Look 695 (tester)

In the UK Look and Zipp are imported by the same company
We do alot of Look pedals and Zipp wheels and our rep has been trying to get us to stock Look frames as well
It helps in that he has an ally in Ben, who used to race a Look track bike when he was with the GB U-23 squad....

I relented an said I was keen to have a look as I have heard great things on the 695 - but a test ride period would be vital !

Here is our tester - please feel free to come and borrow it (if you can grab it off of Ben!)





This thing will NOT flex
It also has a very clever system whereby you can change the angle of the stem - limiting spacers and increasing front end stiffness





The crank is sold as part of the fuselage and is a real star. Its super stiff and you can change the effective crank length (so you can experiment with 170 vs 175 for instance). It also takes both compact and standard chain-ring sizes, so you can change over for the marmotte and then keep the 53/39 when you are doing some racing.....

Wish you were here?

Just got sent this from my mate Robert who has a place down near Kerry
I am super jealous !

Torque wrench review...

We are seeing alot more demand for torque wrench - I really do think its a tool everyone should invest in. Its not cheap, but then neither are your bikes !

Here is a great review from Pezcyclingnews

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=9519&status=True&catname=Tech%20News

Drinking the Trek Kool-aid

Greetings from Mayrhofen, a beautiful Ski resort in Austria where I have been a guest of Trek World
When I told Tom from Parlee I was going we engaged in some good natured banter and he warned me I would come back with orders for 50 pairs of Bontrager shoes, loads of town bikes etc etc !!

Its not been like that at all, but you will be seeing more Trek bikes at Bespoke going forward. Simply put they are amazing....






I spent half my demo rides on this bike - the top of the range 6.9 SSL
It only had a 39/25 on the back, and the climbs round here are epic steep (and its at altitude, and there have been plenty of evening refreshments). Excuses over, the bike climbed like a dream
I have been on Di2 alot recently, but I have forgotten how buttery smooth mechanical Dura Ace is




We have done alot of Speed Concept bikes in the last year, but to my shame I have not put a great deal of time on one myself (that will change as I have one coming very soon). However that was put right on this trip, and I loved it
It fit like a glove from the off, and I really like the 'wrist relief' aero extensions - it puts your hands in a great position.
This bike had the new Bontrager Aura wheels - they are being hyped as a 'Mavic carbone killer' as they test alot quicker in the wind tunnel. For under £900 I cannot think of a more aero wheelset - carbon wheels for every day rides!

Coolest bikes at the show were the new Andy and Fabian Team bikes they have just done for the boys at the Tour
The Andy bike looks so much better in the flesh than in the pics (and it matches our team kit perfectly!)








It will take a brave man, with very big legs to get one of these - but I hope one of you chaps do. Its absolutely jaw dropping in the flesh



How cool is that to look at!
Would certainly encourage you to dig that bit harder when you were starting to get tired !



Both team bikes are sporting the new D3 range of carbon wheels - they adopt the wider profile that has been popularized by HED and Zipp. Us mortals cannot get them until the start of the new year which is a nightmare as I would have bought them then and there if I could. For £50 you can choose white spokes and/or a choice of 12 decal colours. Perfect for you bike tarts !!

Giro SLX shoes in white FINALLY here

And mighty bling they look too!

Fabian is in the house

Big thanks to the lovely boys at Trek for helping us with our massive homage to the big man !

This is also a photo of Luke's new Speed Concept; yet another lovely TT build we have been privileged to work on
Does not get any better than this - Di2, SRM and Zipp tubs !

Building out our treatment room and performance Lab

You will notice we have the builders in again!
We are building out the treatment room now, and also setting up a section where we can run the Performance Lab
To that end we have a Hypoxic Exercise System
Simply put it allows us to reduce the Oxygen you breathe whilst exercising which will then have a training effect as your body needs to become more effecient with the oxygen available

So when cycling in the real world it all of a sudden becomes alot easier !

We are setting it up now - more reports when we have had a good play ......