Cougrrcj

Dang! That is some very tight rear tire-to-seattube clearance! Very race-oriented frame geometry!!!

jamesdak 

Not as tight as this beast was!

jamesdak 

I really shouldn't push the old legs this hard 4 days in a row. But I sort of wanted to do back to back days on the two Giordana XL Supers as a comparison. So I went back out this morning to run the same route I've done the past three days. I could tell early on that the legs had no power. Still I was counting on this bike to carry me through. As built it's about 2 1/2 pounds lighter than the other one with some semi-aero, light, carbon tubulars running a larger 700 x 27 tire. It's also running a "better" mix of Super Record/Record components vs the Athena on the other one. So anyway, reality is this one just feels like a normal good bike. For whatever reason it never feels as wonderful as the one I rode yesterday. Same frames, pretty much the same fit, etc. On the ride today I had nothing for when the roads turned up hill a bit. I was able to spin ok on the flats though to get the speed going. I hit the 15 mile mark slower than all the past three rides which didn't surprise me. It was a bit windy and most of the mild uphill stuff is in this first section. I was at 19.07 miles at the one hour mark so I couldn't screw around on the way back. Just kept fighting the tired legs and actually somehow made up some time on the way back.

26.68 miles in 1:23:29 with 522 ft of climbing for an avg pace of 19.2 mph. So glad tomorrow really is a rest day. Oh and today was not a clean run either. Dropped a water bottle around mile 9 and then had some traffic issues holding me up a couple of times. Avg HR was only 147 today. The legs being too tired to power today really seemed to be what held me back from a faster pace.


So on paper this is by far the better bike. But on the road the other one just feels better and seems to always be faster.

This one is certainly in great shape like the other one and that Podium steel makes for some great bikes.

seedsbelize2

I'm struggling to crack 19 km/hr average

wesley77803

For next year, it would be interesting to get a set of power meter pedals to swap between the bikes to see if there is a difference in the power required to make that average speed.

Is that Cannondale really slower or is the fit off enough that you aren't generating the same amount of power on that bike?

hose

jamesdak

Can I move in and sleep with your bikes?

jamesdak 

You supply the pedals and I'll supply the numbers.

As to fit I set them all up the same with only an exception or two. I have totally trashed knees so much deviation gives me pain while riding. So whenever I get a new bike I set the saddle height off the center of the BB with slight variation for the few cranks that aren't 172.5. I set the same saddle setback too measured with a plumb line from the center of the saddle and here to off the center of the BB. Then I set the handle bar reach based off the center of the saddle too. Only real variation is saddle to bar drop. I'll adjust that the first couple of rides based mainly on how free my inner, upper hips feel when in the drops. As I've been appreciating shallower drops more though the past year or two, dang ol' age! Oh, and I'm most comfortable on 42cm bars and usually make the change to that width on the bikes too. Off the top of my head I've got two 44cm bars right now and then the smaller ones on the Opus. I forgot what they are but I think they're either 40 or 38.

jamesdak 

I'm the jealous type!

repechage

Impressive stats.
I had strava on my phone but eventually removed it.
I know now my typical routes, and I don't care if I hold the podium for some "segment" or just lost it.
Too many strava slaves running signals to keep that average speed up.

If I was racing again, (won't be) might help.
But if you pass me by, I will grab your wheel and you won't be able to drop me.
unless you are a Cat1, even then, old age and treachery can outwit youth and fitness from time to time.
Most cannot take a corner or descend well.
Those 50mm deep carbon rims don't like crosswinds either, fast until the yaw angle is too great.

Manny66 

Im surprised the carbon aero wheels didnt gain a little mph's on your time compared to the box section aluminum wheels.

jamesdak 

Probably more to do with my legs than the wheels. This 56 year old dude still thinks he's 20 in his head. My body keeps telling me otherwise, LOL! 4 straight days of hard riding is a lot to ask of the old body. Especially since I've also been cutting wood each evening too and that's not as easy to do as it used to be either.

Manny66 

I'm 55, still maintain a 20 mph plus on my flat solo rides..but barely.
Any hills and my mph average dives below 16 mph.

You've got A seriously nice bike collection buddy!

jamesdak 

I want to take a quick trip with a bike to someplace at sea level to see what effect living at 5000 ft has on me. I know back in my running days it helped for a few days when I went back to a lower elevation. Free "blood doping".

jamesdak 

Well it's been a week of rain that we so desperately needed. Unfortunately that meant of week of bad arthritic pain in the knees. Yesterday was so bad I did basically nothing. Today though I'm full of Ibuprofen and Aleve and the rain is gone for a day or two. Time to see if I can wake up the legs for a nice try with the 90's Serotta CSI. I've managed to snare two more Fizik Kurve Chameleons and put one on this bike this morning. I want to get out while it's not windy but that means it's only going to be in the 40's for this ride. Hopefully a week off hasn't killed the legs.

jamesdak 

And a fail.....but not really on the bike or my legs today. Got out later than planned and the winds had kicked in. So mild winds for about the first 7 miles then calm for a bit and strong winds on the way home with gusts hitting 20 mph. I still almost made it finishing with an 18.9 mph avg but that was a surprise. Thought it was going to be even slower from the way the winds kept knocking me off pace. Also took me about 5 miles before the legs felt like they were warmed up and sorted out. If I could have been stronger the last few miles I probably would have made it but the winds won today. Cool but beautiful morning out with fresh snow on all the high peaks.


You can see me struggling those final miles when the winds were at their strongest.

Fresh fall snows all around me today.

Update:
Early into the ride the rear started skipping a bit in the middle cogs but only occasionally. Wasn't sure what was up. Grabbed the bike to check that out just now and found one very large, and very dead grasshopper smashed in there. I do believe that is a first for me, LOL!

jamesdak 

Well a week later the Serotta got it done. It was cold and windy today but I was still able to keep this one up to speed well enough.

26,70 miles in 1:23:49 with 591 ft of climbing for an average pace of 19.1 mph.

I did give the drivetrain on this one a thorough degreasing, cleaning, and relubing after the last ride. Still feels like there's some resistance that shouldn't be there though.


Latest change to this was the yellow bottle cages.

hose

That large chain ring looks massive?!

Another beautiful bike -

jamesdak 

I'm gettting really close. Getting ready to take the De Rosa out. It's only 40 degrees but I've got stuff to do this afternoon so I'm going to have to brave the cold. I also have someone that asked about coming for the Schwinn 684 today so we'll see if they actually show. After I get the De Rosa done i'm down to the couple of odd ones.



Everything in green right now has pulled off a 19 mph avg this year.

jamesdak 

And a total fail today. No excuses at all, the "engine" just didn't have the power today. Probably my own fault too. Normally after a hard ride like yesterday's I'll immediately eat a banana and drink a pint of chocolate milk as I walk off the ride. I didn't do any of that yesterday. In fact I didn't eat until hours later. So I went out with a positive attitude today but could tell early on that the legs were just flat. Two cars cut me off today while I was at speed. Sure is hard to come down from around 22 mph to nothing in about 10 yards when on wet leaves.

Did notice I was not as comfortable in the drops on this one as I was yesterday on the CSI. Left leg felt like it was reaching at the bottom of the stroke and I was more stretched out on it with these bars. I'll have to recheck the fit measurements on this one.

Wileyone 

I can't reach that with my car.

We both are old.

jamesdak 

No rides last week, after a summer of extreme drought now we can't get the rain to stop. The nice bikes don't go out in the rain.

I did sort out the Schwinn 684 since the prospective "buyer" a week or go was a no show. Converted it last week with some 7 speed STI shifters so when I get some nice weather it'll get a shot at this too. Never really ridden this one hard so I'm curious to see how it goes. I do need to swap some Keo pedals on first though.


New stem, handlebars, saddle, chain, housing and cables, and STI shifters.

I'll also say that a lot of work has been done to the underperforming Cannondale and I want to get it out just to see how it does now. New BB, properly installed the crank, upgraded to Dura Ace 7800 brakes, shifters, cassette, and FD as well as new cables and housings, chain, and a Zipp carbon handlebar. Also had the hubs gone through on the wheels. This "newer" bike is now only 16 lbs 8 ozs as in the picture below. Really curious to see how it feels on the road now but there's a few more days of rain and snow that will keep me off the roads.



Anyway, just wanted to update this a bit. I haven't quit trying to get all the bikes done, I just can't get Mother Nature to cooperate.

jamesdak 

Well the rains and snow have finally moved on. Came home planning on making at run at it again with the De Rosa but at the last second decided I had to see how all the improvements on the Cannondale made it feel. So I took it out instead. Yep, completely different bike now. Proves their was a lot of loss going on with the old drivetrain components. Today I went out pretty easy since I haven't ridden in over a week. The bike finally felt like it was working properly with the drivetrain spinning easily and the speed coming without a lot of effort. This despite swirling winds along the route too. Hit the 15 mile point at a minute better than a 19 mph avg so I figured I had it today. Was able to improve even more the final 10 miles though even with backing off the effort the final couple of miles. So now the Cannondale at least performs like I expect. It's also for sure the harshest ride on my rough roads. The carbon handlebars helped out on the front end but the ol' girl still kicks me pretty hard through the saddle. Curious to see if the tubulars I have coming in will improve the comfort a bit. I did put some new Veloflex Corsa Race tires on it the other day with Vittoria Latex tubes the other day to. It seemed to help a bit over the other tires but there's not doubting this is a aluminum framed bike that designed to go fast.

Anyway today I did 25.01 miles in 1:17:27 with 341 ft of climbing. Avg pace was 19.4 mph and I honestly could have gone harder today. Big improvement over all the other rides on this bike.

Tomorrow I'll give the De Rosa another go.

delbiker1 

Hey James, It always feels great to notice the improvement after making changes on a bike that just does not feel right. I know you were tickled with that ride today. I went through that with my Orbea Avant and I now really enjoy riding the bike. The last switch was going from Vuelta SLX disc wheels, 17mm interior, to Hed Ardennes Performance wheels, 19mm interior. I have Vittoria Open Pave 27mm with Vittoria latex tubes mounted on them. The changes definitely smoothed out the ride a bit. PSI dropped by 10 lbs F & R, width went from a shade under 27mm to right at 29mm. That is about max for tire width. Also, I consider this bike to be my "harshest" ride, but that is relative and pretty darn comfortable. I have been riding it a lot.

jamesdak 

The Cannondale could certainly use a little bigger rubber on 'er but there just isn't room.

jamesdak 

One monkey off my back (the Cannondale) and now another right back on, dang it! Failed again on the De Rosa. Legs had nothing at all today and just never came around. I was about a 1.5 minutes off pace at the 15 mile point. Figured if I could keep the speeds above 20 mph for the final 10 easier miles I might pull it off. But the next two miles were a struggle into a headwind to even stay above 19 mph. So I just backed off and spun easily the rest of the way home. About 4 miles out though I had a total a$$hole in a dump truck purposely run me into some barriers on the side of the road. I was too busy trying not to crash to get his license plate. One of these days this old soldier is going to get his hands on one of the jerks and teach them some manners. Anyway the De Rosa came to me on a trade and I really don't want to keep it or put money in it. It's a nice enough bike but the handlebars are too wide, the cranks are 175's I think, It's a bit big since it is a 57cm frame and the 700 x 22 front and 700 x 23 rear tires are not comfortable on the rough chipseal at the pressures I have to run for my fat butt. I am going to see if I can get some 700 x 25's on it though to smooth things out a bit before the next try.