I suppose most of you are like me. At this point, we have the bike/bikes we are going to ride in training and racing. We are not in the market for a bike so what's the deal??
There are four main areas of opportunity!
Maintenance is the easiest to cover. It starts with washing your bike. You didn't have to read this blog to know to wash your bike, but washing is the time when you can look over your steed with " a fine tooth comb". Tires, chain, cables, chain, brake pads and adjustments of these are some of the areas for scrutiny. Check your frame for cracks. My SL4 wrecked at TdeT, is gone. A crack in the chain stay has run (over the last two months) and I am having to procure a replacement frame.
Wheels are another issue. You should have set your goals for the season by now. Do you have the best wheels for the job? Boyd Cycling has great prices for the TEAM and a wide line of specialty wheels. Having the correct wheel/tire combo can be a big deal.
Bike fit is one of the most important issues. You are going to be putting a lot of miles on your bike. Comfort is not the main thing. You can feel comfortable and not be efficient. You can feel comfortable and end up with a repetitive use injury. Go to a pro......I like Retul Fit Systems. We have local providers.
The best I saved for last....GEARING. You need the right gearing for you and what you are doing. This includes the front gears where we now have 3 choices: 53/39 (traditional), 50/34 (compact) and 52/36 (new mid compact). Our terrain favors the latter 2 for most riders on our team. The back cassette offers many more options. It is likely that you might need a couple of cassettes for different terrain and races. You can buy the tools to change these for less than $50 and quickly learn to do so. A cassette change is 5 minutes once you have mastered it.
Teenie and I each use different combos:
Teenie: 52/36 mid compact and 11/28 rear (climbing) and 11/26 (all other terrain-crits and RR's).
DS: 50/34 compact and 11/28 rear (climbing) and 11/23 (all other terrain). I have a second bike with at 53/39 - 12/25 and I love it for crits and rolling RR's. I always leave it in 'the barn' when climbing. It will NOT go to the Pyrenees this summer.
You can check with one of your team mates....Bird, Hoodster just to name a couple. If they know your riding style, strength and your goals, they can help. Carolina Tri, our sponsor, has knowledge......in the end, you should make your own choices. I will always help.
One note on the importance of gearing. I know one rider who moved to this area from a very flat region. The rider kept riding big gears and had poor results. Today, this rider BELIEVES that he/she can not climb.
Of course, you still have to pedal the bike........we'll talk more about this next time.
1 comment:
You see Randall....if you never ride in the rain or on wet roads, your bike never gets dirty and you don't have to waste valuable time washing it. Instead you can use that time to drink coffee and eat bon bons.
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