I am planning a 10+ day trip, need to bring at least two days clothes as I'll wash along the way. I need say a 30L+ bag that can be strapped to the back? Oh and also has a shoulder strap or is a backpack.
I am not seeing too many good options right now. Suggestions?
I always thought racks looked as ugly as anything can get on a bike. Love this one though. Just need my easy wheels to ship and a bag would be nice. No idea who good it works as an actual practical rack yet.
This finally fits with 42mm tyres, will not fit with 50mm or above. The little wheels weigh as much a pluto so I will swap them out. I did weight the rack... but forgot to write it down and now I cannot remember ;p
Here is my first lazy video on the Java Neo 3 Carbon. I have a lot more to go over with it including comparisons with other bikes but I only have some much time each day ;p. I'll make future vids I guess.
So I do a ton of cycling, love my garmin varia radar but really hate traditional bike computers, I find the Beeline vastly superior. But garmin won't even let Beeline use the mount let alone not sue them out of existence if they dared to put radar support in.
So I am thinking a watch is a good choice for me. Currently I use the radar with the phone app purely for sound alerts via Bluetooth. But I have found the app often just quits, no idea why as I have all power saving stuff in the OS turned off and it has all permissions.
Anyway since I ride with a watch anyway, a garmin watch sounds like a good idea. But there are too many choices... I care only about a solar battery and the bike radar, and I want the radar alert to be loud.
What watches should I be looking at?
Also I doubt anyone would know this but is it possible to use a Japanese purchased watch in English? Because I once owned Garmin 1030 with "free worldwide maps" from the US as the Japanese one was 100% more expensive. But the free worldwide maps didn't include Japan, that's like $1000 extra. Is there any of that BS with the watches? Will it kill itself if I import it or something?
I've just about finished by drop bar conversion of the flat bar neo 3 carbon. Really I should have just bought the drop bar one but when I put money down for this the official drop bar version didn't exist.
I still need to sort out a rack, I have two of them but each have their own issues. I want to make a video on all the stuff I have found out if the rain would just go away...
I have a JAVA neo 3 carbon (comes with 12s wireless wheeltop EDS gears), I have converted it to drop bars and am right now trying to take it for a first ride with the final step being to pair the levels with the derailleur.
Turns out I can't. I mean people seem to pair EDS TX with EDS TX just fine, but the EDS "TXF" that comes on the neo (and says TX on it but shows in the APP as txf) seems to be locked into the thumb shifter. I can pair the right lever, but it shows as the thumb in the app and the shifting down works but will not go up the cassette again. Though giving commands via the app works fine, its hitting the button on the shifter that makes the derailleur kind of half shift up and then return to its previous position. The left lever will not pair and does nothing.
Anyone have any experience in this?
Edit: after much stuffing around I have found the TX lever design is seriously flawed. On the right lever there are two buttons on the paddle, one button is activated by the entire paddle moving back, the inner smaller button is activated by pressing against the paddle itself. But the force from the inner activates the outer also. Unsolvable without modding it.
This would be no issue however if the deraileur would see the levers as levers and not simply insist there is only a thumb shifter that auto connects even after I have removed it from the app and removed its battery.. Still auto shows in the app connected and all...
I have been working on my own 20inch full carbon drop bar neo 3 (finally have all the parts, just got to finish the brakes and wrap the bars), but Java beat me to it. Albeit with "22inch" wheels which I think are 451?
Now that price is rather high, but all the prices on that site are compared to buying in Asia. My carbon neo was €1,270.31 delivered (Singapore to Japan), but that is €3.499,00. Maybe its placeholder or maybe you have crazy taxes? No idea.
But its not apples to apples yet, as that is a drop bar. I've spent including the initial bike €3,213. But my bike has 50mm tyres and lots of little upgrades like better rotors, a bottle cage, lightweight cranks and pedals, high-end saddle etc and comes in at 8kg almost exactly with the extra bits. This bike if the specs are to be believed is over 10kg (9.4 according to other sources).
But that does look like 105 vs full wheeltop eds on my bike, though the specs on that site say wheeltop...
One thing that concerns me after doing mods on my bike is the height of the wheels. My 50mm tyres already prevent most racks from being attached and measuring against another bike I have with 451 wheels and 30mm tyres, the 406 with 50mm and 451 with 30mm work out to be almost identical in diameter. So you'll need to be careful with racks.
3000sdg (2,018 eur before tax, shipping) from Kai Cycles who also say they are only getting 4...
Just writing this out of frustration really. I want to get lighter/better versions of many parts for my bike but finding info on what is compatible is tough.
For example there are tons of replacement suspension blocks out there and I have seen some on the Java neo carbon. But nobody will say what exact model or how they made them fit. Many blocks are far longer than the stock block so do they affect how the bike sits? Can you take all the brompton ones and use the stock bolt? No idea.
And easy wheels... I thought this would be a slam dunk however the stock wheels are far lighter than most "upgrades". So I am wondering why people are changing them?
Then there are parts like clamps. I cannot find any that confirm they work with the neo carbon, I can find one that says java neo but specifically says it won't work with the carbon. No idea why. What is the difference between the brompton clamps and the java?
So any Java neo owners, especially carbon owners, what are your mods?
For me:
Odin 20inch carbon trispoke wheels for java neo: Fine but right now there are lighter ones (in the 700g range vs the 1kg range of the Odin and other wheels) called neo.. something, can't remember. I think I would buy them instead.
Swissstop 140mm disc rotors: Just because imo swissstop brakes are the hands down best. But I bet heavier.
Zrace brake calipers: The ones that come stock on the carbon models are the zrace, non branded. I paid for a change of color basically.
Kyrex pedals: Just far, far lighter if you don't mind the tiny size.
Crybrei cranks: Light and excellent quality, but I think there are lighter and cheaper (like half the price) carbon cranks on aliexpress. And you need to take apart the bottom bracket to remove spacers to fit normal length spindle cranks.
Rotor 52T chainring: Just for compatibility with new cranks and also a little bigger than the stock 50t meaning I lose a little bit of climbing ability for a little more speed.
Pro Stealth saddle (the seatpost clamp is fine with oval rails): Lighter than the surprisingly comfortable stock saddle. I also tried two Ryet saddles, the first one was 3d printed but was as hard as a rock, the second super soft till you hit the rock hard carbon below, both uncomfortable.
Chainring bolts: I would leave these till last in my upgrades but the stock Cybrei bolts would not tighten, I bought like 4 sets in order to find one that tightened correctly (will depend on your cranks and chainring).
Out front mounts: Basically impossible to install correctly on the Java Neo. You are limited to the ones that attach via a round clamp, the stock bar tapers from one diameter to another, so you need to clamp on a slope. This causes your bike gps and light to be at an angle. That is IF you can get it to clamp at all, which is very difficult. The stock bars are something like 28.6 at the clamp and narrows to around 22.2mm. As far as I can tell exactly zero bike gps mounts support this (they are all 31.8mm). You can make it work with rubber inserts and squeezing them into submission, but your mount is still going to be skewed which will totally defeat the purpose of things like stvzo lights.
Converting to drop bars:..
So I want a more stretched out and lower riding position. Drop bars can get me there. But almost all drop bars are 31.8mm in diameter and that java neo clamp is 28.6... Cant put a larger thing in a smaller hole.
I have the one single 25.4mm drop bar in existence as far as I can tell. And I have a shim that takes that 25.4 up to 28.6. So I can make that work. But its about 200g where as the bar I have on my other minivelo is around 120g. Not happy but beggars and choosers and all..
Also have wheeltop levers on the way which will replace the deca brake levers and wheeltop shifter. These together with bar tape I assume is going to add a ton of weight to the bike unfortunately.
So I am an idiot. I "upgraded" the brakes just assuming they were heavy rubbish. Turns out I have shiny new brakes sitting right next to me that are identical to the ones installed. Man I was hoping for a better feel and some weight saving...
Oh well, at least there is one more item on the spec sheet I can tick off as Java sure won't tell anyone.
I am continuing to add the parts to the bike that I ordered before the bike even arrived.
See the Cybrei cranks on the second pic... Well that is a normal road bike crankset with a 24mm diameter, 92mm length axle that I assumed was a standard Shimano Hollowtech II, or rather I thought the Neo was using a normal road BB. But when I took the stock crankset off (Cranks, rotor, pedals: 1106g) I realised the BB width was huge, I could not tighten the bolt on the Cybrei cranks enough, the spindle was not long enough. I was sure I wasted a ton of cash on cranks I could not use. But as a last resort I wondered about the BB standard and took it out... To my surprise there are 7mm of spacers in there! Remove the three spacers, cranks fit! So to others out there, I am not sure about all Java bikes, no idea about all Neo's even but before wondering what cranks fit, remove your BB and confirm what you actually have to work with.
So Cybrei cranks, Rotor chainring and KCNC Kyrex pedals along with a seat I have laying around added.
Total weight now is: 7.89kg.
I want any suggestions for light weight basically anything I haven't touched. Bolt kits, latches, the rear suspension etc. I am deeply looking into a drop bar conversion also, I already have a 25.4mm drop bar on order, i'll try shims to get it to clamp in the I think 28.6mm clamp. But the drop bar conversion will add weight, might have to go insane replacing kind of everything brakes and all to make up for it.
If I can still have the fat tyres, drop bars and maybe a rack while still being under 8kg that will be ideal. It's the dream.
I was completely confused buying my latest bike, it has "wheeltop EDS" which is as far as the specs say. Most people say it's TX, yet it also comes stock with a 40T which the TX doesnt support.
Upon connecting to the embarrassingly bad Wheeltop app, it shows up as a TXF derailleur... I can't find any mention of it anywhere and zero specs for it. Ideally I need to know the max cassette it supports. Anyone know anything?
There is some amazing things coming out of China right now, but OMG they do not know how to market or do basic communication.
So I ordered this a long time ago, got it delivered today. First pic is with new wheels, tyres and rotors. Second pic is stock, 3rd pic is my Canyon Grail and forth my Tyrell CSI, just for perspective on my comparisons.
So... Stock.. Its fine but coming from my other bikes it needs work. First off I run out of gears just getting out of my street (low top end speed). The brakes require half the lever travel to do anything but then bite hard. Lots of stopping force but all of it in like 20% of the travel. The stock pedals barely spin, the rear suspension block clanks metal against metal if you get air or lift the bike and the reach from where I sit to the bars is far too short. For perspective I am only around 166cm tall, but I want about 5cm more reach. I want to add drop bars but finding compatible ones will be tricky due to the small clamping diameter of the stem (was going to measure it but I seem to have sabotaged my own calipers). And on that none of my mounting gear I use on my Grail or Tyrell work as the bar diameter is too small, need a specific out front mount or shims/something.
The Wheeltop EDS is fine. Coming from the wireless Sram Eagle honestly its fine. I do have issues shifting however I have not tried to fine tune it yet as I will replace the cranks and rotor soon. It seems like once I dial it in a little for 1x SRAM vs the EDS is more or less the same thing, except my SRAM Eagle supports a 52T on the back...
Stock the bike is 8.87kg. With the new Odin wheels, Continental Contact Urban 405 50mm and SwissStop 140mm rotors its 8.55kg.
I still have Cybrei cranks, rotor chainring (52T, might need to by something like a 56 given my first impression), Kyrex pedals and a carbon saddle to put on, which I haven't bothered with till I buy a hollowtech 2 tool which I didn't realise I needed to remove the stock cranks.
I plan to make a video on this but I will give my initial impressions here first. Oh, almost forgot, the stock rear hub is crazy loud. Embarrassingly loud.
I have 3 1x bikes, two with Dura-Ace mech and one SRAM Eagle AXS, no issues with any. Can do what I want with gears backpedaling or whatever. However I have just got another bike, this time with Wheeltop EDS and look here: https://youtu.be/KDuybnQ3iYs?t=121
That sign says I cannot backpedal in specific gears... Googling people say the chain drops, which I experienced one time 10 years ago with 1x but never again. So can anyone think of what the specific issue would be on this bike? I cannot get my head around my two 11s and one 12s setup not having the issue but this bike having it from factory.
Hoping its something I can sort out on my end, I already have a rotor chainring narrow wide waiting, wonder if I need a different cassette?
I know there are differences in the attachment of the front block between bikes, but the attachment from block to bag.. is that basically a standard? If I have say a java neo 3, can I buy brompton bags and have them clip in fine?
I was looking for wireless ANC IEMs with wind noise cancelling because cycling in traffic is stupid loud and it's a myth you are safer "hearing" traffic as you just cant in a super loud city with EVs and having radar alerts through the phone is ideal.
I have used Sony XM4s which have a great wind mode but they have removed it all newer models. There doesn't seem to be a replacement on the market at all. So aside from buying another pair of XM4 (my current ones are super old and the battery finally failed, replacing it I gave up on) I thought.. wired IEMs with isolation?..
So factor no1 I am looking for is noise isolation, especially in wind (reviews mentioning this are near impossible to find). Factor 2 is sound, and I love bass especially as I listen at low volumes and for the sound to be "flat" at low volumes bass needs to be boosted, look it up. I'll drive it from my Xperia 1 VII which should be fine for just about anything.
I have been out of the wired IEM market for like a decade... what should I be looking at? Budget is... open.
