL titanium pedals, Specialized front derailleur mount cover, S-WORKS bottle cage bolts.

WEIGHT: 7.62kg.

Poke your tongue out.

Sam’s FACTOR.

Went for a ride today with Sam (mechanic at CCACHE). He messaged before we met up to let me know that it was super windy (he was concerned about crosswinds affecting my deep 65mm rims). By the time I read it I was already en-route. When I got to the park I literally saw a 10ft branch fall out of a tree, the wind so strong it was shaking my car. The weather forecast said 45 km/h winds, damaging winds possible. End of the day we were both there, so fuck it, lets see how we go. Turns out it was sketchy fun, and the closest I’ve felt to mountain biking in a long while!

Before.

After.

Gone are the days of old where you could just reach into your parts bin and make shit work. Everything is proprietary these days. Getting the S-WORKS Tarmac SL7 stem to fit on an Allez Sprint took a whole lot of fuckery, but we got there in the end! I needed a custom 3D printed spacer, the stem, a bat cable kit to attach the 2 brake lines to the stem, a stem cover plate kit and last of all (the bit I had forgotten and came in the mail today), a special top cap which the stem cover clips down on.

Laps at the park with Nick.

Yup… finally caved in and bought some cycling glasses. Still think they look fucking stupid, but secretly they’re actually really light and they fit well too!

I’ve only been out on a couple of rides so far but the 1kg savings is massive and the electronic shifting blows my mind.

The bike just feels SO fast.

Before the upgrades I was just doing slow laps around Centennial Park, but on the shakedown ride I quickly realised that this thing now just eggs you on to ride harder and faster. It’s a night and day difference from my Canyon Grizl. The Grizl is super playful and fun, but the Allez… it’s trying to kill me!

PS: Happy with the cockpit setup, the narrower bars and having the levers pointed inwards probably attributes to the feeling of more speed, yet it still feels good when sprinting out of the saddle on the hoods too. Still dialling in the saddle height and fore/aft position as I’m feeling pressure on my hands. The pedals have really loose float that feels super sketchy in comparison to Shimano SPD’s (which were crazy tight but the float felt really right). Just a reminder once again that weight weenie stuff usually comes at a compromise.

SPECS: 2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp Size 49 in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil

GROUPSET: SRAM RED AXS E1 rear derailleur, shifters and calipers, SRAM DUB BB, SRAM Red AXS E1 chain, SRAM RED AXS E1 cassette 10-36, SRAM RED 1 AXS crankset 165mm 50t AERO chainring.

WHEELS & TYRES: ENVE 65 Foundation wheelset, ENVE SES 27mm tyres, Shimano Ice-Tech centerlock rotors.

COMPONENTS: S-Works Tarmac SL7 stem 110mm -12 degree, Tarmac SL7 stem cable bat and stem cover kit, RaceWare 3D printed spacer, Specialized Roval Rapide handlebars 380mm, Burgh Lightning Bar Tape, Specialized S-Works Power saddle 143mm & carbon rail clamp, S-Works Tarmac FACT Carbon seatpost 20mm offset, Xpedo Thrust SL titanium pedals, Specialized front derailleur mount cover, S-WORKS bottle cage bolts.

WEIGHT: 7.67kg.

Heavy panting… the Sprint is done!

Eugene and I both running the bars back in 1990.

Saw these on eBay USA. Had to have them! Hopefully they make their way to a retro MTB build one day.