HC Bike/Cycling Thread

[Dreadhead]

Nice ride Jeff. It's a glorious day today.

I have been too busy having family fun or working to ride for over a week. I will try and get out for a ride this afternoon.

[n_maher]

I got up at 6 this morning to head out for a little ~40mi lap of the seacoast.  It was actually a little chilly up here, with the start temp in the mid 50s.  By the time I finished it was up to nearly 70 and felt great.  I need to find a way to start hitting some of the bigger hills around here before the century next month. 

[jp11801]

Did 26 so so miles this am, couldn't get in a groove solo but I did manage a few 21mph stretches tagging in with random groups. Gotta train my ass off for Sebring in 4 weeks

[Dreadhead]

Just got in 28 or so in this beautiful weather. Gorgeous day. I didn't even mind the headwinds.

[Mister X]

30 miles for me tonight and the last little bit of scab feel off somewhere along the way.

Anyhow... it's time for a new pair of gloves. Again.

Any thoughts about the LG Nimbus short finger gloves?

 

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/product-apparel/2013-louis-garneau-nimbus-gloves-12403.13.1.html

[Dreadhead]

Not sure if anyone here is dreaming of one but Serotta appears to be shutting down. It may reappear.

[parris]

I've been following the Serotta thread on a couple of the cycling forums.  It's a bummer for the man, employees, and customers.  I've pulled my old Club Special down and am starting to look at what I need to get it back on the road.  When I was working in a shop in the mid 80's Ben and his wife Marci came to talk about the bikes and such for the day.  Until that point I didn't know that it was Marci that had designed the font for the brand.  

 

There are at least 3 builders who have come out of the Serotta shop that I know of who are building fantastic steel bikes.  Dave Kirk , Dave Wages, and Kelly Bedford.  Kelly was the guy who carved the lightweight lugs on the TDF bikes that were just too cool for words.  Dave Kirk started at Serotta in 89 and worked his way to the head of r@d before he and his wife moved to Bozeman.  Dave Wages I don't know a ton about other than he learned under Dave and Kelly.  He builds some stunning bikes under the Ellis brand name.

[Pars]

Not sure if anyone here is dreaming of one but Serotta appears to be shutting down. It may reappear.

They don't build steel anymore

 

Seems like (from the thread on the paceline) a holding company controls them, Mad Fiber and Blue (never heard of them), and did not come thru with the promised funding. Also sounds like Ben and RustyLion (forum name of Serotta president who has only been there a year or so but is an accomplished cyclist) are trying to buy the company or something, Maybe they will survive, though probably not in the same form.

 

Aerius, I had gotten the same feeling about SRAM chains not being as good as their older Sachs/Sedis (and earlier Sedis) counterparts. I'll have to try KMC the next time I need a chain. I get more than 2K miles out of a chain BTW, but I'm running friction shifting, etc.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Pars

[Dreadhead]

That all seems to hold together:

 

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-news/2013/08/01/divine-tells-local-paper-serotta-shutdown-temporary

 

I'm guessing though that the company bought them for the name so it's probably not going to happen. I may be wrong though. My understanding is that the purchase of Mad Fiber by the same people has been a boon for them and gave them enough capitol to ramp up production.

[Pars]

Just read that Ben Serotta and Bill (CEO) were fired by the investment company...

[agile_one]

Short ride on son-in-laws el cheapo 3-speed comfort bike at beach cottage.  Definitely better than no ride at all, and scenery was great.

 

[VPI]

Great view Gene. 

[boomana]

Great pic, Gene!  I rode my three-speed Raleigh around the neighborhood this weekend for about 20 minutes because I didn't feel like getting out the gear and on my road bike.  It was fun to just ride around.

 

Soooooooooooo...........Joe Bell just called.  He said he had "all the colors on", and the bike is "bitchin'!!!!"  He plans to ship it out to Dave on Friday after a clear coat, and then told me to take it out into the sun before I do anything else.  Should be all pearly pretty.  I'm guessing I have a two week wait max at this point.  Yay!!!

 

Road my Gunnar today, which is the first time in long time.  After all the saddle auditions lately, I'd forgotten how completely comfortable the B17 is.  I really don't know what to do.  I don't want a heavy, clunky-looking leather saddle on the Kirk, but the comfort level is so drastically different between it and every other saddle I own or have tried, I might have to do it anyway.  Any other ideas, guys?

[raffy]

Yay Vicki!

 

Just my personal opinion, nothing wrong with going with a clunky, heavy saddle that works. My only issue is that it's leather and I wouldn't wanna mess with maintaining a leather saddle. You've done it before so that aspect might be different for you.

 

As far as different saddle is concerned, you may want to try a Fizik Kurve Bull. It's an Aliante (which I know kinda works for you) but has a hammock/suspension design which I believe is the same case for the Brooks. The hammock design may eliminate the rubbing/friction issue you had with the normal Aliante. Also, if you still have the Aliante, try messing around with the tilt and maybe use more chamois cream? (I'm serious on that one, I've under applied chamois cream before and it made my otherwise comfortable saddle a little bit miserable).

[MexicanDragon]

Yay for V!!!!!

 

I forget, have you tried a few of the different Specialized saddles? I figure you have, but I would think they would make SOMETHING you'd find comfy.

 

**BRENT**

[parris]

COOL BEANS !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vicki don't be surprised if you have the Kirk earlier than you expect. When Dave shipped mine it showed up in less than 48 hours. I came home after a long shift on a Saturday to 3 good size boxes in my living room )

[grawk]

I'll bring my saddles to chris' soirée so you can try them if you want

[raffy]

I forget, have you tried a few of the different Specialized saddles? I figure you have, but I would think they would make SOMETHING you'd find comfy.

 

**BRENT**

 

Good point Brent. The Romin seems to be very well liked by a lot of people. I test rode a Venge earlier this year with a Romin on it and I liked it better than the Toupe that came stock with my Roubaix.

 

And you can always try my favorite, Arione

[MexicanDragon]

The Body Geometry stuff is really good, supposedly. I tried on some shoes when I was looking, but they didn't have what I'd want (1-2 steps up from the bottom) on clearance at the Specialized LBS, so I had to pass, but they fit great. One thing that I tried didn't fit well at all, leading me to believe that with entire lines there should be something. It looks like Specialized has a BG Saddle Fit system that is standalone or in conjunction with the BG fit... as I'm sure many others do as well.

My fav saddle was a Fizik Pave that is long gone, and probably too small for me, but a tiny little road bike saddle on the mtn bike worked great.

**BRENT**

[Pars]

Function over form Vicki. A Brooks would not look out of place on the Kirk (hell, they look fine on Merckx', etc.).

 

Cool on the bike, can't wait for pics.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Pars

[boomana]

I've tried two Specialized saddles, and had rubbing with both right where the leg meets my bum.  I think I'll start with my Brooks just so I can get some miles on.  I have plenty of time to try out saddles.  I have Parris's Rolls to check out still, and I have five saddles I still own that were all close to being good, and still might work on the new bike.  The other one I liked a lot was also leather, a Gilles Berthoud Marie Blanque.  I put the Brooks back on because I got it right when I was starting to do 80 miles + at a time, training for the Miami to Key West ride.  The saddle was comfy, but also hard as a rock, and it needed breaking in, which I didn't have time to do then, as my sit bones were super sore after 60 or so miles, and really really sore the next day, though I had no soft tissue issues, which seems to be the problem with most of the these other saddles I'm trying.  Maybe it's time to try it out again.  

[aerius]

So the weekend was pretty fun.  Met up with some random people on facebook and went for a ride on the trails.  The less experienced riders had a bit of a rough time on some of the muddy spots & tree roots, but we all stuck it out, finished the ride, and cracked open the beers at the end.

 

 

 

 

[boomana]

Nice pics.  Looks like a fun day.  

[n_maher]

Wuhoo @ Vicki!  That's outstanding news and I can't wait to see the pearly pictures.

 

Glad the rain has finally let up, Aerius. 

 

Me - I've been feeling under the weather since Monday.  Seems like there's a summer cold/flu going around right now and I've caught at least part of it.  I've got a ride scheduled with a coworker tomorrow evening but the weather is not looking good.  I might push it and go anyway.

[Dreadhead]

Awesome news Vicki!

 

Nice ride Aerius!

 

Good luck with the weather Nate.