New Roadbike Complete… Sorta

After a several weeks of staring at my shiny new(ish) PedalForce RS2 frame, I finally have it in riding condition. There’s still a few changes I want to make to the bike, but for the near future, I’ll be riding it as is.

After some shopping around, I was able to find a Dura-Ace 7800 groupo for a good price, and decided to move over a lot of the components I had installed on the CAAD9 on the RS2. Stem, handlebars, saddle, and the crankset currently on the RS2 were all previously installed on the C’dale. The pictures below are the bike as its currently built… first thing you will probably notice is the compact Shimano R700 crank. I have a Dura-Ace crank in a box sitting in my living room, just not going to install it most likely until January/February.

The wheels shown are the same wheels I was using on the CAAD9. I’ve been deliberating on what kind of wheelset to buy or build. I was toying with the idea of getting a Powertap, as wattage is the easiest and most accurate way to measure performance gains/losses. Wattage is wattage is wattage, whereas average speed is affected by temperature, traffic, wind, and so forth. However, I found a set of Reynolds DV46 tubbies for a song, and couldn’t pass them up. I hadn’t planned on going with tubulars, and even have three brand new Vittoria Corsa EVO CX clinchers ready to go. Oh well, guess I’ll use them on the CAAD9 now. This has delayed acquisition of a Powertap, but I’m sure I’ll eventually pick one up next year.

I was able to do a short 12 mile ride on Wednesday, and while I couldn’t tell much difference (was pretty cold and my lungs were none too happy), I did immediately notice how much more comfortable the ride was. Definitely smoother than the CAAD9. But that’s expected going from a non-compliant aluminum frame to a high-frequency absorbing plastic… er, I mean hi-tech composite.

So, aside from the wheels coming next week hopefully, I’ll be swapping out the FSA K-Wing bar… I like the idea behind the bar, but the shape is just a little too sloped on the tops. I’m leaning towards one of the new 3T bars, but still have made no decision there.