OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Ok, interestingly they are actually the pro 2 Evo hubs!
It's finally arrived! New croix de fer 20
- Thread starter Wafer
- Start date
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EasyPeez
Veteran
- Location
- Cottingham, East Yorkshire
I can't imagine the Pro 4s will be much quieter...Ok, interestingly they are actually the pro 2 Evo hubs!
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Did a little research last night, and no, they are just a slightly updated version of the Pro2 Evo it seems.
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/gui...ology/Pro-4,16827#product-reviews/2289/expand had a video showing off the clicking and info on the updates.
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/gui...ology/Pro-4,16827#product-reviews/2289/expand had a video showing off the clicking and info on the updates.
EasyPeez
Veteran
- Location
- Cottingham, East Yorkshire
Have you had it out for a proper spin yet?
I'd be itching to get on some woodland paths if I had a CdF
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Day off tomorrow so planning on taking it out thenthen, will be song some known roads though, including some fairly rough country lanes, do will see how it feels.
Just from the short rides to work it feels very planted and stable, less sprightly than the Synapse but I'm not sure if that equates to slower as such.
Just from the short rides to work it feels very planted and stable, less sprightly than the Synapse but I'm not sure if that equates to slower as such.
itchybeard
Senior Member
- Location
- North Lancashire
nice bike. Good all rounder, stick a rack on and get touring.
e-rider
Banned member
- Location
- South West
my hope pro3 hubs used to get loads of complaints from club members for being too noisy - mainly becasue they could hear me freewheeling while they were busting a gut on the front! Have now changed to Dura-Ace which is noisy for Shimano standards but much quieter than Hope
EasyPeez
Veteran
- Location
- Cottingham, East Yorkshire
I think you will find that the CdF is slower for road riding, in large part because of the bigger tyres. It'll be a bit heavier too. But it opens up a whole new landscape for riding. I did 40miles yesterday on my CX along an old railway line and bombing through some woods. Although I'm a roadie at heart I have to say it's great fun going off-piste and fantastic to have the option to do both. Enjoy
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
Oh I'll be quite happy if the CdF doesn't quite replace the Synapse
It'll give me access to places the Synapse won't and be good for those exploring trips where you don't know what the roads are like.
But if it means the Synapse is still the better bike for a good blast on roads known to be of a good enough quality, I'm pleased it won't just end up gathering dust in the garage
It'll give me access to places the Synapse won't and be good for those exploring trips where you don't know what the roads are like.
But if it means the Synapse is still the better bike for a good blast on roads known to be of a good enough quality, I'm pleased it won't just end up gathering dust in the garage
I think you will find that the CdF is slower for road riding, in large part because of the bigger tyres. It'll be a bit heavier too. But it opens up a whole new landscape for riding. I did 40miles yesterday on my CX along an old railway line and bombing through some woods. Although I'm a roadie at heart I have to say it's great fun going off-piste and fantastic to have the option to do both. Enjoy
I took the day off yesterday and rode to Hampton Court. 50% of it was offroad. I have to say I enjoy it at least as much as road cycling.
EasyPeez
Veteran
- Location
- Cottingham, East Yorkshire
Good work. There's definately something about leaving the tarmac behind that combines especially well with a nice pint of well-earned ale.
FTFY
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
So, just back from a 20mile ride and I am suitably impressed!
The tl;dr review is the ride is smooth and luxurious and surprisingly quick, which I didn't realise till I got back and checked the Strava results.
Longer thoughts as follows.
It feels very solid and stable which is very confidence boosting and I hadn't been going long when I started noticing just how well it moved. I'm sure the stability comes from the frame and the chunky tyres, it's the sort of feeling VW tells you you get with their cars.
It didn't feel like it had the urgency that my Synapse has at times, but it just kind of flows.... How much of that is the frame, the wheels or what I don't know, having spent a few hundred quid on wheels I'm hoping it's got something to do with them though! I'm less bothered by the tyres now, at some point I might still get something a little thinner but they felt pretty good today and overall the bike handled rough patches of road and the canal path very well. They do give me that option to get off the tarmac more easily than something like the Marathon Supreme's I was eyeing up.
There are a few technical points I'll go back and compare to the synapse but the bars felt wider, and for me, with broad shoulders, that felt quite nice when on the hoods. It seemed to make using the drops harder but I think the way the lbs have setup the levers hasn't helped there, it was a bit of a stretch to pull the brakes from the drops. For what I want out of the bike though, I don't see that being a problem, if I wanting to get my head down and use the drops a lot I'd of gotten a different bike.
The gearing also seemed wider, which will be easy to check. There was one particular drop I've done a few times that I usually don't pedal for much of, partly due to spinning out a bit, partly due to focussing on keeping control Today I felt I could pedal all the way and felt safer doing it. Previous 4 goes down it were between 28 and 32 seconds, today was 25....
The bottom gear was nice too, I think it's a 1 to 1 gearing 34:34 but I'd need to check, used it a couple of times and help spin up a couple of hills in a way I've struggled a bit more with before.
As for speed, I knew I was going along reasonably well, but I was still quite surprised when I got back and checked strava. I covered 9 segments I'd done before, PRs on 7 of them.... A good chunk of the route I did last week on the Syanpse, including all the segments I beat today.
One of the hills I've done a few times before though only 2 times I can compare which were 2:09 and 2:10. Today I knocked 10 seconds off.
Another segment a bit earlier on I've completed between 5:52 and 6:52 on 4 previous attempts was 5:16 today.
Only had a few down points and I think that's mostly to do with setup. I think I probably need a shorter stem, but I've thought that all along. I test rode a medium to see how that was, but it was far too small. The large feels right over all, but a little over reaching at times. I'm planning on going back for a bikefit and have said since I ordered it that I'd be interested in seeing if a stem change would help.
Also not too impressed with the way the lbs set up the brakes and gears. Quite a bit of travel on the brake levers, I tightened the back one but couldn't really work out what I was doing with the front, so even more annoyingly I ended up with different pull on each lever!
Any time I was in the big front ring I was getting chain rub noise, so that needs a little tweak and there were times when the cassette was jumping a bit. I'm assuming this is due to the lbs not quite getting it set up right, rather than an issue with Tiagra so can't mark it as a bad point of the bike.
That's probably plenty for now! I did have to stop at the butchers on the way round so the last 5 miles were with a few extra kilos on my back. I made it worthwhile by picking up a congratulatory steak and ale pie though, which was extremely tasty even if it did get a little squashed in my backpack.
The tl;dr review is the ride is smooth and luxurious and surprisingly quick, which I didn't realise till I got back and checked the Strava results.
Longer thoughts as follows.
It feels very solid and stable which is very confidence boosting and I hadn't been going long when I started noticing just how well it moved. I'm sure the stability comes from the frame and the chunky tyres, it's the sort of feeling VW tells you you get with their cars.
It didn't feel like it had the urgency that my Synapse has at times, but it just kind of flows.... How much of that is the frame, the wheels or what I don't know, having spent a few hundred quid on wheels I'm hoping it's got something to do with them though! I'm less bothered by the tyres now, at some point I might still get something a little thinner but they felt pretty good today and overall the bike handled rough patches of road and the canal path very well. They do give me that option to get off the tarmac more easily than something like the Marathon Supreme's I was eyeing up.
There are a few technical points I'll go back and compare to the synapse but the bars felt wider, and for me, with broad shoulders, that felt quite nice when on the hoods. It seemed to make using the drops harder but I think the way the lbs have setup the levers hasn't helped there, it was a bit of a stretch to pull the brakes from the drops. For what I want out of the bike though, I don't see that being a problem, if I wanting to get my head down and use the drops a lot I'd of gotten a different bike.
The gearing also seemed wider, which will be easy to check. There was one particular drop I've done a few times that I usually don't pedal for much of, partly due to spinning out a bit, partly due to focussing on keeping control
Today I felt I could pedal all the way and felt safer doing it. Previous 4 goes down it were between 28 and 32 seconds, today was 25....The bottom gear was nice too, I think it's a 1 to 1 gearing 34:34 but I'd need to check, used it a couple of times and help spin up a couple of hills in a way I've struggled a bit more with before.
As for speed, I knew I was going along reasonably well, but I was still quite surprised when I got back and checked strava. I covered 9 segments I'd done before, PRs on 7 of them.... A good chunk of the route I did last week on the Syanpse, including all the segments I beat today.
One of the hills I've done a few times before though only 2 times I can compare which were 2:09 and 2:10. Today I knocked 10 seconds off.
Another segment a bit earlier on I've completed between 5:52 and 6:52 on 4 previous attempts was 5:16 today.
Only had a few down points and I think that's mostly to do with setup. I think I probably need a shorter stem, but I've thought that all along. I test rode a medium to see how that was, but it was far too small. The large feels right over all, but a little over reaching at times. I'm planning on going back for a bikefit and have said since I ordered it that I'd be interested in seeing if a stem change would help.
Also not too impressed with the way the lbs set up the brakes and gears. Quite a bit of travel on the brake levers, I tightened the back one but couldn't really work out what I was doing with the front, so even more annoyingly I ended up with different pull on each lever!
Any time I was in the big front ring I was getting chain rub noise, so that needs a little tweak and there were times when the cassette was jumping a bit. I'm assuming this is due to the lbs not quite getting it set up right, rather than an issue with Tiagra so can't mark it as a bad point of the bike.
That's probably plenty for now! I did have to stop at the butchers on the way round so the last 5 miles were with a few extra kilos on my back. I made it worthwhile by picking up a congratulatory steak and ale pie though, which was extremely tasty even if it did get a little squashed in my backpack.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
A lot of cable disc brakes are poor.
A sensible - and simple - upgrade would be cable actuated hydraulics.
The new calliper bolts straight on, connect the existing cable, and decent, reliable brakes are yours.
TRP were first on the market, although I've been told there are now one or two others.
Not cheap at £90 a calliper, but you could just do the front to start with.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/trp-hy-rd-c...|pcrid|67090789142|pkw||pmt||prd|5360657440uk
A sensible - and simple - upgrade would be cable actuated hydraulics.
The new calliper bolts straight on, connect the existing cable, and decent, reliable brakes are yours.
TRP were first on the market, although I've been told there are now one or two others.
Not cheap at £90 a calliper, but you could just do the front to start with.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/trp-hy-rd-c...|pcrid|67090789142|pkw||pmt||prd|5360657440uk
OP
OP
Wafer
Veteran
- Location
- Somerset/Devon border
These are the TRP Hyrds! I imagine it's an easy fix if you know what you're doing, but I'd got my head around the cheap cable discs on my other bike and these are a bit different
