mellowdave

I finally hooked up with 2roadies and swapped my stuff for his ENGLISH bottom bracket (In 20 years on bikes, I've never had a road bike with an English BB). So I got her assembled, mostly tuned, and took her for a ride. I just went around the block to try to get a more solid feel on the head tube height, etc.

First impressions, MY GOD IT's FINE. Stiff, but sooooo compliant. I pounded up a few hills and there was ZERO flex. It just snapped forward. The geometry couldn't be more different from the Italian stuff I'm used to. The bike is a 54, and feels MUUCH larger than my 52CM Pinny, but overall, its about 2CM smaller in wqheelbase etc. That should help convey how sharp and fast it feels. Of course I am keeping the Pinny, so I will be able to do back-to-back evals later. In the long term, I'm going to replace the crank with a Record Carbon CT, and I don't care for the seatpost, its a pain, so I may replace it as well.

Anyway, on to the pics. (yeah I know the rear derailleur housing is too long, the tires are yellow, the stem hasnt been cut, and the front derailleur is wacko; kudos to anyone who figures that one out...)

Rear hub and dropout. Cool place for the serial number...


Oh yeah, the chain hasnt been cut yet either, its still sized for my Prince. I'm just replacing it with an Ultra. That stem, which used to look just fine on my Prince, looks chunky and outsized on this bike. If anyone is looking for a good deal on a REALLY light CF stem, let me know.


This is such a fine image... I love this bike...


More later when She's more fit for public consumption...

cuda2k

Beautiful is the only word that comes to mind. Enjoy.

ViperZ

Fantastic Mellowdave!! I love the look of Cervelo Geometries, they seem to have the right amount of slope, not to much, not to little. What can you say about a bike thats been proven in one of the most grueling sports events in the world? Great Ride.

The stem you want to sell, is it that Giant on the R2.5? You know I'm looking for 120mm Carbon stem with about -10 Degrees PM me...

mellowdave

it s a 120, and I've had the best luck with it, I'll sned you some Hi-Res pics, because there is a mark on the top you should see.

BTW, thanks for the compliments!

ViperZ

DOH! OK, lets have a look

ViperZ

Mellowdave, I think this stem would look awesome on your R2.5



It comes in a +/-5 Degree, thus the angle off the fork would match the sloping tube very well, plus the Graphics looks to be on tone.

31.8 (oversize) clamp
1 1/8 steerer clamp
+/- 5 degree rise
opposing steerer bolts
Perfect match with our handlebars
100mm (143g) 110mm (149g) 120mm (155g) 130mm (161g)
Torque 6nm


https://www.velocarbon.com/stems.html

Here is one on Ebay I found for less than list

sidlaw

red tires

curt in denver

Nice porn

Lecterman

Two Words, you suck!

i'll add it to the list of bikes to see next time I'm in Austin

2Rodies

Dave, it was great to meet you and your beautiful daughter (my girls were mad that I made her leave!). You picked a lousey weekend to build a new bike!

I was at ATC last night and I was checkin' out the Cervs and all I can say is I wish 360 were a Cervelo dealer. That is a really sweet bike, especially the BB and the Cranks! You me and Ravenmore are going to have to hook up for a ride soon!

Lecterman when are coming into town? And where the hell is Ponder?!!!

botto 

aesthetically so much nicer than the CF soloist!

don't know about the stem, it doesn't look that bad.

nice pics

BTW - HOW MUCH of a saddle to stem drop is that? looks pretty aggressive. 12-13cms? More?

Chad's Colnago

That's a beautiful bike.

tekhna

That bike would be amazing if you switched the tires up!
Looks pretty good though.

Lecterman

As soon as I can. I wanna ride some hills down there and blow myself up

Ponder is basically Far North Fort Worth (near the Texas Motor Speedway)

ravenmore

Dude - couple of Pinny's and now a Cervelo? Not fair!

I have the same stem btw. Came off of a TCR I think. Its a good stem but its actually about 20 grams heavier than a Ritchey WCS and not quite as stiff. The Ritchey is kind of generic I know, but its really a hard one to beat. I really can't think of a better stem in terms of weight and functionality.

Again, REALLY beautiful bike.

Side note: we REALLY need to have a Bikeforums Austin ride. There's starting to be a lot of us here.

2Rodies

Bad news Dave the f'n weather is going to be like this for the next week (cold and rainy)! Raven check your email.

ravenmore

Well, we need the rain in a bad way. Oh well. I think its supposed to clear a little on Sunday. Last time I checked.

Sorry 2Roadies - no email yet?

fore0121

Your description of how stiff and snappy it rides is bang on. I'm happier and happier each time I ride mine.

Love the build. I've got Chorus on mine, Record will be sweet. Once you've got it built up I'd like your evaluation of your arione on it. I'm in need of a new saddle and that's on my short list.

f

mellowdave

As stated in the text, I am of course switching the tired. I have a thing for Conti's. so I'll likely just go to GP4K's, though I'm not sure I'll do red. Prolly just black.

Thanks!! It was great to meet y'all as well. My daughter said to make sure we invite y'all to her birthday party. And youre right, it is sucky to have it and not ride it. I keep looking at it and looking at the rain. It sucks.

Thanks man, I love the Pinny's, which is why I decided to keep the Galileo. When I was a poor kid and racing, all my hero's rode Pinny's, (big Mig, etc) and I decided that I would have one some day. So when I got off active duty in the Army, I decided to get back in to roadracing/riding I HAD to have a Pinnarello. I assumed I would just buy another one this year when i decided to get a new bike, I was planning to get a Dogma, or Prince SL, but a guy convinced me to try the R2.5 and I was hooked.

I got that stem froma buddy, I had a 100mm on my Galileo and it was too short, so I traded him a 100Newton, for that 120 Giant. I had always planned to replace with an FSA, which I will do now.

2Rodies

Just let us know the time and place!

3dsteve

what do you know about this comp. is it quality ,i have never heard of them and i was looking at there ebay store and they have some nice looking stuff

DocRay

Sweet Jebus, that's a fine ride..I'm waiting for my new Ventos, because I have figured out, like yourself, that more Campy is better.
For Aesthetics, consider a bright ally or titanium stem to match the cranks, or a FSA carbon crank. I know your pain with the two-bolt Cervelo seatpost-awful.

SilentShifter

Wow that is a sleek bike!

mellowdave

Thanks man, I was actually thinking a Record seatpost would make a nice aesthetic statement with the chrome head, but they dont make the 27 in a 350mm. I will likely just use an FSA OS115 stem. I almost bought one at lunch today.

Has anyone seen the red GP4K's in person?

EdZ

Nice dura ace FD.