Crank the Shield

3 days of muddy mountain biking sound fun to you?  Parry and Raoul cranked out the kilometers and finished 35^th and 43^rd respectively out of 58.  250 kilometers in total!

www.cranktheshield.com

I think that is Parry on the right side.

I wonder if the jersey stayed white.

University Heights

Hello Velo dontaed some Rocket Science Rocket Bottles to the Youth Cup winners.

The last race of the year and three brave ones ventured up to the Jane and Finch area for the last road race of the season, an open criterium with a $1000 pursue.  The rain wasn't too hard but it ensured a good coating of water on the roads, plenty of rooster tails and lots of opportunity to wipe out.

From Quentin:

"The course was 2km, mostly single lane except for the back stretch, there were three corners, all requiring you to kill some speed given the conditions. The group took off at a good pace with no time to settle into some rythm. I think it was lap 2, when there was a three person crash on the first turn (although this turn is almost 1.4km into the route due to its crescent shape). This immediately separated out the group with me now in a chase group. over the course of the next several laps i had caught up to a couple of riders and suggested we work to try and pull back to the main group. there were 4 riders in total but there didnt seem to be a desire to push it."

Of course, there was a lot of "fun" further back in the pack.  After settling into a good working pace I grouped up with three other riders in the hopes of staying in the race as long as possible.  The roads were pretty bad and the police were not paying attention to everything that was going on - as soon as the main group passed them, they stopped tending to the race.

The course followed Driftwood to a short side street and then headed west to Jane.  On Jane, the race took over the 2 northbound lanes and the southbound lanes were divided for north and south traffic.  All that separated the race and traffic was a line of pylons.  

Coming around after 20 minutes I took to the front of my small group and the turn a little too tight.  The bike slid out from underneath me.  The police had not bothered to stop traffic and so as I slid, a mini van rolled slowly northbound.  I slid past the pylons, the bike went under the car and the car on top of the rear wheel and I stopped myself with my hands on the bumper.  I quickly got up, opened my brake and got back on to see if I still had a rideable machine.  A police officer made his way over to me to see if I was alright.  All I had were strong words for him, "Stop the traffic when we come around the corner!".

Back on the bike, I looked down and saw that my wheel was bent 2 inches to the left and the derrailleur was just as far off true.  I packed it in for the day, happy that I wasn't too badly damaged and that the bike wasn't toast.

Better a bent hanger than a broken leg.

I accepted the risk of racing and so will pay the cost the fix the bike, fortunately just a simple derrailleur hanger and a new rear wheel - good thing it was the $200 eBay special set!

Here's to the end of the year!! 

Part 2 - Expo Cycle

On the top end Jamis Xenith SL, the bottom bracket has been changed to the stiffer BB-30 standard and the head tube has a tapering 1.5" to 1.125" diameter also increasing stiffness.  The entire fork on the Xenith SL is hollow.  These features are shared throughout the Xenith line, however the grade of carbon changes as you slide down the pack.

Some of the cool things about the top three models of tri/TT bike from Jamis is that they all have their front brakes tucked behind the fork, feature internal cable routing and their rear brake is placed behind the bottom bracket.  That last innovation is also on Felt's bikes and my only observation is that it may make for difficult brake pad changes.

SRAM is also well featured throughout the Jamis line.

Felt's TT/Triathlon Line is pretty sweet looking, lots of non-traditional shapes.  I was hoping to see the AR, Felt's top of the line aero road bike, but it wasn't there.

Giant's top of the line has an integrated seat mast.  Perfect for people who don't travel or who have their own private jet.   I would love to ride a bike with this kind of seatpost just to see if it really makes a difference in ride quality.

Provincial TT Championships

Great day out on the course.  This supposedly flat course actually was better termed as gently rolling.  A head wind of about 30-35 km/h kept the first leg of the TT long for everybody but then contributed to a very fast second half.  The air was thick and heavy and the sun came out in time for the race.  A special thank you to the 100 Harley riders who decided to ride the TT course along with us.

Congrats to Jordan K who put in a solid effort at the last TT, completing just about every race on the OCUP calendar as well (I think) – 24:25 for 15km.  I am not sure that there are any in the BCC or Flyers who could go to the line with him.

David’s 1:00:34 was fast enough for a personal best at that distance and my 59:56 for the same 37 km was a result that I hope to see as the starting point for next year. 

Just to let you know, the fastest time of the day was 47:14 for Michael Nash of “Ride with Rendall”.  

Get tucked In

Some recent work that I did with a client in Toronto resulted in an excellent triathlon specific position.  He had done just about all he could with his current equipment (bike and otherwise), resulting in a road bike-to-triathlon conversion that was close but a little off from ideal.  To give you an idea, his original setup had the bike with a virtual seat post of approximately 76 degrees, the saddle 75.8 cm from the centre of bottom bracket and the saddle 5.5 cm behind the centre of the spindle.  Like I said, pretty good but the result was less than ideal.

After some equipment changes (a forward set seat post, not the regular dog leg that people are using but something kind of special - skip to the end to get a peak; and an ISM road saddle), a little additional height in the saddle and a nudge forward on the rails and he was now perched 76.5 cm above and 2 cm behind the bottom bracket, at an 80 degree angle.  

Before on the left - After on the right.

While the result at the back of the bike is notable, look what happened in the cockpit - no more stretched out/superman position, he is in a more comfortable, aerodynamic and powerful position.  Something I like to refer to as being tucked in and ready to pounce  These are static photos so it is hard to fully appreciate the change but hopefully you get the idea.  Here are some key stats from his before and after power tests (I do this with every fit):

Before

Avg Watts: 271.1 Max Watts: 328.0

Avg RPM: 87.2 Max RPM: 94.0

Power Left Leg: 48.5% Power Right Leg: 51.5%

After

Avg Watts: 314.0 Max Watts: 405.0

Avg RPM: 97.3 Max RPM: 112.0

Power Left Leg: 49.2% Power Right Leg: 50.8%

And here is a closer look at the seat post I favour for road bike conversions and the excellent ISM saddle, that everyone should be riding.

Part 1 - 2009 Bicycle Trade Expo - Montreal

There are 2 very large bicycle trade shows in the late summer each year: Eurobike and Interbike.  These events see the launch of just about all the new products for the next year.  Taking place every year around the same time is our own smaller event, a hybrid of a bike show and member conference run by the Bicyclte Trade Association of Canada.

Since we are a smaller market and this event is scheduled very close to the much larger and higher profile events, not all manufacturers take the time to attend.  Notably missing was Cervelo, and from what I understand they almost never come to the BTAC show anymore.

I did get to take a look at some great stuff and here is some of it, starting with soft goods from Louis Garneau and the new Argon18 designs.

What the heck is this you ask?   Argon18 has introduced an interesting innovation, the variable head tube.  To shorten or increase the height of the head tube on their all new Gallium line, you screw 1 cm or 2 cm metal spacers on to a coupler.  This increases the stack of the bike, and most likely is a stiffer solution than just leaving a fork uncut and protruding from the top of the frame.
They also changed the paint job (looks very nice), rounded and flattened the top tube and implemented what appears to be twin seat stays at the rear.  All with a nice tight carbon weave.

This new paint scheme has trickled down to all other models as well, an improvement in my mind from the over labelled version of years past.  All other bikes have remained the same.

Louis Garneau's considerable line of soft goods are sure to impress in 2009.  

The custom fit road shoe is home heat moldable and comes with 2 foot beds: one for the summer and one that blocks the air vents in the winter.  This is standard for all their high-end shoes and the foot beds can also be purchased as aftermarket accessories. 

The biggest thing for me at the LG booth was the new Diamond helmet.  40 vents, super strong and priced under the top-end of another very famous line.  Look out Italy!

Very comfortable fitting system, one piece pads and adjustable helmet cage make this one nice helmet.


Up there at the top of the rack is the Super Leggera, LG's aero helmet on diet pills.  There is no difference in the protective inner shell, but they have lightened the outer fairing considerably.  I found it a little flimsy but I am sure the weight weenies will love it.

Next up, more bikes and accessories.