This may be too niche a need for most people, but the Ottolock has worked perfectly in the manner I have used it. I bought the lock to carry on longer training rides this winter, while I was in Italy (90 days). Not living here full time, I have often felt nervous in the past, when I made these stops. I felt like my head was on a swivel when I did stop, always anxious about my bike�s security. Now I feel assured that my bike will still be there when I�m ready to ride again. I really like the weight � I have not noticed it in a jersey pocket when riding � it�s surprisingly light. The lock is quick to secure the bike, and quick to go back in a pocket to resume my ride. I wouldn't use this type of lock to secure the bike for long periods of time, but for a coffee break or run into the store for some Haribo, it has been exactly what I was looking for.
To preface, I've started measuring my wax intervals by ride time instead of distance since I ride mixed surfaces, and dirt is slower. Aside from mud and wet, I've been finding that road vs dirt ride time between rewaxing tends to be close, while distance is not.
That said, the EnduranceChip definitely works, and I am getting at least 50% more ride time before I start to hear the little chirps my chain makes when it's about time to rewax. I'll consider adding more endurance additive for some upcoming long bikepacking trips! The only downside I see is that I may want multiple pots for multiple wax blends. Or I'll just have to go all-in on the endurance blend, since the efficiency loss is not an issue for me in my riding.
I have a couple of things to share after using this pump 3-4 times a week for almost a year. The biggest learning I had was to pump a tire to pressure and then close the tank/chamber valve before disconnecting the pump head from the valve stem. The disconnect and sealing of the Presta valve is fairly instantaneous instead of leaking off. Plus, there is less pumping to get to pressure for the next tire. Topeak should add this to user instructions for less savvy people like me. I have left the reserve chamber at pressure for multiple days without significant leakage and dropping in pressure. Its pressure gauge is easy to read and its accuracy matches my Topeak expensive digital pressure gauge. The pump head also fits Shrader valves nicely and without having to disassemble and reassemble the pump head like some other pump heads. The build quality is excellent. I can�t think of anything I would change on it. I hope it lasts as long as the 25 year old and still going Avenir pump I gave to my son.
As part of getting a killer deal on a new bike, I decided to spend some of my savings on the Silca chain waxing system and convert several bikes to wax. Yes, even with the Silca system on sale you can probably cobble together a Rube Goldberg solution out of a cheap slow cooker and other bits and pieces. But why try so hard to save $20 or $30? If you're looking at wax as an alternative to conventional lubes, you're probably already spending many multiples of the potential savings on other bike stuff. Don't cheap-out now. The Silca Chain Waxing System is complete and highly functional, and the wax pot comes with a digital control/thermostat so you can truly control the temperature of your wax. A cheap slow cooker isn't going to have that.
I'm delighted to no longer be dealing with dirty drivetrains. I pack and travel with a bike a few times a year and it will be a lot easier when I no longer need to clean/cover the drivetrain each time. Performance is good -- the newly waxed chains are quiet and work well after a brief ride to loosen them up.
My only regret is using the strip clip. No question about it, the strip clip does indeed work great on a factory-greased chain. But if you're converting an existing bike, you'll want to do a deep clean of the entire drivetrain and IMHO the easiest part of a drivetrain deep clean is stripping/scrubbing the chain. And this could just be the type of conventional lube I had been using, but the strip clip didn't work at all for an existing chain that I converted. I needed to start over and conventionally strip/scrub the chain because when I skipped that step it ended up being a gloppy mess.
