Considering form over function. Please slap me.
 

My Italian steel bike has been great. It's my first road bike ever and I've put over 2500 miles on it over the past year (considering the riding season lasts about 7 months up here, I'd say that's pretty good). I guess my only complaint is that I wish it were lighter and faster, or at least, faster looking. This seems to have stemmed from my excitement over the Tour. I know. I need a swift kick in the junk for considering form over function.

Actually, the bike weighs at least 21 pounds and was thrown together by my LBS with a lot of leftover/surplus components, which is why I find myself flipping through catalogs looking for tricked out wheelsets, space-age carbon forks, and counting my pennies to see if I can afford a conversion to a double crankset (the 10-speed Dura-Ace looks sooo cool). I find myself wondering what a 16-lb carbon bike feels like, and whether I'm not too fat to break a set of 18 spoke aero wheels that cost more than my whole bike.

In an effort to curb some of this lust, I resolved an annoying creak coming from my handlebars and cleaned and lubed everything, and now I'm thinking of flipping the stem to give it more of a drop. Now it feels much more solid without that stupid creak. But I still find myself lusting for the latest and greatest. Damn capitalism and mass marketing! Slap me, please.

Maybe I'm looking for some encouragement. Please reccomend some light, strong, fast, and cool looking :p wheels that can handle a 190-lb rider and lots of New England backroads, yet can be serviced by someone without a degree in mechanical engineering and cost less than $600 U.S. I probably know the answer already, though. And while you're at it, what are some other cheaper ways to shave weight (yeah yeah, I'll lay off the twinkies as much as I can!:p )

Wow, this post seems kinda pointless. I guess unmedicated ADD (and an 8-5 desk job) will do that to ya! :D

Buy a nice jersey, always worked for me.

Get some American Classic CR-420 wheels. They can be had for less then $600 on Ebay (where I got mine) and are light, aero, and can handle 190lbs. They're lighter than Ksyrium SLs and use standard spokes and nipples.

BTW, what wheels do you have now? Do you have a pic?

The bad news is, that a lot of us here are true "gear-junkies", and may not be qualified to help you out. On a side note, have you seen the FSA K-wing bars? DAMN!!!!

My current wheels are 32 spoke Matrix Aurora rims with Shimano Tiagra 9 speed hubs. They're good wheels and have not needed to be trued at all since the inital break-in. i've posted pics of my bike before. I'll look for them.

EDIT: found 'em!

As for the jersey suggestion, I'm kind of a cheapskate and don't want to imply loyalty to a professional team that I don't care about, but I have been on the lookout for something that matches my bike's color scheme. I've even been looking at some cool looking $90 helmets.

Simple..... what you need are new bar tapes. That always does it for me...

Get yourself some Open Pro's ... relatively inexpensive, reasonable weight and bombproof. They're not fancy looking, but they're good enough to be seen in the pro peleton.

-mark

So what's wrong with that? "If eyes are made for seeing, then beauty is it's own excuse for being."

Okay here goes: your bike is 10 times better than most bikes on earth from 20 years ago, no reason to waste more money on it until it is holding you back. Are you really that fantastic of a rider that you have exceeded the engineering limits of your bike, and need lighter faster parts? If so, splurge away. If not, go ride some more. For a couple or ten years. Then get new stuff.

cutting up your credit cards is a good way to avoid buying new gear. :p

I gotta tell you, from the pics, it is a great looking bike.

I think I passed you the other day. Were you riding in the Wallingford area?

PJ

G'day,

You race?...you optimised your own physical condition?....bike holding you back?...if you honestly answer these questions & any of the answers is no.....then save your bucks. If you must....then upgrade the wheels 1st. Any weight saving in 'rotating mass' is worth twice the saving elsewhere.....I see in another post that you are in love with your bike....I wouldn't change a thing,

cheers,

Hitchy

1) ksyrium's. get tires you can pump to 120psi.
2) new, stiff cycling shoes
3) new socks....definitely new socks.

there. i've spent your $600.

Go to a good bike fitter and get your position dialed-in. Then consider a new wheelset.

What did the five fingers say to the face? . . . . . . . . SLAP *****!
-Rick James via Dave Chapelle

Upgrading my pedals and shoes has become a serious consideration. I'm using Shimano 515's with generic shoes and I kinda have that "pedaling on golf balls" feeling. I'll probably get some pedals via mail order and get the shoes at my LBS. I have a few questions for the mechanics forum, too.

I just flipped the stem and now I have a slight drop from the seat. I'll adjust the fit tonight. That little change makes it look and feel like a whole new bike :D

PJ, I do have a route along North Branford Rd past the gun club in Wallingford I like to take quite often. I usually try to wave at every cyclist I pass.

I don't remember where I think I saw you, just that I remember the DeBernardi.

I ride an 04 Zurich and have been out that way punishing myself as of late. On Saturday I passed about a dozen riders total. There was a group of 4 at the I-91/ Center St. (Wallingford) intersection too.

As far as shoes. Wallingford bike has a blowout deal on Sidi Genius 4 Lorica's for $120. Although, I don't know what sizes are left. It's worth a look to possibly save $70.

PJ

http://www.velomax.com/models_clinch...t_Circuit.php3

Check these out. I love them, I am around 180 lbs. and ride rough roads, not a problem so far. I have around 2000 miles on them.

Hey guy, just get a credit card (if that's the only way you can manage it) and get WHATEVER you want! You can make payments for a couple years! SO WHAT! you only live once and dont know if you will even have a tomorrow, why deprive yourself? You deserve it! JUST DO IT! mmmm the smell of new rubber, on a shinny new spotless feather weight bike, oh yeah baby! it dosen't get any better! Nothing wrong with having more than one bike, I have 3 road bikes! you can always make more money! hope I was able to help.

Performancebike.com has Cane Creek Aeroheads for $280 right now, and usually you can get %20 from the Hot Deals forum, so thats like $230 for $400. They're nothing spectacular but thats one hell of a deal. I agree, try changing little things like tape because personally I like the look of your bike.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate everyone's advice, even the somewhat insulting ones that put me in my place. In the end, I'll only end up replacing things as they break or wear out. I might look into different bars and a shorter stem after a consultation from my LBS. Now that I've been on this bike for a year, I'm finally getting an idea of what I want out of it in terms of fit and performance. I need to justify some more goodies by getting into a few races.