Ridley Crosswind Bike 2010

Just some recent Photos -
I used some wire shrink wrap to cover the bare wires along the top tube. I also replaced the goofy stock headset front brake wire guide with a XTR - v-brake 'noodle'.

This seemed to smooth out the front brake quite a bit and provide slightly more stopping power up front - not that I need it - but hey - it was a cool experiment.

I also gave up hope on the white Look Quartz pedals. They are gone and have been replaced by Time Atac carbons.

I have also since  added some blue hoods covers for my Ultegra 6700 shifters, which actually seem better than stock. They look cool too. They were ordered from Fairwheel bikes, it seems even Hudz doesn't even make covers for the 6700 levers for some reason.

These are my training wheelset, with Kenda Small Block tires 34c. A good solid set of wheels, with Mavic Open Pro rims and older Dura Ace 7800 hubs. I have beat the living crap out of these wheels, they have not come out of true or needed any work.

What's Up - August into September

Although I am taking a well needed break from pedaling, starting this weekend, I have some good things in store during the break to keep the engine going and add more power to the pedals for cross. My first race is less than 40 days away.

Lots to do on my vacation from work and the bike.


The list is long:

1. Finish going through every little part on my cross bike
2. Finish removing, cleaning and lubing each ball bearing or cartridge bearing on all my cross wheels.
3. Install cranks, new chain ring and chain guard on Ridley Crosswind.
4. Get Griffo's installed on Mavic Rims.
5. Get Kenda Small Blocks installed on Open Pro practice rims.
6. Install new cables and try out my new custom sealed cable system. (more on this later)
7. New bar tape on both cross bike and road bike.
8. Check into using a new Specialized Roman saddle for cross.
9. Take some new photos of the Ridley after completion.
10. Photograph and list all my un-used bike parts.

Ridley Crosswind - Ultegra 6700 - Cyclocross Bike Fit

Well, here is the latest and greatest photos right before I went on vacation. From my cell phone camera...not the best quality, but you get the idea.

The new Ultegra 6700 shift levers are the bomb! After about two weeks of riding them I wish I had the dough for the Dura-Ace versions. They a smooth, shift great, feel great and work very very well. The new TRP brakes certainly are a nice addition to the bike this year. These brakes are the Magnesium versions and are super stiff and feel different than the Spooky brakes I had for the last few years. I still need some brake pad adjustments on the front wheel, since I am experiencing some shudder here and there.
I also added some new Jagwire cables which have a kevlar jacket and seem to be helping the quality of braking and shifting. I went with a different bash / chainguard this year and loving it so far. I was thinking I could even get rid of the jump-stop if I did double bashguards.

The bike with my practice wheelset (DuraAce 7800 hubs and Mavic Open pro rims) weighs right about 17.5 lbs. I would imagine with my carbon tubie race wheels and griffo's I might be just about 16 lbs. (7.25kg).

I had my bike fit this past Sunday, on the way home from our vacation. There were some and large and small tweaks, but the bike feels better already than last year. Once I get my engine back up to freeway speeds, I am sure the bike fit will have been a worthwhile detour on the way home.

I can't say enough about the Ridley bike. It is just so fun and fast. It is a real cross race bike. I certainly will be selling this frame and fork after this season and going Ridley Carbon for 2010.

Sunshine, Bike Cleaning and Carbon Wheels, Shopping, Pumpkins

One of the Cap City Cross races was today, I just didn't have it in me for another two days of weekend racing and just needed a break. I did miss out on some great Halloween Costume's I saw on Facebook tonight. Bummer. I also got a crunk call from Moro late afternoon, which was quite entertaining. Since I didn't go today, I thought I might spend some time with my two wheeled kids. My road bike and my cross bike. My road bike and its parts were very dirty and my cross bike had enough sand on it to build a sand box in my backyard, well not really, but it was dirty. Yes I still, need to cut the head off my carbon steerer, it's not in the way and I'll get to it, when I can.
After, I got a few really nice pics of them for history sake. The weather here today was amazing and about 70 and purrfect. A nice day to relax, detail the bikes, in shorts and a t-shirt. Jen worked on organizing in the house and wouldn't come out to hang.
I did get out on the road bike for about an hour to clear the lungs out a bit and feel the wind on my legs. I thought it might be good before I go race in Cincy tomorrow at the Gun Club.



Jen and I did get out on a date tonight - a bit of dinner, some pants shopping and some silly-fun in the toy section. I came around the corner and she had the Hulk Gloves on. Pretty funny. Then a isle later, we saw the scooter that looks almost like her big gas flavored one. It was a good laugh.

Our Pumpkins from Tuesday night with Layne, Kate, Sally and Andy. We all had a blast. Layne did the face low left, Jen did the OBAMA, Kate did the cool Obama logo and I did the Scarecrow McCain.

The 2009 Ridley Crosswind - a new horse

My new 2009 RIDLEY Crosswind.
I will get some pics with a real camera next week or this weekend (this is from the cell). I did manage to do some fun things with white paint - which I will post detailed pics later. When my new handlebars come in, I might get those powder coated white too. Along with the stem, other headset hardware and seatpost clamp. I think it will look pretty sweet. I also did some creative things with covering some of the cables with white heat shrink.
First short ride impressions, it's definitely quicker, but man it's tall. it's a 50cm and my other bikes are 52. I was super surprised about the amount of seatpost sticking out. Not much. It's faster in hard turns, faster to accelerate out of turns and feels more like my road bike but more stable in the grass.
I had to get an oversized seatpost, but at least I don't have to worry about it breaking. With these 'training' wheels, it weighs in at a scant 17.8 pounds or so. I think with the SL's it will be high 16/17 pounds foh show.
ck out the more recent - better quality pics Here.