wrenching

[dc]S[/dc]ince the weather became nice enough to start using tubular wheels again, the eternal frustration with valve extenders has become yet again apparent.  Adding to the frustration is the fact that I'm a devout user of the Lezyne Alloy Floor Drive pump (which screws on to both presta and schrader valve stems) and that just doesn't work with a non-threaded valve extender.

And let's face it…that old Park floor pump I have in the garage is a piece of junk at best.

Enter the machined aluminum, laser etched beauty that is the Lezyne alloy 70mm valve extender.  With a presta threaded top on it, wrench flats to ensure proper torque on the stock valve and a little baggie (I do mean little, it almost requires tweezers to open and I have fairly thin fingers) full of o-rings to make a perfect airtight seal, these things are more than worth the fifteen bucks that I paid for them.

As well as looking awesome, they function extremely well (at least as well as a piece as simple as a valve extender can.)  They threaded presta cap means you can use the awesome screw on Lezyne pump or you can use any standard pump you want, making life infinitely easier.

The biggest downside to these extenders is that they screw onto the top of the existing valve stem and merely provide a conduit for air to get from the pump head to the valve.  I'd prefer if the extender actually moved the valve parts out to the end of the valve extender, much like the ENVE extenders do.  The issue with these extenders is simply that in order to access the valve (to open or close it, or to remove it to spray in Stans or anything similar) you have to remove the valve extender, and it may still be impossible to access the valve stem anyway (otherwise you wouldn't be using extenders.)  That aside, I've had no issues with them, especially as they relate to the Lezyne Floor Drive pump.

The only other thing one could wish for was stealth black with the sweet laser etched “Lezyne” logo on it.  But the polished silver certainly looks the part.

$14.99

Lezyne.com

[dc]I[/dc]t all starts with some spy photos: blacked out parts, blurry shots of cyclocross races, SRAM team guys with suspicious shift levers and cranksets.  Then SRAM made a splash early last year by redesigning their flagship group and releasing it just prior to the spring classics.  They have marketed their new group as the best mechanical group on the market, making waves about Boonen winning Flanders and Roubaix on the new gear and have Hammered the media with their successes.

But how is it, really?

Some of you may have gathered that I'm something of a SRAM fanboy, and having ridden SRAM for the past 5 years (starting with the old original Force which is still kicking on my cyclocross bike) I wanted to do this methodically, piece by piece.  I've started with the shifters, as they're the most important part of the group (in my opinion) and will compare them to the old model Red shifters that they have replaced.

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