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Well, it has been a week with my new bike. After 6 years with my trusty Trek 5200 (Ultegra 9-speed), I decided to get a new bike. I went with a Kuota Kebel with SRAM Force / Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels.

At this point, I have done a couple weekday rides and also raced it down in Mississippi (see Brookhaven post, #3). I went with a smaller size (60 cm instead of 62 cm) and increased my cranks from 172.5 to 175mm. Both those changes seem to positive. I feel like I have more power (cranks) and a bit more nimble (smaller frame) in the crits. I think I need to bring up my saddle a bit and/or drop my stem still, but am pretty close to where I need to be.

The SRAM Force has been great. I find shifting to be pretty instinctive and have only flubbed it a few times. This last weekend, there was a 2-3 times where I pushed on my brake lever to downshift…6 years+ of Shimano STI will take a while to unlearn. I find it nice to stay on the double tap lever when pace is changing….and finding the exact gear I need when the pace drops or increases during the race. I like it.

I don’t have the SRAM crank, my bike came with a Stronglight Pulsion Crank. This actually seems to be an upgrade with the Ti spindle and all-carbon construction.

The bad thing is that I need to get some more cassettes, to bring my wheel set collection up to speed. Over the years I have a quite a collection of Shimano 9-speed cassettes…. now mostly useless…..
I will be going back to Estonia for work and then for a Paris trip the next two weeks. Photos to follow…. My next race might be Sumner Co. RR / Nashville Crit. Soto S.R. is definite after that. Just wonder how two weeks away from the bike will work out…we’ll see.

R