May 2008

When I started this project I was expecting to go really cheap. With that in mind I purchased a Leader 735 TT Aluminum frame. To tell you the truth, when I built it up it seemed to me to be too harsh. At the time I also didn’t know much about fit and I was simply not in good enough shape to ride aero. So it turned out to be a failed experiment.

When it comes to time trial or triathlon frames there are so many choices, many of which will cost you a pretty penny. As I mentioned in my previous posting, I will be looking at this from a budget persective. I do not want to spend more than $2000 on a bike that will only be used a few times a year. $1000-1500 would be even better. So with that small a budget the choices are fairly limited. It also means that most of the real big name production bikes are not within the budget. I am not looking for a road bike that will be converted to a TT/Tri bike, we are looking for a real TT/Tri bike.

We’ll ride the extended Mint Hill loop. This is the same course that we did on Memorial Day with rolling hills and light traffic through Mecklenburg – Union - Stanley and Cabarrus counties. This ride leaves from the public lot across the RR tracks from bike shop parking lot in downtown Matthews.

The Incidental Cyclist is now available on PDA and Smartphones. You will not get all the features you see if you where using a computer and web browser but you can see new posts and comment. You just use the same url from your mobile device and the software is smart enough to modify the layout for mobile devices.

Nicole and I went out on the Memorial Day ride with the group from Bicycles East. This was the third Day in a row that I had to ride. The previous two days were fairly hard, so I knew this would be a little difficult.

We started out with two other tandems also on the ride. It is nice to see tandeming becoming more popular in the area. One couple was doing the 53 and the other doing 38 miles.

Well it didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned. First indication was when I put my shoes on and hopped on the bike. One cleat which I had to adjust the night before was simply too far to the outside of the shoe causing it to rub on the crank arm. Lucky I had another pair with me.