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Previous What's New articles

Comments - Cheap Bars Everywhere

January 30, 2012

FSA = Fooled the Suckers Again
- Joe Crankarm, Bent Fork

January 28, 2012

FSA, POS 'nuff said
- Glenn, Etown

January 27, 2012

Friends don't let friends ride FSA.
- EKH, YVR

January 27, 2012

.Me thinks AlloyCowboy nothing more than a Thompson seat post shill. First off it's 'modulus' not 'modulas'...a very common engineering term used by every structural engineer numerous times on a daily basis. Second off, 'buckling' cannot occur without some kind of axial loading. Carbon fiber has a very high modulus of elasticity (roughly double that of aluminum and Ti) and high tensile strength and the actual loads imposed by a rider are so small that this is a non-issue. Third, buckling is also dependent on the slenderness ratio of the post (the length to diameter ratio). Also a non-issue even if you ride like some pros with the tiniest frame you can fit on with a really long post...even then the concern would be some type of lateral load and very very remote. Many cycles of high impact lateral loads are imposed on carbon fiber baseball bats all the time with no adverse effects. My biggest concerns would be compressive loads imposed by the seat clamps themselves as well as appropriately matched seat post and seat tubes. Like any bike component made of any material, the items must be appropriately sized and correctly installed to avoid any issues.
- S, Colorado

January 26, 2012

Those sisters are kinda hot...
- Stephen, Detroit

January 26, 2012

Brendan- I think the Utah winters have taken over your brain. You sound delusional. Are your kids writing your blogs now? I'm worried.
- Charlie, PDX

January 25, 2012

brendan....
- dave, anchorage

January 25, 2012

Some one in comments mentioned carbon fiber seat posts. As an engineer I have to say Carbon Fiber is the worst material to build a seat post out of. Sure companies can build a carbon fiber seat post but to do it properly you really have crank up the diameter of the seat post and use an ultra high modulas carbon fiber. To do understand why this just wikipedia "Buckling" and look at the equation. The only three variables the engineer has to work with are modulas of elasicity, seat post diameter, and wall thickness. So naturally the skinnier the seat post the thicker the wall thicknesses have to be. Optimally in a perfect world seapost diameter should be based on optimal wall thickness for a given material (ti,carbon,aluminum) and seat post length. But it isn't a perfect world so before you plunk down your cash for a carbon seat post take look at the aluminum Thompson seat posts first.
- alloycowboy, Edmonton, AB

January 25, 2012

re: handmade things and a voracious appetite for restoring 1940s English and French umbrellas.....just how do you develop such an appetite?
- Mathew, Sydney, Australia

January 25, 2012

Even if Lance's win was in your blissful innocent times, look at the rest of that break, Basso, Ullrich, Landis all busted. Kloden busted, but paid off the federation and it disappeared. Even if Lance was doing something, he was best on equal ground.
- Mike, Colorado Springs, CO

January 25, 2012

uniball, a man who thinks the same as I. but he is a quitter, as I do not see him on the lunch ride. I would still drop him
- Francisco Mancebo, Domestic Pro

January 25, 2012

Your comments about the FSA cheap bars are interesting. Especially since you are in the business of selling the uber expensive components. It makes you wonder about other components that might not be as light but perform as well as some of the ultra expensive parts out there. We could talk next about seatposts. Why do people feel they have to have a carbon seatpost?
- Dave, Little Rock

January 25, 2012

RE: The FSA belt. Wear the buckle upside down, it will open the correct way and you'll be able to read it at the urinal.
- Joe, Superior, WI

January 25, 2012

I'm really happy with my Profile Design Legra SS bars, but maybe I'll compare them to the FSA next time I'm in the market for a new one. It actually looks very similar in shape and drop.
- Aaron, Columbia, MO

January 25, 2012

Those belt buckes take me back to the seventies. I had a stainless rectangle with the image from the italian training manual screened on it. I'm sure some of you retro grouches will remember. I also had a cast oval with the Campagnolo script. Damn, I wish I hadn't gotten rid of those. Well at least I still have my Campy corkscrew.
- Bob, Libertyville, IL

January 25, 2012

@redacted - I actually do not care if any athlete dopes at all. It is there body and it is their choice. I really could care less what the UCI says. They have clearly looked in the other direction with other events when cyclists where doping so they never enforce their rules consistently. That makes them a joke. If it really bothers me then I just will not follow the sport. Pretty simple. But, if you have prove then post it. Never had any issues any FSA gear save a bottom bracket that had issues after two months. I'm convinced to this day it was related to the mechanic installing it improperly and was the catalyst for me to start doing all my own work on my bikes. My current FSA BB has over 80,000 miles on it and it rolls as smooth as the day I bought. I have never removed it from the frame and I have only wiped off excess dirt from it. The large ring on my crank wore out after about 4 seasons. I had a very hard time finding a replacement. FSA gave me a list of dealers but none of them said they had any. Point the finger at who ever you wish on that one.
- tgt, NC

January 25, 2012

Maybe mine are set up wrong but the stopping power of my FSA CX brakes is about like most canti brakes - crappy.
- noflyzone_allstars, Venice Beach

January 25, 2012

redacted, if you have evidence then its your moral obligation to meet with the Special Prosecutor ... otherwise you are full of shit like we believe you to be anyway ... though so!
- Ivan, Cortina

January 25, 2012

One has to wonder if all this lust for Canyon will die down a little with due to the mediocre reviews of the new aero road CF that are now appearing.
- Tom, NYC

January 25, 2012

ummm, a lance video really? hey look guise, a man who cheated his way to winning. if you think otherwise, i have first hand knowledge and have seen pictures proving otherwise.
- redacted, washington, dc

January 25, 2012

Remember with FSA- its a Great or Awful company. An FSA product will either be great (stems and bars) or awful (wheels and cranks). Their early brakes were awful, but now they mixed in a few great ones to keep you guessing. The default rule- if its below the top tube, you don't want FSA. With everyone pointing out the hypocrisy of the PRO cliche use, I thought the answer would be to stop using it and actually right a cogent thought on why you liked something. Instead, Artisanal and Curated were used non-ironically. Given you rides on your Pro team, it must be hard to come down too hard on the Texan I imagine. . .
- Little Rock AK, Is PRO

January 25, 2012

I have been rocking the FSA RD wheels for 3 years and they have been fine and I get a lot of comments on them. Maybe I got a lucky set but they have been money.
- Smokey, Utah

January 24, 2012

"FSA is an Italian company, even if they've never actually built anything in Italy that I've heard of." Sure they seem to sponsor a few italian teams, but FSA is based in a small town north of seattle, and they make all (?) of their parts in taiwan.
- Josh, Whitefisht Montana

January 24, 2012

Which Hestra gloves do you like on the bike? That's a long list on the page.
- Bikelink, Philadelphia

January 24, 2012

Thanks for answering the Canyon question, much appreciated.
- Carl, Downers Grove

January 24, 2012

I have to say that I'm with you on FSA bars - on my 3 C40s and my EPS. Great shape with the compact bend, although I wish there were a higher level (lighter) alloy bar. Dedas are good too, but I can't say I'm a fan of the latest 3t offerings. And FSA is an Italian company, even if they've never actually built anything in Italy that I've heard of. I also have a set of their cheap alloy cranks on my wet weather bike and they're OK - not great but easy to work with and conventional chain ring size (unlike my Campy compacts) that are easy to replace on a bike that gets the type of use where rings wear out. We discovered Hestra gloves at our local ski shop three or four years ago. Now both of my sons and I use and love them. For once, I don't need liner gloves on those cold (-15C) days.
- Jim, Calgary

January 24, 2012

Latest from Canyon Bicycles: Thank you for your interest in Canyon Bicycles. As of 2010, Canyon has suspended sales to North America. With Canyon's direct sales model, we don't just deliver your bike; we develop it and build it as well so we can provide you a new Canyon with unbeatable performance at a very competitive price. We also strive to provide excellent customer service and after sales support in each market. At this time, Canyon Bicycles cannot offer the kind of great customer service and after sales support in North America as we do in Europe, so we are maintaining our current sales hiatus to North America until these issues are resolved. Canyon Bicycles hopes to make a definitive announcement by the first quarter of 2013 as to further availability of Canyon Bicycles in North America. I hope I was able to help you further with my e-mail. If you have any further questions or difficulties, please contact us again. Best regards, Fabian Weber Servicecenter
- Daniel, Atlanta

January 24, 2012

I've bought some fairly embarrassingly priced 'bars, but always, always consider the Ritchey BioMax the best I've laid hands on. On roller mental fatigue, while I can't get very excited (read horrible for intervals), I've watched nearly every episode of American Pickers. Mike is a bike fanatic, and the stuff he finds acts as a nice distraction.
- Matthew, PRoB

January 24, 2012

Artisanal and Curated in the same post... Did we wipe the banned words slate clean for 2012?
- Paying Attention, Little Rock

January 24, 2012

Re: CANYON Sources say 1/2 of the reason you sold out and moved to Utah was Canyon demanded a larger warehouse and more capital. Thus, now that you're part of a major corporation and have a bigger warehouse, we (the consumers) request an official update. I remember signing up for some updates a year ago...
- Wyatt, Waterloo

January 23, 2012

I'm warming just a tad to FSA after years of shunning them. However, even if their decent post and stems' cost was identical to Thomson, I'd still prefer the Masterpiece seatpost and X2 stem. The bars look good, similar shaped and cheaper than the beloved 3T ergosum, though I'd wash off the logos before attaching to my bike. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. You deserve several punctures and a couple broken spokes for comparing those Darth Vader brakes to Paul Neo Retros.
- paul, boulder

January 23, 2012

Love the ongoing posts. Keep it up. for whatever reason, the mix of stuff you write about is fantastic, even if I don't always agree with everything. But who cares, that's how it should be. A breath of fresh air. Thanks.
- sleeper, PA