I finished up my TT build last week and took it out for its first ride on Monday. The bar extensions proved to be too long, so I cut off another 15 mm off each and redid the cable housing (since I had now shorted the cables by about 4cm).
Yesterday night, I did the RB’s ride and finished up the cabling when I got home. After work today, I brought my bike down to ride on CD Smith Road (good low traffic road that is also the TT course for the Memphis Velo race in June) to check out my new extension length/shifter position and my Zipp 900 disc together… It was a good ride but definitely showed some issues…
The biggest issue is that my Fizik Arrione saddle is a terrible saddle to nose ride especially pushed all the way forward. It is not really an issue with the saddle shape, but the flexibility at the front end of the saddle. Since the Kuota Kebel seatpost is a setback seatpost, the saddle is pushed almost all the way forward on the rails. When I am pushing hard (28+ mph) the end of the saddle starts to flex and it is very unsettling. I will have to see about getting a different saddle. I am told that I can get a Kuota seatpost that is non-setback that will fit my Kuota Kebel (from the new K-factor?). I will have to order that as well.
The final build (so far) is this:
- Frame/fork: 2007 Kuota Kebel (XL: 58 cm)
- Seatpost: stock Kuota aero
- Handlebar: Visiontech Trimax integrated bar (aluminum)
- Shifters: SRAM bar end
- Brake levers: Visiontech
- Groupo: SRAM Force
- Crankset: Stronglight Pulsion
- Rear wheel: Zipp 900 disc (Tufo S3 lite tubular)
- Front wheel (not pictured): Zero 038 (Tufo S3 lite tubular)
The other issues that I have to take care of are a stiff rear brake cable (lever does not snap back) and a loose headset (need to get rid of the aero spacer since it is preventing a good tightening of the headset). I will probably lower the bar to expose a bit of steerer tube (it is close). The steerer tube is about 1 mm below the top of the integrated bar clamp which does not allow a good tightening of the headset. I could always use a bit of the of 1-1/8 steerer tube from my Felt as an alignment guide for the pretension stack. I have never been a big fan on the pre-tension setup on this bike. I understand the want to get away from a star nut (and the stress that places on the steerer tube), but this setup does not seem to pull things together in in the correct way. I will have to photograph it and add it to the post….
For now, I have two short TT’s lined up, so I will I fix the headset and the rear brake issue. The saddle I might replace soon, but the seatpost will have to be ordered. This Saturday (Chattanooga GC) is an 8-mile one with a hill and couple of corners. The following weekend is the 4 mile MSGP which typically is a flat straight course (as it probably will be this year as far as I know).
Today was a good long day in the saddle. Andrea and I rode out to Outdoors (as usual) but we added some extra bits… At the Shelby Forest Store we heard that the river (the MIssissippi) had flooded out the access road (Jackson Hill Road)…so we diverted from the group to check it out…..
So after looking at the flooded road, we doubled back up the hill (one of bigger ones around town) and rode back to mid-town. She remembered seeing a good stencil on a boarded-up gas pump on Union Ave, so we decided to stop and capture it on my phone…
I am not sure what this (”we win”) has to do with a boarded up gas pumps (this station probably was robbed too many times), but the artistry is pretty good and well done. In the end, I do hope more people will realize how many useless trips are taken and endeavor to reduce them….
In all, I got about 79 miles which is probably the furthest I have ridden in a while in one go. In the middle, there was (as usual) a sprited section going through Benjestown to the Shelby Forest Store.. I was able to put in a few good efforts that make me a believer in the longer leg extension. I probably will try to get up to the position that Rod suggested, but I am going to leave it alone (at part of the way there) through the next couple weeks (including Chattanooga Georgia Cup race and the Mississippi Gran Prix).
And I pulled the trigger on my e-file for my taxes… I had to pay $300 this year instead of the usual $100… Sold my Apple stock last year at pretty big profit (on a small position) to buy my Kuota.
I don’t know how I evolved to this, but it looks like I have been riding with a low seat height for a quite a while. I know that when I got my Kuota last April, I adjusted it to match my Trek (at least I believe…). Anyway, my new Felt FC and my Kuota before that were setup with a seat height of approximately 31.5 inches (80.0 cm). My inseam to the floor is 35.5″ (90.2 cm).
Since I was setting up a TT bike for the first time (see post #114), I decided to stop by RB’s and get a bike fit… After setting up the trainer…he looked at my knee angle and adjusted my saddle to 34″ (86.4 cm). That number is exactly the classic 96% number (90.2 cm * 0.96 = 86.6 cm) that is used for a starting point.
So, I left my TT bike as adjusted and when i got home I took a look at my Felt. As mentioned before, I had a seat height of 80 cm… I was able to adjust it up 20mm. Andrea helped me adjust the seat fore-aft using a plumb. I was also significantly behind the pedal spindle (pedal at 3 o’clock, plumb bob from my knee). I ended up moving from about 4 cm behind the axle to about 1 cm. It was a drastic change, but I decided to go with it since it was so far off the mark. (And it is as far as I can extend my seat post safely.. if I want to go further I will need a 40 cm post.. which might be a good idea anyway since the Felt carbon seatpost is a hassle to adjust…
I rode RB’s ride into spring (75 miles) in the early spring chill.. It was high 40’s and generally miserable this morning. Andrea and I started out in the lead group, but stopped in Arlington for the rest room. The group didn’t stop, so we rode trading pulls out to the 35 mile sag stop outside Brighton. Just after we got there the 2nd group showed up.. we ended up riding back with them. About half way back, Andrea wanted to a do a long interval and I rode off with her just ahead of me. I felt pretty good following (a testament to the saddle height fix…maybe). A bit later, I also put in a good effort up the rollers on Memphis-Arlington… all-in-all I like the new position… higher and more forward, but definitely better.
Tomorrow is another long ride with about 75 miles on offer riding from Germantown to mid-town to Shelby Forest and back.
Coming back from Tuscaloosa, I had to make some decisions about my Kuota and its future as a TT bike. Before I left I ran into two problems: incompatible brake levers and a fused BB/spindle. On the levers, I decided to set my SRAM levers aside and picked up some Vision Tech levers (that have outside cable housing routing). On the BB, I decided that it more likely will not get any worse and trying to pull it apart might end up damaging a perfectly good BB/crank.
So, I had a plan (and a mostly torn down frame). Last night, I applied and buffed out coat one of cleaner wax… I put another one on after the Tuesday RB’s ride (which was good despite my stuffed legs… I really notice a difference on Tuesday, if I don’t get out and ride easy on Mondays after a race weekend…). After that, I put the SRAM Force groupo back on (brakes and derailleurs). After that I finished the assembly of the integrated bar with the shifters and brake levers. At this points, I am closed to a ridable bike (missing a chain, pedals, and adjustment).
[nearly ready to ride]
I was really surprised to see the overwhelming surge of traffic (usual 30 / day jumped to over 380 on the 31st) to my blog after posting up the Tour de Tuscaloosa photos. A lot of it was driven by a link put on the VeloCity website… I think the photos turned out well and the event was a good one to photograph (hill on criterium and short laps on the road race).
