Riding competitively and honing my abilities via a structured coaching program over the last 12 months or so has invariably caused me to open my eyes to alternative components, in the never ending search for that ‘competitive edge’. Your friends can talk all they like to you about how they find ‘this and that’ but you never really know until you bite the bullet and try things for yourself.

Angus and Chris certainly knew what I should be looking at when it came to groupsets, so I bit the bullet and went for the new SRAM Red.

Coming from a history of using a well known European groupset, I was cautious in the first instance to make the change, however my first ride with the new SRAM red eased all of my fears quicker than that of a diving soccer player, who hasn’t even been fouled.

“Short, sharp and extremely attractive” were qualities that I first thought that Angus and Chris saw in myself, as I dropped off the bike for the conversion. Fortunately the fellas were not talking about me, but that of the characteristics of the new SRAM red… and they were not lying. I have now had the pleasure of riding this groupset for the last 4-5 weeks.

The gear changes are shorter than the dwarf from Jackass, trigger finger sharp, you get that grippy “thhhhhhuuuuuuunk” when it slams down the rear cassette and it looks better than Scarlett Johanssen in tight leathers. The single pivot braking works a treat and puts on the anchors with a fair amount of fury, which is great for blokes like me who like to throw the bike into corners.

I do not have the advantage of riding the previous SRAM Red groupset, so I can not compare new with old. What I can do however is argue that it is streets ahead of its European cousin. If SRAM are claiming a much evolved, outstandingly refined and improved groupset in the new SRAM Red – I am already convinced. I know from feedback within the peloton on the streets of Perth that SRAM needed improvements to front derraileur shifting in the new SRAM Red. I treat the gears on my bike with distain and I’m not a rider known for my climbing ability, so my front chainrings get a smashing most days. I can advise you that the front derrailuer hasn’t let me down once and the new yaw system has made chain rub non-existent no matter what gear is selected.

I raced the new SRAM Red at a local criterium on Anzac day and the double tap system was far more intuitive than anything else I have ever ridden.

Go and get the new SRAM Red – NOW!

Not sure where this photo came from. Possibly Tony Lendrum.

So when Cam brought his Kuwahara Pacer in to be cabled up I was filled with a sense of nostalgia for those days when summers lasted for ever and everything seemed simpler and easier.

The brand was started as a small family business in Osaka, Japan in 1918 by Sentaro Kuwahara as a bicycle wholesaler and by 1925 he was exporting bikes to Russia, China and South East Asia. The company closed down during WWII but got right back to it once people had stopped killing each other.
1972 saw the first Kuwahara branded bikes exported to the US, European and Australian markets this was bolstered by american Howie Cohen who set up a US distributorship and ran a phone-in Kuwahara sticker give away  to any little tacker that could pronounce the name correctly making it a household name.
Then ET phoned home and the image of a kid on a bmx, milk crate strapped onto the bars, cute extra terrestrial  in a hoodie riding up front, sihlouetted  against the moon hit the movie screens and the brand went nuts.

Cam informed me that this model, the Pacer, was made for the european market around 1991 and came during the time when several brands were experimenting with some pretty out there paint schemes. My first mtb, a GT Tequesta, had a similar liquid paper/paint dribble effect.

It’s not often you see one of these in the flesh and in such condition so I thought it deserved a couple of photos.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s hard to keep up with the amount of goodness that comes through the doors here at Cycles BeBombastic so I’ll try and keep it simple.

We have been fortunate enough to see the latest and greatest from the 3 big groupset manufacturers Di2, SRAM Red and Campag EPS. Of the two electronic systems I think Campag has the finish but Shimano has the form. In terms of functionality from the little play I had, they are similar to their cabled sibings, Shimano light and silky smooth while Campag is a much more physical ‘click’ to shift.
SRAM on the other hand has improved,refined, evolved it’s already great groupset with much needed improvements to front derraileur shifting, stiffer crankset and single pivot braking.

Once more some nice customer rigs coming through including Matt Millers ‘Nago which got a new SRAM Red facelift…

Plus John Wyatt’s Cannondale SuperSix Di2 Ultegra with Hollowgram crankset upgrade…

Paul Aubrey’s Belgium inspired Jonesman…

and not to mention (if you haven’t seen the gallery page) Jonsey’s Dekerf.

ON toe strap review.

First off they look very inconspicuous and stealth. Great for a city bike or a bike that’s locked up in strange places and out front pubs a lot. Very straight forward to attach as well. Just Velcro the suckers on and then adjust as you see fit.

One of the reasons you’d consider straps like these is that you’re sick of the toe part on your old pair dragging across the ground when your  still getting your feet in. Well good news.. Problem solved, there’s none of that anymore.

Once you’re in nice and tight they do exactly what you need them to do. I tested them on a fixie and they helped with speed control immensely. I could accelerate faster, brake quicker and charge up hills better. When it comes to getting out of them they’re easy too. Slide your foot out backwards and you’re sweet. It takes a little bit of time to get used the fact that pulling up the pedal with a more vertical foot, like you’d do on a road bike slides your foot straight out. The solution I found was to quickly relearn your pedal strokes so that you keep more of a solid ankle and pull up with your toes rather than your heel.

The straps have a plastic insert that helps keep them open. For the most part this worked excellently but there’s a couple of design oversights. First on a regular toe strap/clip combo the clip is made of metal and helps weight the pedal so its pointed down. This makes it really easy to find your way into them without looking. What happens with the straps I reviewed is that all of the weight is on the strap so they just flip over, which makes it harder to find your way in without looking. I’ve been told some mountain bikers have special bearings in the pedal that keeps them horizontal as they go around. That would be an awesome solution to the problem if price permitted. Also, if you’re having problems it’s easy to temporarily ride on the side without the strap but as you later try to get in again I sometimes found myself  very clumsily stepping on the strap which just pushed it closed and made my life a little harder. They also have a bit of a tendency to twist forward, which again makes it a little harder to get in. That could probably be solved by making the bit of fabric that goes through the inside of the pedal much stiffer or just made out of metal.

Those minor problems aside I did get used to them very quickly and all in all they’re great.

Cliff.j

Hunty is known for his 300km jaunts on the weekend. This Easter he’s trying for 400kms.