There's very little left to do before the State TT. Two more short, hard training sessions and one last equipment check and then it's go time. Weather report is hot, especially as the day goes on. We don't have start times posted yet, but looking at the group start order I suspect we'll be seeing the hottest parts of the day during our ride. That's fine with me, bring on the heat.
This is probably the most relaxed I've been about a race in recent memory, even before my time off. Not because I think I'm going to dominate, but because I feel like I have done everything I could have done to put myself in the best position possible. My equipment is sorted, my fitness is as good as I was able to get it, and my aerodynamics / rolling resistance / efficiency is as tight as I know to make it. There's nothing, short of dropping a couple of grand on a new bike that may or may not be any faster that I can do other than go out there are suffer the best I can for a little under an hour.
As far as equipment goes, I've not said lots about it leading up, but here's what I'll be running.
2011 Trek Speed Concept 7.0 - Medium
3T Brezza Nano base bar w/ USE 50° extensions
SRAM CX1 RD w/ no name 13/15t Pulleys
Shimano 105 Crankset w/ Falco 54t Narrow/wide ring
SRAM 500 TT shifters
SRAM 500 TT brake levers
Tririg Omega X front brake
Fizik Ares TT saddle
LOOK Ergostem
Zipp 404 Powertap w/wheelbuilder disc cover
Specialized Turbo Cotton 24mm w/latex
HED. Jet9 C2
Continental Supersonic 23mm w/latex
Shimano Dura Ace Chain w/ Speed Wax coating
Me
Nopinz Supersuit w/number pocket
Specialized TT helmet
Specialized Sub6 laced shoes w/speed covers
Aerocoach Trip Sockz
Bioracer TT gloves
Targeting a 235 watt avg, but I don't plan to stress over my numbers during the race, just holding my position as tight as I can.
What do I think my chances are. Realistically, without factoring in the "unknowns" who can always show up at a race, I think I have a good shot at the podium. What step of the podium is in question, as I don't know the exact level of fitness or watts/cda some of the other guys put out. With a "perfect" day, I think I have a shot at the top step. My "safe, I'll be happy regardless of placing" goal is 57 minutes. Bad day, just break an hour. Great day, in the 55's. My "Babe" called shot is 55:58 (it's also what BestBikeSplit spat out) but we'll just have to see how it goes.
Thanks everyone for reading the blog! Next week I'll have a race report, good bad or ugly. To my competition... ride hard! Just not as hard as me!
- Christopher Morelock
Hi Christopher,
ReplyDeleteA comment to an old post but I hope you read it ;)
I like you bike setup and especially your attention to the small details. You use bigger pulley wheels for your rear derailleur, and I am looking to do the same. I was wondering, did you have any problems fitting the larger wheels in your derailleur? I have an Ultegra derailleur with short cage, I expect I can fit bigger pulleys but 13/15 would probably be a bit too much ;) I would prefer not to use a larger cage as it is much easier/cheaper and would seem more aerodynamic.
So just wondering how you did this (is your CX1 cage maybe longer so that fitting these wheels is not a problem?). Thanks for the help and keep up the good work.
Tim
Hey Tim,
DeleteOn the CX1 derailleur they were plug and play, but as it's for cross (and clutch) the cage was pretty forgiving in size.
I had a dura ace 7800 short cage I put 15/15 in a couple of years ago, but it was an expensive project that required having a custom front and back cage made.
In a stock short cage shimano I think 13/11 is probably what you could fit, maybe 13/13, but I wouldn't swear to it. If you were willing to perform some surgery you might saw off the safety plate on the bottom of the derailleur cage and gain a little more clearance to fit a bigger pulley, in theory it's an "overbuilt" feature for a road derailleur, same with the "nub" between the two pulleys. It might also be a disaster :D
(Also, I have recently seen a place called fouriers on ebay selling a replacement cage + pulleys in the larger sizes, much cheaper ~$100~ than the competition.) The best solution /compromise between aero and efficiency might be getting a long cage and fabricating a shell around it like the berner/vision cage. Maybe if I get bored and antsy I'll build one over the winter :D