Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Bianchi, Klein or Javelin...the bike saga continues


I am in the blue and grey and that is Kelly and Sam cheering me on.

I will try to keep this short.

New bike, old bike?

  • Bought a Javelin Torgiano on eBay from a guy with a 100% approval rating. That was a week and a half ago and he hasn't shipped it yet. He claims he has been in the hospital for emergency wisdom tooth surgery...really for a week and a half? Did he swallow his teeth and somehow they magically found their way to his heart? BTW he bought something on eBay on April 3rd yet can't reply to me regarding shipping? I asked for a refund or a shipping confirmation #. At this point I can not decide which one I prefer.
  • Rode my Klein in my first crit race in 5 years on Sunday. My right shifter is FUBAR! I rode the crit using my bike as a single speed which was fine until it was time to sprint. I did however finish 9th out of 20 people and had no problem staying with the lead pack. Of course this is the flattest crit course in the world so that works out well for me.
  • Now I am stuck...I don't want to fix the Klein if the Javelin is actually going to be shipped. On top of that it is as expensive to get 9 speed gear now vs. 10 speed gear. Is this the time to drop $450 on my bike and upgrade to 10 speed?
  • What to do in the meantime.
Tuesday Night on my wife's Bianchi---no that is not a euphemism for anything!

  • So at this point my bike is out of commission and the Javelin is in limbo but I can't stop riding. In comes the Bianchi...all 55 CM of it. Yup the bike that fits my wife perfectly is the current bike I am riding.
  • Fat man on a little bike!
  • Critracer said from the back it looks ok from the side it is pretty freaking funny.
  • But here is what I learned. A nice 10 speed gruppo is amazing. The gruppo on my bike is at least 8 years old and when I ask it to shift it usually argues with me, thinks about, does some sightseeing and then shifts 2 gears instead of one.
  • The Bianchi is a sweet bike and really fast. Even though it weighs in at 2 pounds heavier than mine the smooth ride and quality shifting more than makes up for it.
  • We rode 21.6 miles at an average of 18.8 mph. Here are the highlights:
  • I fixed the seat height on the Bianchi but forgot that the handlebars were twisted way forward from a ride last year when my wife found a ginormous pothole. So Crit and I stopped with 1 other person to fix that...we heard yelling from the pack about slowing up to wait for us but it was still 3 miles of timetrialing back to them.
  • Cruised through the next few miles chasing down a couple of breaks and working a little bit.
  • Crossed Rt 1 (didn't realize at the time) and headed towards the water. I am having a blast sitting in not working much and decided it was time to take a pull. At that very moment I look up and realize where we are...about to climb a 1-2 mile long hill!
  • I ended up in no mans land by the top of the hill...100 meters behind the lead pack and 100 meters in front of the 2 stragglers. I chased all the way down the hill and was about to sit up when I realized the pack had finally decided to wait for the rest of us.
  • Had a blast on the leg home, flying up Ferry Rd and trying to keep up with the fast people.
  • All in all a great ride and I love the Bianchi!
The best part...looks like I will ride the Bianchi for at least the next few rides including the Easter Sunday Crit race. Fat Man on a little bike!