Wheel Build

I built up my first set of wheels on Thursday. Both Jude and Ryan from the shop guided me through the process, and Jude actually finished off the build when I ran out of time. He was even nice enough to clean my cassette for me. He's kind of awesome.

Tough Breaks

I haven't been writing anything lately because I've been riding my bike like crazy. I've been taking Power Advantage classes at the shop (PowerTap training classes) and riding at the very least on Sundays. Usually more.

My Tarmac has been up for sale on Craigslist for the past two weeks. After over a month of front end shifting just getting worse and worse, it finally got to the point where I couldn't shift in the front at all. It was found to be a fatigued braze-on and after two calls to the inside rep at Specialized, we never heard anything from them. I'm not happy about it at all, and if I buy another road bike, it wont be a Specialized. I'm not saying I will never own another one of their bikes, and I'm not going to bad mouth them beyond "I'm seriously disappointed."

Volagi

If you ever go to www.bikerumor.com, you've probably noticed an ad for a disk brake equipped bike with a want-to-be Italian name. A couple of weeks back, they stopped in our store to see if we wanted to carry their bikes. From the information and reactions I got from my questions, the company is made up of freaky endurance riders (one of them has ridden for 38+ hours straight), the majority of whom have worked at Specialized. My impression is that they were not believers in a lot of what Specialized has been doing with fit accessories and frame making, and wanted to start a new company.

Aw! Come On!

I went on the Sunday Morning Mustache Ride with Isaac, Anna and one of our customers this morning, and it was very obvious that I hadn't been on a bike in two weeks. We dropped Anna and the customer because they(the customer, really) were going slow enough that they had to be dropped so Isaac could open the shop on time.

Through out the entire ride, my bike was shifting like shit. I knew it was off a little when I was in 34/28, but the chain was hopping around the cassette like crazy. When we got back to the shop we found that my hanger was bent. How, I'll never know, because the bike never does anything but lean up against my wall, go for rides and travel on my car. I haven't fallen in years and even then, it was on the other side of the bike. Regardless, it was off and we bent it back in place.

After bending it I had to dial everything back in, but not before I replaced the cable because I couldn't get it to go back through the derailleur. Now I have to wait for this cable to break in, but at least I know that once it does, it should shift consistently. If not, good thing the shop has plenty of them in stock.

Pics of the Tarmac

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the changes I made to the Tarmac. They're not great, some are fuzzy, and they're dark and dingy, but there here. And no, none of them are of the full bike. Not enough room in my apt.

Cross Tuesday

As most of you know, a sorry excuse for a hurricane came through and beat up the east coast a bit. By late Sunday afternoon, it was sunny and beautiful again. Monday was perfect, and today was just as nice. Since I had time today, I went for a cross ride in Valley Green.

Valley Green (A.K.A. Forbidden Drive, Wissahickon, or "The Wiss") is a beautiful stretch of parkland in northwest Philadelphia. It's a great place for Mt. biking or leisurely riding. The dirt at The Wiss has a distinct shimmer to it. I'm not sure what kind of rock it is, but you can look at anyone's tires and know immediately that they have been riding there.

The main path is Forbidden Drive, so called because you can't drive on 99% of it. When it crosses roads, it always has the right of way. It follows the Wissahickon Creek and has many gorgeous view along the way. There are any number of places where you can take paths up and run, Mt. bike, ride horses, or just hike. It's absolutely beautiful at every time of year.

The downside to the path is that it is usually very well maintained and pretty flat and boring. It's gravel with a few rocks here and there, but not challenging in any way. It's meant for your average person, not your average cross bike. But, we just had a hurricane. Almost the entire path was underwater for the better part of a day, and that water really did a number to the pristine path. Trees down, sections of gravel washed away, run off from the multiple streams in the higher ground surrounding it... it was completely ruined. Perfect for cross riding.

Last night I finally got around to throwing the S900 crank on my bike and dialing it in. The chain rings are 46/38 and if you're used to road bike gearing, the cross gearing just looks ridiculous. It still rides like a bike though.

I started off at a quick pace, probably because I was pretty excited. As soon as I crossed Bells Mill Rd, I came smack into a dose of reality. I saw the barriers the city had put up, but kept riding at full speed. It wasn't until I was right up on the enormous holes in the path that I made any attempt to slow and change my course. Too late. God, cantilever brakes suck.

Normally, at this point in the story, I would be telling you about the fall I had just had. Not today. I relaxed my shoulders and just went for it, bounced my way through and kept on riding. Other than being a frightened for a moment, I was fine. Just more cautious.

Because I refuse to wear contacts (they feel weird and I don't like touching my eye), and I don't wear prescription glasses when I ride, Things tend to sneak up on me when I ride off road. It makes things slightly challenging, but I manage. It made riding today very challenging, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I was caught off guard by the giant boulder field that had sprouted up where there was just smooth gravel before. It was the only place on the whole trail where I had to dismount for any long period of time. I tried riding across it on the way into the city, but made it maybe 10 yards into it before I lost too much momentum.

When I reached the end of Forbidden Drive, I made the right hand turn onto the path that takes you down to the Ridge and Kelly intersection. That part of the path was fantastic. The water had ripped trees out of the ground right by the sidewalk, so huge portions of sidewalk were just gone. Trees were down every couple of hundred yards, and there were either ways to get through/around them, or there weren't. Lots of dismount/remount opportunities. I had so much fun, and finally saw another two people with cross bikes out doing the same thing. Neither of them said "hi" back.

My Dad lives on Mt Airy St, and at the bottom of his street is an access point into the park. On my way back, I called to see if he was there and then rode up to his house. I knew it was up hill for a few blocks, but I was thinking two or three. Not five or six. It was a long, slow climb. The first section was about 6-8% on gravel and loose rocks. While out of the saddle, I had the rear wheel slip so badly that I thought I was going down right on my face. I geared out and sat down and just crept out of the park and onto the road. At first, the pavement felt great. Much easier than the rocks, but that only lasted for a few feet, because the grade hadn't changed. A 38T small ring still sucks for climbing.

After about three blocks of just dying, I seriously thought about getting off and walking. But then it let off and I just spun the next two blocks until my heart-rate calmed down and before I knew it the road leveled off and I was at my Dad's. But not before I went to the wrong house. What? He moved for the first time in 14 years and I still don't know his address. So what.

The ride back down was just that, and the stone section was a little crazy, but fun. The ride back to my car seemed too short. Tired, hands hurting from bouncing around, and covered in muck, I hopped in my car and drove home. I then spent the time required to wipe down my bike and clean everything by hand. No power washing here. As I swept away the glint of Wiss dirt, I couldn't help by smile. I really love riding bikes and plan on doing a lot more of it.

Good Ride

6:50AM. I wake up feeling tired and like I've been hit by a car. There isn't a single part of me that wants to get up, but I promised I would. It's pouring steadily. I throw my bibs on and a jersey I don't care about, as well as some Primal socks that I secretly wish would just go away, but today they are just what I want. I quickly eat a Larabar and fill my water bottles. I grab a dry set of civilian clothes for after the ride and put air in my tires. 90psi front and back, the ground is soaked.

Bike on the car, glasses spotted with rain, I drive off to the shop. I'm meeting Jeremy, Isaac and Lacey for our weekly morning ride. We call it the "Sunday Morning Mustache Ride" because most of us have a kit with mustaches all over it. It's a gentlemen's kit, and today is not the day to ruin it. Remember, Primal socks.

Halfway there, I get a text from Isaac asking if it's too wet. I text him back, letting him know that if I don't see him there in ten minutes, I'm getting a bearded clam jersey made for him because he's a vagina. He shows up ten minutes late.

At least he shows up. Jeremy, who was big talk the Friday before, doesn't show. Isaac quips that it's a shame his mouth can't ride a bike. The second I heard rain, it was common knowledge that Lacey wouldn't show. It never enters our minds to wait for him.

After putting Isaac in the power seat to determine if we'll ride, he is forced to get his bike from his car. Cold, wet, and unsure, we head out with a gentlemen's agreement to turn around if it gets too bad. Deep down, neither of us would ever admit if it was for fear of the never ending hard time that would surely be dished out, even if the other party agreed. Just one of the perks of being a ball buster, I guess.

For the past three months, I've felt sluggish and out of shape on my bike. Part of it is that I'm out of shape. I still weigh what I did over the winter, which is fifteen pounds more than I did last summer. No matter how much I've been riding on my bike (five times in the past seven days) it always feels like my legs just don't have it in them. I feel tired and have no ability to recover. Isaac, on the other hand, spent six weeks in a Powertap training class and has been breaking the legs off of me all season. Every single time. Beating me up hills, riding longer and faster, just pummeling me. It's been a sore spot for me, and I haven't been able to figure out what the cause has been.

Today was a return to the days of old. I felt fantastic. Hills of all shapes and sizes were dispatched without effort. Short and steep, long and steady, what had until today been my nemesis, all crushed. It was like every pedal stroke was me stomping defeat on the hills. And god forbid I got out of the saddle. Where as before I would gear out almost immediately, today it was middle of the cassette and climbing with speed. Isaac, not so much.

Where as he had spent all summer feeling good and leaving me behind, today Isaac's legs left him. While I was off kicking vertical ascents into submission, Isaac was suffering and getting his ass handed to him behind me. While I would love to think that I was just so on form today that I crushed him, he was so far behind on some hills that it was obvious he didn't have it. At one point he said it felt like his legs never warmed up. I felt all conquering and like an asshole, all at the same time.

At the end of the last hill, I congratulated him for killing himself up the hills and never quitting. We both commented on how we were really happy that neither of us bailed because of the weather. We also make fun of our less brave co-workers until we run out of insults. It takes surprisingly longer than one might think.

I've been riding in the rain so much since I put my bike together that I commented on how much better the 105 brakes were in the dry, but that in the wet, the pads on the force brakes were infinitely better. Isaac replied with "how would you know, have you even ridden that bike in the dry yet?"

After getting back to the shop, we changed into dry clothes and spent the better part of an hour working on our bikes. No one in the shop, all lights off except for the front lights in the work area, we stood there disassembling and cleaning our bikes while talking about whatever came up. Had it been slightly later in the day, and I had a beer, it would have been perfection.

As we were finishing up, Our GM Scott arrived at work. He glanced at my tires (which I had just rotated) and asked if I wanted new ones. Normally, this means he has a pair he wants to sell. I asked him what kind. "Specialized." While I love most of their products, I generally don't like their tires. I decline and he responds with "they're brand new and they're free." Done, where do I sign?

Feeling good about just about everything at this moment, Isaac and I head down to the local coffee joint where he gives me a hard time about the fact that I drink tea. Bistro boy with the mutton chops comes to my defense. Not today Isaac, things are going too well for me.

One of the reasons I don't frequent coffee shops (aside from my dislike of coffee) is that with the current options on-tap to keep our ADD, "I kneed more choices" culture happy, I can't just walk into a place and order tea without follow up questions. "Is English Breakfast Tea okay?" Yes, but I'd prefer it if you would just call it by its common name... tea.

After some pastries and our hot beverage of choice, we head out and return home. At this point it is pouring again and just about all the work I had done on my bike is, quite literally, washed away. Good thing most of it is made of carbon. I hop in my car, glasses spotted with rain, and head home, filled with excitement and hoping tomorrow comes soon enough so I can ride my bike again.

SRAM Force Is A Go (This will be long)

I've never built up my own bike before. I've adjusted bikes plenty, but actually starting from a frame and building up a bike is really time consuming, and really hard. I tore down the bike in what seemed like minutes. and I got everything together, cables cut and ready to adjust in not much more time. The chain was where the story begins.

Since I had never installed my own chain, I wanted one of the mechs to make sure I was doing it right. I started by wrapping the chain around the big ring up front and the big cog in the rear. I pulled the chain tight and he told me to stop, grabbed the chain, and pulled it tighter and said "break here." So I did as I was told.

I spent the next few minutes setting up the front and rear derailleurs. With all limits set, I shifted into the small ring and started going through the gears, making adjustments to tension as needed. Then I shifted into the big ring and started going through the gears. Everything was peachy until I hit the 26T cog in the rear. Cog and pulley were mulching my chain. "Hmm..." so I cranked out the B limit until i couldn't any more. Mulch.

Flabbergasted, I asked another mech to look at it. He spins the bike up to what seemed like 200rpm and starts shifting through the gears, ignoring what I had told him. MULCH!

It took him 5 minutes to unfuck my rear derailleur. When he did, he determined that the chain was too short. Original mech who told me where to break the chain took a look and came to the same conclusion. He bought me a new chain.

A day later, new chain is installed. Mulch. New mech is like "WTF?" We tried everything we could think of, but nothing would fix it. I finally said "fuck it" and we dialed in the rest of the bike and left it at me not being able to use my 25, 26 or 28T while in the big ring. Fine, I shouldn't be in those gears any way, but accidents do happen from time to time.

Today I went out to test ride it. I love compact gearing. I use so much more of my cassette now and my knees felt fine the whole time. There were times where I felt like I was too strong for the gearing, but then I would look down and see I still had two more cogs left and I should shut up.

As much as I liked the gearing, I hated how much I had to think about where I was in the cassette and the fact that I was shifting more in the front than I was in the rear. I rode my new found route to the shop because I wanted to see what it was like. Harder than I thought, but I also couldn't use my 28T in either ring because the RD started hitting spokes.

When I got to the shop, the new mech (Ryan) said he would take a look at the bike. My rear wheel was out of true (I knew that) and that it was still shifting terrible (no shit).

He trued my wheel and adjusted my low limit and "BAM!" all of the sudden my bike was shifting properly. We could get it into the 28T no problem on the front ring and were able to adjust the shifting so it's perfect in the rear. Perfect.

Completely befuddled, we decided to work on the front shifting. Getting into the small cog was not an issue, but shifting up, the chain would grind against the FD for a second and then shift up. We adjusted limits, raised the FD and adjusted again. All we accomplished was getting the chain to spit off the front ring and then adjusting it back to how it was when we started. It shifts perfectly half the time, and like shit the other half, but it'll have to do. The shifting on my cross bike was like that when I got it, but once the cables broke in, it started to shift fine every time. Here's to hoping the same will happen this time.

I get made fun of at the shop every time I tell people that SRAM takes more time to set up properly than Shimano or Campy, but it's true. Once everything breaks in and it's dialed in, it's perfect for me and I don't want anything else. That feeling is why I made the switch.

As an aside, when I bought my Tarmac, it weighed 19.5lbs. That's incredibly fat for a carbon road bike. When I had the King/IRD wheels built up, I dropped the weight down to 18.6lbs. Not bad, but still kind of a porker. Changing to Force has dropped the weight down to 17.4lbs. Not as light as I would like, but not bad either. I was hoping for sub 17lbs, but with pedals, two bottle cages and my Garmin sensors and magnets (but not the head unit), 17.4 isn't bad at all. There are plenty of other things I could do to drop the weight a little more, but I'm going to leave it how it is. It's such a nice bike at this point, I cant justify changing it. For now.

Almost There

My bottom bracket finally showed up, along with my chain rings for the cross bike. I stripped everything but the stem, fork, front and rear derailleurs and crank from my road bike this afternoon, and went over to the shop at 5 to remove the rest and put the new stuff on. I forgot about a prior commitment though, and had to leave the shop before I was finished. All I have left to do is adjust my levers so they're even, adjust my brake pads so they contact the rim properly, tape down the cable housings to the bar and wrap the bar, adjust the front and rear derailleurs and cut cables. Once it's shifting right and I have everything dialed in, I'm going to have someone at the shop size me to makes sure my measurements were correct and then go for a test ride. Sunday morning will be the test ride, but more than half of the Sunday morning crew wont be there because of the She Rox Tri, or they're out of town. Maybe Tuesday will be the test ride. I'll take a picture when everything is finished and post it up for you. It looks good.

New Cervelo Day (very long post)

Today I drove up to the upper corner where PA, NY and NJ all meet to get training on the 2012 Cervelo products, have lunch, and go for a bike ride. Jon, our Cervelo rep, led the whole thing and bought us lunch. He lives in the town (Milford PA) and took us to, what he considers to be, the best restaurant in town. The food was fantastic and the conversation amusing. Isaac and Anna rode up with me, and Jude and Ryan came up in the van, so we wasted little time making fun of each other and the other people we work with.

After lunch, we headed to a shop that Cervelo had rented out so Jon could use it to educate the shops that he oversees. It was air conditioned and had a bathroom, but not much else. What it did have was a projector, an R5 CA frame and an S5 frame for us to look at. I can't talk about some of the stuff we covered, and most of it was pricing for 2012, so I wont put you to sleep with that, but I will talk about the R5 CA and S5.

R5 CA - For those of you who don't know, Cervelo has a place in CA where they build a facility so they could see through every step of the bike building process except for painting it. They came up with the R5 CA which is just a top end Frame for the R5 line of bikes. It uses a steeper seat tube angle than the normal R5, but also uses a zero setback seat post to get the rider into the proper position. The advantage, apparently, is slightly lighter weight and added stiffness.

The frame weight for the R5 CA is 690g. Yeah. It's also the stiffest bike Cervelo has ever built. I got to hold a forkless frame with BB bearing in place and seat collar and it was absolutely silly how light it was. I picked it up at the same time as the ridiculously light S5 frame and the S5 just felt like a pig. The difference is surprisingly impressive.

S5 - As you may, or may not know, Cervelo killed off the S3 and launched the S5. When I first saw the S5, I just assumed they put drop bars on the P3 and called it a day. It turns out I was only partially right.

The S5 does use the rear section of s P3, but it has been redesigned to be better. Down facing dropouts instead of rear facing on the P3, and a redesign of how the curved section that the rear wheel nestles in. They even went as fas as to use the metal plate that the rear brake mounts to as a way to prevent pebbles from entering into the space and scratching your frame.

The seat tube is different as well. The seat stays were shaped to hide the rear brake from the wind, and the fork was designed to remove a turbulent area behind the rear of the fork.

The bike is also equipped with BBright bottom bracket technology, which we all knew was coming. having been on an R3 so equipped, I can tell you that other companies need to jump on this bandwagon quickly. It is noticeable.

While that all may sound like me throwing up Cervelo's marketing to you, it only kind of is. I haven't been on an S5 yet, so I can't give you an impression, but from a technology stand point, it's an awesome bike. Cervelo has a whole bunch of numbers to support their claim that you're x% quicker on their aero road bikes than any other bike, but that's not important to me. The amount of testing, and how they test is important to me, and they're changing the way bikes are being tested and how data is recorded and that's good. Of all of the cool things that come from working at a Cervelo dealer, the amount of information they give you to show you why something is faster is second to none, and that is why I believe most of their claims.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets get to talking about the ride. Go to Milford, PA and ride your bike. Just do it. The roads around there are awesome and Jon took us on the "easy loop" which wasn't murder, but it did blow up Anna. Jude and Ryan completely bitched out and didn't even go on the ride. They just went home. So Anna, Isaac, Jon and myself went out and had a mostly relaxing but fun ride.

We did have to cross a bridge that was 150ft above a river when we crossed into Nj, and that was a bit tough for me. I hate heights. After that, it was just beautiful roads through the trees and good conversation until we got to the first hill of the day. It wasn't a super tough hill, but it wasn't easy either. Isaac tried to gain as much speed as he could in the beginning because he thinks it makes climbing easier. A quarter of the way in he had to start tacking up the hill to keep himself going. I started off going a bit quicker than I probably should have, and at about the same point as Isaac, started having difficulty. I pulled myself back, found a steady pace I could deal with and alternated between standing on the steeper parts and sitting and recovering when it was less steep. Because Isaac was tacking, I pulled him in and passed him quickly. Anna was slowly pulling up the rear, and Jon started off keeping her company, then easily closed the gap on Isaac and myself and chatted with us for the rest of the time. The three of us reached the top together and slowed up while Anna regrouped. It was about two miles of climbing at about 4% if I had to guess, which I did, because my Garmin was dead and I didn't even bring it.

The descent was awesome, but when we got back to the flat stuff (it was all rolling terrain, but not too bad) it became clear that Anna wasn't able to keep pace. She couldn't even keep up with us while drafting. It wouldn't get any easier for her.

We stopped at a craft shop to rest for a few minutes. We talked shop and I complained about how I just tightened my rear King hub and it was already shifting up to 1/4" in each direction. I'm actually really pissed about that, but that's for another time.

When we got back on the bikes, we immediately started another climb. Isaac started hard again, and this time I didn't hold back. I passed Isaac almost immediately and didn't look back. I reached the top 30second before anyone else. To be fair, if Jon wanted to, he could have crushed me, but he was awesome, riding with each of us and never leaving us or ramping up the pace because he was bored.

The hill officially broke Anna. After that, she was constantly off the back and could never get close to the front. The descent this time was long, steep and really fast. Going up would have been the hard way. I'm glad we went the easy way.

Because I had no faith in my wobbly rear hub, I was on the brakes a little more than the other guys, but Anna must have melted her rims, because she rode them the whole way down. The roads back were rolling and she was having a tough go of it. Not once did she complain, but you could tell by her face that she was hurting.

Jon had asked us early in the ride how we felt about doing a little gravel riding and we were all for it. He told us how a lot of the people he takes out on the ride have complained when he took them on gravel, so when we finally got to the gravel part, he was very clear about what we were about to do. All three of us told him we not only didn't care, but wanted to do it. He still, semi-reluctantly lead us onto a gravel path. It was awesome, and every single one of us had a blast. We had to turn off at one point and get back on the road because of how rough the path gets (it has signs warning you!) but a few miles later we hopped back on. One steep hill and a lot of wheel spin later, and a massive descent with track marks that went into the woods at the last turn, and we were back on the road for a few blocks until we got back to the store front. Anna made it the whole way. She had a great time.

I think the funniest thing about the Cervelo day was that other than Jon, we all rode Specialized bikes. Cervelo is a much, much smaller company than either Specialized or Trek, and little things like not having demo bikes at things like this are reminders. That being said, I learned a lot, and had a fantastic time. I'm eagerly awaiting next year's meet up.

Force

The coolest part about working at a bike shop is being able to E.P. (employee purchase) products directly from the manufacturer. Companies want bike shop employees to ride their product because they know that if the employee likes the product, he will tell just about every customer that walks in how much he enjoys it. Offering discounted prices on their products is basically just paying for advertising. Very cheap advertising.

That's not to say all is bad. A lot of companies make really good products, and being able to ride stuff you would never be able to afford otherwise is great. It's an even trade in my book.

SRAM has a pretty cool E.P. policy they call the SRAMbassador. They offer most of their products as cost or less for a period of time. If you keep in mind that SRAM owns Zipp, SRM, Truvativ, Rock Shox, Avid, and has a partnership with Garmin, and your options to buy just about anything but a bike are pretty damn good.

While I probably could have afforded a Red group, I wanted to save a little coin for some other parts and went with Force because It's similar, or better, in most cases. Sure, Red is lighter, but the front derailleur is made so light and thin that it doesn't shift as well as the Force unit. If you check out the spec on Tour bikes that are Red equipped, almost all of them have listed a "prototype" Red front derailleur that is just a Force FD with Red labeling.

Red Does have some better things, like ceramic bottom bracket bearings and rear derailleur pullies, but I don't need that shit. And if I ever want it, I can order just those parts and throw them on.

Speaking of bottom brackets, you may notice that in the picture, there isn't one. Or that the crank is not a Force crank and has no chain rings on it. I already have a Force compact crank on my cross bike, and seeing as how I bash that bike into stuff much more than my road bike, I decided to swap it over. So there, full Force group on my road bike, but now I have no crank for my cross bike. That's where that S900 crank comes in. The S900 crank is a carbon armed crank that is meant to be a slight upgrade over the Rival crank, or anyone else who wants an inexpensive carbon crank on their bike. It's a little bit lighter and stiffer, but also a little bit more expensive.

The chainrings are missing from this particular crank because of Specialized. "Huh?" you ask? Basically, one of the guys I work with ordered a Specialized Crux aluminum cross bike and when he put it all together, he noticed the rear brake mount was off by 5mm and caused his brakes to contact at very bad angles. Specialized replaced the frame, but the new one they sent him was an upgrade and had a BB30 bottom bracket. All Specialized bikes with BB30 BB come with a Specialized crank and bearings already, and the S900 crank wouldn't have worked even if it didn't. The bike, strangely enough, did not come with chain rings, so he took the rings from his S900 crank and tried to sell just the crank arms and spider. To the surprise of no one, the crank never sold. I bought the crank for the price he paid, minus the cost of Rival chain rings (he never used the crank) and will order rings next month after I get paid. The only downside to the crank is that the guy I bought it from is a bit of a beast, and ordered a standard crank bolt pattern. That means that the cross gearing I'm stuck with is 46/38T. That's a whopping one tooth smaller front small ring than the standard crank on my road bike currently. If I find it to be too much of a pain in the ass (or knee), I'll sell the crank next year for what I paid for it and buy a compact version of the S900 with easier cross gearing for the same price. Another plus of getting that discount is that when you sell it for what you paid for it, people who don't work at a bike shop think they're getting a deal. They are, so it's win, win.

Other good news is that I ended up getting a white FSA bar that is just an aluminum version of the bar on my cross bike (which I find really comfortable) and I got white cable housing to go with it. My bike is going to look so obnoxious, I can't wait. Pics will surely follow after I build everything up.

Miscillanious Stuff

I've been riding a lot more lately, almost exclusively road riding, and I've had some good days, and some bad days. I have to charge my Garmin and download the rides I've done, because there are two that I want you guys to see. One of them is the shop ride, and that was one of the bad rides for me. I was getting over a respiratory infection, but I couldn't wait to get back out and ride, so I figured I would just hop right into a 24 mile ride with almost 1,500ft of hills. Yeah, smart. I blew up halfway through because this one guy was really pissing me off with his being all over the road and making it so you had to pass him by going into on coming traffic. We had a talk with him after the ride. Either way, it is a B & C level ride, and for the second half of that ride, I was the C group.

The other ride I wanted to post up was a 31 miler that Isaac and I did on Thursday. Awesome ride! We went to Valley Forge and did an extended loop that Isaac had never done (the one we did, Ted) and then we did the Audubon Loop and followed that up by heading to the dog park in Phoenixville. My knee got a little tender on the way back, but overall, we had a blast. I even broke my 85* heat limit. It was 92*.

Over the past few weeks, I've been making little adjustments to my Tarmac because I hate it. I don't really hate it, but I've never been really comfortable on it. That's why I almost bought an R3 earlier this year. But since I decided to keep the Tarmac for another year, I also decided to make it work for me. Firstly, I need a BG Fit, badly. Isaac doesn't have time to give me one, so I've been slowly doing it one step at a time. My saddle height was waaaay to low. You can tell by how many As I used that it was really low. Like 2.5cm. That adjustment has increased the amount of miles I can go without knee pain from twelve (12!) to 26.

I also ordered a zero set back seat post because I probably should be on a 54cm Tarmac because of my reach, but since most people size on height, I'm riding a 56cm. With my seat jammed all of the way forward, I'm still about 2cm away from optimally fitting on the damn thing. Hey, guess how much further forward a zero set back post will move me. No, seriously, guess. Did you say 2cm? Awesome, give yourself a cookie.

While I'm listing complaints about my Tarmac, I hate the handle bars. they have a weird shape to them, and they do that stupid nonsense where the hoods are flat when they're lower than the top of the bar. I like my hoods flush with the top of the bar. It's just more comfortable. When I changed my bar tape the last time, I adjusted my shifters to make my hoods flush, but by doing so, I made the drops borderline useless. I didn't used to spend a ton of time in the drops, so I didn't care at first, but since I flipped my stem I can comfortably get in them, so now I notice all of the time. Zipp makes a really nice aluminum bar with a traditional drop. What's really cool about it is that the traditional drop is less than 1cm lower than the shallow drop on my Specialized bar. I'm ordering that on Monday in a 44cm width. I'm probably going to throw some Roubaix bar tape on there too.

Lastly, for the moment, is my group set. It's last generation 105 with an Ultegra rear derailleur and Sram 11-28 cassette and 10whatever the cheapest Sram chain is. I think 1050, but I'm too lazy to look that up. I've said before that I would have a hard time getting ride of it because it shifts so perfectly, that I couldn't really justify it. Well, about that... It still shifts perfectly, and is as smooth and flawless as any Shimano group I've ever used, but there are two things that are killing me. 1) I can't do the standard gearing anymore. When I'm used to it, it's fine and I can climb well with it. When I'm not used to it, It breaks me. My knee can't take the big gears and I waste all of my energy for the next big hill on the first one. I'm done with it. 2) It's not Sram. Every time I shift, I want it to be, and no matter how many times I tell myself it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, I just prefer the way Sram shifts. I find myself up shifting with Sram just to do it. I'll let you know what happens with that. If anyone wants a 105 gruppo with Ultegra RD, minus a cassette, make me an offer.

There's still a little work left to do. I adjusted the preload on my King's because there was a ton of flex. I adjusted my brakes for pad wear. I tightened down my headset because it was loose. The bike is filth, and the drivetrain isn't any cleaner. Little stuff, but it's coming around. Once I get the post and bars, I'll put up a post on if I feel any better.

Roots & Rocks

I've had to exercise the 85* cut off for riding lately because it's just been too damn hot, but it poured rain last night and the temp was nice today so I went for a cross ride on the Betzwood trails. I went out with Chad, who is Jen's sister's fiancé, and he did a great job of demonstrating how much faster you can be with a front suspension.

I did a great job of not hurting myself this time (the whole hand incident, and the time after that I went right over my bars at the first log and landed with my hip and ribs on the log. That shit hurt.) but there were a few parts where my lack of experience caused me to just pogo off my bike. Chad would keep on motoring on so many areas where I had to hop off. It makes me want a hardtail Stump Jumper. Towards the end of the trails, I did start picking a better line and was moving faster, but it wasn't what I would call fast. I also need to see if I can run my tires tubeless. I get pitch flats at any psi lower than 45, but I need to run lower pressures to get a little more grip on roots and rocks. Running tubeless should allow me to get down into the 30's without issue.

Other than that, I love riding my cross bike there. Some of the technical areas are great for me because it forces me to dismount and run for a bit. The bike handles so much better in those conditions than it does when you try to ride it like a road bike. It makes sense now. After tightening up my front brake and dialing in the shifting, it works flawlessly. The only two things I don't like about it (I'm nit picking here) are that the cable is too short for the rear brake and there is play in the rear hub. The brake cable being too short is terrible for steering feel and when I turn the bars more than 45* to the right, it locks my rear brake. Not always the best when you're going 2mph and trying to keep your balance. I'll fix that sometime in the coming weeks.

The rear hub itself is fine, I am just completely spoiled by the Chris King hubs on my road bike. Almost every time I start to pedal from top dead center, I can feel the gap in engagement because of the lack of teeth and clutch. Most of you wouldn't ever notice. Eventually, I'm going to build a set of King wheels for the bike. I just have to decide on what rims I want to run. I'll keep you posted.

Thumbs Up

As most of you already know, I fell while Mt. biking a week and a half ago and seriously hurt my hand. The good news is that yesterday was the first day since the fall that my hand didn't hurt all of the time. The better news is that today, the Dr. decided that my hand was fine and that I no longer have to wear the cast anymore and can use my hand fully. No breaks, no ligament damage. My hand still hurts, but only when I move my thumb sideways or press on my palm. I plan on picking up a pair of gloves (I really do not like riding with gloves, unless it's cold. I find them to be very uncomfortable.) this week and doing a short test ride to see how my hand feels, and I'm going to go from there. If I can ride without pain I'm going to start riding again. If not, I'll give it another week and try again.

Terribly Sick, Weak, But Smiling

Being sick sucks. I've had some kind of mucus fest going on in my body for the past two weeks, and I've just felt horrible. This stupid illness has, of course, coincided with a break in the cold and a return to warmer weather. I've had to watch days go buy where there was nothing but sun and 60* weather while I was curled up under a blanket wondering how my body could produce so much snot. It was torture.

Today I said "the hell with it." I woke up at 7a, ate some oatmeal, threw on my medium-cold gear (it was 48*), pumped up my tires and left. I was storming out of Bridgeport at a blistering 14mph. I was struggling to keep that pace too.

I made it halfway to Conshohocken when my nose just started leaking. I brought tissues, but I was moving and didn't want to stop, so I fired off a snot rocket. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but before I knew it, there was a snotsplosion and my face was covered with it. Looks like I was going to have to stop after all.

Back up to speed, I reached Conshy at exactly 8am. Per usual, Isaac didn't show up until 8:15. I don't know why I keep leaving on time. On the plus side, he was actually dressed in gear that was appropriate. He finally splurged on some tights and a vest. To my surprise, he was rocking brand new S-Works shoes, which he got for free, from our Specialized Rep. I'm never there on the days this kind of shit happens.

I wasn't feeling so hot, but we had reached Umbria St. and the only way to really get into Manayunk from there is to go up the hill, so I soldiered on. I actually felt pretty good climbing. I didn't lose as much strength as I thought I was going to over the winter. Isaac is now on a standard crank and he wasn't to thrilled about it.

As we entered Manayunk Isaac made a last second turn onto a street that takes you in the opposite direction of where we were headed... after I was halfway through the intersection. In honor of Paris-Roubaix, He decided we were going to hunt down every cobbled street in Manayunk and ride them. The idea was so stupid I had to do it.

The first cobbled street was a hill, and thankfully a short one. If you've never ridden on cobblestones before, don't start. There isn't anything comfortable or confidence inspiring about it. Especially with 23 width tires. And going downhill is just terrible because braking is just a suggestion.

The funniest part about cobble hunting in Manayunk is that there aren't as many full cobbled streets as you would think. At one point on our search, we did find a road that had been torn to shit and was half under construction. We deemed it was close enough and rode up. It was a pretty steep climb that lasted about four blocks, but I managed it without problem, even though it was half dirt and lumpy like spoiled milk. It was an absolute blast though. Way more fun than just going down to the Art Museum.

After The Great Cobble Hunt of '11, we stopped at Mug Shots. It's my favourite coffee joint in The Yunk. It's off on a side street, away from traffic, it's cozy, they have good food and the staff are nice to cyclists. I have no idea how their coffee is, because I think coffee is disgusting, but Isaac never has anything bad to say about it.

After a delicious cranberry muffin and some o.j., we headed back. We decided to keep the Roubaix spirit and took the towpath back to the trail. If you've never been on the towpath, I highly recommend it. It's half gravel/rocks/dirt and half wooden planks, but it runs along the canal and it just beautiful. Plus, there's just something wonderful about riding a road bike on a damp, unpaved road that it wasn't designed for. It may kill the tire life on my bike, but it makes me smile ear to ear every time I do it.

If today's ride was any judge of it, this year is going to be a good year for riding. I feel pretty good on the bike. If I can get over this plague thing I have and ride more, I should be plenty strong by May. I've also made some huge changes this winter to improve my comfort. I flipped my stem from -8* to +8* and jacked my saddle all the way forward in an attempt to not feel as stretched out on my Tarmac. So far, so good. I only got a tiny bit of shoulder pain toward the end of my ride, but nothing like I have been experiencing for the past few years.

I also got new insoles for my shoes to cure the hot spots I was getting. The soles have a metatarsal button to prevent the bones from pinching together and flattening. I also, through sheer luck, realized that the sharp knee pain I was getting was caused by my feet rotating too much to the outside. I used the -1.5mm shim that came with the insoles to tilt my feet slightly more upright and I can say that both changes have been amazing. No hot spots, no knee pain for the first time ever. The downside? a thicker insole plus a 1.5mm thick shim have taken away the already cramped toebox on my Sidi shoes. My toes are absolutely crushed. And since I wasn't there for the free fucking S-Works shoe give-away, I'm going to have to buy a pair. However, If I'm buying shoes, even at close to cost, I'm not buying S-Works. So a Pair of Elite shoes will be in my future.

Okay, only two more things, I promise. First is Isaac is going to give me a full BG fit. I've been asking him for a while, but it looks like he'll have some time in the next two weeks to take care of it. He and I established long ago that Specialized, who does more for fit on a bicycle than any other major company, hands down, doesn't do shit with their top tubes. Cervelo did a test of all the major bike companies and how they build their bikes, and one of the things they found on Specialized bikes is that they don't really change the top tube length from bike to bike, they just change the seat tube angle. A 48cm bike and a 54cm bike from Specialized, in Cervelo's test, had a top tube length difference of 1cm. If that's true, that's just horrible, but completely explains why I feel so stretched out on a 56cm frame. So, if I can't be completely comfortable on the Tarmac after the BG fit, It's gone. I'm selling it.

Finally, you may be wondering how it is I know about a test that Cervelo did on other manufacturers bikes. Well, High Road Cycles is now a Cervelo dealer. I've already got my eye on an R3. Probably in white. If EP prices are fair enough, the bike will be built up with either Rival with a BB30 S900 crank, or a full Force group with BB30. But only if the Tarmac can't be comfortable. We'll see.

I Rode My Bike

After spending the past two weeks on the trainer, I finally got to go on my first outdoor ride of the year. I took my xbike out, mostly because there is still snow on the ground, but partly because I've been using my road on the trainer, and it isn't comfortable. I'm getting a full on fit from Isaac sometime this month, or early next to solve that problem.

So, lots of snow and sub freezing temps have made it impossible for me to ride. The tires I have on my xbike are meant for gravel, so they kind of suck in mud and snow. With that in mind, I dropped the tire psi down to 45 (the lowest I can have them without pinch flatting) and bundled up. It's a gorgeous 37* and windy today, but that's about 17* warmer than it has been, so it feels great. I finally got to use the wind resistant winter jacket I bought back in November and it is exactly what I've needed for this kind of weather. With just a base layer and arm warmers I was sweating.

The bike path was much more exposed than I was expecting when I first got on it, but the further I got from the Transit Center the worse it became. There was a lot of ice with half melted snow on top, or just ice with melted foot prints. The latter made for a bumpy ride. A lot of my internal dialogue went like this: "keep it pointed straight, keep pedaling at an even pace, keep it upright, fuck." I only hopped off once, but I had plenty of close calls. The snow on the grass was too deep and I couldn't keep any momentum and would just cut through it and come to a stop. I'm going to invest in some tires for these conditions as soon as I get a pay check.

I've spent a lot of effort trying to take my time in getting back on the bike. Every year, I let my excitement get the best of me and I end up hurting my knee. This year, I started breaking out the trainer so I could just spin around and slowly get my knee used to the stress of spinning the pedals. So far, so good. My knee didn't hurt at all today. I was mindful of it, but when climbing or standing up it never bothered me. It's still a piece of garbage, but If I can keep it pain free through most of this season, that would be a huge improvement. I plan on getting an MRI in the coming months so I have a better idea of what is really wrong with it and act accordingly. If it's so bad that I need surgery, I will wait until the winter to get it.