Category Archives: Bike

Excitement! Dropped in to CCACHE today to hang out with Sam who was busy putting all the new SRAM Red and S-WORKS upgrades on my Allez Sprint.

New (bottom) vs old (top). Spotted this as new S-Works Power Saddle on eBay for half the price of a new one and pounced on it.

I was pretty happy with the power saddle already on the bike, this new one is the same width and full carbon so buying it was a bit of a no brainer.

Old saddle weight.

New one. Decent weight savings for sure!

I’ve decided to stop stalking new Canyon Aeroad’s and S-WORKS Tarmac SL8’s and instead go all out on my Allez Sprint.

The deep dish ENVE wheels I put on the bike made the bike look, feel and sound so much faster which has confirmed for me that the frame is awesome (and worth it!). As much as I like the concept of mechanical Shimano 105 being the groupset of the people, in reality it’s heavy and despite the Allez having semi-integrated cables the sight of the 4 cables around the stem was doing my head in so I thought I’d give electronic shifting a go.

I’ve decided to go 1x for weight savings (from removing the front derailleur and extra front chainring) and also for simplicity (less is more!) as well as attitude. I’ve chosen to go for an aero chainring too (it looks so damn hot!).

A 1x SRAM RED AXS E1 groupset is on order with CCACHE. I bought a Roval aero handlebar from Wooly’s Wheels, Tarmac SL7 stem direct from Specialized.com and the stem accessories (cable bat and cover + 3D printed spacer to adapt the SL7 to the Allez frame) from various online shops.

Updated specs below, final weight TBC!

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

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

WHEELS & TYRES: ENVE 65 Foundation wheelset, ENVE SRAM XDR replacement freehub body, ENVE SES 27mm tyres, Tubolito S-Tubo Ultralight tubes 80mm valve, Shimano 160mm RT-CL900 Ice-Tech centerlock rotors.

COMPONENTS: S-Works Tarmac SL7 Stem 110mm -12 degree, Tarmac SL7 stem cable bat and stem cover spacer and transition kit, RaceWare 3D printed stem spacer, Specialized Roval Rapide aerodynamic carbon road handlebars 380mm, Specialized S-Works Power Saddle 143mm & Carbon Rail Clamp, S-Works Tarmac FACT Carbon seat post 20mm offset, Xpedo Thrust SL Titanium pedals, AliExpress carbon cages, Pas Normal Studios bidons.

FORK: FACT Carbon, 12x100mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc.

WEIGHT: TBC

Felt fucking naked!

So chuffed to have legend Tom Boorman of Hell on Wheels build the bike.

Couldn’t live with the zip ties so I installed some Jagwire alloy stick-on guides for a cleaner look.

Much cleaner!

Odd one out at the park.

Feels strange to not have any foot retention. I do have some Brotures straps ready to go so will get them on ASAP.

SO happy with how it turned out! Forgotten how awesome riding fixed is. What a fresh experience! Feels like riding a bike for the very first time!

Specs List

Frame: Dosnoventa Los Angeles (small)
Headset: Columbus
Seatpost clamp: Columbus
Wheels: STIFFI The Shuriken 4 + STIFFI Track Cog 17T + STIFFI Titanium Track Nuts
Tyres: Continental Gatorskin 700x25mm Black Edition + Continental Race 28 700×20/25c 60mm presta valve tubes
Brakes: Extralite UltraLevers 3 + Shimano Ultegra + Shimano brake pads for carbon rims + Jagwire brake cable outers + alloy stick-on guides + black teflon coated cables
Crank: Rotor Direct Mount Track Axle 30mm with Spider BCD144x5 ALDHU 165mm crank arms
BB: Rotor TRACK30 BSA
Chainring: Rotor Round Ring BCD144x5 Track 49T
Pedals: Brotures INFEEL
Chain: Izumi x MASH Racing Track Chain Black & Silver
Stem: Thomson Elite X4 90mm 10 Degree 31.8 1-1/8″
Bars: Thomson XC Carbon 730 x 31.8 x 0mm (flat) x 8 Back Sweep
Grips: Strong V
Seatpost: Thomson Elite 27.2 x 410mm
Saddle: Selle San Marco Shortfit Dynamic Narrow

Weight: 7.73kg

Right click save as.

Was love at first sight when I first spotted these sexy chainrings on a top-spec Dura Ace road bike. I love the almost topographical like patterns on the chainrings and aero cover. It took me a while to figure out what they were, turns out they’re made by a small company called Alugear who design and manufacture drivetrain components out of Poland.

Had to have them.

My 2022 Allez is running a Shimano 105 11-speed Shimano groupset and the only 11-speed kit they make is for Shimano Ultegra (the rest are for newer 12-speed drivetrains). Ultegra is gunmetal grey and I had to have these rings in black, so I was shit outta luck, but with a little research I found that 12-speed rings work with 11-speed chains, and so fuck it. I thought I’d do more research.

The 11-speed 105 crank spider is completely different to the 12-speed design, so to make the Alugear rings work I had to buy newer 12-speed 105 crank arms. I thought I might as well get even shorter crankarms (from 165 to 160) which will help the nasty toe-overlap I get on the Allez (I always replaced cranks to 165’s on my MTB’s in the past anyways as I like to spin a high cadence).

I spent hours figuring this all out. I really wanted to go for a 1x setup (less is more!), but that would mean having to upgrade to a much larger rear cassette if I still wanted to climb up hills. I do have a medium cage rear derailleur but the max rear cog would be a 34T which isn’t enough for climbing steeper hills (would probably need a 40T). I looked into getting a MTB or Gravel rear derailleur (GRX or XT) which would allow me to get an even bigger rear cassette and I also thought about running a much smaller front chainring (44T), but end of the day a small front chainring would look weak, and a huge rear cassette would not only add weight, it would look stupid on a road bike too.

As much as I wanted to rip the front derailleur off and go for a single 50T chainring up front logic kicked in. I don’t want to have to walk up steep hills with click clacky shoes on! I had to admit defeat in the end.

Even then, there were more options (mania? Yup I’ve got it!). I had an option to upgrade to Shimano Dura Ace cranks (as they’re also black) as Alugear make a kit for Dura Ace, but they were pretty damn expensive at $680, and they would defeat the purpose of going 105 in the first place. Turns out replacement 105 crank arms (without rings) at 160mm length aren’t in stock anywhere in the country (plenty on AliExpress but rather than risk getting fake shit) so I ended up buying a full 105 12-speed crankset (with rings) as they were only $200, and instead of going for a 1x drivetrain I settled for a 2x Alugear AERO kit for 105 12-speed.

End of the day I still get the look I was after, save a little weight and I still retain the small front chainring for climbing steep hills, and if I ever do man up to go 1x I’d already have the new cranks and AERO cover so I’d only have to order a 1x Alugear chainring.

A fixie with brakes. Too afraid to go 1x because of hills. FFS I’m getting soft in my old age.

Tom’s shrine.

Motomags!

So stoked to reconnect with BMX legend Tom Boorman of Hell on Wheels. As much as I’d love to build the Dosnoventa fixie myself I’m getting Tom to build it. Honestly couldn’t think of a better guy for the job. She’s in good hands!

Mailman gave me a stiffi. My STIFFI Shuriken 4 spoke carbon wheels from Stiffi Wheels are here! Not hard to support local when they make the best. They were the final piece, now onto the build!

Now.

And then!

Eugene’s riding on his own brand of bike.

Spesh.

360.

Awesome catchups with Nick and my BFAM Eugene this morning. Last time we took a shot together with our bikes was 1990! He was riding on a full carbon Ventoux, his own brand of bikes which he sold in Taiwan when he ran his own bike shop. The Allez was awesome, still need to dial in my cleat position, and saddle position too as I’m putting way more weight on my hands than my butt, but damn the bike feels fast, and yes, crosswinds are sketchy AF as expected!

Clickety Clack.

Rotor crankset.

Bromance.

Welp, had to happen at some point, but I scored a flat tyre today whilst doing laps around Centennial Park. I scored the flat a couple of laps in and half a lap away from my car, and what’s worse is I was just trying out my new Specialized S-Works Torch road shoes (what’s next? Lycra?!) and as expected, there’s just no way you can walk in these fucking things! I ended up taking them off and walked around the park bare foot, and you know what? It was nice (I feel grounded lol!).

I’m trying here, to be less stubborn and at least give new technologies a go, but nah fuck that. Tubes are going back in ASAP.

PS: These shoes are awesome. I’ve got wide feet and these shoes come in a wide version and the fit bang on. They’re a lot stiffer soled than the Adidas Velosamba’s and clicking into and out of them is way harder than MTB SPD’s but I like this. The new carbon deep wheels are awesome too. Crosswinds weren’t an issue, love the hollow sound they make. The freehub isn’t anywhere near as loud as I thought they would be, but that’s probably a good thing!

PPS: Also got some more fixie parts in. A Rotor crankset + Brotures pedals and straps from Japan. Just waiting on wheels for the fixie now so I can start the build!