I'm not racing. However, I'd have to ride this if I was.

Had you gone to LSU, you'd have a LOT of stuff that matched that Centurion. And no, I'm not an LSU alum, I just like the colors. I almost put green bar tape on it for Mardi Gras.

Hum... I don't know where you'd put the beads, it'd have to have beads for mardi gras, right?

They'd go on the rider. "Throw me somethin', mister!"

Nice bike, and just about my size.

JohnDThompson, Campy, drillium, tubulars for training, and a Silca pump with a Campy head. What could be better? Unfortunately, Brooks saddles never agreed with my...

revchuck, I bought a 1989 version of that for my wife when we got married. She didn't ride it much and I sold it during the road bike doldrums in the late 1990s for $100.

Yours looks excellent.

Roger M, Coeur D'Acier? Very nice! I have a soft spot for Serottas.

Ahhhh, another porn site! One a woman could love!

Thanks. It's a 62cm frame.

Thanks. It's a 2000 Atlanta

Here is the new frame, in race mode - ready to roll except for bar tape, and where it weighed in:



Here it is finished, in training mode, which adds only a few ounces:

AzT, wow! I love the red accent that saddle gives the overall look. It's really light for such a large frame, too! Mega-kudos. And, I AM GLAD YOU'RE BACK!!!!

Yeah, impressive.

Frame is a bit lighter, but I have alloy bars now instead of CF, so it ended up the same as what I replaced. Gonna do the team group ride Saturday, which will be a good test of me on the bike. Still need to cut the steerer tube, and I think I can trim a little length off the RD cable.

A few irritating manufacturing defects, that just shouldn't be there on a top-of-the-line frame:

A. The cable stops were changed from last year, to be more aero for the aero frame. Last year they were held in only by tension on the outer cable. This year they have tiny screws that become flush with the plastic stop, under the outer cable ferrule. There are 4 of them. Two of the screws went in fine. The other two were blocked by something inside the frame tube... like some CF material at the back of the threaded hole. Since the screw was alloy, the hex head of first one that had the problem stripped. Didn't take much for that to happen. So I backed it out with vice-grips, cut off half the screw and managed to sort-of get it tightened. But it is loose, and clicks when moving the bars significantly. The second time it happened, I knew how easy it would strip, and cut the screw (even more) and that worked fine. Shouldn't have to do this kind of thing!

B. The squared off washer that clamps onto the cable for the rear brake needed to scrape some coating off the brake arm mount in order to clamp down. Tolerances didn't take the coating into account. Couple of square mm of bare metal (alloy) on a brake which is mounted under the BB, where it will see lots of grime. No big deal, but irritating.

C. The finish of the BB where the bearings press in should be much cleaner. For a race bike, any 'facing' required should be done prior to shipment but I have yet to see a manufacturer doing this.

Sounds like QC issues, AzT. You're totally right, they shouldn't be there. Hey, I looked at a Madone yesterday, a 2013 model. I loved the way the front brake caliper fairs into the fork, and the "TT treatment" the rear brake got was totally trick. The down tube, with the flat back side was interesting, too. Is yours like that?

Yes... that's part of what's new for 2013. It's a "Kamm tail" shape, which is a truncated airfoil initially developed for auto-racing body shapes by German engineer Wunibald Kamm. It is being used by several manufacturers now: Scott, Trek, Wilier, BMC, Canyon. The reason it has become popular in bike design is that it conforms to UCI regulations governing the ratio of tube length to width (3:1 IIRC). You can use a wide section for laterally stability, without making the tube incredibly long, which both adds weight and reduces vertical compliance. Independent wind tunnel tests show it isn't as aero as, for example, the complete aero section Cervelo uses with its S-5 (narrow and deep section), but handling and stiffness are improved, creating, as Scott puts it: "More bike than aero." The Trek Madone and the Scott Foil have a fair amount in common now... but the Trek comes in a size that fits me, so long as I'm okay with the seat mast cap right at "don't go above this line or you will die", and with a 140mm stem.

Madone has always been known as an all around bike with good predictable handling, comfortable for long rides, pretty light, and reasonably stiff so long as you get the model the pros are riding. Now it also leans toward the aero side, and IMO transmits a bit more of the road surface. It wasn't part of the last Velo test that included lab measurements of stiffness, as I don't think it was available then. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up in objective tests against the Scott, which won the last Velo 'shootout', FWIW.

AZT, I like the new bike and a great choice. All brands seem to have some peccadilloes.

What would be interesting is to have our gang become a set of testers of various bikes in a shootout. That would yield a great matrix of scores against a test protocol due to rider sizes, weight, preferences and skill.

And would be a cool way to get to try lots of new rides...

New track frame on the way. Racer Ex and I are copy cats. I am not sure which one of us copied the other. His frame is in the US and mine just left the UK headed for a bike shop in Irvine, CA and then on to the Stub Hub. And yes, it is stiff.

Dolan?

Df3

Does that mean the Planet X will be for sale? Probably too big for me, anyway.

Yes. It is a medium so it may fit you. It is slightly small for me.

My DF3 is out for delivery today. So, I should be able to race it on Sunday at LAVRA.

Oooo!! Exciting!

[SUP][/SUP]All dressed up and no place to play.