Road Bike Accessories

The session is nice but buying them in Taiwan isn’t a good deal. You can even order from gopro.com and get it cheaper (even after duties) than you can buy locally. I just ordered one in the US (will have to pick it up next time I’m back) for $199.99 with free shipping, a 32GB sd card, and a drawstring backpack through a promotion they have/had.

In the meantime, I picked up an SJcam M20 for about 3500NT which is better in some ways than the SJ5000 which is the current best available. It’s got a screen, Sony image sensor, waterproof housing, swappable battery, tons of attachments, and takes 16mp still images. The timelapse feature is especially fun for sunsets or city stuff. Just watch some comparison youtube videos. You could also consider the Xiaomi Yi but I found it’s image quality to be inferior.

Oh and whatever you do, stay away from the HTC RE. Had one, died the second time it saw water (less than 1M). HTC warranties are completely useless because they will find a way to blame you no matter what…

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked at the SJCAM brands and the M10 has peaked my interest. See you fellow riders on the road.

So my rear light as seen its last days. All the kicking of gravel into the little socket between the battery cover and the unit have done its toll. I think I’ll go with USB this time around.

Currently looking at INFINI lights, but won’t rule out any other brands.

Only requirement are that it’s flush to the seat post and has at least on-going light or blinking feature.

You guys have any other suggestions?

Ranlee.

I have the Infini LAVA I-260 (front & rear) that came with my bike. These are slick lights and emit about 80 lumens (in layman’s term, bright enough for Taiwan). They have multiple functions (blinking). They charge up quickly, but I’ve noticed the front light runs out of battery after about an hour’s ride. I’ve had these for about 1.5 years and use them 2-3x a week, so maybe the charge is running out. Let us know what you decide on.

I have leyzene hecto which is ok, but side visibility is not so good imo. Moon lights are very good too apparently, their large emitter area makes it easier for traffic to judge distance.
Try and find something with a low setting so you don’t blind cyclists when they’re behind you on group rides.

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Thanks for your input guys.

I do like the Infini LAVA, one of the guys I ride with has one and it has some pretty cool features. I just don’t like how it’s not flush to the seat post. I went to the store to see if I could test out the features and brightness, but shop was out of them!

I ended up taking a look at the Infini Sword, which is more of my liking since I prefer the aero wedge type rear light, but holy that thing is bright. At 50 lumines and 30 special type LEDs, it’s almost too bright and was blinding me. Probably more suited for those wanting to ride in the moonlight or late night downhill mtn bikers.

I ended up going with the INFINI Sword (I-462-R1) USB version for around 750NT.

At first, I didn’t like how bulky it was, but found out that it is much brighter than my old busted Topeak Aerolite. It’s a keeper.

Hey guys! Running my tires harder this days and my current Giant Lumen light is falling off because of vibrations. I am looking into a new front and back light and don’t see any really great options here so I was looking online. I started looking into the Garmin Varia lights and like the idea that the front light mounts on a Garmin mount. I also was looking at the radar tail light and could see it being nice up in the mountains. Now the big drawback is the price, and while I have read a lot of reviews all seem mixed in that the front light is too big and heavy and the radar tail light is overpriced for what it does. So I was wondering if any of you had tried either of them out, or if not have a good recommendation for a front light that mounts more firmly and works good. I ride at night a lot, and one roads in the mountains that are often bumpy so I want something that is good and bright. Thanks for any advice!

A buddy of mine had the same issue with his Giant Lumen when descending, he hit a bump on the road and it went flyinggg. Luckily, no one was hurt.

As for the Garmin Varia, personally, I think it’s overpriced for what it does. With its notifications telling you a car is coming, I think it’s geared towards more of a commuter or someone who does lots of touring and can get fatigued overtime and lose concentration while out riding. That’s just my opinion.

For back light, you can’t go wrong with an Topeak light that is aero/flush to your seat post. I can’t suggest a front light model to you, but I can suggest an alternative to your problem. If you’re familiar with the Gopro mount system, there are some brands that sell lights that are compatible on the gopro mount. This pretty much fixes the issue of your light ever falling off. I myself use the Giant Lumen+ HL2 for my front light, the battery life isn’t great, but it has never ever fallen off on me.

I use a hope vision 1 for night riding on the road, which is adequate for rides only a few hours long and has a very solid mount. Takes AAs so you can take spares, and you can set it to a lower power when there’s street lights.
I have some leyzene rear, I forget which one, but one of the bigger ones.

Thank you guys for the input! I’ll do some research on the options you guys suggested and check back if I find a good one to switch to. I’ll be holding off on the Garmin lights for sure because of price and also because I may be needing to get a new bike first!

Ranlee - makes sense on the radar system. I was thinking there are times up in the mountains where it would be nice to know to hug right when approaching blind corners, but I’m not sure if the radar would even pick up behind as those situations are usually too twisty anyways.

ShutUpLegs - My rear light is a Lezyne Zecto right now and I like it a lot, no problems with it other than the usb cover flap is a little annoying to seal after charging, but a small annoyance for how practical it is.

Bump: any ideas for which shop has the biggest selection of cycling shoes? I’m not looking for super high quality - I just want to try on a few different brands and compare fits. (Flap flap flap flap went the sole all the way home, after it detached itself from the heel at the midpoint of a ride … I must have looked absurd.)

I closed the thread, but you were able to reply. This is weird.

Anyways, you might have to make a few trips to different stores to try on different kinds of brands. Not many one stop shops for cycling shoes.

For Shimano, head over to your nearest Giant store. Shimano tend to be the best bang for your buck.

You can also consider Specialized, they have some budget friendly models too!

For others, you can try heading over to Stripe https://goo.gl/maps/fhbBDT9B7s62

Yeah, that was weird - my guess last night was that it was something else that had been closed or moved to temp. And I couldn’t find a newer thread on the same topic, so I added on to this one.

My nearest Giant store unfortunately has only three pairs of shoes in stock, and they’re only able to order to buy, not to try, so I’d rather not go with that option - I don’t want to buy shoes that I’ve never seen or tried on. The guy in that store recommended a Giant store behind Taipei Main Station - I think there’s one in Q-Mall? He understood that I was looking for a decent selection to try on. Basically I’m looking for the biggest “wall of [road] cycling shoes” that Taipei has to offer.

The Giant store in Nanjing east rd section 3 has (had?) a good selection of Shimano shoes, including some of the better ones. Very happy i have been with the R132 model.

tip: if you go for a carbon shoe for the stiffness, best to get a full carbon sole rather than the cheaper ones with a small carbon insert: much more comfort on long rides. and the R132 is not expensive at all for what you get.

I definitely agree you should try on cycling shoes. I’ve had friends who’ve worn Sidi/Shimano/Specialized and have bought different sizes for all three brands.

There’s also a Giant store in the new Sogo (Fuxing store) on the sports/rec floor.

Last time I was at Nanjing Giant, their shoe selection wasn’t that great, but that was about 3-4 months ago and they may have restocked?

Try the Merida shop in Neihu Google Maps

Pain in the ass to get to, but I can assure you there’s two walls of shoes you can choose from. They have HASA and Shimano.

Oh thanks, I’d forgotten about that Merida branch … although I’ll try that as perhaps a third option. I headed there a couple of years ago when shopping for a bicycle, but man, coming from Danshui, that place is back of beyond.

(When asking about bike accessory shopping, should I just start a new thread?)

Adding onto here is perfectly fine, it falls under the topic :smiley:

I know some guys at the Merida shop in Neihu and actually normally hang out there on the weekends after my rides, so if you’re heading there give me a PM and I can help with getting you the membership discount.

I completely forgot you were coming down from Danshui.

In that case, there’s some places in Tianmu or Shilin you can check out:

  • Sogo Tianmu also has a Giant store, not sure which floor.
  • Columbus Giant is also right across the street Google Maps
  • Right next to the Columbus Giant and across the street are bike shops too!

Follow-up for cycling shoes: Columbus Giant, in Tianmu, has far and away the best selection of the three places I checked today.

The Nanjing Giant had a pretty poor selection - maybe seven different shoes total? And apparently a tiny supply in the back - for the two left shoes I tried, they somehow didn’t have the right shoe. Nothing in my size and if I’d ordered I’d have had to wait a week.

The Giant on the third floor of Q-Square had a total of four different shoes on display.

The Tianmu Giant branch - Columbus Giant, I guess - had a much better selection: perhaps 30 different shoes on display. And that’s where I bought a pair.

And I had totally forgotten that I ride with mountain bike shoes and cleats, not road bike shoes! I hadn’t thought about the difference in a decade or so. Of course that made finding shoes slightly more difficult, but I still would have had to order if I’d gone with the Nanjing or Q-Square branches.

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