The R3V Bicycle Thread

[LateFan]

[ATTACH]101686[/ATTACH]

[leegf]

Nevermind that I disagree with them:

[LateFan]

SO much celeste!

[leegf]

Spotted today:

[leegf]

This is a great photo.

[LateFan]

I think it's 18 lbs with the lighter Mavic wheels I put on it. Looks to be about an '02 Axis. He put the dent in the top tube in the first race he rode on it.

I sneezed hard this morning - it was bad.

The UM (Montana) guy on the pink bike won the whole thing outright.

https://vimeo.com/142886587

[BlackbirdM3]

So...I tried this cyclocross thing last week. Borrowed an old Bianchi from a friend and did a bunch of work to get it ready. My son and his teammates were shocked and excited to see me kitted up with a number. It felt too small at 52cm, but I got it set up as close as possible, and CX fit is different from road. Still felt odd.

[ATTACH]101600[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]101601[/ATTACH]

I learned that I'm completely unprepared and maybe too old for something like this. I learned that it is not a different form of cycling, it's a different sport entirely.

It's a core strength sport.
It's an upper body strength sport.
It is completely anaerobic - there is no place to rest.
Running uphill takes a lot more energy than riding in any direction.
Getting used to pedals you've never used is a pain in the ass.

This was like sending an intermediate skier down a triple black diamond chute with some lame advice and "You'll be fine."

I went end over end twice...in the same deep sand trap. Somehow I managed to finish, but a couple laps down. It hurts to breathe, raising my arm is sketchy, sleeping is difficult, and when I breathe something clicks or pops in my upper back. Just glad I didn't break my collarbone.

I used to have a Bianchi like that. Never liked the way it rode. Severe toe overlap. It was also heavier than my mtb. I sold it with few miles on it.

Will

[LateFan]

...maybe there's a reason there were only 5 guys in Masters 50+ when there were 115 people riding..?

I think I'll have to take the celeste one back soon.

[M-technik-3]

^ Been there done that about 30 years ago and it was a blast. Now? Might be a bit concerned.

[LateFan]

So...I tried this cyclocross thing last week. Borrowed an old Bianchi from a friend and did a bunch of work to get it ready. My son and his teammates were shocked and excited to see me kitted up with a number. It felt too small at 52cm, but I got it set up as close as possible, and CX fit is different from road. Still felt odd.





I learned that I'm completely unprepared and maybe too old for something like this. I learned that it is not a different form of cycling, it's a different sport entirely.

It's a core strength sport.
It's an upper body strength sport.
It is completely anaerobic - there is no place to rest.
Running uphill takes a lot more energy than riding in any direction.
Getting used to pedals you've never used is a pain in the ass.

This was like sending an intermediate skier down a triple black diamond chute with some lame advice and "You'll be fine."

I went end over end twice...in the same deep sand trap. Somehow I managed to finish, but a couple laps down. It hurts to breathe, raising my arm is sketchy, sleeping is difficult, and when I breathe something clicks or pops in my upper back. Just glad I didn't break my collarbone.

[155///MPH]

Is your IF frame built of Reynolds 953? If so, how was the ride? I've been very curious about this tubeset. Splitting a set tube makes me a little worried, what happened?

Will

Yes, it was a Reynolds 953 Stainless SSR. The seat tube split open just below the collar about 3 inches straight down. I had it welded back up locally and sold it pretty cheap on ebay. It rode great, smooth and springy, but I don't think it was that different from Ti but is a very light but thin tubeset. I won't have another on. I'll go Ti or normal steel next time.

[modernist]

Built this back in high school ... track bike with brakes and a 3-speed hub. Leather-wrapped handlebars are so nice ...

[BlackbirdM3]

So when my Independent Fabrications Stainless bike split the seat tube I needed another bike to replace it. I wanted a workhorse, non carbon frame that would take up all rain, training, and crit duty. I looked very hard at CAAD10's but the geometry was just a little off. I ended up reading a good bit on the Allez DSW Smartweld frames and found a lot of good reviews. The geometry lined up nearly identically to the TCR. The hunt was on. This one actually came from SC and a friend of mine stripped it down to the frameset and mailed it out to me.

I put the 6870 groupset from the damaged TCR on it. That required some "custom" drilling to run the etube internally. I've been running this one as my workhorse for the past month and a half and it really is a great ride. Normally it runs a set of DT240's laced to HED Belgium+ rims with 25mm GP4000's but the Boyd/Vittoria just look so good on it.

Is your IF frame built of Reynolds 953? If so, how was the ride? I've been very curious about this tubeset. Splitting a set tube makes me a little worried, what happened?

Will

[leegf]

+1 on the Vittorias :)

[155///MPH]

Spesh E5 Smartweld

So when my Independent Fabrications Stainless bike split the seat tube I needed another bike to replace it. I wanted a workhorse, non carbon frame that would take up all rain, training, and crit duty. I looked very hard at CAAD10's but the geometry was just a little off. I ended up reading a good bit on the Allez DSW Smartweld frames and found a lot of good reviews. The geometry lined up nearly identically to the TCR. The hunt was on. This one actually came from SC and a friend of mine stripped it down to the frameset and mailed it out to me.

I put the 6870 groupset from the damaged TCR on it. That required some "custom" drilling to run the etube internally. I've been running this one as my workhorse for the past month and a half and it really is a great ride. Normally it runs a set of DT240's laced to HED Belgium+ rims with 25mm GP4000's but the Boyd/Vittoria just look so good on it.