Red

At the Sea Otter Classic this week SRAM is showing off the 2009 stuff. Most of the upgrades are happening to the Rival group inheriting a lot of the technology that went into SRAM Red this past year. Rival brifters gain adjustable reach, the same paddle as Red and big ring trim just like Red. They are also now carbon levers.

As some of you know I am riding a carbon framed bike from a small importer located in Connecticut, Pedal Force. The specific model that Nicole and I ride is the RS. What some of you don’t know is that I have two of these frames for myself and they are built up slightly differently.

Been told by the doctor ‘no work for two more weeks.’ This is killing me. Next check-up is April 3rd.

Been working on Bike #2. Nothing else to do at the moment. Replacing the fork this weekend, and bars next week.

Been investigating natural ways to lower cholesterol without medication, so far large doses of Niacin (Nicotinic Acid) appear to have the most data and the fewest side effects. Nothing like the Statins on the market now. Will start looking at other supplements soon.

Well I decided that bike number two was going to be purposely built for climbing. After a year of riding Pedal Force No. 1 I had to change a few things to make it work the way I wanted it to. Just as a review, No. 1 is full Dura-Ace built on a 1050 gram carbon frame Pedal Force RS. I have many light weight parts on it but the key factor was reliability. That bike comes in at just about 15.9 pounds. When I built it up originally it was just  over 15 pounds but I did have to replace the fork and stem, also a change in wheels brought the weight up.

Nicole is healing well. She will also be sporting a new helmet and glasses as the old helmet cracked in the fall and here glasses suffered a huge scratch on the left lens. She told me yesterday that she would have finished the ride under her own power if she had not tweaked the front wheel and flatted. She is a lot stronger person than she lets on.

I got a chance to ride the new SRAM Red this past weekend. It only took a few seconds to get used to the “double-tap” shifting. It really was that easy. It was equipped on an $8,500 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2. Incredible ride right from the get-go. Of course no evaluation would be complete without the requisite “laterally stiff yet vertically compliant.” It was interesting to note that the ride was very similar to my Dura-Ace equipped PedalForce RS. The Roval wheels use a Reynolds Carbon Clincher rim and a more conventional hub/spoke arrangement than the usually seen Roval wheels. I have read that the Reynolds rims are as good or even better than Zipp’s and they are the best all carbon clincher rims around.