back into cycling the roads
 

After 10 years off of road bikes I have decided to get back on and compete. I was able to get a great deal on a Specialized Allez built to pretty good specs for the price. This week I have made 4 good training rides of about 30 km each...the difficult part is I was a racer in England and then in Texas, so I never really trained in the mountains. I have went in almost every direction from my home and there is at least one 10% grade climb on every road...but I am no quitter and made it up each one of them. So at the end of the month I will be in the US Forces Championships...I doubt I will place at all but I feel good considering how long I have been off the bike.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1094319401.jpg

And this is my freeride bike, 5" of travel with the Z-1 Wedge and the bike is super tough considering the downhill runs I have been on with no damage at all.

Changed the hardtail
 

Well I made some changes and now my Kona can handle the DH and FR runs much better!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1094813933.jpg

http://www.gruppeb.org/users/upload/...eefy_stuff.JPG

Marzochi Jr T fork

Sun Doublewide rims

26 2.5 front and 24 2.7 rear

SmileWavy

An MRP Crank would be sweet on that Kona..
Frank B
biketopia
2030 W. darby road
Havertown, Pa. 19083
(610)-789-4500

Frank...that is exactly what I will do next! We took the bikes up to Berg Frankensteen the other day and every time I did this one larger jump the chain would come off...so an MRP crank is much needed.

I have 5 in stock :)

Mmmm, new bike this week for me - I bought it second hand:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1097121501.jpg

- Specialized Roubaix Pro frame (2005 model)
- Ultegra everything except the brakes which will be Ultegra (I have to give back the DuraAce ones)
- Mavic Cosmos wheels
- Ritchey WCS bar and stem (light!)
- Fizik Aliante seat (I had it on the Giant, which is now for sale. Looks much better on a black bike than a yellow one!)
- Ultegra pedals

8.54kg, ready to ride (but without saddle bag...) - not especially light but pretty good. It very comfortable but still seems nice and stiff!

Am trying to do 300+km/week at the moment because I've got a 200km event coming up on the 30th. I'm feeling a bit worried about it - there is approx 2500m of climbing in the 200km. I don't know if I can handle 7 hours on the bike (yet!). I'm gonna try do 7hrs this weekend.

If anoyne is intersested I am selling my black beauty.

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=7298&item=

and my new steed....the Stinky Ho

http://www.gruppeb.org/users/upload/images/stinky.JPG

bump for gratuitous happy topic pics...

Ah, those Italians... and its bathed in campy record;)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099621542.jpg

For the minimalist out there...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099621562.jpg

The Klein (converted to a single speed) has a bit of a cool story. It was originally called the 'Top Gun' but got sued by the movie company for infringing upon the movie of the same name. It would be rebranded as the 'Rascal'.

Its getting cold here in Chicago... but I bundle up and ride anyway in an attempt to not get fat.

Nice!

How are you tensioning the chain on the single speed?

its a horizontal dropout... so you just pull back on the axle and tighten.

I changed it recently to use a surly singulator tensioner so that i could add a second smaller ring on the back for commuting. i need and allen key to shift gears :) i use the larger rear gear for off road (don't need gears for illinois hills) and then switch to the smaller rear ring when commuting on aphalt.

it still have a santa cruz superlight... but its been getting less and less use as i've been riding the single speed offroad more.

Here's a pic of the santa cruz heading down from porcupine rim in moab a few weeks ago.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099626025.jpg

what a trip... Hermosa Creek in Durango, South Boundary in Toas, Porcupine Rim in Moab (several other 'lesser' trails that trip too) All while getting hauled around in my buddy's Defender 90.

Cam ,I didnt realise you were a gruntwheeler! I have been riding a Colnago Master for about 8 or 9 years ,but I had to sell it to pay for the storage on my 911. I had planned Round Taupo
but didnt get the miles in ,so common sense prevails.
Bought a titanium Colnago Bi-titanio frame off e-bay a while back
as it was broken, but my contact at Air NZ welded it for a couple of packets of chocolate biscuits ! Building it now--all Campy.
Incidentally ,I once was the veterans record holder for Round Rarotonga 32 Kms.
Apologies to all the people who have no idea what I am talking about.
Bob

Here is the only pic I have of me in action...
 

I use to race MTB's and was Semi-Pro class rider back in the day note the date on Pic..... This is myself and a buddy Phil Noble going at it for a race win... ( I am the one showing my A-yuss or cathing a draft depending on how you look at it ) :)hahaha
I use to ride a Gary Fisher with XTR kit.... great bike but it broke at the end of one season.. it led a HARD life.. but Gary sent me a new frame no questions asked.. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099669692.jpg

Eric....SmileWavy

Re: Here is the only pic I have of me in action...
 

Nice! I have very few 'action shots' the pic above was actually taken by some company that sets up at the bottom of porcupine in moab.

Most of my biking pics are after the fact... cuts, scrapes, blood, dehydrated, beer in hand (carbo loading).

A couple of pics-- first one is my revolutionary training technique, and the second one is the secret weapon!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099789658.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099789695.jpg

Bob, yeah - its a pretty new thing. Good for me though :D I'm entered in round taupo = I need to do a couple of 300km plus weeks I think (I don't usually get much over 200km)!!

How many potholes did you hit in the round rarotonga?

Nice kit guys! Had a Principia with Campy kit 'till Wednesday last week, when tire blowout at speed turned it (and myself) into a wreck...

Hopefully the bike can be repaired! :-)

You guys are really bringing back memories! I raced in the US and Europe way back in the late 60's and early 70's. Rode with a guy named John Howard if any of you can remember back that far... still looking for the pictures of all of us.

Boy, the welding and frames look nice! Not surprised to see the carbon fiber parts working their way into the mix. We flew Lance a few years ago and of course the bike he brought aboard was mostly carbon fiber.

Best thing back when I was racing was a Peugeot PX-10. Saved up for a year for that one then hopped on Pan Am and headed overseas. No such thing as a mountain bike then, we just took off the good wheels with tubulars on them, put on clinchers and took the road bike into the boonies. Still have the scars from those races...

Whole different world in Europe, toured a bit and raced a bit. Picked up a full set of Campy toys to make the PX lighter. Worst thing in my life (so to speak) happened when I got my drivers license. Rode another couple of years afterward then traded the bike in for enough money to buy a '57 Chevy. Still have a Cannondale for riding these days but miss the old road bike.

JoeA

an action shot
 

Well I have reverted to being a kid...it's just not simple at 35 since I now have a fear of pain! LOL

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1099980292.jpg

The photo above is at a freeride area near Frankfurt GE (Burg Frankenstein) and the locals have set up some pretty nice jumps...this jump covers about 18 feet and crosses a fire road.:D