steaktaco

Personally, I think the levers are placed too high on your bars, and you bars are rotated too low. It looked more correct on the ZX3. You might want to fix that since you're redoing the tape. At least I like it level on my bikes...

dgasmd

I agree on that with you visually. However, one thing that was very uncomfortable for me before was to sprint from the drops. I had no room there as my forearms would be hitting the top of the bars. By rotating the bars down a bit, I have more room for that. I also liked the way it was before in that the top had a straight line on top all the way to the briefters, but it did feel a bit stretched out to me. This way feels more comfortable when on the hoods, but I agree it is not visually as appealing as it was before or how it looks on your bikes, which I thought was the correct way as well. We'll see how it feels in a week. That is how long I am giving these changes on the bars and new seat before I change it again.

According to the bike fitter, my position on the bike is "perfect" now with my back straight, elbows bent, etc. We'll see.

heads up!

SLAAAP!!!



But serious - how you liking those Nimble Fly's? I've had my eye on them but don't know anyone riding them. Also thinking their Spider clinchers are up my alley.

Sweet, sweet LOOK. I wasn't even aware of an "ultra" version until now.

dgasmd

I really like these wheels. They are very light, plenty of aerodynamics, climb (if I can even say that in FL ) very well, are stiff enough, good price for other comparable products in the market, and so far have been bomb-proof as it gets for ANY wheel but more so carbon. Great and fast customer service and warranty too. Have no complains whatsoever on them so far, but I will be the first to voice it when I do have them. I have over 3500 miles on them so far with only a single broken rear spoke to speak of.

I don't know much of anything about the Spider clincher though, so I can't help you there. I would call them and speak with David. He has been able to answer all my question to my satisfaction in the past. They are also not shy to tell you how they compare to other products and brands in the market

heads up!

Cool - very encouraging to hear.

Can I ask your body weight and the spoke count you went for? I've been reviewing this page - looks like I'd go with the Horse Fly since I want a super stiff wheelset.
https://www.nimble.net/subpages/weightlimits.html

dgasmd

I personally chose the 24F/28R spoke count because I wanted something very very strong and durable, and not necessarily because of weight limitations. I know of someone in this forum (whereswaldo) with the same wheels (different hubs-no better) and same spoke count (whereswaldo) that has probably 3 times the mileage on his that I do on mine without any issues that I know of. I believe he is about 15 Lb more than me and started using them when he was 15-20 Lb heavier than now if memory serves me right. I would send him a PM. I am sure he would be glad to help you out.

heads up!

Thanks for the info and sorry for the temporary thread-jack on the wheels. That 595 Ultra should be the only point of discussion, really.

pagliaci

I don't get it, what's your point? What insights are you bringing or what is your question?

ilvwhtgrls

lol owned. great bike once again.

boozergut

Man I thought Cannondale made fat down tubes. Fat fat fat...............

SushiJoe

Super-slick steed you got there!

4cmd3

My retinas are offended by the position of that front skewer/QR lever.


Nice bike!

beeballman

Sweet!!

PipinFan

I think is a nice beautiful bike!!

s4one

Geez, what is your inseem? 3-4 off is a grip.

wannaride

Hey Doc if you actually bothered to use the search function to which you so lovingly refer you would know that I did not "complain again why you got dropped again on a 18-20 MPH group ride." You always get what you give and in your case antagonism is well deserved. I say nice things about your bike and make one suggestion and you're rudely all over it. I ain't one of your nurses.

Since you also live in SoFla I'll keep an eye out for you on the road. I ride all over the place from West Palm to Miami east of course. Where do you ride? See you around Doc.

dgasmd

Read my signature!

logdrum

That is a nice bike. Thanks for posting!

One uneducated comment/? about the wheels -- are they sturdy for day to day ride? That's what I heard about them and would have like to have gotten them instead of my 340's.Have you consider deeper wheels. It is also windy here in the high desert and the deeper 50-60mm wheels do really work and the crosswind was not an issue really

logdrum

Just read about the seat bar comment. I think a lower seat actually improves your spinning and generally comfortable. In the TDF seat height is all over the place. What's the use of a big drop if you are not in the drops. I see that happening with a lot of recreational and amateur racers riders.

There are no hard and fast rules on any set up. I think this French Fit that you have is the thing for long distance centuries that you do almost every week it seems.

mazpr

It looks incredibly sexy, but I would have gone the less is more approach. To ME... it seems much nicer without the graphics.

That bike is sweeetttt!!!!

dgasmd

Thanks for the comments. As a matter of fact, I do have another set of "aero" wheels. I don't use them often though, but I will likely start using them more often. That is one of the drawbacks to the powertap in that I would need another one built into the wheel if I wanted to use them as well. Not going to happen though.

dgasmd

Schwag/Bike review

Overall, I am extremely happy with the new bike. Not just because it is something new, but rather because it has turned out to be better than expected. Let me go over a few things individually.

New fit:

It is very hard for me to tell how much my improved stamina, power, and speed is due to the fit and how much to the new bike altogether. However, if I had to cough up a number out of my arzs I would say 70% the fit and 30% the bike. I just feel so much more power when pedaling, and it does feel so much more comfortable. I even dropped the stem another 0.5-0.75 inches from when the pictures where taken. I has made me a bit more aero altogether yet conserving 95% of the comfort. I think I will leave it there for now. I may be able to come down another 0.25 inches on the stem, but I doubt it will buy me much but the beginning of some neck soreness.

With the new fit on the bike, I am spending 85% of the time on the drops, but since dropping the stem some more I actually feel more comfortable staying on the hoods than I did before. This is a huge contrast to the fit on the ZX3 (not necessarily related to the frame itself) where I spent 90% of the time on the hoods.

Bar position and gel tape:

I like the way the bars are positioned from a comfort and fit perspective, although I will agree that it "does not look right" visually. Therefore, it will stay there. The Specialized gel pads under the tape will go as soon as I get the Cinelli cork tape I ordered online. LBS did not have it. Although I do like the thicker feel around the bars on the drops, I hate the living crap of it on the top section of the bar. I may just leave the ones on the drops there. Also, despite using gloves mostly for the sweat factor, I don't care for the feel of the Specialized tape. Maybe I am just too used to the Cinelli cork.

Frame:

To say this thing is very stiff is a gross understatement. I don't feel like anything in it "gives" when I push it. I am not the strongest guy in the bunch by any means, but it does not feel like any effort is wasted. In that regard, I am happy. I went through some roads I normally ride on that are a bit rough, and the address stiffness was also noticeably there. Meaning, I could feel the road bumps more (Caveat: read about saddle below). I am very satisfied with the frame/fork though despite the gain in weight overall to the bike.

Seat:

This thing is the new source of my pains and frustrations. My arsz hurts like it never has before. I was trying to be patient and give it the benefit of the doubt for at least a month, but in the 200 miles I've put in it so far nothing but pain has been the result. Although my taint has no pressure at all and feels quite nice on the drops and hoods, my sit bones are hurting so bad I only feel some relieve by laying very low on the drops. Hence the reason I was eager to drop the stem some more. My previous SLR had me hurting at the taint after 35-40 miles, but it was doable. It also did not hurt anywhere near as bad as this does. Conclusion: It has got to go!!! I already ordered a '08 Selle Italia Kit Carbonio Flow today, and it is on the way. It has the same back shape of the SLR for sit bone support that went well with me, but has the added channel like the Toupe to relieve the pressure in my taint. We'll see how it works out. With this arsz hatchet I have on now, I don't even want to ride at all!!

New pedals:

I had been researching into trying the Aerolyte pedals. The weight weenie in me could not resist the temptation of trying pedals that would drop 180 gm just by themselves. I had been using LOOK pedals for over 15 years, so I was not very eager to the learning of a new system. These things are not only extremely light, but they roll so much better too. The cleat is kind of ghetto to say the least, but it works well. Coming on and off is a different, but nothing extremely difficult. Adjusting them was certainly a trial and error, but I did not find that it took me surprisingly near as much tinkering as it did to put new LOOK cleats on a new pair of shoes. When you combine the total weight of the cleat, adaptors, and pedals to the same combo on the LOOK KEO carbon Cro-Mo, the weight sayings was a total of 140 gm. The biggest gripe most people seemed to have about them was the lack of float, and me using the most amount of float on the KEO was also concerning. This has proven not to be a real concern so far. They feel comfortable, and I look forward to seeing how they feel after a couple of thousand miles. So far so good.

The Powertap:

I am not entirely sure I could give a good review of this yet. I rode the bike with the the head unit just to get familiriazed with the settings and such. One thing that strucked me from the begining is that my HR never goes above 160 and rarely sits in the 150's. With my other HR monitors I've used before, it seems that this reads a good 10-15 beats less. I will wear my Garmin 705 one and compare it to be sure because it is not like I am taking meds or got so much better all of the sudden.

I uploaded the software on to my Mac, and was having a bit of problems getting the data from the computer unit to download on to my Mac. After talking on the phone to the guy a Saris, we got it working. It could very well be possible the craddle nit does not allow the computer to sit well, so he is sending me a new one just in case so I never have that same problem again. The date it provides on the software can be very overwhelming and confusing to say the least. I am going to set aside some hours this weekend and see if I can read some more through the training with power book and watch some of the videos Saris has on their site. I bought the darn thing to get better, so I might as well learn how to use it right. Maybe in another 6 months I can give a better review of it from the non-racer's perspective.

Have a great weekend!

dgasmd

It has been quite a while since I made an update on this. I had a bit of time and felt a little inspired, so here it goes.

Frame/Bike:

It continues to amaze me time and time again. No complains whatsoever so far despite me looking for them. This thing just performs as advertised. The final weight as the bike is today is 14.8 Lb with the wheels with the PoweTap on it and a few changes from when it was originally built. You can see them in the pictures below.

Comfort:

My fit to the bike has been altered a little from when it originally was done. I replaced the seat with a Selle Italia Kit Carbonio Flow. Much much more comfortable in all positions since then. It is not until I get into the 100+ miles that I begin to get a bit of soreness on my butt, but I figured that is expected at that mileage. Especially since I am not riding consistently as many miles now as I was 6 months ago.

I have also dropped all the spacers in the stem. Fell good in all positions.

Changing the pedals from Look Keo to the Aerolites changed my fit by a few degrees on my down stroke. I did not realize the difference in stack height between the Keo and the Aerolite, and as a consequence I had to lower my seat a tiny bit. These pedals are awesome to say the least. The only gripe I have with them so far is the ghetto way in which you attach the cleats to the shoes. It works, and it works great though. The lack of float has actually being a welcomed change as I don't think I realized before how much inefficient wabbling around I was doing with my feet.

I also changed the bar tape to my loved Cinelli cork. I took off the gel under the tape on the top/flat sections of the bar, but t]left it on the drops. Feels very nice.

Overall, I am very satisfied. I couldn't recommend this bike and set of components enough. It is just too bad I am nowhere near the most powerful and fast guy to make the bike justice. However, I very much enjoy riding it, enjoy the bling factor, and it has contributed to me living longer and healthier. At least in my own mind it has...........

dgasmd

A little update since it has been nearly 2 years from the last one. The bike is still riding like on day one. A couple of updated pictures since I have not taken any in its final form in several months.



Before you ask, those are Psimet 50 mm carbon tubulars laced to a DT Swiss 240 hub and my PowerTap hub. Best purchase I've done in a long time.

Nachoman

It looks fast.