A ride by myself

Today's reliability trial was called off due to snow - conditions were very treacherous around some of the lanes. I decided I needed to do some exercise today so ended up doing a very cold and wet 3 hours by myself. Who said cycling wasn't sexy?

Some of the lanes were very dodgy indeed - I almost lost it spectacularly coming down Shelley lane. With the snow falling heavily and visibility dropping, I pretended I was Andy Hampsten in the Giro !!!

As it was so bleak I decided to warm myself up by doing as much climbing as I could
So the route I did took in: Cudham Lane, Star Lane (repeat *2), Toys Hill, Ide Hill, Polhill

All in all I was out for 2hr 57 mins, I then rode round the block twice to get past 3 hours. I am a grown man in my thirties now - why am I so childish?

With the weather so miserable this month I have done little commuting and have gotten to work by train - so that is 10 hrs a week of base riding I have lost out on. But I am increasingly beginning to think this is a net gain, as it mans I feel guilt enough to do a roller session when I come home - and that is a far more productive use of training time

Today I felt really good out there, especially given its only Feb. I was really pushing on the climbs with Brett's mantra of "base riding is over" ringing through my ears. Less positive was the fact that one of my clients has asked if anyone can do star Hill in under 4 minutes - I am still well off of that pace. Furthermore I remember reading Matt Seaton say that when he is fit he likes to 'Big Ring' it up Ide Hill. My friend Brett likes to do so as well, but I am still far happier putting it in the 39 and spinning up.

Must get stronger !

New frames in this week

Its been a really, really busy time here. All very exicting and thanks once again for all your support and custom
I thought I would show you some of the frames that we have here awaiting their proud new owners
On the first rack we have 3 Z5s - the far two are for Simon and Russell
We have the scales there so people can see just how light they really are!




The first two bikes on this rack could not be more different. The Ti bike is a IF Club racer for Tim - design brief was for epic rides with little support. The TT bike is for Brett as he makes his Ironman debut this year




Here are 3 Z2s - the first 2 are for Noel and Paul - both have the waxed finish, Noel has gone for the very stealth look with the etched decals, Paul has chosen the classic white outline decals
Both look sublime in the flesh!

So that is 6 bikes to be built up in the near future - JC will be a busy boy !

Wheels make the bike?

Julian came round with his SSR and we put on the his new Edge 68 tubs
Its amazing how different the bike looks with these versus the 25mm tubs
Totally transforms the bike !

It goes from a very classy and elegant bike to a race rocket.....
Going to the Alps, take the low profile climbing wheels
Wanting to put some pain on your riding companions around Surrey, bring out the deeps !

Fastest ride of the year

Did a reliability ride with the usual suspects plus a few more.... Knew it was going to be a cheeky one when Dangerous Dave appeared on his gleaming white carbon bike and not the steel winter one, saying it would be 'frisky today', and he pointed out the ex Cat 1's and elites in our group
It certainly was and I was immediately regretting the fact I had my steel Club Racer and not the Parlee
The former is a wonderful bike, and with its steel fork and 25mm tyres perfect for training rides
But the Parlee is my weapon of choice for 'races' and not 'rides'

The route was 100k and we left at 9.15
By 9.40 our group of 25 riders had been whittled down to 10
A knackered rider re-joined us as we waiting at a traffic junction - trying to cheer him up his mate shouted "at least you made the selection".
I was taking my turn at the front of a climb and asked the chap next to me what events he did - he replied he was getting the miles in so that he could defend his title as the club hill climb champion ! I knew then it would be a long day in the saddle.....

The route went down to Ashdown forest and then returned back to Halstead via the 'harder' approach of Toys Hill
But it was the first half of the ride where the damage was done. My recorded max HR is 179 and it was consistently above 170 for long drags - hitting 175 at places

I thought this was madness for early Feb. On the rollers, if it gets above 160 I try to back it off, so this was the hardest I had pushed myself in many, many months
In 4 hours riding I only ate 2 energy bars - there were so few places where my HR was low enough to swallow food....

But it felt great to hurt !
I had an iphone and was going to take some photos - fail
I was going to remember some place names to give some colour to this blog - fail
But what was a big success was the sense of contentment as I got off my bike after the ride. The endorphins were flowing through my body

I am off to watch some football on the TV now, indulging myself by eating as many chocolate muffins as I want
After the suffering comes the glory !

Why buying an expensive package bike is a false economy

Just read the excellent James Huang's review on the Felt AR2
Fairly lukewarm at best !

But its the kit that is so strange - for £4500 you would expect a far more complete package
Short stems, 53/39 cranks and 11/23 cassettes (take that to the Alps !), cheapish tyres and a mixture of DA 7900 and 105 just seems very haphazard....
Its also penny pinching at its most blatant - with Felts buying power how much more would the sublime Vittoria Evo CXs cost?
Or a DA cassette?

Now we all know I am biased, but I do think at certain price points (say up to £2500) a complete bike offers economies of scale that you cannot get with building a frameset up bit by bit

By when we are setting the bar higher, and at £4500 we are expecting a bike that will blow you away, I think its clear that a bike fitting and then the careful selection of sympathetic frame, components and contact points (for both your body shape and riding style) will bring far happier results

http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/felt-ar2

Sometimes you need custom...

Just been on the phone to Kent Eriksen (the problem with working with people like Kent is they are at work and you are getting ready for bed!)
He also can talk for hours which does not help !
We were going over an order for an upcoming client, a 29er MTB with the beautiful new etched finish they do
I asked him of his current builds and he said they were doing one for a NBA basketballer who is 7' 1"
The bike is massive - it has a 36cm HT !!!

Julian's SSR

Sometimes a build comes along that takes the breath away
This is one such occasion !
The project started about 12 months ago, when Julian rode my SSR and loved it
Despite being an avowed Parlee man, there is something about modern steel which is wonderfully involving....

Whilst the XS is IF's flagship bike (and quite wonderful), I think the SSR is IF's 'best' bike
Its certainly their most distinctive one, and I love the fact that this most blue collar of companies is really pushing the way steel is perceived in the 21st century


The paint is Tokyo Pearl white paint in 3/4 with a brushed stainless steel rear end
In the sun the colour is amazing, as it 'pops' quite beautifully in the light



Here is the build in all its glory
Edge 1.25 tubs, Look Keo 2s, Vittoria Tubs, Edge bar and stem (post to come when we can get an Edge 27.2)

The SRMs....





High end gruppos are all nice, but none has the wow factor like Di2