"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Three days to ride!

I'm taking off work tomorrow. The weather is looking great for the next three days, and I'll also be off Saturday and Sunday. Looks like temps in the high 70's right through Monday.

I guess I'll try to get in about 130 base miles or more in the next three days. My plan is to get back into racing in mid to late May.

I'm also headed to the bike shop tomorrow to pick up a new bike. I am getting a Trek 1500 in Discovery Channel colors. I am having them upgrade the brakes to Ultegra, and the wheels will be upgraded to Bontrager Race Lites. Also upgrading the stock saddle to a nicer Fizik saddle and added a wireless computer. The frame seems to be pretty nice. It's the Alpha aluminum SLR(Super Light Race) frame which is really strong and light. The drivetrain is full Shimano 105 10 speed right now. My plan is to upgrade this bike a little at a time until I get it up to Dura Ace or Ultegra. I also want to eventually get some FSA carbon bars. I'll post a few pics this weekend. I currently own a Ciocc Italian lugged steel frame with Dura Ace 8-speed and Cane Creek Strados wheels. I just wanted something a little lighter and a little more modern. I guess I have spent about 1,500 dollars with the upgrades and computer.

Hope you all have a great weekend of training and racing. See ya out on the open roads!

Nice, enjoy your new ride!

aww lucky you! have fun and be safe travelling and riding! :)
ohh and take pics and share later!

it's raining here...

There isn't much difference at all between 105 and DA at this point...except for weight.

The hollowtech stuff trickled down to 105. I'd just roll with what you've got right now :)

Good call on the brakes though, I don't know what's on the 1500, but I had some Tektros and when I went to DA brakes it was a night and day difference in modulation and stopping power.

Have fun, and enjoy the weather this weekend.

Thanks!!!!!

Oh yea...the Trek is a double chainring up front. I don't do triples. One more upgrade to mention, added some nice Time pedals too.

What are you guys doing for the weekend??

Thanks Snuff!! That's what I thought too. with all the trickle down technology in the past few years, I figured that 105 stuff is pretty solid now. Yea, I think this will hold me over for awhile, but I really want some FSA carbon bars. The stock brakes on my new Trek were Cane Creek. As mentioned, they will be replaced by Ultegra.

Awesome. Have lots of fun in your endeavor.

Trainer. Bleh...a few more weeks of that and I can get back on the road. It sucks because I'm strong enough to get out and have a good time riding, but I know I shouldn't because a bad crash could result in damaging the new ACL graft that won't be fully healed until 9-12 weeks post-op.

The stock wheels were Bontrager selects.I was told that the Race Lites were lighter, had better hubs, and featured sealed cartridge bearings....where as the Selects didn't. So I went ahead with the Race Lites.

Snuff...

Be patient. The time will fly by. Soon you'll be out there in the sunshine. Keep us posted!!!!

well beside working Im planning on doing some hills on Sunday, but your thread made me dream a little as i have been talking all week about planning a road trip with my best girlfriend this summer to do lots of riding in different states. Im glad youll get to enjoy what i want to also do soon.

Blonde, I see you are in NH? Have you ever ridden down the coast of NC along the Outer banks? It's an awesome trip by bike. Very busy(traffic) in the northern section(Duck, Nags head, Kitty Hawk), but very quiet and serene as you move south to Cape hatteras, Okracoke, and beyond. I want to do it again soon.

Anyway, hope you get to get out and tear up the asphalt.

I am getting a Trek 1500 in Discovery Channel colors....My plan is to upgrade this bike a little at a time until I get it up to Dura Ace or Ultegra. I also want to eventually get some FSA carbon bars.

Just a little advice, switching to 10 speed DA or Ultegra will put you back quite a bit. Ultegra isn't much better than 105. DA is lighter by a good amount, but $$$. Ride your bike for a year or so, then you'll have a good idea about what you really want.

Two weeks ago I did the samething, took off Thursday-Sunday, I ended up getting 200 miles in that weekend. Enjoy the time off and ride as much as possible.

Blonde, I see you are in NH? Have you ever ridden down the coast of NC along the Outer banks? It's an awesome trip by bike. Very busy(traffic) in the northern section(Duck, Nags head, Kitty Hawk), but very quiet and serene as you move south to Cape hatteras, Okracoke, and beyond. I want to do it again soon.

Anyway, hope you get to get out and tear up the asphalt.
thanks for the info, sounds like this could be one of my stops!

I picked up the new Trek and did the 30 mile loop yesterday as her maiden voyage. The bike is much lighter than my steel rig...by at least 5 lbs. The 105 stuff performed flawlessly. The shifting was crisp, and this hardware is fairly light, and also looks pretty flashy(polished, stainless).

Now about the brakes....I bought a pair of Ultegra brakes as replacements for the stock brakes. These are Cane Creek SC3's. Well, these brakes are so good that I'm in no hurry to take them off. I was really surprised by these calipers. They are dual pivot and seem to grab as good as the Ultegra brakes on my other bike. I may eventually swap them? Cane Creek makes good stuff. I have Cane Creek wheels on my steel rig and I love those wheels.

The bike shop gave me a free saddle bag which I like much better than the one I had. It was a pretty nice saddle bag to be giving away. Thanks to 'Bicycles in Gear' in Myrtle Beach!!!

What else?....the Bontrager Race Lite wheels are nice. I had those before, so I knew I would like these.

Oh yea...this frame is much more compact than my steel frame which has that classic road geometry. The stock stem on my new Trek has a bit of rise. I thought about flipping it, but I think I need that rise to compensate for the compactness of the frame..and to compensate for the differences in geometry of my two bikes. So when you guys see pics, you are going to say flip it, but I'm not sure if that will be best. We'll see. On the ride yesterday, I felt as if I was in a pretty aggresive position when on the drops. I don't know If I need to go any lower by flipping the stem. With the rise in the stem, the bars are at the same level as my other bike when they are placed side by side(my other bike's stem has no rise). Also, the bars currently are lower than the nose of the saddle. This frame is really tight and compact when compared to my Italian steel frame. I almost started believing that this guy sold me a 54cm and simply put a 56cm sticker on it so he could make the sale, because maybe he didn't really have any 56's in stock. Well, I measured the length of the top tube and it is in fact 56cm.

I picked up two polar water bottles with the blue color under the plastic. They match the frame colors.

The computer I bought is a Blackburn Delphi 'wireless'. Anyone have that one? I didn't get a manuel with it. I think the shop forgot to give it to me.

I'll get a pic on here soon. The wife is away with the digital camera right now.

OK, here are some pics of the new Trek. I'm sure you all know what a Trek 1500 looks like. You'll also see pics of my steel Ciocc. I have around 100 miles on the Trek. It fits me better than the Ciocc, it's also about 5lbs lighter, and it is just as comfortable. Probably a much better racing bike for me. I'll use the Cane Creek wheels off the Ciocc as my backup wheels. The Bontrager Race Lites on the Trek are lighter and have bladed spokes...so those are my 'A' wheels.

http://mypinkciocc.blogspot.com/

P.S....if you click on the pics, they will enlarge