Want List 2021-22

I’ve already got world peace, health and happiness. So what more could be on that age-old Christmas List? I’ve had some thoughts for this year and I’m struggling to think about what I either want or need. So long as Santa sanitises his hands before handing over my bag of goodies I ‘ll be happy.

Further below I’ve re-posted my 2017 Christmas list as a retrospective to see what kit I eventually managed to get hold of.

Back to this Christmas…

• Indoor Trainer – This year’s slew of new indoor bike trainers obviously failed to materialise. My Kickr ’17 is a little long in the tooth but perfectly fine. I don’t use it that much if I’m honest and don’t know if I should upgrade to the 2022 version. I probably will try a Kickr Core just because, well, why not?
• Shimano Semi-wireless Di2 – this will hopefully be a mini-project sometime in 2022, coinciding with an R9200p. Do I really care about LR power balance?…nope.
• A dual-sided STRYD running power meter. Hmmm maybe. but having just said I’m not fussed about dual-sided bike power I feel a tad self-hypocritical 😉
• Bikes – I have a Cervelo P5 and R5 so I really can’t complain. I love collecting watches and bike computers and seem to always want to complete the set. Thus it seems rude not to aspire to a Cervelo S5 to complete the Cervelo set. The S5 and R5 are essentially the same for a rider like me, if I just get my existing handlebars a bit lower on the R5 then I’ll probably go as fast as my cycling buddy who has an S5. (P5=TT, R5=Hills. S5=Aero).I vaguely recall some new pro Shimano aero handlebars with sweet internal cable routing, I might go for something like that combined with semi-wireless Di2.
• My P5 is a beautiful bike and I love to ride it and I love to look at it. However I really, really, really don’t like to fix or adjust anything on it. It’s a complete PITA on that front. Even the hydraulic rim brakes (yep, really) sound awesome but they are not self-adjusting…#Sigh, hydraulic?!?!?!?!?. That’s just the start of the DIY maintenance annoyances with the P5, some of the others are far more serious. A new model P5 is out of my budget and I think it would require me moving to disc brakes, which would involve a complete sale and replacement of all my frames and wheels.
• Running Shoes – I’m loving SOME of the carbon race shoes I’ve tried this year. They really can make you faster. I’ve not tried either the Nike AirFly or the adidas Prime X. I have already bought the latter and given it to my significant other to give back to me in a few weeks time! #Excited. Review to follow
• Garmin Fenix 7 – Yep it really is happening in January and is already being tested by various sponsored athletes and ambassadors. I want one and I’m going to get one. I might buy the Epix model (7X), I might not.
• Next Gen Garmin Edge –  Yep, be it a 1040 or a 540 or an 840, I’m easy about whichever first gets on my handlebars.
• Dura-Ace/Ultegra – I need to swap out all my remaining Ultegra bits for the latest Dura-Ace 9200 ones. I contemplated a move to 12-speed but that’s not going to happen
• A smaller Garmin Enduro that works – I was initially very excited by the Enduro which omitted all the non-running gumf like Music and maps. It was the large size and I’d have preferred a smaller, medium-sized one but the biggest problems I had with Enduro at launch were usability related. I guess those problems are fixed now. So all Garmin has to do is make a smaller one and then I could use it as my main running watch.

2017 List

This was my fantasy list for 2017 and I think Santa served me well in the 4 years since. Thank you, Santa.

• At £5500 I would love a Cervelo R5 Dura Ace 9100 Road Bike 2018 (link to Sigma sport, non-affiliate, just for the heck of it). (Edit: I DID get a used R5 and it’s awesome. I did get a mostly Dura-Ace groupset including R9100p)
• That’s too much of my imaginary rich uncle’s ill-gotten gains. So I’ll have to go for a sale item instead at £1500++. I’ll take a ‘this year model’ like the Zipp Super-9 Clincher Disc Road Rear Wheel 2017 (link to chain reaction, non affiliate) (Edit: I went for two sets of new Mavic CXR deep rims and Mavic SLR climbing wheels both are interchangeable and have exalith rim brakes)
• Naturally a $600 PowerTapG3 hub (link to: powermetercity.com, 10% discount on most stuff with the5krunner10 code 😉 ) might find its way in the disc – I assume that’s compatible…not checked. And I might need a spare PowerTap for a day-to-day road wheel. Not much to ask for? (Edit: no joy)
• On the gadget front I’ve got all I need, I suppose. It might be fun to get an Edge 1030. I do NOT plan to get one but would love to moan about the touchscreen if I did. I’ve got bored about moaning about the Edge 820’s rubbish touchscreen. Although, on that note, I went into the aforesaid SigmaSport and had a play with the display models of each of the 820/1030…their touchscreens seemed OK. VERY different feel. Very strange. (Edit: I got the 1030 Plus and 530 and both are great but I still u see Wahoo ELEMNT)
• I’m not too bothered about the Forerunner 645 that ‘may or may not’ be announced on December 8th. I’d be more interested in the 245 if it looks like a real sports watch…which it probably won’t. (Edit: The 245 is the best running watch ever and I did get one but I tend to use my FR935 or F6 for now)
• Actually the ONE thing that I probably will get will be a PR/Loan of Hammerhead’s Karoo. I’m apparently on a list somewhere but probably behind Cycling Gadgets Weekly…or someone else who will have conveniently ‘lost it’ by the time my turn comes round. (Edit: I did get a Karoo2 and it is VERY good. Probably my second favourite after the Wahoo)
• As something to make my cycling life easier I would love some Shimano Di2s. Electronic shifting always sounds very modern and I’ve always been a bit old school. Then again I am getting laughed at quite a lot by ‘friends’ as I clunk through my gears. That might then force me to move to 11-speed cassettes too? That’s 8 more gears than my existing Sturmley Archers 😉 (I fully moved to 11-speed and have Di2 on two bikes and have never looked back)

What do you want for Christmas? It can either be a real product or one for next year.