The Bike Geek

Review by Jeff Rossini from www.bikecommuters.com

A while back, Maggally over at pricepoint.com sent me a pair of Sette Elite Carbon road shoes. I have had a couple of months to test these shoes out in a day-to-day commuting environment, and some recreational road riding, and here is my verdict:

the Fit
The Sette Elite is a very comfortable shoe. The fit runs narrow like many road shoes, but the neoprene-esque tongue and “molded-heel cup” offer a snug, but not oppressive fit. The two velcro straps and upper ratcheting strap allow you to get a really customized fit to your foot without compromising the performance of the shoe. This is only the second pair of road bike shoes I have worn, the first being a simple 3-velcro strap shoe, and I must say that the ratchet strap is a really cool feature. I was a tad bit clumsy with it the first few times, but I got used to the ratchet very quickly. The Sette Elite ratchet strap has easy one-hand access which makes tightening or loosening the shoe a breeze.

the Durability
I used this shoe as my every day commuter for two months. While I was working on my commuter bike, I rode my Trek road bike to and from work every day - not the ideal commuting set-up to me, but it was the best I could do. Anyway, my road bike is set-up with Look style pedals so I needed a shoe that could accommodate Look cleats. Not only does the Sette Elite work with Look pedals, but it can also use SPD cleats. That’s pretty cool I think.

Anyway, these shoes were put through frequent starts and stops, walking across concrete parking lots and hallways. As you can see in the picture above, the wear placed on the bottom of the shoes was quite minimal - a sign of good durability to me. I was concerned about slipping on the carpet or smooth concrete I had to walk across between the door to my building and the locker rooms, but there are some neat padded tabs on the toe and heel of the shoe. These prevent the slick carbon surface from making direct contact with the shoe.

One drawback of these tabs is that the one in the front can end up being quite close to the front of the cleat, making it a bit difficult to position the cleat into the pedal. This tended to be a hassle with the number of stop lights I encounter on my commute, but gets easier with practice.

The straps still feel as sturdy as the day I first put the shoes on, so I am confident that the closure system will stand the test of time quite well - a nice perk given the fate of my first pair of road shoes.

the Performance
A lot of roadies swear by carbon. Maybe it’s because I haven’t made my fortune yet and cannot normally afford lots of carbon for my bikes and gear, but I have never understood the need for a material that is exponentially more expensive compared to the performance advantages it provides. For a bike commuter, carbon-soled shoes are by no means necessary. In my daily riding, I did not feel that the stiffer shoe sole provided any greater efficiency in my pedal stroke. I used this shoe on a few recreational rides too, and still did not feel that I noticed any performance gains over my old shoes.

However, if you are in the market to buy a new pair of road shoes because the most important velcro strap broke off of your old pair, then I would consider the Sette Elite. For $110 at pricepoint.com, this shoe is not too much more expensive than a regular non-carbon-soled shoe, which makes it a potentially practical buy for the weekend warriors out there. The perceived durability of this shoe seems that it would be worth the extra cash - especially if you don’t have to worry about being stranded with an impotent shoe as you leave to ride home. Ok, yes, I had a bad experience with my old shoes and I am still bitter…oh well.

Again, all-in-all I was impressed and pleased with the Sette Elite Carbon shoe. It won’t get you to the Alp d’Huez next summer, but it certainly gives you a great fit and solid durability, and a decent entry-level price for a higher-performance shoe.

If you are curious about Sette as a product-line, check out their website at www.setteusa.com. They seem to have a solid understanding of recreational cycling, with a mission of bringing high-quality products to the consumer for the lowest cost possible. As with most smaller companies, you don’t end up paying extra money for a label or expensive marketing in Bicycling magazine.

Picture from the COAFunride website, yes, that’s me on the left hand side.

The City of Angels ride is one of my favorite rides. I get to ride through the streets of Los Angeles with a motorcade! Last year I joined the slow group, it was a little too slow for me, this year I’m planning on joining the ‘advanced’ group. It looks like KHS bicycles will be sponsoring the ride again, they gave away 2 or 3 bikes last year. I highly recommend this ride for intermediate riders, advanced riders will find it a little boring and beginner riders will find it harder than the LA Marathon.

Click here for more information on the City of Angels Ride.

Looks like “Rat Rod Bike Fever” is spreading. Moe got this handsome and wicked-looking new bike the other day, and I spent a couple pleasant afternoons in my backyard last week prepping a pair of bikes with my homie Rae from down the street. Unbeknownst to any of us (including himself, I think), Rae rocks a serious talent for creating some really sharp rides out of junky old bikes!

If you’re not familiar with the concept of “rat rods”, let me do a bit of explaining: during the initial hot rod craze post-WWII, a lot of servicemen came home flush with some extra cash and some free time on their hands. Quite a few of them (particularly in the beach communities in So. Cal) decided to try their hands at making fast cars out of old junkers. The idea back then was not to make them “show quality”, necessarily…no polished chrome or fancy paint jobs were required. The cars just had to make a crapload of power and be super-fast for streetracing purposes.

The same goes for rat rod bikes: they don’t have to look pretty and fancy, they just have to be “cool” (and they’ve got to work, too)…for kids and adults with time and talent on their hands but not a lot of “prettying up” money. You know, the types of kids who like to play Bike Derby, drink cheap beer, maybe do a little fighting, starting out-of-control bonfires from old couches and listening to punk rock. In other words, my kind of people!!! Salvaged pawnshop bikes are ideal for this type of “conversion”.

In the below picture, Rae is polishing up a vintage Schwinn “cloverleaf” chainwheel to slap onto a 1952 Schwinn (we think it is a Suburban or similar Schwinn model, but we aren’t sure. It was in BAD shape when Rae found it). Just to his right is a crapped-out old Roadmaster awaiting some serious wrench and blowtorch work:

The classic paint scheme for a rat rod bike is satin or flat black (or no paint at all — natural corrosion is actually a pretty sweet look) with red and white and a couple of chrome accents. This picture embodies the true spirit of a rat rod conversion…you don’t mask anything or even sand it all that well. You just lay on the paint and go!

Here’s a photo of that vintage Schwinn…Rae found NOS glitter grips in red to put on there, and it really makes the bike look like a hardened ex-con with a heart of gold. Or something:

If you’re interested in such a conversion…an old beach cruiser floating around in your Grandma’s garage, a neighbor with a bunch of yard-sale beaters, etc…and you don’t have a lot of cash yet want to do some wild customizing, here’s a great source for parts: BicycleDesigner.com.

And if you want to look at some TRULY AMAZING homebrewed creations from some incredibly talented folks, check out the forums at Rat Rod Bikes.

Have fun out there letting your creative spirit go wild!

Not really a cycling related product per se, but definitely a tool that will enable me to write my posts from anywhere where there is WiFi available.

How small is the Eee? Check out the pc next to the Grips that we are giving away at MtnBikeRiders.com

The Eee should be perfect for Sea Otter and other events and at $299, it’s a bargain.

I’ve been dealing with my knee pain for quite awhile. I went to physical therapy, but the pain remains at the end of some rides. One of my bike racing buddies attributes my pain to improper bike fit. Since I’m always switching bikes, I can’t afford to have a bike fitting for every single bike that I own. I saw the ad of The Bike Fitting Kit on a major magazine, so I decided to buy it.

I opened the box to see the contents, and so far, I’m not really impressed with it. The instructions look a lot like a photocopy of so-so quality, and some of the items look like they came from a 99 cent store. I will try to do a fit on two particular bikes that cause my knee to swell, I hope that my knee pain goes away with the use of this kit. I’ll do a post on that later on.

I’m the type of person that can’t leave bicycles stock. I always like to add my personal ‘touch’ to them. This time, my Manhattan Vendetta was my new victim:

I added some Ape hanger bars, skull grips and skull stem valve covers. Needless to say, it is not stock anymore! I can’t wait to ride it again this Sunday.

It was an awesome day in Southern California, so we met some good friends of ours at El Dorado Park for some cruisin’. I recently acquired a Manhattan Vendetta, a beach cruiser with a little attitude.

One of my ‘resolutions’ is to spend more time riding with my family. Riding a beach cruiser is definitely different, it’s heavy, slow, and it has a coaster brake… I love it.

Check out this kit, it has “2 4X4 Reliamed ® beveled edge hydrocolloid dressings” to help you heal faster. Read more about it here.

Are you looking for bicycle laws for your State? Check out my new web app at bikecommuters.com by clicking here.

Priscilla wrote a review of this Gym quality Spin Bike. Click here to read her review.