Pedal recommendation for newbie

Hi Sean. From your comment, I assume that you were aiming to reduce the cost of buying a beginner's road bicycle by safely buying the Imola. My biased advice for you is to continue to save by buying pedals with toe straps until you are much more serious about going at a fast speed. Cons: Buying clipless pedals will require clipless shoes. So consider the price for both the pedals and shoes before you commit to buying them. Otherwise, the pedals with straps will suffice your everyday need, including a competition. Pros: There is however a good side to having clipless pedals. It's much lighter and you will have more control riding your bike. You probably won't have to buy another pair of bicycle shoes too. (I am super frugal as I am a college student).

Added 06.27.12

Swapping Shimano FD 2303 with either Shimano 105, Tiagra, or Ultegra triple 52x42x30t.   Or would the Shimano Sora Triple be my only option?

Posted 07.10.12

Genius Build...   In my opinion it isn't. Most LBS will do it for you for a lesser price. Most of them will also offer to tweak your bike should it not function the way you want it to in 1-3 weeks. You can read my reviews for more info.

Posted 07.08.12

Saddle angle/tilt   Hello, how do I go about adjusting the saddle angle/tilt on this imola? Is it made to be permanent at that angle? Thnx

Posted 08.05.12

Swapping Shimano FD 2303 with either Shimano 105, Tiagra, or Ultegra triple 52x42x30t.   Hello Nerd Family I'm not enjoying my FD2303 because it rattles in low gear and it keeps derailing. I am wanting to know if the SunraceR80 will be compatible with Shimano 105, Tiagra, or Ultegra front derailleurs for triple crank so that I may switch them out. Would this work if I find ones that follow the 52x42x30t? Thanks

Posted 07.10.12

The Tommaso Imola + Sun Race R80 + FD 2303 derailleur + Wheel frame.

I Received the Imola without Carbon Fiber 5 days ago and have finally had the chance to put the bike together and bring it to a Local Bike shop for finishing touches and for them to inspect everything I did. Shimano FD 2303 derailleur + Imola frame When I was putting the bike together and "fine-tuning" the bike itself, I noticed that the Shimano FD 2303 would not move closer to the seat tube than it's intended use. Therefore, in the lowest gear (closest to me), the chain would rattle against the derailleur. This was super annoying because I like for my chain to me quiet and I could not fix it so therefore, I felt that it was outside of my control. My LBS worked on it and he could not solve the problem too. He told me that this is as far as my derailleur could go and therefore, the chain will rattle when I'm in the lowest gear. But he did tell me that this isn't so bad because some racers set the front derailleur's lowest gear to rattle so they could get out of the gear faster + the chain will never fall off. Sun Race R80 shifter: -This shifter is okay for the overall price of the bike. It's a good beginner's shifter. One thing I don't like about the shifter is when I press on the brakes, my shifter is exposed on the inside. It would be nice had Sun Race made the brake+shifter not so revealing. The shifter also has no indications of what gear you're in, which kind of sucks because the shimano Sora (this shifter was listed on the actual Tommaso website) does have indicators for this. Wheel Frame My wheels were both so out of tune that I had to get my LBS to tune them for me ($20), which he charged me $10 per wheel; however, the back wheel was SOOOO out of tune, he told me that to do a proper and complete job, he needed to keep the bike overnight so that he can take off the back wheel, cassette, tire and tire tube to properly adjust the wheel. He told me that this wheel was probably machine built and therefore, it will never be as straight as if someone did it by hand. He was generous and offered to charge me another $10 dollars on top of my already $20 truing total to do all of this. I did not jump on the bandwagon right away and he recommended that I go ahead and ride my bike to see if I feel a difference, and if I do, then bring it back and the offer will still stand. Overall: Tommaso Imola Other than the FD 2303 and the Sunrace R80 shifter, and the rear wheel, the bike overall is pretty good for the value. The aluminum frame looks nice with a nice mature colors. The wheels are overall light. I was very impressed with how light the handle bar was. I'm also impressed with the design of the seat, they feel relatively soft. It's a pretty bike and it's probably one of the best beginner bikes with good beginning technology for under $500. p.s. (1): get your bike w/o genius build and go to your LBS store to get it tuned + trued. You'll have to do this anyways. but the convenience of getting to know your LBS people will really pay off. p.s. (2): I wrote the prices on both of my reviews so that you may have a reference to work with. Some of the adjustments etc really does not take long and if you find a good LBS store that is passionate about bicycling and not just money, then you will get a good deal! p.s. (3): the LBS store that I went to is a JAMIS Bicycles distributor. Last Recommendation: if you're an intermediate rider, go ahead and get the Tommaso Monza. It has all the necessary components that you would want in order to ride competitively in a competition. If I had the extra $300 to put out, I would definitely have gotten that bike.

Posted 07.01.12

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Saddle angle/tilt   Hello, how do I go about adjusting the saddle angle/tilt on this imola? Is it made to be permanent at that angle? Thnx

Posted 08.05.12

Swapping Shimano FD 2303 with either Shimano 105, Tiagra, or Ultegra triple 52x42x30t.   Or would the Shimano Sora Triple be my only option?

Posted 07.10.12

Genius Build...   In my opinion it isn't. Most LBS will do it for you for a lesser price. Most of them will also offer to tweak your bike should it not function the way you want it to in 1-3 weeks. You can read my reviews for more info.

Posted 07.08.12

The Tommaso Imola + Sun Race R80 + FD 2303 derailleur + Wheel frame.

I Received the Imola without Carbon Fiber 5 days ago and have finally had the chance to put the bike together and bring it to a Local Bike shop for finishing touches and for them to inspect everything I did. Shimano FD 2303 derailleur + Imola frame When I was putting the bike together and "fine-tuning" the bike itself, I noticed that the Shimano FD 2303 would not move closer to the seat tube than it's intended use. Therefore, in the lowest gear (closest to me), the chain would rattle against the derailleur. This was super annoying because I like for my chain to me quiet and I could not fix it so therefore, I felt that it was outside of my control. My LBS worked on it and he could not solve the problem too. He told me that this is as far as my derailleur could go and therefore, the chain will rattle when I'm in the lowest gear. But he did tell me that this isn't so bad because some racers set the front derailleur's lowest gear to rattle so they could get out of the gear faster + the chain will never fall off. Sun Race R80 shifter: -This shifter is okay for the overall price of the bike. It's a good beginner's shifter. One thing I don't like about the shifter is when I press on the brakes, my shifter is exposed on the inside. It would be nice had Sun Race made the brake+shifter not so revealing. The shifter also has no indications of what gear you're in, which kind of sucks because the shimano Sora (this shifter was listed on the actual Tommaso website) does have indicators for this. Wheel Frame My wheels were both so out of tune that I had to get my LBS to tune them for me ($20), which he charged me $10 per wheel; however, the back wheel was SOOOO out of tune, he told me that to do a proper and complete job, he needed to keep the bike overnight so that he can take off the back wheel, cassette, tire and tire tube to properly adjust the wheel. He told me that this wheel was probably machine built and therefore, it will never be as straight as if someone did it by hand. He was generous and offered to charge me another $10 dollars on top of my already $20 truing total to do all of this. I did not jump on the bandwagon right away and he recommended that I go ahead and ride my bike to see if I feel a difference, and if I do, then bring it back and the offer will still stand. Overall: Tommaso Imola Other than the FD 2303 and the Sunrace R80 shifter, and the rear wheel, the bike overall is pretty good for the value. The aluminum frame looks nice with a nice mature colors. The wheels are overall light. I was very impressed with how light the handle bar was. I'm also impressed with the design of the seat, they feel relatively soft. It's a pretty bike and it's probably one of the best beginner bikes with good beginning technology for under $500. p.s. (1): get your bike w/o genius build and go to your LBS store to get it tuned + trued. You'll have to do this anyways. but the convenience of getting to know your LBS people will really pay off. p.s. (2): I wrote the prices on both of my reviews so that you may have a reference to work with. Some of the adjustments etc really does not take long and if you find a good LBS store that is passionate about bicycling and not just money, then you will get a good deal! p.s. (3): the LBS store that I went to is a JAMIS Bicycles distributor. Last Recommendation: if you're an intermediate rider, go ahead and get the Tommaso Monza. It has all the necessary components that you would want in order to ride competitively in a competition. If I had the extra $300 to put out, I would definitely have gotten that bike.

Posted 07.01.12

Pedal recommendation for newbie

Hi Sean. From your comment, I assume that you were aiming to reduce the cost of buying a beginner's road bicycle by safely buying the Imola. My biased advice for you is to continue to save by buying pedals with toe straps until you are much more serious about going at a fast speed. Cons: Buying clipless pedals will require clipless shoes. So consider the price for both the pedals and shoes before you commit to buying them. Otherwise, the pedals with straps will suffice your everyday need, including a competition. Pros: There is however a good side to having clipless pedals. It's much lighter and you will have more control riding your bike. You probably won't have to buy another pair of bicycle shoes too. (I am super frugal as I am a college student).

Added 06.27.12

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