Madone Love

I recieved word this past Thursday (10/15)that my Project 1 Trek Madone had arrived at the Madison West Trek Store. I was hardly able to sleep on Thursday night - Far too excited about this new development in my history as a bicycle owner. Now I can't sleep because of the seemingly perpetual adrenaline rush I've been experiencing from the first moment of my first ride with it.




Okay, that's probably a bit extreme - But just try to look at this beauty and tell me it doesn't invoke some special feelings in the deepest recesses of your inner cyclist.




Just a bit? Come on... Be honest.













Yea - That's what I thought.

But enough with my soon-to-be illegal literary lusting; here's the build on the dream machine:

2010 Trek Madone 6-Series
Shimano Dura Ace 7900 Crankset, Rear Deailleur, 11-28 cassette
Shimano Ultegra 6700 Front Derailleur, Shifters, Brakes

Bontrager Race XL wheels with Bontrager RXL AC tires

Bontrager RXL Inform Saddle
Speedplay X-2 Pedals
- 15.76 lbs -
(Not that the weight matters... But that's pretty fantastic, no?)

Now... Where does one begin on reviewing this bombshell... How about the gorgeous aesthetics? I've really got to hand it to the guys over in Waterloo - They know how to paint a bike. The design on my frame perfectly weaves a matte-black and platinum base with sharp red accents and a liberal schmearing of Trek logos. I decided to complement this with white bar tape, a white saddle, and white cable housing. It's a cool and classy visual contrast - Kind of like a tuxedo. Pass the champagne.

Disregarding the visual sex appeal, though, consider for a moment what the real purpose of this animal is: going fast when you go hard. So how does it stack up?

The bike rides like a bat out of hell. The first thing I noticed when I first clipped in is what I can only describe as a sense of "rigid power." This bike literally wanted to leap out from under me when my cleat engaged. For such a light bike, this thing is remarkably solid. Nothing is squishy.

Given - I'm not a big or heavy rider (5'11", 147lb), but there's no sign of flex in the bottom bracket - which is likely due to the implementation of the BB90 integrated bearing system.

BB90 is amazing from what I can tell. It seamlessly interfaces with the crankset, and allows for a seriously beefy bottom bracket shell. Combined with the DA 7900 series cranks, this is a stiff and brutally efficient system for transfering power to the road. Be it on a relentless climb, a long pull at the front of a group ride, or (hopefully) the winning jump for the line - it won't hold you back. In lower gears, this is apparent in the "lunge" sensation that you get when ascending a steep incline. On the flats, you merely push a little harder and the bike meets your demand, accelerating to a new speed without hesitation.

Cruising is simply faster, and climbing is snappier. While I haven't had to throw down in a sprint yet, I'm sure it will feel amazing.

One of the many things that has really astounded me on the new setup is the feel of the freshly redesigned Shimano components. The hoods on the 6700 series shifters are remarkably ergonomic, and a great improvement over the previous 7800 grips. Perhaps the most notable feature is the flattened, widened, and elongated hood area between the bars and the lever module of the shifter.

It reminds me of the stuff Campy introduced a few years back, which won the Italian manufacturer quite a few accolades from the peanut gallery. This is a great feature for me, because I'm a fan of resting my forearms on this elongated amalgamation of bar/hood while riding hard tempo. It's a nice change of pace from riding in the drops, and makes for a somewhat aero position when cruising solo or at the head of a group. The lever shape, in conjunction with this new ergonomic design, still allows for the firm pistol-grip that Shimano is known for.

The shifting action itself is also a change of pace for Shimano. I've been trying to think of a clever analogy to describe the change from 7800 to the 6700/7900 mix, and this is the best I can come up with: If 7800 were like playing a piano, with smooth, fluid transitions from key to key, 7900 would be more like a PC keyboard. The shifts are more individual on the way up the cassette, and distinctly more mechanical on the way down - again, similar to Campy. This holds for the front as well, though as a side note, I do feel that the 6700 front derailleur is faster and more accurate than the 6600 on my previous ride.

Interestingly, the shifts don't feel like they are "jamming" the chain into gear like I've experienced with Campy - Shimano has still retained some of it's finesse, which is great considering the wide gear range (11-28) that can be accomodated by the new generation of 7900 series rear derailleurs.

The handling of the bike is pretty confidence inspiring. I usually have to adjust to a new ride over the course of a few days before I begin to understand it's finer qualities, but I found the learning curve on this build to be pleasanty facile. It's the kind of bike that does what you want it to do, before you realize you want to do it. Very responsive, but not unpredictable or twitchy.

Cornering is rock solid - point and shoot. I don't want to find the limit on my tires' grip, but I've already pushed this bike further in terms of cornering angles than any other bike I've ridden. I feel like a fighter pilot when I ride this rig. The ride quality is in large part due to the geometry of the bike and it's proprietary OCLV carbon fiber, but also relies mightily on the stellar set of Bontrager RXL wheels.

I'm obsessed with the look of the wheels. Just plain sexy. The lettering/decals remind me of those on Rolf Prima Vigor wheelsets.

In a change of style, Bontrager dumped the old paired spoke design in favor of standard lacing on the front and rear. I think it looks less distinctive, but I can't complain with the ride quality. The front wheel is radially laced, which I'd bet contributes to the feel and stability when cornering at speed.

I'd love to ooze a bit more Madone love, but I'll save a few more details for next week, after I have a few more rides in on it, and can report back on how much better the bike is than I can even tell right now.

Best regards, thanks for reading.

ありがと。

Weather

It's a fact. Wisconsin is cold.

I had originally planned a ride out to New Glarus for today - as per the usual Sunday tradition that I've been following since last spring. The route we take is low-traffic, somewhat challenging, and about 65 miles in length. Plus, there's this great little cafe in town which we love to stop at mid-ride for coffee and conversation - Fat Cat Coffee Works, in New Glarus.

These guys are super friendly to us cycling-folk, and I for one think they make a mean iced-mocha.

Despite the promise of a great weekend rid, I unfortunately woke up to a beautiful, blue-sky, 26 degree morning. That's farenheit. That's below freezing. That's a wind-chill below zero when you're traveling at 20+mph on a bike.

Now, I've been in the postion where my fingers have gotten too cold to pull the brake levers. It's scary. I don't want to repeat it.

So, instead of getting out for a real ride, I did some easy riding on the trainer, with cadence drills and one-legged spinning. I plan on hitting the weights later today after getting some studying done.

It's good that the "off" off-season (as coined by a friend of mine) - That is, the part of the off-season where you concern yourself more with how hard you avoid the bike, and any serious training - is coming to an end. I'm starting to get really motivated to resume training, because I've got this feeling that I could get wicked fast this year. Maybe everybody feels this, but it's nice for me to finally have a great season behind me, and be able to look forward, knowing that I'll be more competitive and stronger next year. This hasn't always been the case, and I'm going to savor the feeling.

The Week Ahead

Just got back to my apartment after a great time out with some friends. On a great ride with one of my teammates from Team Wisconsin this morning, I was made aware that a mutual friend of ours was celebrating his girlfriend's birthday, and I got the invitation to join up. Super glad I did. Turns out that the bar we went to was awesome, and I have every intention of returning there to actually try out the drink menu sometime. Unfortunately, with a huge week in front of me, I wasn't able to indulge much tonight, but had a couple of great conversations regarding bike racing, the Packers (who lost due to horrible offensive line play), and how pelvic X-rays tend to reveal much more than pelvic bones....

Anyway, like I said, this week is going to be hellacious. I've got three exams next week, Monday-Wednesday. I also just got an email message from my grad-student/independant research mentor informing me that we will be switching projects once again - Though, we'll be going back to one in which we have already invested a significant amount of background research time. On top of this, my off-season training plan is going to kick in this week.

Phew - tired already! I sense that coffee, sleep, and childhood memories of The Little Engine That Could will be my most valuable assets in the days to come.

Since this is mostly a blog intended to entertain/self-motivate, and inform about cycling pursuits and the two-wheeled life I live, I'll post my early stage for this year's off season training. This stage will last for the next three weeks. I'll probably start cycling-specific training again in November. For now, it's time for a break from training on ride, and a focus on relaxing fall spins.

I'm cutting back the time in the pool, but increasing intensity a bit. The swim workouts I do will need to fit into time I have before classes - usually between 7 and 8 in the morning. I'm planning on doing pyramid sets like this:

Warmup
300 yds free/breast (easy)

Pyramid
2x50
2x100
2x150
2x200
2x150
2x100
2x50

Kick/Pull Drills
200 yds

Warm Down
150 yds easy free

I should be able to squeeze that in. I hope.

To this I'll be adding 3x weekly lifting sessions on Mon, Tues, and Thurs. Back, Chest, Legs, respectively.

I'll squeeze in rides when I have the time, hopefully about 150-200 miles a week.