Sunday, January 17, 2010

Rambling...

I don't have a bunch to say here. I am currently waiting on my iPhone to see if doing a "restore" will restore the function of the sleep/power button at the top of the phone. There are only two buttons on the phone and if one of the two goes on the fritz that sort of becomes frustrating. At least it is the lesser important of the two buttons. I rarely turn my phone off, but still...it would be a pain in the butt occassionally and I would probably take it in to get it fixed (if possible) at my earliest convienence. I also have about 2000+ songs and various applications so it will take awhile to complete the restoration.

Anyway...

I have been enjoying my Garmin Edge 500. I don't have the cadence/HR bundle, which is just fine. I like the GPS features, especially the elevation gain/loss info. Very cool. I have only used it on my commute, but the information in interesting and will be useful when I start to train more in earnest. One day last week I rode to work pissed. I mean I was just freaking steamed. I won't get into why, but I was pretty tired and really if someone looked at me sideways I would have bit their heads off. Without even thinking about it I was riding pretty hard into work on the Cernitz Mule, which is still set up singlespeed. Man I was just mashing those pedals. Sure enough I made it to work about 1 mph faster than I ever had on the Mule, which is about 10 trips to work so far. It is amazing what a little bit of anger will do. I should try and be a little pissed off at the start of a cross race. I wonder what would happen...When I got to work just about all of the frustration was gone. Cycling is great for venting. I was much more civil than I would have been otherwise.

I am pretty excited about the Lapierre. It seems like it will be a winner. It is odd how much it feels like a regular road bike though. I think that other than the bb being a bit higher and having more tire clearance it handles much like a road bike on the road. It is pretty nimble. Off road I think it will do fine. I am keeping the Curtlo frame, though I will probably sell the fork and so forth. I may have it repainted at some point this year. A custom made 3.6 lbs steel frame is hard to part with. I really wouldn't get the money out of it that it deserves. So, maybe with a fresh coat of paint, it will be resurrected at some point in the future. The fork has got to go. It is an old Alpha Q CX fork. $100--anyone interested? 1" steerer tube (I was using a Chris King DeEvolution headset which makes it possible to use a 1" steerer tube in a frame made for a 1 1/8" steerer tube) and lots of length...

Ahh, lets see here...the phone is still sync'ing...

I went to our Team ButterCup meeting today. It was good to finally all get together and discuss plans and so forth. A few things came out of the meeting. We extended 3 invitations to join the team from the masses of people that were clamouring for our attention. That gives us a total of 8 members if they do indeed join us. We have sponsors that have committed to give us cash, which is a huge blessing. After a bit of discussion we decided to use the money so that every member is given a jersey and bibs/shorts. Additional clothing will be paid for by the team members. The rest of the money will go toward banners and other things needed at races. At some point we would like to have a good size team tent, but we will probably just use the couple of 10'x10' units that a couple members have.

...hmmm sync is done but the sleep button still doesn't work. Looks like I should take it in and put the extended warranty I purchased to work.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Lapierre HM X-Lite: First ride



With a great deal of help from Neil, the Lapierre got out in the mud today. I took a quick trip out to Cooks Butte. First impression is that the head angle is pretty steep. It is going to take a bit of getting used to how quick the steering is generally. The geometry is definitely different that what I am used to. I don't think it is bad, just different. The Lapierre, aka Frenchie, aka the White Witch, is quite a ride. It really is made for a rider that knows what he is doing. It has a pretty aggressive feel to it. It is not a lazy man's sort of bike. It just feels like it reacts very quickly to what I do, more quickly and more rapidly than what I am used to. I tend to like stable bikes. When taking sharp turns it sometimes felt hard to stay on top of without dabbing. I mean these turns were pretty tight, and they were uphill too, even on the Curtlo I had a real hard time making them. nevertheless, it will take some time getting used to it.

I also switched out some parts. A set of Chorus shifters were put on. There are a couple of drivetrain kinks that need to be worked out, but other than that it is all good. The rear derailleur rides on the 28t cog. When I backpedal the chain won't stay on that cog. It gets hung up because of the interferance. I am not sure quite what to do, but I have some ideas on how to fix it. Other than that it is all good so far.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Some guys go into withdrawls...

at the end of cyclocross season. I get the flu and get new bikes. Or bike. No pics yet. It would be done except I got a case of the flu that tanked me for quite sometime. I stripped down the Curtlo and that will go into mothballs for a bit. I won't sell it too soon. But many of the parts have found their way on to the new "A" geared bike for next year...the Lapierre HM X-Lite cyclocross frame. The geometry is a little different. I will see how it goes, but the frame is pretty darn light. I think it will fit fine, but I won't know for sure until I take a few spins on it.

Some stuff is new, other things are used.

The Build:

Easton EC90X fork
Easton EC90SLX wheels
Tufo Cubus tires (for now, these are going bye-bye)
Easton EC90 crankset
TRP EuroX Magnesium brakes
Thomson Masterpiece seatpost (on order, using a Forte one until mine comes in)
Ritchey WCS bar
Ritchey WSC stem
Selle San Marco Aspide Ti railed saddle
Campy Chorus 10spd shifters
Campy Chorus rear derailleur
Campy Centaur front derailleur
Crank Brothers Eggbeater SL pedals
stock headset

The weight set up 1x10 was 15.71 with everything hung on it. I am setting it up 2x10 during the off season so it will gain a bit more weight. Not sure if it will still be sub-16lbs or not now.

Pics soon, ride report in the weeks to follow.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Wow....

Last year's geared cyclocross ride:


















This year's geared cyclocross ride:














Different frameset, different brakes, everything else the same between the two bikes.

More in the next day or so...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The White Witch is Coming

Her twin sister has already found a home at Brianero's home. Here is a picture of her:

The down and top tubes are shaped and frankly the frame is better looking that I expected.

Mine should arrive tomorrow.