I think so. My LBS has the crashed bike now and will figure it out. They probably want me to take a '16 Dogma off their inventory instead of a new 2017 GAN RS from Gita (US Distributor). At my level of riding, I won't know the difference either way -- so it'll just come down to the balancing between price and availability. Unrealistically, I would like to have something built and owned by this coming weekend because I promised my son we'd do a 35 mile event in town. Gita is just down the road in Charlotte, so it is possible...
Just saw your post. So sorry to learn of your misfortune but at least your injuries don't appear to be severe. Sometimes other people will have a moment or crash in front of you and you have no time or room to avoid a mishap. Depending on how well you know the riders and the course you can sometimes spot and predict problems in the group so you learn to place yourself where you are less exposed. Know who is riding around you. Make sure all the dirt and grit are remove. Keep those exposed areas of flesh clean and dry. Use hydrogen peroxide and triple antibiotics plus Canestan to prevent bacterial and fungal infections from starting and taking root. Superbug infections are a real threat nowadays but I think they are still susceptible to antiseptics like peroxide and iodine. Stay active indoors and I hope you have a speedy recovery.
I am glad hear you didn't seriously hurt yourself. Hope you have a speedy recovery and are back on the bike soon.
With all these nice carbon bikes time for some contrast...after clearing 3 road bikes (lack of use and some too nice for what I wanted) I had a bunch of parts left. A neighbor had an old Cannondale with Dura Ace so I got a free frame and returned all the parts to him, and threw my own and some ebay purchases on it. I use a polishing wheel to bring the ally to a nice but not crazy sheen and have been surprised its held up well (ie not oxidized) - dry rides, dry basement storage I guess. kept the original decals including from the LBS it was bought from. Used Selle San Marco Regal (my favorite), Campy this and that, Nitto Dove bar, Mavic Open Pro's with White Industry hubs and 28mm tyres. All stuff that has been around the block a few times. It rides nicely and the ally frame builds up pretty light and looks sharp in a retro way. I just need to get out more.. Oddly enough the Cannondale hq is a few miles away. Image Unavailable, Please Login
How do you prepare for 10,000 feet of elevation centuries? I've completed 2 centuries so far both around 2500 ft of elevation. I'd like to complete the Cherohala Challenge next season or the season after, but really have no idea of how to prepare for it. I'm not an amazing hill climber, but I continue to get better as each day passes. Any advice is appreciated!
'99 F900 CODA I've put smoother tires on for exercise while recovering from skateboarding injuries. Image Unavailable, Please Login
My 2-cents .... and that's all its worth! First, if you decided to do the Cherohala Challenge, send me a PM. I'd love to do it too, and it'd be awesome to ride alongside an Fchatter. I can get a 10k foot day here in central North Carolina, but it's not much fun compared to the mountains of western NC. Out there, you can hardly go out your front door without some seriously sweet elevation. My prep for these kinds of rides is to map local routes with about 5k climbing over 50 miles. I'll do that route a bunch of times leading up to the big 100/10k event, and then the week of the event I'll do almost nothing but flat, easy spinning. The two days prior to the event are absolute rest days. Additionally, I used a TrainerRoad program called "mid-volume climbing race" (I think that is what its called) for a structured training regimen designed for this exact scenario. It is an 8-week program that is pretty decent for off-season on the trainer or rollers.
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely let you know. I really want that medal at the end of the ride. I just started riding in January, I'm amazed at the progress I've made in such a short amount of time.
Just showing off a little Italian steel! I raced in the early 80's so have a bit of an old school attitude towards bikes. I got back into riding with a vintage Dutch Gazelle -- Reynolds 531, Campy, etc. but found this unusual Basso with Columbus MS tubing. There's not a round tube in the set. It was "steel's" last gasp at fighting off the inevitable conversion towards aluminum and carbon. I aspire to getting into good enough shape to justify an update into carbon. I know a lot of you go for the Pinnarello and other Italian brands, but I have to say the Giant Propel aero bikes are very impressive. Years ago I'd never consider a mass market brand, but they certainly have done their homework. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm even older but it's nice to see another "vintage" cycling enthusiast! However, given the huge size of your Gazelle, I think your choice of new bike should likely depend on who makes a proper frame for your size requirements - so you may not want to shop by brands. Most serious cyclists I knew in the "old days" with size requirements like yours actually had custom-made frames. Some CF framesets have very small/very large sizes that are specifically designed and are not just "scaled" up/down versions of the core design for the model. Unlike metal frames they can alter the types of CF used and the location and amount of CF lay-ups to adjust for different frame sizes. Ask your bike shops about that. Just for laughs, I had a '70s Grandis road bike made with Columbus SL (strada leggera) tubing. The tubing was so light and thin we used swear we could feel it bounce when we squeezed it by hand. I had to adjust to the bike rather than it adjust to me, if you know what I mean.
At the time I purchased it, we also got my wife an M300 in purple. I recall the yellow SuperV. That was another bike they had on the wall at the time. You scored nicely there.
In an attempt to prove there is no limit to the stupid depths of my passion for carbon fiber... I present bottle cages which are stupid-light @ 7 grams each. Now, I'm sure all you grizzly cyclists will scoff at my foolishness... but I ask, aren't we the same community that overspends for carbon fiber seats in a Ferrari? Aren't we the same community that considers Inconel exhausts to be a justified expense? Aren't we the same community that discusses ad nauseum the value of nitrogen vs. standard air in our tires? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdNle9onm0k Flame on brothers! Flame on! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some CF waterbottle cages are too weak to securely hold a full 750 ml bottle when you hit a slight bump. Very dangerous as the distraction can cause a crash. These wire-thin ones look like they won't even work with 500 ml bottles. FWIW, we went through a similar sort of extreme weight-loss waste of money silliness 40 years ago. It was a disaster. The parts, some whole bikes, were so weakened that they were either like wet noodles or simply just waiting to snap the next time you just touched them.
I hear what you're saying but I think that Daniel will be okay with his cages. Every now and then there will be the inevitable lost bottle but if they're molded to be tight enough, he will be good. It's not like he's facing some extreme road conditions. I was just saying that there's a reason they're not for everyone.
I hope you're right but I have a couple of regular (i.e. not superlight) CF cages that will chuck off a full 750 ml bottle if I hit a medium-size bump with my bike. I can only use 500 ml bottles with them. I also had a lightweight alloy unit 35 years ago that looks exactly like Daniel's CF unit that did the same thing with a full 500 ml bottle. It's like those superlight inner tubes... which like to blow up. Very expensive (and inefficient) fillers for wastebaskets. I think some manufacturers don't care about exceeding the limits of practicality in their endless pursuit to lure weight-weenies (we've all been there) to buy yet another expensive (useless) toy.
My bike sponsor made only carbon fiber bikes and they used to get annoyed to see my stainless steel elite cages on there but I had to explain that I can bend the ss cages as tight as I need for my bottles. I eventually solved the problem by designing a carbon cage that weighed 20g but would never kick out a bottle. They were sweet. I still have them on my bikes.
I can see why they weren't amused but I see you redeemed yourself. I do have CF cages that work. The BLACKBURN units are secure and very sturdy. Can't recall how much they weigh though.
^ My normal Blackburn CF cages are indeed super strong and only weigh 30 grams each. They are flexy enough to jam a bottle from nearly any angle, and still strong enough to hold a large variety of bottle sizes. These new CF ones are actually marketed to the MTB crowd (but I don't really understand why those folks care about weight), so they're remarkably "tight" and designed for rough riding. I'm not so worried about a bottle popping out -- I'm more worried the CF could snap or something. I'm going to give them a try this weekend and see how it goes. The YouTube video linked above shows the 'strength' of them. I fully admit, they are glorious waste of money. But c'mon guys.... carbon fiber makes everything more fun.
I have carbon water bottles cages. They are plenty stiff. Never even thought about it until a few weeks ago. I was riding at a clip on a paved path. An arched bridge was ahead and I decided to take it at pace. The hit as the bike absorbed the expansion joint was no problem for the carbon frame but the cage on the down tube turned into a slingshot. Launched the full bottle ahead of me. Then expectedly, off the bridge and into the river. Bad cage! Bad cage!
I just checked the YouTube marketing video and I am impressed by their stiffness which the old alloy ones weren't. If they hug your bottles as tight as the BLACKBURNs your bottles should stay put. You may be right about fragility though; in particular the mount points, but only if the cage bangs against something rigid. I do use some superlight components - I have the previously lightest model (Shark Tails) to this Token Zenith skewer. Mine were 50 g a pair. These are only 36 g. Regular "lightweight" alloy/steel ones are over 100 g. They are quite sturdy but should be kept clean of dirt. Cheapest weight reduction bang for the buck! Image Unavailable, Please Login
