Originally Posted by
popeye
Same tire pressure?
Yes, 95/105 (clinchers) on both. Since everything else is so stiff on the Tarmac I should probably run higher, but I can't bring myself to do it.
Originally Posted by
DrPete
As a 3rd party observer, it sounds like you're disappointed with the Tarmac but don't want to admit it. I mean, we've all been there with some bike-related purchase or another.
That is an astute observation. The truth is, there's no holy grail. A bike can't be as stiff as the Tarmac and as comfortable as the Cooper.
The performance difference is for real, though. There was a 50-mile charity challenge last month that I had trained for on the Cooper, but did the event on the Tarmac. I blew away my best training time by almost 20 minutes, setting all sorts of personal bests. Some of that is race-day overachievement, but whatever the cause, the proof is in the result.