stevens prestige

I thought, since on a new ride this season, I may as well post up some details. I've had a few different cross bikes over the years, all good, and all with slight differences. Last years Ridley was a great bike, but I'm banking on this years to be better.
This season I decided to stay with an alloy frame, although carbon is great for cross, light, stiff and responsive, a top quality alloy frame is not far off the mark, and at least half the price.

 The Stevens Prestige sits right there. Certainly a lighter than the Ridley Crossbow, it is not much heavier than many carbon frames out there. I'm running the same build that I have been for the past four seasons, Sram Force, solid, reliable.

A DuraAce 7800 crankset has been on every cross frame I've used in that same time frame. Bars, stem, seatpost has also changed this season, BBB Cycling Components for that stuff, along with all the other little small parts.

 A couple of years ago I switched over to Kore brakes from TRP "frogleg" style. the use of a modern pad holder is a lot nicer, and easier to adjust. Standard road pads make for easy swap out for alloy and carbon specific pads.
I am still debating on switching over to a mini-V style this season. Kelly loves hers, and on a couple of test rides on her bike they do feel really good, so we'll see where that ends up.

All of the cables are fully sealed, Nokon links with Jagwire inner sleeves and cables. They are holding up really well so far, as had just about every sealed system I've used. The exception being GORE, I've never been too impressed after having a set in less than a month of cross use get destroyed. The internal routing for the shift cables is and nice clean too.
Cables exit the down tube and run external to derailleurs from there.

A new set of wheels are in this year, 38mm Carbon hoops, I laced up to Sokin hubs. I'm calling the wheels prototypes, so far the build is holding up beautifully (1 month racing, no truing) which means, a good chance we'll import some more to build for next season.
Challenge Tires have been a staple in the lineup for a few years, quality/consistency has gotten better.They give a nice soft ride, and lots of grip. The Griffo has been my favorite for some time now, while the Fango is good for damp/tacky conditions. I haven't used the Limus yet, but do have a pair, for the really nasty stuff.
The bike rides really well, handles quick, fast pickup, nice and stiff where it needs to be. I don't feel much rear end flex under power, but it still rides a bit smoother than the Ridley did. I could still use a slightly shorter head tube (its extended up compared to Stevens Carbon models for some reason).

I also swapped out the stock fork with my Easton EC90x, this also raised the front end about 5mm, but I think the saved weight (250g) is worth the ~quarter to half degree in head angle slack.
So far I am really happy with the bike, and am looking forward to the second half of the season. After four weeks of racing, in just about every condition, I'm sure that November will pack it fair share of wild conditions!

spring recap of sorts

well, spring is over, summer is here, although it seems as though it has been summer for months! we've had some pretty awesome weather, and lots of travelling has made it seem like march was decades ago!
Gila was as mentioned awesome, followed up by a dream trip to California, over a week of pure excellence. The two trips with team SpiderTech was a career highlight that will never be forgotten, and hopefully lead to more in the future. A brief couple of days off after California was nice to catch up before heading out with the National team to Saguenay Quebec for a U23 Coupe des Nations. Another great trip with a strong young squad determined to show well on an international stage. David Boily brought home the Mountain prize, and Arnauld Papillon scored a very nice top 5 on GC. Another quick trip home before heading right back out for the Tour de Beauce. My first time at this race, and again impressive. I have heard lots of this race over the years, but since never having been there, I was expecting a bit less to be honest. The racing was top caliber, a good international field with some solid vets of the racing scene, and lots of new up and coming talent. David Boily again in action (with SpiderTech) scored best young rider and well in the top 10 on GC, confirmation of his potential. Will Routley (with our Team Canada) was on the attack a couple of times, and was rewarded with a third place on the final stage. We had a few down times too, three of six riders would crash, two were knocked out of the race as a direct result, and we'd lose two more on the final stage (non start and dnf).Otherwise another great trip.
So things are getting back to normal here at home, getting back into shape, riding lots again, looking forward to some racing, although at this point, its almost July, which means cross is a month closer!

i'm workin' on it...

so I have in fact returned from California, in one piece. It was a quite amazing trip. 10 days across the state, 8 stages of racing, and some amazing scenery. I'm working on putting together the whole story, and will post up as soon as I get to it. The Spidertech boys did a great job, half the team survived the race, or you could even say, big bear, as that was d-day for half out team. It was a tough day. I'd love to go ride it sometime, but 220km at elevation isn't likely my cup of tea.
I'm off in a couple of days to Saguenay, returning to the Coupe des Nations, a U23 world cup stage race. I was teching there last year, and back this year for more. most of the staff is new, save for Matt and I, so should be interesting. Gus our DS (w/ Spidertech) at Gila, will be there with the US team, that should mean good times!
I know there is a solid Internet connection, so watch for updates.

california update number one

day two just finishing here in Sacramento. Racing starts tomorrow in Nevada city, with stage one finishing here in Sacramento. Arrived Friday from Ottawa, and have spent the past day and a half building, tuning, and prepping bikes. Riders all have their bikes, which are to become spares, as they all received new rides for the race, plus new TT bikes to be assembled for the stage 6 tt. Add a couple of spares, and we're well over 25 bikes, for 8 riders, not including all the spare wheels, and so on and so forth. So business aside, its been good, excellent staff, great bunch of riders, everyone is primed for a good week, and hopefully a good result to add to it.
I think we have the largest bus of all the teams, will confirm that one, but its large, and wrapped in team logos.
Racing in the big time starts tomorrow. I am excited for it, although I have to say, even breakfast this morning was thrilling, seeing the likes of Tom Boonen, Marc Cavendish, Andy Schleck, George Hincapie, Bjarne Riis, Fabian Cancellara, and lots more, pure cool.
will add more as the week goes on.

california dreamin'

It is confirmed, flying out Friday morning! Ottawa->Denver->Sacramento. Looking forward to the AtoC. I will have laptop present, and should hope to have some updates along the route. Who knows I may make the jump and hook up a twitter accnt or something silly...

updates and news...

Well it has been a busy few weeks, and not much posting to show for it, such is the spring/summer season in my blogosphere..
Ste. Martine, opening round of the Quebec road season went really well. The team performed phenomenally, we had 5 on the start line, a good plan, and execution to follow. I was in it for the final sprint, and with 140 guys on the start line, the plan was to hang on for the ride! Gino would make the winning break group of 8 taking off any pressure for the team to chase. I was able to win the very fast bunch sprint to finish 9th overall about 50 seconds behind the break. Its been a good start to the season.
The next morning I was on a plane to El Paso Texas, and a short drive to Silver City New Mexico for a week at the Tour of the Gila, with Team Spidertech as the mechanic. It would be a 5 stage race of awesomeness. Defending Champ Levi Leipheimer was there, along with cohort Lance Armstrong, and many of the top US pros. Our 5 included Andrew Randall who would show well later in the week with some key breakaways, Mark Batty, Eric Boily, Simon Lambert-Lemay, and Charly Vives. Along with DS Gus Carillo, we had a great week, crazy weather, fast racing, and wicked (real) Mexican food!
All went well. Well enough in fact to get the call-up for next week's Tour of California. Fly out Friday, and super pumped about it! Will have a squad or 8, and DS this time will be Steve Bauer.
I'm not sure if I am more excited for Cali, meeting Steve, the racing, scenery, touching the Pacific for the first time or all of the above!
I hope to have a computer, so we'll post up if possible.
Once back it will be an on again off again fun month in June, which will include Coupe des Nations (Saguenay) and Tour de Beauce.
Fun times ahead!

new tires are in

Its never a bad time for new tires! Just received a new set of Challenge Griffo's for demo, looking to be set up with a few sets for next year, and with three weeks left on my calendar, good chance to decide if it will be worth a go.
Everything is now glued up on the old Zipp's, just waiting for sidewall sealant to dry up, and we should be riding Saturday morning, racing Sunday.
Eastern Ontario Series is on this weekend, down at the Upper Canada Historic village. Two years ago this one was snowed out, last year it was -10, and judging by the rain we are getting now, it may be slightly slick, and as has been the trend, warm weather is in the forcast.
Will update as ususal.

repairing tubulars is a pain

Yes its true, they can be repaired, and it's probably costing me more in man hours than a new tub would... After an experiment in tube replacement that wasn't super effective, its back to the drawing board, and onwards to attempt number two. Hopefully this one goes better... otherwise, we'll be ordering up some new tubs ASAP!

KOM

The new ride for 2009 has been completed! This year I'm looking forward to sporting a nice new Kuota KOM. A bit of a break in tradition for me in some ways, and some familiarity at the same time. First of all, I love Italian bikes, my Bianchi EV2 was (and still is) my favorite bike... although that may soon change! It was all a bike should be, fast light, smooth riding, and great looking. So after being on a very nice Trek Madone last year, it will be nice to be back on 'Italian soil'. A bit of a departure for me will be the flash of the past few bikes. The fast yellow Madone, and the Celeste Bianchi, are what I like, colour, so this year, it'll be a bit different to be on an all black bike!

Another bit of a break in tradition with this bike is the component choice, or should I say choices. All of my prior bikes would have had complete groupsets, for two reasons, functionality, and looks. This time, a bit of a mish-mash. The shifters and derailleurs are SRAM RED (Force F. Der), the cranks are Campagnolo Chorus UT, with Rotor Q-rings. Shimano Dura Ace chain, with Shimano and Sram cassettes (depending on which wheelset is used). So a bit off in choice, but everything has been chosen with purpose, and I'm sure will make for a well functioning machine. Zipp wheels, along with a set of Mavic Ksyrium's and even a Power Tap for training will keep it rolling. Deda bars, Easton stem, Thomson and Kuota seatposts each with a Selle Italia SLR saddles (different set ups for different position choices) round out the hardwear. According to the bathroom scale, all this totals up to a very nice 7.05kg (15.5lbs, w/zipp's), keeping it just above the legal limit for racing.

Can't wait for spring to get here!

2009 goodies

Well 2009 has proved to be interesting so far, even though we're only in week two. The new car rocks, although being an '09 model, it was technically bought in '08, but officially the first payment will happen in Feb 2009, so all is good!
The next big purchase of the year will be the new road steed, Kuota seems to be the theme lately, as all the Bianchi are making their way out of the garage. Last fall the Kuota Kross fast became a favorite bike, a new Kuota KOM is hanging out in the basement now, looking forward to the spring, where it will hopefully quickly rise up the near the top of the list too!