Update time:
Fathers day last year I got some got some new riding glasses. Oakley Sutro with Trail prizm lenses (I think they are 5% tint vs the road prizm which are 15% tint). Just the slight level of contrast these give is fantastic. The only issue I have is that the helmet sometimes hits the top of the glasses frame. But I just move them forward slight and otherwise I highly recommend.
For Christmas I got myself some new freerider pros off wiggle for $165 in size 10 which was the first time I have bought anything from there in years.
Just before Christmas I got 9 stitches in the back of my leg from my flat pedal pins which struggled to heal and got infected twice so I didn’t get to ride or even swim for the whole holiday period which was super frustrating. Still found some skin in the old pedals 6 weeks later.
Shimano Troubles
I don’t think ebikes need 12 speed let alone a 52t so I had switched out to a 45t cassette (42t would be more than enough for me). However, for a couple of months leading up to Christmas I found that it was shifting terribly. I cleaned and lubed everything, memorised the setup instructions to the T, watched heaps of setup vids, bought 2 new chains, cleaned the clutch, bought a new 52t cassette, replaced the cable, and checked my hanger. Nothing could get it right.
The next step was to replace the derailleur. When I took it off though, I could see a groove in the ferrule in the end of the derailleur hanger (pic below). I pushed it out, turned it 180 degrees, then pushed it back in. Shifting then worked great again. It turns out Shimano had stopped recommending using the 45t cassette with the SGS derailleur and now it’s only the GS.
A week later I bought AXS.
It is incredible and the technology is amazing. While it easily has the world’s worst written setup instructions (It says “step 1” in 5 different spots on the one sheet ). Watching other peoples youtube videos made setup and tuning super easy. Removing the cables looks super neat. Haven’t had SRAM before and so absolutely loved locking out the derailleur to change the chain. The only issue is the stock shifter was crap and super awkward to operate so I switched to the replacement rocker one and it is 1000 times better.
Replaced my old deity’s pedals with the same ones. While I was very impressed with the Super Deluxe Megneg I just bought a bomber CR coil to have a test of just because I can. I've never ridden coil rear so super keen to see how it goes.