The Joy of Riding

[kopride]

Can't be as bad as Michael Phelps... What is it? 6'6 frame on 5'10 legs..

Can you imagine trying to fit him on a bike. What kind of stem and top tube do you need for a guy with such a long torso and arms? Its hard enough fitting him for a good bong

 

[Felt_Rider]

Looks like an very nice bike build. When is it going to be ready?

-M

Project finished - see link for pictures

 

[tonyzackery]

Project finished - see link for pictures

Nice looking bike, Felt! Would love to break it in for ya' with a few uphill sprints!

 

[Felt_Rider]

Nice looking bike, Felt! Would love to break it in for ya' with a few uphill sprints!

If you did that would probably be the fastest the bike would ever experience going uphill because my uphill sprints are like 8 mph.

 

[kopride]

If you did that would probably be the fastest the bike would ever experience going uphill because my uphill sprints are like 8 mph.

Great looking bike. I am interested in knowing how you like the Red Components after you put some miles on them. I am still divided over my compact crank as well. Love the gear ranges, hate the increased stress it puts on your drivetrain. I even switched from FSA to an Ultegra crank but it still doesn't work as perfect as my old Ultegra ("600")stuff from the early 90s. And yes, because you tend to use the gears at the extreme end more with a compact crank, you get a lot more clicking and rubbing. So, if SRAM is building a better mousetrap, I would love to hear about it. I actually broke a rear derrailer cable last week on a ride at my shifter so I rode the back end of a hilly ride in a 50/11 and 34/11 as being my only gear options. (34/11 sounded like a Free Spirit 10 speed I fished out of my neighbors trash in 1978 and "rebuilt." ) In any event, my very good LBS fixed the cable and tuned it up, but it still isn't as precise as the old standard Shimano components or my buddies Camy compact, which is eerily quiet compared to mine.

With a Litespeed, the frame stays pretty stable. I am itching for a new wheelset though.

Third bike since 2004 means a very understanding spouse.

And hill sprints?? The whole point of a compact crank is to punish people on longer hills by spinning up. The only time these young bucks smash me hard are those short steepies where the watts shoot up above 700. As I have been getting over 40 years of age, I have noticed that I am losing that high end/short term power. Trying to hit a kilo for even a few seconds really burns some matches for me. The again, most of my training is SST and I am not really training for it.

Good luck with it and keep us advised as to how the Red is working. I am just not sure that Shimano has perfected its compact yet if you are using it for rolling hills like we have on the East Coast.

Edit: Oh, and very brave going with white bar tape. We have so much **** on the road up here that I am constantly scraping my tires on the fly to get the debris off before it works its way into the casings, and I then transfer all the dirt from my grimy gloves onto the bars. And indoors, I sweat all over the bars and they get gross looking. If I went with white tape, it would be gray after the first ride, and black by a month. Very trick look provided you can keep it clean. But I am guessing that I will be seeing black tape on this bike in the near future.

 

[Felt_Rider]

Great looking bike. I am interested in knowing how you like the Red Components after you put some miles on them. I am still divided over my compact crank as well. Love the gear ranges, hate the increased stress it puts on your drivetrain. I even switched from FSA to an Ultegra crank but it still doesn't work as perfect as my old Ultegra ("600")stuff from the early 90s. And yes, because you tend to use the gears at the extreme end more with a compact crank, you get a lot more clicking and rubbing. So, if SRAM is building a better mousetrap, I would love to hear about it. I actually broke a rear derrailer cable last week on a ride at my shifter so I rode the back end of a hilly ride in a 50/11 and 34/11 as being my only gear options. (34/11 sounded like a Free Spirit 10 speed I fished out of my neighbors trash in 1978 and "rebuilt." ) In any event, my very good LBS fixed the cable and tuned it up, but it still isn't as precise as the old standard Shimano components or my buddies Camy compact, which is eerily quiet compared to mine.

I did an update on my blog for the bike build and then a new blog entry for the 57 mile ride on Saturday.
Bike Build
Saturday Ride

My intial thoughts are that I really like the SRAM compact comared to Shimano's compact, but maybe they have improved with the new dura ace 7900 compact. I am still getting used to shifting. Toward the end of the ride I was pretty much shifting instinctively, but I still found myself going into the wrong gear while climbing. Overall very quiet and crisp shifting. I need to make a small front derailleur adjustment as indicated below for the white goods.

Third bike since 2004 means a very understanding spouse.

More than you know. Everyday I test her patience.

Edit: Oh, and very brave going with white bar tape. We have so much **** on the road up here that I am constantly scraping my tires on the fly to get the debris off before it works its way into the casings, and I then transfer all the dirt from my grimy gloves onto the bars. And indoors, I sweat all over the bars and they get gross looking. If I went with white tape, it would be gray after the first ride, and black by a month. Very trick look provided you can keep it clean. But I am guessing that I will be seeing black tape on this bike in the near future.

Close call on the white on Saturday's ride when the chain was thrown off the outside. Putting the chain back on I ended up with some on the tape and hoods, but it cleaned up like new when I cleaned the bike. I have the original black hoods so I can always go with black in the future. I just thought I would look trendy.

Most importantly I believe my conditioning is starting to come together again and I am starting to ramp up my training once more.

 

[kopride]

My intial thoughts are that I really like the SRAM compact comared to Shimano's compact, but maybe they have improved with the new dura ace 7900 compact. I am still getting used to shifting. Toward the end of the ride I was pretty much shifting instinctively, but I still found myself going into the wrong gear while climbing. Overall very quiet and crisp shifting. I need to make a small front derailleur adjustment as indicated below for the white goods.

More than you know. Everyday I test her patience.

Close call on the white on Saturday's ride when the chain was thrown off the outside. Putting the chain back on I ended up with some on the tape and hoods, but it cleaned up like new when I cleaned the bike. I have the original black hoods so I can always go with black in the future. I just thought I would look trendy.

Most importantly I believe my conditioning is starting to come together again and I am starting to ramp up my training once more.

My wife is understanding as well, but I sold her on the Litespeed as the last bike I was going to need in 06 so I need to hold off for another season or two. I am seriously thinking about changing the drivetrain, so I am anxious to hear about the Red. My buddy is test driving Campy's compact for me this season.

I had white tape on my last bike and I could never keep it clean. Now I am riding with a red seat and tape, but they will be switched to black eventually, when I get tired of cleaning my bars with mechanics hand cleaner every ride, which is the best trick to keeping it clean.

Who needs conditioning when you have a bike like that? You can win the best dressed part of the tour. It should ride itself.

As an aside, I have at least 4 dirtbikes, none of which cost as much as my Litespeed. My dirt bike buddies just can't grasp a bike with no motor costing so much. But I do ride my Litespeed a lot more than my KTM.