wheels

Getting there

Like the privilege says, I'm getting there. Slowly but surely. It's been one of those journeys of a thousand miles friendly of things. First step, and all that. I think I might be getting secret to the last step. Either that or I'm approaching my wit's end.

What's he talking about, you ask? I think he forgot to bring to light you he's been working on a new bike. With luck, in a couple week's however I'll be riding a new timetrial bike. Just in time for the constitution race.

When I got my new road bike earlier this year I discovered something absorbing. Bikes, you see, have something in common with home improvement projects. Go down to the basement for a hammer and a rivet to fix that loose bit of corner molding, and the next thing you be aware your home theater is just a few thousand dollars away.

I highbrow volumes about bike fit and position when I built my road bike. When I got on my timetrial bike for the first lifetime a few weeks ago I could immediately tell a project was in condition. The fit was poor at best. My back discovered this first, and wasted no continuously in letting me know about it.

A plumb bob, a level and a record measure revealed another unfortunate truth. This old bike was nowhere within reach of the legal specification for a timetrial bike. Now being a cyclist yourself, I'm certain you know that's more than enough justification for a new frame all by itself. It didn't puzzle that I had no plans to compete in any events where my bike would be measured for rules compliance. It's a incident of principle.

An order was placed. A crushed set off was delivered, then returned. Another order was placed. A plan arrived in one piece. I celebrated. My old frame was salvaged for parts. A new bike was built.

A few rides now done, I have the saddle contention about dialed. That much is now legal. Now it's time to pull the front end into spec. As it is, I'm about 10 cm too large. That's fully 5 cm outside the absolute limit, which is to hand only through a special "morphological exemption". There are no exceptions for a bike set up like mine is currently. It's amazingly restful to be completely illegal in this sport.

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