Hi dminor, that's pretty impressive. Looks like you could install a 125 cc two-stroke on it.

Thanks! Haha, that was a long-ago past life . . .

Dminor, is that a early 70s TS125? I wasn't into Suzukis so I'm not sure. The low pipe looks like a 70's Suzuki but I don't recognize the engine side cover, and the tank doesn't quite look Suzuki to me... it looks like a late 70s Honda XL tank. The top shock mounts have been moved forward for more travel and those are aftermarket shocks.

eric, you have a very good eye! 1971 TS125 with the factory race kit (because, of course, this was still a couple years before Suz. came out with the first race-ready TM125). Tank is the stocker - - was bondo'd to fill the emblem mounts and smoothed over. Chain tensioner was my own creation and yes, the shocks are aftermarket Boge mounted lay-down to try to mimic the then-new long-travel style (remember Bob Fox cutting up Maicos to move the shocks forward?). My dad and I also cut, narrowed, rounded and re-welded the rear frame loop to ditch the ugly old wide, rectangular loop and fender. We also built our own fiberglass still-air box - - another new trend at the time.

That bike got 5 or more custom paint jobs at my hands, including gold leaf flame jobs, pearlescent overcoats and even airbrushed mini-murals. I liked changing up the look a couple of times a season . . . just because I could (and because I read a lot of Rod & Custom ). One of the last ones before it got retired, sunrise on one side/sunset on the other:

My wife's new rig. She did over 6k miles this year, so I guess this biking thing is going to stick with her. I suspect she will like the new Ultegra compared to the hodgepodge of mostly 7-year old 105 components she has been on. The bow is the bike shop's idea.

Very nice!

Mrs. Ex got this for Christmas:



She rocks the trails.

Thought I'd post a pic of a racing tandem since no one else has though I know Merlinextralight races one as well.

It's a Calfee Dragonfly which weighs around 28lbs ready to role with aerobars, bottle cages and peddles. It currently has Zipp 404's on it but sometimes I use the HED3 front. I have one transcontintal record and a few 500mile race records on it.

One of you sleeps while the other pedals?

Nice bike.

Vance and Ex - NICE!!! You guys are great husbands - you have very lucky wives.

VanceMac, nice bike for the Mrs. Somehow I thought she was taller than that. Track bike next?

Racer Ex, it looks real good to me even though I know little about modern mountain bikes. I just figured out last year that 29er rims are actually wide 700C rims.

Homeyba, I know a couple of Dragonfly owners and those are extremely cool (and extremely expensive) tandems. Nice that you and you stoker can put it too such good effect.

Hi,

Did a major overhaul on my training/mid-week race, road bike:

New stem, new bars, new pedals, overhauled BB/crank bearings, new headset, new (cheap) cassette, new PowerTap wheels (that need a warranty repair), new rear derailleur pulleys the next time I clean the drivetrain.

The Shiv (with encouragement from Racer Ex):

Kind of a complicated bike to build. Never saw an owner's manual like this for assembling a bike. Now I need to ride it before I race it. Derailleurs, shift levers, saddle, and bottle cage came off of the Bianchi. Anyone need a Bianchi D2 Crono Carbon "module?"

BTW, here's what the Bianchi look like:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post14204791

Cleave, oh my word! Seriously nice, those!!! Congrats!!

Wow... great job, Cleave.

That Shiv is hot. Almost makes me want to get into TT'ing. Almost.

Both are gorgeous.

Great looking rides Cleave! The S Works is wicked badass.

Nice. I hope to have my Shiv built up soon.

That is a bike upon which to set records.

And nobody will see you do it! That's about the stealthiest looking machine I've seen outside of the military. It's beautiful, and very impressive!

Hi all, thanks for the kind words. Part of why I race these things is because I love the technology. My wife was supportive of me getting the Shiv after hanging out at Nationals TT and meeting Racer Ex and his friends. I guess she figured if he recommended something there was more validity to my "need." Seriously, I don't know that I will go faster the Shiv than I ever went on the D2, but I hope (believe) that I will be more consistent on the Shiv. If not, then I at least have a cool TT bike for the rest of my life.

After spending the day overhauling my track bike for the first time (OK, track bike overhauls aren't that difficult) and setting up my TT position on the track bike to match the Shiv, I discovered a hairline crack in the top tube to head tube weld.

I'm going to keep riding it and watching the crack for a bit until the weather and daylight gets better (meaning less training needed at the velodrome). Then I'll see if Bianchi will replace it. It just so happens that I stumbled upon the original receipt for the frame while looking for something else in my garage. Please don't ask for photos of my garage.

I'll post some photos of the bike and crack later.

If anyone can analyze cracks, it is a Boeing engineer. However, like airframes, a crack in a track frame where one routinely puts 2 Gs of force is not good, IMHO.

Hi Hermes, it doesn't look that bad (yet). I am going to mark the ends of the crack with a permanent marker to see if it continues to grow. Also, you have to ride fast on the track to hit 2Gs -- just sayin'.

Yep it's an awesome bike and extremely expensive but you get what you pay for. Luckily my team had some great sponsorship so I got it for practically nothing. It'd be about 15 bills if you wanted to build one yourself. If you ride a lot it's worth every penny though. The ride is easily on par with my Colnago.

Regarding your bikes, why switch from the Bianchi to the Specialized? (never mind, you actually answered that earlier)

Quite unintentionally, I hadn't ridden my CAAD10 in several months. I dusted it off for a coffee ride yesterday, and was reminded how much I love it. Many reasons, but especially the geometry. Some would call the race geometry twitchy, but I love how responsive it is... you feel so connected.