I am very proud of the bikes I build and every once in a while one will grab attention that you would not have expected. Recently I built a bike for Krista and we chose pretty wild color scheme. Black with Florescent Yellow accents. A little worried about how loud it will be and did we pick it right. Well it came in and WOW its amazing! Built up even better and rolling....in a race...FORGET ABOUT IT! THIS IS ONE BAD MACHINE!!! Check out the USAT Teaser video here at about 1:20 seconds in you will see Krista and this rocket under her FLYING down the course as she blows by a guy on the right. Sure...maybe he was in the 50+ AG but still...its a hell of a pass. haha Jokes aside, its a proud moment for me to see one of my creations make a clip like this...and proud to see Krista flying the Shama colors out at such a big race. Rock on Krista!!!!
http://http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/2010/09/27/watch-the-highlight-video-teaser-from-usat-age-group-nationals/38744?ngb_id=12
Monday, October 4, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
A Guru Photon for Joe, a year long upgrade
Joe came to me this time last year with his stock Fuji carbon frame road bike with 105 components. He was not all that comfortable and wanted a fit. We changed up the fit some and I mentioned some upgrades to enhance the fit further. See Joe was not the standard male body type at all...or the typical cyclist body type. Joe hits the gym hard and looks more like a football player than a roadie...throw in his long legs, short torso and long arms and you have a need for some changes in a big way.
We changes the cranks, then the bar and stem and with each change he loved the improvement in his weekend rides where he found more speed and comfort. Next came new shifters, brakes, and derailluers...being geeked out over the performace of the shifting, braking and the weight he has been dropping off his Fuji he decided to get some better wheels as well. By this time we have changed everything. Everything but the frame. Finally after months of change after change and increased riding enjoyment he upgraded the frame. Guru Photon...custom made to be as tall as he needed it to be while having the perfect reach he needed. The parts list included Deda bar and stem, Zero G GSL brakes, Selle SMP Carbon Lite saddle, Sram Force shifters and derailluers, Rotor 3D cranks, SABB, and Q-Rings, Arundel cages, Hed Stinger 4 FlameRouge wheels with Schwalbe Ultremo tubulars with Nokon cables. This brought his 21lbs Fuji stock bike to a 14lbs Guru Photon bad a$$ rocket ship.
Oh, and how does it ride? Well on his first outing on the new frame when he normally would have been dropped from the attacks at 26mph and up Joe chased down one of his friends at 31mph and stayed away with him till the rest stop. Which prompted from all his friends, questions as to what has he been doing differently in his training and such. His response was...its the frame.
I loved going through this journey with him and finally completing it with an amazing finished product. The only bummer is now we are done...
Time to ride!
We changes the cranks, then the bar and stem and with each change he loved the improvement in his weekend rides where he found more speed and comfort. Next came new shifters, brakes, and derailluers...being geeked out over the performace of the shifting, braking and the weight he has been dropping off his Fuji he decided to get some better wheels as well. By this time we have changed everything. Everything but the frame. Finally after months of change after change and increased riding enjoyment he upgraded the frame. Guru Photon...custom made to be as tall as he needed it to be while having the perfect reach he needed. The parts list included Deda bar and stem, Zero G GSL brakes, Selle SMP Carbon Lite saddle, Sram Force shifters and derailluers, Rotor 3D cranks, SABB, and Q-Rings, Arundel cages, Hed Stinger 4 FlameRouge wheels with Schwalbe Ultremo tubulars with Nokon cables. This brought his 21lbs Fuji stock bike to a 14lbs Guru Photon bad a$$ rocket ship.
Oh, and how does it ride? Well on his first outing on the new frame when he normally would have been dropped from the attacks at 26mph and up Joe chased down one of his friends at 31mph and stayed away with him till the rest stop. Which prompted from all his friends, questions as to what has he been doing differently in his training and such. His response was...its the frame.
I loved going through this journey with him and finally completing it with an amazing finished product. The only bummer is now we are done...
Time to ride!
Guru Crono Retro fitted for internal Di2
When this rig was ordered at the end of 2008 Di2 hadn't swept the scene yet...so it got the best of Sram and other parts of the time. Now its 2010 and while the owner would love a new rig...its kinda like why? What would be different? This bike fits perfectly and has taken him to podiums in nearly every race he has entered. How do you perfect perfection? Ahhh...I love a challenge. In sprints and Olys you often run through tight turns that on such a short bike count for time. You can't always carry speed through them so you slow down on your base bars only to try to accelerate in the wrong gear...costing you precious power and seconds. Bring in the Di2! So Rich wanted to get crazy low and rail corners like a pro! We used the Pro Missile drop aero bars with the full Di2 set up with the shifters on the brake levers as well. The install was great with the cables all running perfectly through the frame and set up was a breeze...just perfect. OMG I love this stuff! We also used the Zero Gravity Gravitas brakes for when he needs to slow down giong into T2. The crank set up is my fav....Rotor 3D cranks spinning a QRing set on a Quarq power meter. We also used a Rotor SABB ceramic bottom bracket and Tiso ceramic pulley wheels to have a friction free drivetrain. First race...I watch him come out of T1 going to a flying mount and he eats it. That's right...he biffed the running mount and hit the ground. My mouth dropped looking from afar at this catastrophy. I can't believe he ruined my flawless machine. No...I didn't care how he was...I didn't care what he did to his bike....I cared what happened to my creation and the results I was looking for him to get. haha He picked up his pride and his bike and remounted. Headed down the road and was on his way. Now I am worried that with uber tech this frame is I am worried that something is off and his race will be over shortly. But what is this? He finished the bike in good time and with a blood running down from his knee and all over his Guru he finished 2nd in his Age Group. Long story short, after 6 stitches and some blood loss...he LOVES the new set up and will work on his cyclocross skills some more before his next race.
See ya on the road!
See ya on the road!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
DANCING BEAR, MOONWALKING BEAR, CYCLIST AWARE
Pretty good, had to post. Its so true as one of my good friends was crashed off the road by a truck last night. Though we are pretty sure the truck saw him and was intentional.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Kirklee Goliath
What started off as a simple quest to build a better bike than his current Trek Madone slowly became a monster of its own. First we chose the frame and of course being the number one Guru dealer in the country it would seem likely that we would build a Guru instead of some of the other fine frames that I offer in the shop. After listening to my client and what he wanted I leaned him towards the Kirklee. A small company based in Austin turning out custom frames that can easily be dialed in to what I would want for my clients needs. Light, smooth, and fun. Now the hard part...what to paint it. See with Kirklee we deal with a painter and the sky is the limit. After about a week of back and forth the owner settled in on an idea or a theme...WOOD. My first reaction was "no way", done poorly it would be a really horrible looking bike. As I thought about it longer I saw the potential here. Potential for something unique and set apart from the rest. After some more back and forth with the client, Kirklee and the painter we picked the shade, finish and grain of wood the paint is supposed to represent. After that we gave the painter artistic freedom to do what he does best....make it look amazing with out our own ideas mucking it up. The one thing we wanted was a branded look for the logos and name of the bike. If you notice the name on the bike says "Goliath". No, that is not the owners name, his name is David and is not very tall. Having a sense of humor about it he and his two sons came up with the name Goliath. Of course I think its great and fitting in a way....I knew this was going to be a big bike. Now with the custom tubing and geometry figured out and being made, the paint lined up, we then chose an Edge 1.0 fork to be painted in to match as well. Next in line was the selection of the components. We talked a while about each part and basically wound up with a pretty amazing build even if I do say so myself. Sram Red shifters, front D and rear D handle all the gear changes via the Power Cordz ultralight and smooth cable system. The gold KMC chain spins through two gold Tiso ceramic pulley wheels before rolling around a Dura Ace cassette mounted on a DT Swiss 240 hub laced with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes holding onto an Edge 45 carbon clincher rim...which rolls on a Schwalbe Ultremo DD tire. That gold chain spins through the rear via the power put down onto a set of Dura Ace pedals attached to a custom set of Lighting crank arms which turn over a set of Rotor QRings. The crank set up spins nearly frictionless thanks to a Zipp BB30 bottom bracket shell housing a set of Enduro Zero ceramic bearings. The Sram Red shifters are mounted on a Zipp Countor SL handle bar which is held in place by a New Ultimate stem that happens to match the very clean New Ultimate carbon seat post that holds onto the Selle SMP Carbon Lite saddle. If and when you ever want to stop this rig a set of Zero Gravity GSL brakes will slow you down nicely. The little add ons include a Soul Kozak seatpost clamp, a set of KCNC ti skewers as well as a very hard to come by pair of Emporelli bottle cages. Wit this huge list of parts selected on this rolling work of art...what does it weigh? Well of course even though the frame is small and made very light...its still pretty heavy due to the paint work....still this bike complete as shown in the pictures here tips the scale at 13lbs 9oz. I, was not even expecting it to be that light. Yep, I gotta say it, this bike even exceeded my own expectations!
GURU CR901 #2
So after having mine built up and raced on it with such a great result Trent Stephens finally got his. Soon I will get a report from Trent on his CR901 and how his race at Buffalo Springs on it went (he got into Clearwater) but from what I know from riding with him on it...he is faster. I know I am faster on mine. Enjoy the pics and more info and race reports on this machine soon to come.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Shama Cycles Open House
Its been over a year since I opened the shop and never got around to having a grand opening. First, there was not much to see. Now that there is something to see and I like things low key and no pressure I decided throw an open house. Just all my friends/clients who helped get me here and of course....open to all those who have not yet made it by. It was great, lots of friends and got to meet some new ones as well. Just what it should be...a great time for all. Oh yeah, there were some new toys to look at, several sub 14lbs bikes, Dream Bike of the Year Guru Photon and the runner up bike by Kirklee...the actual bike they tested for it...sitting in my shop! AWESOME! Also I was lucky enough to get in my Guru 2.0 to display and make some people drool...and make some try to figure out how they are going to approach their wife about NEEDING another bike! haha What was funnier yet was some of the responses I got from those who couldn't make it. One of my girls that race for me explained how her financial adviser called and prohibited her from coming. LMAO that was a good one!
Till the next excuse for a party....
Till the next excuse for a party....
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Guru Crono 2.0 is in!!!!!
Well today I am a lucky man. Well kinda. I got in the very first Guru Crono 2.0 and it happened to be mine. Which is totally awesome! But I don't have the bars I wanted to use, the time to put it together, or time to ride it till next week. ARG! What a tease. Well...here are some pics to drool over for now. More to come on this one. I CAN NOT WAIT TO BUILD IT AND RIDE IT! (sigh)
Custome Ti for the planes.
We all love sticking it to The Man. Mostly cause The Man is always trying to stick it to us! The Man for cyclist that travel is the airlines that try to charge up to $200 each way that you check your bike in. So what do you do? Rent a bike that doesn't fit? NOOOOOO! Instead of blowing tons of money check your bike in you blow tons of money to get a custom S&S Coupling titanium Guru Praemio. This bike has two couplers that are incredibly strong and secure along with three cable couplers for when the bike separates. Now the frame and wheels can fit into a case that can be checked in as regular luggage.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Workin on a Junior's bike...World Champion ambitions
We all wish we could be like the pros, maybe race like the pros, be as fast as the pros, eat like the pros...still be as lean as the pros??? haha But most of us never will be. But our parents didn't get us started in racing at a young age like a pro so we can all blame them. So what happens when your parents do start you out young...some times in the junior ranks you strike gold and a talent is recognized. Such a thing has happened in the Houston Texas area with one young racer...Lawson Craddock. Around here we have known or known of Lawson for a while as he would kick our butts at the age of 14 in the crits. Get in a break with him and his lack of draft would only add insult to injury as you struggle to keep his pace. I know from first hand experience...yet he has moved on in the ranks and I have not. Again...I blame my parents. ;-) We have watched Lawson grow and get faster and get picked up by developmental teams so he can race in Europe and see where he can take this bike racing thing. Well...the home town boy has made good so far. Last year at the age of 17 he was 2nd in the Junior World Time Trial Championships and just this month he got third in the Junior Paris Roubaix road race. Yes, 116k of the same cobbles on the same day that Fabian Cancellara displayed his dominance. A-FREAKIN-MAZING! So when his dad asked for some help with the cabling issues on his new Cervelo P4 I jumped at the chance. Not only did I know that I could help them fix the problem and make it even better, but the chance to work on a bike that is going to be raced in this years Junior World TT Championships is pretty cool for someone in my line of work. Of course I asked Lawson all kinds of questions about Paris Roubaix and how tough it really is and how awesome it was to ride into that velodrome and stand on that podium. What a memory! Ok, yeah, I worked on the bike and bars, complaining about the stupid internal routing of the frame and installing my Nokons that fix so many things. Fun stuff and will make following him and his Rainbow jersey quest that much more exciting to follow. GO LAWSON! Houston is pulling for ya!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Dr. Photon
I have known Mark for some time now and watched and helped him race a little here and then. Then finally this year he joined on to the Shama Cycles Race Team and his life has been better ever since in every aspect of his life...I believe even his wife loves him MORE because of it. haha ok, maybe not really. Ok seriously, I was able to work on his beloved Colnago in February getting him ready for a training ride in Colorado by fitting up the bars, stem, lighter brakes, better cranks with a compact option and new cables...oh yeah and upgraded from 10spd Campy to 11! I pulled a trick on him on his crank size and after a solid crit race later on, he was SOLD on my work and choices on his equipment as he was loving it. Now came the work to get him off the sloppy Colnago and onto something a little better. Finally after some gentle persuasion (a chair, spotlight, duct tape and a baseball bat) he ordered a Guru Photon. The geometry wasn't that far off from what he was on, but it was slightly longer and taller in the front...but the angles and BB drop were made to be all race. even down to the rider specific carbon layup which was beefed up to give him a frame that just won't move under him. No touring geometry here...this is a pure race machine. So we pulled all the new stuff off the Colnago and installed it right on the Photon with ease. Yesterday we did a quick fit on the trainer for some quick rides before we Retul it and even then when he stood up on the trainer and cranked on it....the bottom bracket didn't move. CRAZY! Not a big deal? Have you ever looked at your BB while on a trainer cranking out serious power...they all move when the rear is fixed.
The wheels here in the photos are Hed Jet 4 FRs which are his "training" wheels since his "race" wheels are Hed Stinger 6s. As Shown here...its 15lbs. With race wheels...14lbs. What an amazing frame!
The wheels here in the photos are Hed Jet 4 FRs which are his "training" wheels since his "race" wheels are Hed Stinger 6s. As Shown here...its 15lbs. With race wheels...14lbs. What an amazing frame!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Gateway To The Bay Olympic 2010
If you read my take on the Sprint below, you will see how great I though the race was put on. The Olympic was just as good! Straight to the race. The big part was the relay. The relay usually never really gets any attention in a race but not at this race...it was the focal point. WHY? Andy Potts was part of a charity relay team as the swimmer and then had a biker and a runner who gave to the benefiting charity to win their chance to be on Team Potts. Then Team Reed had a swimmer and biker as Matt ran the run leg (31 minutes). Our friend Chris Sustala is a good triathlete and even better swimmer even though he is on the Tri On The Run Team, he mentioned to me how he wanted to race Andy Potts in the water but needs a biker and runner. Sounds good to me! I got Steve Quick who can do a 56min 40K and Mitch Sanders who can run a 33 minute 10K for the rest of the race wondering how bad ass these pros would swim and run as well as how good were their other relay partners? Plus would there be any other super relay squads giving it a go. Who won? Well team Shama Lama Dot Dong won! Which was quite an honor to have our guys on top of the podium with Matt and Andy on either side. Sure, not fair in a way but its the best chance any mortal has to finish ahead of such super star athletes. ;-)
We thought we would have the fastest time but the overall winner of the day actually was a minute faster than us. WHAT A FREAK that guy is. haha Then came the Age Groupers. Watching all the guys and girls just grind through the bike and run was awesome! I road the bike course and run course snapping shots and yelling encouragement too all! I saw many clients and team members in Shama gear and it just brought me great pride to see so many out there. It was a great race! Oh...something note worthy was Waly Yarrow as he's running strong at about mile 5 I see him and he points back behind him and yells out "bike for show or run for dough" LMAO! Referring to Greg Colvin and Nigel Willerton who flew by him on the bike only to be passed back up on the run. hahaha Gotta love it when friends are your biggest competitors!
The podiums?
Shama Lama Dot Dong Fastest Relay (Crono)
Carlye Graydon Masters Female (Magis)
Lisa Y 1st in AG (Crono)
Melanie S 3rd in AG (Magis)
Robin C 2nd in AG (Crono)
Jitka N 2nd in AG
Jon E 2nd in AG
Brett C 1st in AG (Crono)
I am proud of all who raced and flew the Shama Cycles colors! Great race weekend with great people!
We thought we would have the fastest time but the overall winner of the day actually was a minute faster than us. WHAT A FREAK that guy is. haha Then came the Age Groupers. Watching all the guys and girls just grind through the bike and run was awesome! I road the bike course and run course snapping shots and yelling encouragement too all! I saw many clients and team members in Shama gear and it just brought me great pride to see so many out there. It was a great race! Oh...something note worthy was Waly Yarrow as he's running strong at about mile 5 I see him and he points back behind him and yells out "bike for show or run for dough" LMAO! Referring to Greg Colvin and Nigel Willerton who flew by him on the bike only to be passed back up on the run. hahaha Gotta love it when friends are your biggest competitors!
The podiums?
Shama Lama Dot Dong Fastest Relay (Crono)
Carlye Graydon Masters Female (Magis)
Lisa Y 1st in AG (Crono)
Melanie S 3rd in AG (Magis)
Robin C 2nd in AG (Crono)
Jitka N 2nd in AG
Jon E 2nd in AG
Brett C 1st in AG (Crono)
I am proud of all who raced and flew the Shama Cycles colors! Great race weekend with great people!
Gateway To The Bay Sprint 2010
This is a first year race, from a new group putting on races in the Houston area. Sure I own my own business but I can kinda control who I deal with and work with each person one on one to make sure that I served them well. In race promotion you open yourself up to 200 -2000 people who you might never see and who might have a bad day and blame the race directors or anyone. We all have either been at a race or ride and either had a friend who complained or we ourselves complained about something. Being the race director can be pretty tough and thankless. Well The On UR Mark Crew and On UR Left Coaching did an AMAZING JOB! WELL DONE! THANK YOU from Shama Cycles and all my athletes. Of all the people I talked to, heard from, saw or overheard I didn't hear anything bad at all. Amazinig. Sure, athletes complained about the water being rough, (um its an open water swim in the bay...hello) and the bridge on the course (again, its a race and this is what makes it great) but really that is just all part of racing a good course.
Kemah Boardwalk was a perfect place for a weekend of racing for the athletes and families. There are two races in two days and most any triathlete could very well race both days no problem. I had several Shama athletes race both days, some even placed better on the second day! For those traveling from out of town with a family I can not think of a better place for a race since the races are done fairly early you still have the day to hit the boardwalk and enjoy tons of rides and carnival type activities and some great food as its the restaurants that seem to anchor that place. Oh yes...and there is a Starbucks that opens at 7am there so if you are spectating...you can be sipping your caffeine crack fix while you watch your delirious racer pass by a couple times over the race.
I was down there to support my clients/athletes/friends. I got there before race start to set up the tent and then get some start pics. The race starts with the invitational wave and I have three in there. Trent Stephens and Andrew Strong both rode their Guru Merus tri bikes from Memorial Park (40ish miles) to the race as a warm up since they are a month out from Ironman St. George and then there is Diann Sweeney-Hjiusman who is racing on her new Guru Crono for the first time. Since they were the first out they were also the first to finish so their story is easy. Diann swam well, rode well and ran well, she came through so fast it would be something else to see if any other women out there can beat her....of course...no one did. Diann is just a great athlete and she killed it! Fastest chick of the day! Now back to Trent and Andrew....Andrew is not that great of a swimmer so he was way back in the swim and Trent is a great swimmer. They are both good on the bike so there was little ground made up there, but then came the run. I was out there riding around to get some shots of these two training buddies racing each other and Andrew caught up to Trent and they were running together. They told me they were going to Thelma and Louise it across the line which I thought was lame but I rode ahead to get the finishing shot and as I stopped at the line to grab my camera and get the shot these two guys were sprinting like mad on each other. I rushed to get a couple shots and saw Trent just barely get Andrew at the line by sticking his tongue out or something like that. They both got the same time but Trent came in 2nd and Andrew came in 3rd. For the rest of the day there was an amazing amount of trash talk as each gave a different version as to how the race played out. hahahaha LOVE IT! Their ride back was probably tougher than the race since they rode back with a very strong Cat 2 road racer and they both were still settling the score with each other. Trent said it was "aggressive". I guess when you are super strong athletes who are peaking for an Ironman I guess you can do such a thing. INSANE.
At the finish of those two crazies and Diann was Matt Reed and Andy Potts. WOW!!!!! They were in to race a charity relay the next day as well as be there to give medals to all the first timers of the weekend. Since there was no one else around we all got to meet them and talk a little. What two great guys. They were happy to be there, they were standing up in the sun hanging out, taking pics and signing what ever with genuine smiles the whole time. Even in talking to Matt Reed about parts and bikes and such he mentioned how he loves sprint tris and loves the speed of the race, but its not in his program so can't really do them. Funny...these guys love to race and happen to make some money at it...great to see such a love for the sport and support for it. Their presence added quite a bit to the event and that was great!
Everyone else seemed to have a good race and lots of fun. I had quite a few people I worked with as well as the usual suspects of FOPs. I helped many have better races and have PRs and podium, but quickly here are the podiums.
Diann Overall female (Crono)
Trent S 2nd Invitational (Merus)
Andrew S 3rd Invitational (Merus)
Kathleen W 3rd in AG (Magis)
Susan Wallace 2nd in AG (Merus)
Nigel W 1st in AG (Crono)
Frank Lee 3rd in AG
Kemah Boardwalk was a perfect place for a weekend of racing for the athletes and families. There are two races in two days and most any triathlete could very well race both days no problem. I had several Shama athletes race both days, some even placed better on the second day! For those traveling from out of town with a family I can not think of a better place for a race since the races are done fairly early you still have the day to hit the boardwalk and enjoy tons of rides and carnival type activities and some great food as its the restaurants that seem to anchor that place. Oh yes...and there is a Starbucks that opens at 7am there so if you are spectating...you can be sipping your caffeine crack fix while you watch your delirious racer pass by a couple times over the race.
I was down there to support my clients/athletes/friends. I got there before race start to set up the tent and then get some start pics. The race starts with the invitational wave and I have three in there. Trent Stephens and Andrew Strong both rode their Guru Merus tri bikes from Memorial Park (40ish miles) to the race as a warm up since they are a month out from Ironman St. George and then there is Diann Sweeney-Hjiusman who is racing on her new Guru Crono for the first time. Since they were the first out they were also the first to finish so their story is easy. Diann swam well, rode well and ran well, she came through so fast it would be something else to see if any other women out there can beat her....of course...no one did. Diann is just a great athlete and she killed it! Fastest chick of the day! Now back to Trent and Andrew....Andrew is not that great of a swimmer so he was way back in the swim and Trent is a great swimmer. They are both good on the bike so there was little ground made up there, but then came the run. I was out there riding around to get some shots of these two training buddies racing each other and Andrew caught up to Trent and they were running together. They told me they were going to Thelma and Louise it across the line which I thought was lame but I rode ahead to get the finishing shot and as I stopped at the line to grab my camera and get the shot these two guys were sprinting like mad on each other. I rushed to get a couple shots and saw Trent just barely get Andrew at the line by sticking his tongue out or something like that. They both got the same time but Trent came in 2nd and Andrew came in 3rd. For the rest of the day there was an amazing amount of trash talk as each gave a different version as to how the race played out. hahahaha LOVE IT! Their ride back was probably tougher than the race since they rode back with a very strong Cat 2 road racer and they both were still settling the score with each other. Trent said it was "aggressive". I guess when you are super strong athletes who are peaking for an Ironman I guess you can do such a thing. INSANE.
At the finish of those two crazies and Diann was Matt Reed and Andy Potts. WOW!!!!! They were in to race a charity relay the next day as well as be there to give medals to all the first timers of the weekend. Since there was no one else around we all got to meet them and talk a little. What two great guys. They were happy to be there, they were standing up in the sun hanging out, taking pics and signing what ever with genuine smiles the whole time. Even in talking to Matt Reed about parts and bikes and such he mentioned how he loves sprint tris and loves the speed of the race, but its not in his program so can't really do them. Funny...these guys love to race and happen to make some money at it...great to see such a love for the sport and support for it. Their presence added quite a bit to the event and that was great!
Everyone else seemed to have a good race and lots of fun. I had quite a few people I worked with as well as the usual suspects of FOPs. I helped many have better races and have PRs and podium, but quickly here are the podiums.
Diann Overall female (Crono)
Trent S 2nd Invitational (Merus)
Andrew S 3rd Invitational (Merus)
Kathleen W 3rd in AG (Magis)
Susan Wallace 2nd in AG (Merus)
Nigel W 1st in AG (Crono)
Frank Lee 3rd in AG
Friday, April 9, 2010
Evolo for Dave Howell
Dave came to buy a bike from me after constantly working on his old bikes and always having issues it seemed. Then one day he was riding with a group and went down. Didn't even know what happened. But his wife was pretty pissed and he couldn't hold his son for a while due to his injuries. This was not cool. His wife didn't even want him to race again. But for those of us who have been in this situation understand that just isn't possible. So what do you do when you fall off the horse? You get back on. But what do you do when you fall of the bike? Buy a new one! With the old one broken we had to replace it along with a couple of new parts...shifters and such. This is pretty much a Sram Force build with a Rotor Agilis crank and Quarq power meter with Deda Zero 100 stem and bars. As the picture shows...it weighs 16lbs and 4 oz. Pretty awesome if you as me...especially since his old bike was like 19lbs! Oh yeah....this one is not only stiffer and lighter...its custom so the fit is WAY better! Now for the hard part...his first ride is tomorrow and he has some jitters. I have been there...it gets better...
Saturday, April 3, 2010
RonVanManda, My take on it.
Eric Attayi winning the 3/4 race
Meril Moen rolling in the front pack of the cat5 race, 5th that day.
Jose, Pete, Eric, and Jason before the start of the 3/4 race.Of course the two Shama Mamas are Laura and Aimee who raced earlier.
I have had a tough time getting in training time of any sort with the shop being so busy and just getting married. But the days come and so do the races ready or not. Why race if you aren't ready? Why not? I had a mess of Shamas racing that weekend and it was Aimee's first race back since having her beautiful baby girl. Plus, last year I did this race and had a blast and did what I wanted to when I wanted to on this fairly flat course, until I let the wrong guy infront of me 2 miles from the finish and got blocked in. So even though I am not in as good of shape as last year I had to do it. I roll up same as last year, with just enough time to get my numbers and get pinned up. No real warm up to speak of but I did have 6 team mates in the race so at least it won't all be on me. haha
We start rolling and right away I realize this race is going to break apart cause it was super windy and this is a wide open course. Oh man, we go right into the wind which is fine when you are drafting in the back but that means as soon as we make a turn there is a cross wind and the gutter fest will begin. The course wasn't closed so we had to follow the yellow line rule which meant we had to all stay in one lane. Perfect for splitting the pack of almost 70 racers. I was in a bad spot. Half way through the first lap I see it breaking apart with some of my stronger team mates sitting in the back where I am. After a tough cross wind section I knew we were hitting a fast slightly downhill tail wind section. I moved up to the front of our group with Steve and Doug in it and I just gave it all I had to help get them up to the front pack. It was a big dig that I was not really warmed up for still and just as we made contact in the crosswind section again I started to get a side stitch. OH MAN! NO WAY! But I knew that in just a little bit we would hit the head wind section again and I could get some rest. Before that I got separated again and had to jump in another chase pack to gain on the front group before we crossed the start/finish section. We joined the group and I felt fine and with my new wife watching I made an effort to get up front but as I got about 1o from the front I realized the pain that would come soon after what it took to get there and after blowing a kiss and looking cool to my bride I quickly backed off and went to the back for the next little headwind section for some shelter. Now it really started breaking up and my poor choice of position started to cost me as I had to start jumpin around the gaps that started to open. Finally after several miles of cross and tail wind I found myself with 3 other guys working well together to keep it going. Over the next couple of miles we caught and dropped and regrouped...and I was feeling good. Not like it was easy, it hurt, my legs hurt, my heart was racing and my lungs were burning but I was in the zone. Finally we caught up to one of my team mates, Clark. Of course he was upset cause he was thinking of pulling out next time we pass the start finish area...as being off the front group and all that was up there who wants to suffer in this wind for 40th place. Now that I was there and while I was ready to crumble myself and throw in the towel I looked over at Clark and told him to HTFU. Just so I could hear those darn little letters out loud and hopefully inspire myself as well. Clark and I fought it out with the wind and several other guys for one more lap. Finally on that long hard tailwind section I put my head down, grabbed my drops and slowly spun up each gear all the way to the turn. I was grinding it out cause I saw Ned ahead rolling solo. I made the turn and saw I had an unexpected gap on my group and we were 2-3 miles from the finish. Oh man! So I kept it going fighting the wind hitting my right side till I got to my team mate Ned. Perfect...the two of us to the line. We took one turn and Ned said he was toasted. CRAP! I saw another guy up the road and drilled it to him. We started a couple turns and I looked back and here they come in their echelon. CRAP! So we sit up and make the right turn straight into the wind. Not sure of our speed but we had an easy mile straight into it while rolling in my 23 cog. I was getting kinda hopeful but laughing at myself for thinking of sprinting it out for back of the pack glory but hey, I am here and obviously I need the training! I was kinda feeling good and thought I should have a go at it from far out cause there is now way I am going to accelerate up that little finish incline into the wind. Clark looks back and I give him "the nod" that I am about to go. He in turn gives me "the look" that its too early. But I am hell bent on going at this time on this little down hill to let my Extra Sexyness that I carry with me give me an advantage for a little bit. So I take off sprinting out of my 25cog in the rear. Now let me just mention, I have a 54tooth big ring. We live in Texas and its flat....and I am a cat 4 which means that I need every bit of gear that guys like Tom Boonen ride on cause how can I ever be like them if I only ride a 53 tooth chain ring. (Ok, wait, let me stop laughing at myself right now) Really, I just like the way it looks on my bike. I am my own worst customer! ;-) So I was able to shift down a couple only to then slowly start shifting back up as I hit the head wind and rise before me as I see the 500 meters to go sign. Now usually it would only be a matter of seconds to the finish....though today is not that day. I am in my 25 tooth again spinning, trying to keep my cadence up as to not require my 42 inner ring...cause seriously...who sprints the finish in their small ring in Texas??? NOT I! I look behind me and I notice a 20 yard gap maybe. Oh no, I went to early. I keep spinning though cause Joy is up at the finish and I can't let her down after she woke up at 5am on a Sunday morning and stood outside in the wind in the middle of no where to watch me race. Slowly I creep up on the 200 meter to go sign. I was going so slow I would have laughed at myself could I regain any normal breathing to do so. I was maxed out, my form was horrible and I was waiting for someone to pass me at any second. I looked back again and still I saw this gap. Its like slow motion. I click down to my 23 and stand up to give that last little bit a go.....aaaaaand then I go back to my 25 as I almost locked up my quads in that stupid display of lack of strength. I grind away as if I was coming in first and cross the line with a clean set of wheels. UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE! I can not believe for as slow as I was finishing no one came around me. The wind REALLY sucked there. So Clark catches up to me and gives me a pat on the back, so do some of the other guys from our little pack of eight riders who were not smart enough to pack it in on this tough day. I see Joy who is as proud of me as if I won and we make our way back to the van. Stretching out the pain and disbelief of the day Clark rolls over and yells out 15th. I was like 15th what? He said he got 16th and I got 15th. NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? WOW! Suddenly it seemed all of that was worth it. I was so glad we didn't give up and that I fought for that finish. Now sure, I didn't win. I am not going to upgrade off of this. I did how ever just have one of my best road race finishes and I am not even rolling like I should be. I looked at my Guru Photon with such pride and felt really really good about my race that day...or maybe stunned is more like it. I guess it just shows....to never give up cause you never really know where you are at till you are done.
We start rolling and right away I realize this race is going to break apart cause it was super windy and this is a wide open course. Oh man, we go right into the wind which is fine when you are drafting in the back but that means as soon as we make a turn there is a cross wind and the gutter fest will begin. The course wasn't closed so we had to follow the yellow line rule which meant we had to all stay in one lane. Perfect for splitting the pack of almost 70 racers. I was in a bad spot. Half way through the first lap I see it breaking apart with some of my stronger team mates sitting in the back where I am. After a tough cross wind section I knew we were hitting a fast slightly downhill tail wind section. I moved up to the front of our group with Steve and Doug in it and I just gave it all I had to help get them up to the front pack. It was a big dig that I was not really warmed up for still and just as we made contact in the crosswind section again I started to get a side stitch. OH MAN! NO WAY! But I knew that in just a little bit we would hit the head wind section again and I could get some rest. Before that I got separated again and had to jump in another chase pack to gain on the front group before we crossed the start/finish section. We joined the group and I felt fine and with my new wife watching I made an effort to get up front but as I got about 1o from the front I realized the pain that would come soon after what it took to get there and after blowing a kiss and looking cool to my bride I quickly backed off and went to the back for the next little headwind section for some shelter. Now it really started breaking up and my poor choice of position started to cost me as I had to start jumpin around the gaps that started to open. Finally after several miles of cross and tail wind I found myself with 3 other guys working well together to keep it going. Over the next couple of miles we caught and dropped and regrouped...and I was feeling good. Not like it was easy, it hurt, my legs hurt, my heart was racing and my lungs were burning but I was in the zone. Finally we caught up to one of my team mates, Clark. Of course he was upset cause he was thinking of pulling out next time we pass the start finish area...as being off the front group and all that was up there who wants to suffer in this wind for 40th place. Now that I was there and while I was ready to crumble myself and throw in the towel I looked over at Clark and told him to HTFU. Just so I could hear those darn little letters out loud and hopefully inspire myself as well. Clark and I fought it out with the wind and several other guys for one more lap. Finally on that long hard tailwind section I put my head down, grabbed my drops and slowly spun up each gear all the way to the turn. I was grinding it out cause I saw Ned ahead rolling solo. I made the turn and saw I had an unexpected gap on my group and we were 2-3 miles from the finish. Oh man! So I kept it going fighting the wind hitting my right side till I got to my team mate Ned. Perfect...the two of us to the line. We took one turn and Ned said he was toasted. CRAP! I saw another guy up the road and drilled it to him. We started a couple turns and I looked back and here they come in their echelon. CRAP! So we sit up and make the right turn straight into the wind. Not sure of our speed but we had an easy mile straight into it while rolling in my 23 cog. I was getting kinda hopeful but laughing at myself for thinking of sprinting it out for back of the pack glory but hey, I am here and obviously I need the training! I was kinda feeling good and thought I should have a go at it from far out cause there is now way I am going to accelerate up that little finish incline into the wind. Clark looks back and I give him "the nod" that I am about to go. He in turn gives me "the look" that its too early. But I am hell bent on going at this time on this little down hill to let my Extra Sexyness that I carry with me give me an advantage for a little bit. So I take off sprinting out of my 25cog in the rear. Now let me just mention, I have a 54tooth big ring. We live in Texas and its flat....and I am a cat 4 which means that I need every bit of gear that guys like Tom Boonen ride on cause how can I ever be like them if I only ride a 53 tooth chain ring. (Ok, wait, let me stop laughing at myself right now) Really, I just like the way it looks on my bike. I am my own worst customer! ;-) So I was able to shift down a couple only to then slowly start shifting back up as I hit the head wind and rise before me as I see the 500 meters to go sign. Now usually it would only be a matter of seconds to the finish....though today is not that day. I am in my 25 tooth again spinning, trying to keep my cadence up as to not require my 42 inner ring...cause seriously...who sprints the finish in their small ring in Texas??? NOT I! I look behind me and I notice a 20 yard gap maybe. Oh no, I went to early. I keep spinning though cause Joy is up at the finish and I can't let her down after she woke up at 5am on a Sunday morning and stood outside in the wind in the middle of no where to watch me race. Slowly I creep up on the 200 meter to go sign. I was going so slow I would have laughed at myself could I regain any normal breathing to do so. I was maxed out, my form was horrible and I was waiting for someone to pass me at any second. I looked back again and still I saw this gap. Its like slow motion. I click down to my 23 and stand up to give that last little bit a go.....aaaaaand then I go back to my 25 as I almost locked up my quads in that stupid display of lack of strength. I grind away as if I was coming in first and cross the line with a clean set of wheels. UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE! I can not believe for as slow as I was finishing no one came around me. The wind REALLY sucked there. So Clark catches up to me and gives me a pat on the back, so do some of the other guys from our little pack of eight riders who were not smart enough to pack it in on this tough day. I see Joy who is as proud of me as if I won and we make our way back to the van. Stretching out the pain and disbelief of the day Clark rolls over and yells out 15th. I was like 15th what? He said he got 16th and I got 15th. NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? WOW! Suddenly it seemed all of that was worth it. I was so glad we didn't give up and that I fought for that finish. Now sure, I didn't win. I am not going to upgrade off of this. I did how ever just have one of my best road race finishes and I am not even rolling like I should be. I looked at my Guru Photon with such pride and felt really really good about my race that day...or maybe stunned is more like it. I guess it just shows....to never give up cause you never really know where you are at till you are done.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
PHOTON!!!!! Most amazing frame EVER!
Ok, its late and I am really tired but I can't say enough about this frame. This one belongs to one of the guys on the team, I have been riding mine since Feb and I just built the 3rd on today. More to come, but if you are looking for something that actually rides as amazing as all the marketing crap they talk...well Guru had taken the cake with this one...A-FREAKIN-MAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!
2010 Guru Evolo for Jon
We all love to ride, triathletes and roadies alike. But at Shama Cycles it seems that the triathletes are getting faster on the bike from hitting up group rides with Shama roadies and other lycra clad friends. A triathlete showing up for a group ride usually involves them showing up on their tri bike. Well this is not ideal for them let alone for some of those in the group. We welcome all but if you want to draft and pull and have everyone around feel secure you might want to show up on a road bike. Don't have one? We can fix that just like we did for Jon. With a custom road bike of course. Now Jon can ride in the pack and work with the back and in complete control the whole time ready for what ever might come your way while following that wheel in front of you. You can ride more miles and at higher speeds and stay motivated to work harder and longer which translates to a faster bike split in the tri. Sure its a road bike but the geometry being custom we design the frame and fit to translate perfectly to the tri bike. Oh yeah, this rig looks pretty awesome too! Pearl White with Flame Red and Orion accents. This is Guru's entry level carbon frame and its so much more than entry level. Truly amazing ride for the money and probably one of the best values of a carbon frame period. You will be seeing a lot of these on the road coming this year.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Steel road training for a triathlete
I sold Rich a Guru Crono at the end of 2008...by the time it came in he ordered a Quarq power meter for it as well. This put his bike at something way more than he ever thought he would own...which I think his wife felt the same way. haha Same time in 2009 after moving out of Houston, Rich made a day trip down to me and we talked about getting a road bike that he can train, do group rides and climb and descend a little better than what the TT bike offers. Oh yeah...and with out upsetting the wife this time.
We picked the Guru Sidero, a fully custom steel frame which rides very well and is pretty cost effective. We built it up with Sram Rival using compact Rotor Agilis cranks, FSA bars, stem, and seatpost and the similar Adamo saddle that's on his Crono. Wheels....well again by the time it came in and he made it back down to pick up this gorgeous rig he ordered some HED Jet 6FR wheels that will be his race wheels on the Crono and use his Fulcrum training wheels on this rig.
Needless to say, after heading back home and getting out on some rides and climbs he is in love with his steel frame and the ride it gives. Who knows....maybe I will be able to convince him to show up to a road race or two. Otherwise I will see him at the Galveston 70.3 coming up...but on his good ol Crono...where I will try to plant into him ideas for bike #3. Just kidding....not really....hahaha
We picked the Guru Sidero, a fully custom steel frame which rides very well and is pretty cost effective. We built it up with Sram Rival using compact Rotor Agilis cranks, FSA bars, stem, and seatpost and the similar Adamo saddle that's on his Crono. Wheels....well again by the time it came in and he made it back down to pick up this gorgeous rig he ordered some HED Jet 6FR wheels that will be his race wheels on the Crono and use his Fulcrum training wheels on this rig.
Needless to say, after heading back home and getting out on some rides and climbs he is in love with his steel frame and the ride it gives. Who knows....maybe I will be able to convince him to show up to a road race or two. Otherwise I will see him at the Galveston 70.3 coming up...but on his good ol Crono...where I will try to plant into him ideas for bike #3. Just kidding....not really....hahaha
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Guru Evolo road bike for a triathlete
Sometimes the most random things happen...like walking into a bike shop for water bottles and walking out with a new helmet. Sounds possible right? What about walking into the shop for some tubes and walking out with a new custom bike on order? NO? Well it happened to this guy here Cory. I sold him his first Guru Crono in a previous life several years ago. He came into the shop not too long ago for some tubes and was asking about some other things and saw some bikes built and then he asked "thee question". How much for that one? Insert evil laugh here. haha He walked out almost upset and in disbelief at what he had just done. The next day...he even called laughing if that actually just happened. Over the next several weeks we picked the parts which went from using the old parts of off his old road bike to ALL new parts. First, the paint, we picked the Candy Red with Orion accents to match his Crono tri bike. Of course your bikes have to match right? We chose the new Rotor 3D cranks since he loves his Agilis cranks on his Crono. We did Sram Force front D, rear D, shifters and used a Rotor SABB ceramic and Enduro Ceramic pulley wheels. The Selle SMP Saddle is held up with a scandium seat post and the front end is handled by FSA for the bars and stem. This is one gorgeous bike and now Cory can train more and ride better in road groups at higher speeds to hopefully increase his bike splits in the triathlons. If nothing else...he is going to have one of the prettiest bikes on the training rides. haha He is a great friend and is going to have a great season!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Cali custom Steel
In the custom world there are tons of guys out there. Some get it and some don't. I work hard to make sure that my clients deal only with the ones that do get it. When my long time friend and team mate came to me with this frame from California custom house Ahrens I was pleased with the work and geometry and could not wait to get this thing in and get him on it. See Nigel has some major back issues and has very long legs and a short torso which is only shortened more by his back issues. Nigel like most of us cyclist who care about our sport likes to look good and ride a bike he is confident in and while Nigel has always ridden top bikes, he has always had to ride very short stems with a huge stack and big rise on the stem. Whats wrong with that other than it doesn't look "pro"??? That kind of set up just doesn't handle right, sure if that is all you know but once you know how a bike is supposed to handle or can handle and the added confidence that comes with being balanced on the bike properly its a whole new world. So yes....custom is needed for more than they know. Whats so custom about this bike that looks fairly simple? Well the headtube and seat tube are pretty tall, that of almost a 58cm bike...yet the top tube and wheelbase is closer to what you would find on a 54cm bike.
What did we build? Campy Record shifters, front and rear derailleurs. Zero Gravity GSL brakes, Reynolds wheels, Edge Seatpost to match the Edge front fork. New Ultimate stem with an FSA Compact Pro Wing bar and Fizik saddle.
How does this rolling work of art ride? His first pedal strokes behind the shop were those of awe. He could not believe what he felt and how well the bike finally felt underneath him. I love my job!
What did we build? Campy Record shifters, front and rear derailleurs. Zero Gravity GSL brakes, Reynolds wheels, Edge Seatpost to match the Edge front fork. New Ultimate stem with an FSA Compact Pro Wing bar and Fizik saddle.
How does this rolling work of art ride? His first pedal strokes behind the shop were those of awe. He could not believe what he felt and how well the bike finally felt underneath him. I love my job!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A LONG BIKE
In the world of custom you get some people who love the fine tweaks and then you have some that need it for comfort period. Jason is one of the latter. He is not freakishly tall...but he does have a LONG torso and reach. Also...he has toxic sweat. Yes...he is the guy that during the hot Houston summer he can destroy a headset bearing and rust most cables. In selecting the perfect bike for him we first decided to go with titanium for the frame material...yes it offers a stellar and refined ride with great performance...but most importantly for Jason was that it won't ever rust out as he lays across his 62cm top tube. It was so funny to see this bike and just how off it really looks...to see him on it is amazing cause for once he looks relaxed. So far after two races and lots of rides he is loving life on the bike and that is what it is all about.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
GO BIG OR GO HOME!
This is a typical Texas saying and a great motto in to mark this build. I have known this guy for years now and even been in some of the same races with him. Rich is a truck! What a motor...he gets on the front and just drills it. Loves the flat fast stuff which is what Texas riding/racing is all about. I have slowly sold him items for his old Cannondale to make it a little nicer and just loved coming by and hanging out from time to time...even though he races for another team...my doors are open to all...and so is my cash register. haha He came in one day for some tubes and walked out shaking his head in wonderment on how he just got talked into buying the most expensive frame there is. Why? He loves red and they make one of the "reddest" bikes there is. This is not a custom frame so before I really let the sale go through I needed to make sure this thing would fit. So we took measurements and looked at the geometry of the Time and sure enough we had a winner. No...not we can "make" it fit like so many shops do to their customers, this bike will actually fit him...in an XL size. Yup...Go big or go home! So now it was time to pick the parts. Well it comes with a stem and a bottle cage. Yeah...I know what you're thinking and I think it too. One cage? $6K and one freaking cage????? Ok...send me another one. hahahahaha Oh yeah and make the stem a 140mm and the limited edition red Time saddle. We went with Rotor SABB because it works well...and cause its anodized red...so yeah it works. The Rotor 3D crank spins inside that ceramic bottom bracket and turns a set of FSA chainrings. Sram Red shifters, front and rear derailleurs. We also used the new Time I-Clic Titan pedals. The bars...are Deda Presa bars and we used Nokon cables and Zero Gravity GSL brakes...not only cause they are awesome...but because they are red and black of course. What to do for wheels? With an aero frame like this you need aero wheels. HED Jet 9 with a custom spoke lacing or added stiffness and responsiveness for this 200lbs Cat3. Now usually Heds come with white decals but I of course I get my customers what they want. So HED finally started cutting colored decals. Red Heds with red Schwalbe tires held onto the bike with anodized red skewers that weigh under 50grams. What does this huge bike weight? 16lbs and we were not even trying to get it light...we just wanted it with the strongest and stiffest components there are...and yeah...some of them happen to be light. So sure...it looks good...but we all have seen alot of nice bikes that don't always ride well. So on Friday night we molded up his new Bont A-One shoes (in red of course) and did the fit. Rich went out on his weekend of riding in prep for his race season and on Monday morning he gave me a call. I was slammed at the shop and couldn't answer the call so he left a message. Later I checked my VM and his first sentence made my heart drop! "Hey man there is a problem with this bike" then there was the longest 2 seconds ever in a voicemail till he followed up with a " its just too damn fast!" and a chuckle as he rambled on about this machine that he can't believe he owns. Once again....I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!!!!
LOWDA's new Magis
No...that's not her name but its her nic name that suits her well. Laura Meichan is a loud one and the only thing to out do her voice is her legs on the bike. A mother of 3 and wife to 1, she has won State Crit and Time Trial championships as well as the yearly points competitions in road racing. For the 2009 season she retired (as in she only raced a handful of times) which gave her some time to do other things...like run and learn to swim. What did she do with her new found skills? She did her first triathlon and was hooked on the sport. How did she do? She has won her age group or masters in each race she has entered. Not fair you say? No its not...especially since she was on a road bike! haha
Over time Laura was able to make her kids not have seconds and start hunting for their food so she could save money for a new TT bike for her new found sport! After some time she is on her new rig! A Guru Magis with some Sram and Shimano parts. Why the odd mix? Well she had it on her Guru Geneo and we decided to upgrade her Geneo with Sram Red and kick the other parts over to the TT bike. This bike is 16lbs as it sits. Is it fast? We will find out tomorrow morning as she takes her 3rd ride on it in the Frost Yer Fanny duathlon tomorrow morning. No test like race day! I can't wait to watch her kill it tomorrow.
Over time Laura was able to make her kids not have seconds and start hunting for their food so she could save money for a new TT bike for her new found sport! After some time she is on her new rig! A Guru Magis with some Sram and Shimano parts. Why the odd mix? Well she had it on her Guru Geneo and we decided to upgrade her Geneo with Sram Red and kick the other parts over to the TT bike. This bike is 16lbs as it sits. Is it fast? We will find out tomorrow morning as she takes her 3rd ride on it in the Frost Yer Fanny duathlon tomorrow morning. No test like race day! I can't wait to watch her kill it tomorrow.
LSU fans die hard!
I got a call from my friend Josh Foster one day saying he had a friend he was sending my way. He wasn't sure he would really be able to afford my typical creation and was wondering if I I could just maybe help him pick out a bike that he could afford if not from me. Josh knows me and knows that I will talk to anyone and love to help people get on the best bike for them...whether its from me or not. So his friend Josh Stibrich came in and we chatted about him being new to tris and not sure he can really spend the money on one of my big fancy rigs. So we talked and looked at some other options and then we hit the color options and he joked about "well if it was purple and yellow" and then it was over! haha I can get Guru to do nearly anything...including getting my customer's college colors on their bike. So Josh went home to "think about it" or as we all know...ask the wife. Next morning we were a go! Sound too easy? She went to LSU as well so it was an easy sale at that point. Sure, I did my due diligence on frame design and such but that is so boring for most. After nailing down the frame geometry with Guru, came the fun part....trying to figure out how to keep the theme of the purple and yellow frame into the rest of the parts that makes the bike. I of course turned to Zero Gravity brakes to get a yellow color they don't typically offer. Sure maybe the brakes are a bit above the rest of the level of the components but we are going for looks here on these. Then I turned to Velocity wheels for a special set up. With more purple on the frame and knowing they there are not yellow nipples, we chose a yellow rim and purple nipples. We also got some yellow Jagwire cables and purple Deda bar tape. The rest...Sram Rival cranks, front derailleur and rear derailleur. Oh yeah...Hed Vantage 8 aerobars with Sram carbon brake levers and shifters for the hands and forearms while his...errrr.....sit bones rest on a Selle SMP Forma saddle. The fit came off great and I look forward to seeing the rig at many local events this season....I don't think any one can miss this rig....its loud and proud! GEAUX TIGERS!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Finally a tri bike for a girl killing it on a road bike
I really get a kick out of some of the people I get to work with. Most of the time I get people who are on poorly fitted bikes and or bikes that just don't fit and they are typically mid age groupers who move up quite a bit if not podium makers with their new rigs from Shama Cycles. But what do you do when some one is already winning overall and masters in every race she enters? How do you tell some one that is winning that they need to be faster??? Easy...you say "Hey Diann, I know you are killing it on your road bike with clip on aerobars that I fitted you on 3 year ago...but its time to get a real tri bike and get really fast and start gunning down more of the men." After saying this for about 2 years FINALLY I got my way and she came in this past December to pull the trigger. OH CRAP! Now I have to deliver more performance to some one who is already very fast. Well...I have done it before so I like the challenge and will do it again. We picked the frame and parts, choosing the Guru Crono as the frame of choice, then the HED Vantage 8 aerobars for their adjust ability and Sram Force components with Rotor SABB ceramic BB, Q-Rings, and Zero Gravity brakes and Selle SMP Forma saddle. Best part of the build was the fitting and letting her learn how to shift with bar end shifters. Oh man...the irony. Oh yeah, her HED Disc, she won that at the Tour de Greune Time Trial...on her road bike! Once again my name is on the line and I look forward to being there at her first race and watching her KILL it on this new machine. Oh yeah...as you view the pics....her husband was getting on the bike to see if it can fit him as well...not quite....haha
Driveway 2010
Typically the Driveway Crit is a weekly Austin crit race from March till September and its tough for most working guys from other cities to make it. Though thanks to Holland Racing myself and all my closest friends in lycra got to suit up on a COLD COLD morning and race on this glorious tarmac cutting through the land in what is probably the best course around. Today was a great day for Shama Cycles. Jason Codiane got 2nd in the 35+ 4/5 race and Joyce Baysinger got 2nd in the woman's 3s...which was her first race back from a bad training ride wreck several months ago. We also had some other great finishes and team work going in the race and I think everyone on the team had a great day and was happy.
Now if you read my posts below about Belterra Circut Race...you will remember that I had one glorious lap worth anything and just a tough day overall. Ahh...the Driveway....24hours later and a new day on a course I love and have raced many times before. First race was the Master's 35+ 4/5 race with my team mates and other friends. The race starts and I look for who's up front...from the back of course. I settle in with a friend, Marcus, from another team and we chat as the guys on the front kill each other with attack after attack. Marcus is not a crit lover as he had a bad wreck at Memorial Park like myself but a couple years ago..plus he won one of the races the day before so his weekend is good already. We are both opportunists I would say...comfortably riding the back staying out of trouble and minding front to see who's doing what and what looks real or not. First lap...we hit the power climb and there is a wreck mid pack and of course I look around for my guys and as I come up to go around it I see my team mate Clark stopping dead into it but not going down. I pause coming around the turn and think if I should stop to help pace him back up as he is much fitter than I and a better chance at a good finish, but then I question can I even pace him up...am I even strong enough to do that. Not sure and fully thinking he will take a Free Lap I keep going...and about 1/8 of a mile after the wreck...I see Clark coming up on me. HOLY FREAKING CRAP! Then he keeps going and gets right back up where he was within the same lap! (yeah I fit him, haha) So the race moves on and I am feeling good and I hear the Prime Bell and start to really look alert. We hit about 1K out from the finish line for the Prime Lap and I see a slowing in the front and stand up off the outside and go! I get towards the top 10 and begin to sit down to keep my move past the pack going and my white bib shorts get hung up on my saddle tip. FML I have to pause and lose my momentum while I "re sit" back down on my saddle and just try to keep it going. I hit the climb and hit around the corner and have one turn before the line....I look down under my right arm to see who's wheel is on mine....its my friend Dave McLaughlin of Jack&Adam's Velossimo team and this dude is riding VERY well and I know he must have grabbed my wheel as soon as I went by him in the top 5 knowing each other from racing here over the summer. So I come around the turn super tired and sit up as I see Dave just launch for the line with a couple guys trying to go after him. Yes Dave....you are welcome for the perfect lead out and I hope you tell me how great that coffee is that you won. But don't worry....I am not bitter. ;-) Heck, after the day before and just coming back into racing I was happy to show my face on the front and still get back in with ease. Not to mention...Joy (my fiance') was there watching so I had to "look cool" to her. The race moves one and towards the end I see Clark off the front with a couple other guys that get caught with in the last lap...which sets up an attack from Dave McLaughlin and this time its Shamanite Jason C on his wheel and they roll into the finish 1 and 2. That was awesome!
An hour later is the Cat 4 race. I am kinda worried about this one and I spend about 30 minutes in the van trying to stay warm and re-applying a second layer of Sports Balm Medium warming rub. Can I mention how bad this extra cold winter down here in Texas SUCKS?!?! We start off and once again I am on the back with Marcus just chillin. We flow through the turns lap after lap and with 5 to go there is a break that goes off the front with a couple of strong guys part of strong teams. Its on a long section with a slight decline and I decide to go chase it down to either make the break or help shut it down. I get down to the u-turn and I am all out and only half way to them in no mans land and I begin to think to myself "What was I thinkinig? Second race with no real race fitness??? STUPID STUPID STUPID!" So after that motivational pep talk with myself I find myself slowly gaining and right before the power climb I catch on. Now it should be a sigh of relief and feel easy in a draft...but I am so blown I am worried about staying on and the only thing that made me even kill myself that bad to get there was trying to avoid the shame of going back to the pack with my team mates who have been doing all the work for Shama Cycles thus far. We hit the top section and I think...I am in a break with 4 to go and Joy is watching. OH YEAH! So now I am a new man and two guys drop back and one guy stays committed and we come through the spectator area motoring on our own with the pack in chase. I am feeling GREAT! We hit the descent and I am killing it...we hit the turn around again and I hear the wheels and heavy breathing. I look to my right and left and I see the pack has caught us and they are gap mouthed. On a super high (or moment of poor judgment) I stand up and sprint off with all I have. I settle down with my head down and just drill as hard as I can. Fully committed I hit that power climb and shift down and it happens....I hit the wall! HARD! I am done and blown and I hear that sound again...wheels. Powerless and done I pull off to the side and let everyone pass...and I can barely think let alone pedal. Hoping I did something I just pull out satisfied with my weekend and wanting to watch the finish. Sometimes we look for the finishes...and sometimes we just look to see what we can do and where our limits are at...yeah...I found my limits...and had a blast doing it with a great group of friends and team mates.
This is why I ride....
Now if you read my posts below about Belterra Circut Race...you will remember that I had one glorious lap worth anything and just a tough day overall. Ahh...the Driveway....24hours later and a new day on a course I love and have raced many times before. First race was the Master's 35+ 4/5 race with my team mates and other friends. The race starts and I look for who's up front...from the back of course. I settle in with a friend, Marcus, from another team and we chat as the guys on the front kill each other with attack after attack. Marcus is not a crit lover as he had a bad wreck at Memorial Park like myself but a couple years ago..plus he won one of the races the day before so his weekend is good already. We are both opportunists I would say...comfortably riding the back staying out of trouble and minding front to see who's doing what and what looks real or not. First lap...we hit the power climb and there is a wreck mid pack and of course I look around for my guys and as I come up to go around it I see my team mate Clark stopping dead into it but not going down. I pause coming around the turn and think if I should stop to help pace him back up as he is much fitter than I and a better chance at a good finish, but then I question can I even pace him up...am I even strong enough to do that. Not sure and fully thinking he will take a Free Lap I keep going...and about 1/8 of a mile after the wreck...I see Clark coming up on me. HOLY FREAKING CRAP! Then he keeps going and gets right back up where he was within the same lap! (yeah I fit him, haha) So the race moves on and I am feeling good and I hear the Prime Bell and start to really look alert. We hit about 1K out from the finish line for the Prime Lap and I see a slowing in the front and stand up off the outside and go! I get towards the top 10 and begin to sit down to keep my move past the pack going and my white bib shorts get hung up on my saddle tip. FML I have to pause and lose my momentum while I "re sit" back down on my saddle and just try to keep it going. I hit the climb and hit around the corner and have one turn before the line....I look down under my right arm to see who's wheel is on mine....its my friend Dave McLaughlin of Jack&Adam's Velossimo team and this dude is riding VERY well and I know he must have grabbed my wheel as soon as I went by him in the top 5 knowing each other from racing here over the summer. So I come around the turn super tired and sit up as I see Dave just launch for the line with a couple guys trying to go after him. Yes Dave....you are welcome for the perfect lead out and I hope you tell me how great that coffee is that you won. But don't worry....I am not bitter. ;-) Heck, after the day before and just coming back into racing I was happy to show my face on the front and still get back in with ease. Not to mention...Joy (my fiance') was there watching so I had to "look cool" to her. The race moves one and towards the end I see Clark off the front with a couple other guys that get caught with in the last lap...which sets up an attack from Dave McLaughlin and this time its Shamanite Jason C on his wheel and they roll into the finish 1 and 2. That was awesome!
An hour later is the Cat 4 race. I am kinda worried about this one and I spend about 30 minutes in the van trying to stay warm and re-applying a second layer of Sports Balm Medium warming rub. Can I mention how bad this extra cold winter down here in Texas SUCKS?!?! We start off and once again I am on the back with Marcus just chillin. We flow through the turns lap after lap and with 5 to go there is a break that goes off the front with a couple of strong guys part of strong teams. Its on a long section with a slight decline and I decide to go chase it down to either make the break or help shut it down. I get down to the u-turn and I am all out and only half way to them in no mans land and I begin to think to myself "What was I thinkinig? Second race with no real race fitness??? STUPID STUPID STUPID!" So after that motivational pep talk with myself I find myself slowly gaining and right before the power climb I catch on. Now it should be a sigh of relief and feel easy in a draft...but I am so blown I am worried about staying on and the only thing that made me even kill myself that bad to get there was trying to avoid the shame of going back to the pack with my team mates who have been doing all the work for Shama Cycles thus far. We hit the top section and I think...I am in a break with 4 to go and Joy is watching. OH YEAH! So now I am a new man and two guys drop back and one guy stays committed and we come through the spectator area motoring on our own with the pack in chase. I am feeling GREAT! We hit the descent and I am killing it...we hit the turn around again and I hear the wheels and heavy breathing. I look to my right and left and I see the pack has caught us and they are gap mouthed. On a super high (or moment of poor judgment) I stand up and sprint off with all I have. I settle down with my head down and just drill as hard as I can. Fully committed I hit that power climb and shift down and it happens....I hit the wall! HARD! I am done and blown and I hear that sound again...wheels. Powerless and done I pull off to the side and let everyone pass...and I can barely think let alone pedal. Hoping I did something I just pull out satisfied with my weekend and wanting to watch the finish. Sometimes we look for the finishes...and sometimes we just look to see what we can do and where our limits are at...yeah...I found my limits...and had a blast doing it with a great group of friends and team mates.
This is why I ride....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Belterra Circut Race P/B Shama Cycles
WHAT A KICK IN DA PANTS!
This was the simplest course one could hope to race on. L Shaped, two u-turns with little hills at the U-turns. 187ft of elevation gain in each of the 2 mile laps. I thought to myself, "tough, but no problem". I mean I didn't get dropped in any of the races last year on much tougher courses. How did I prepare for such an easy Saturday race? Well I raced the Sunday before in New Braunfels. That's good right? Then I got 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night and 4 hours Friday night due to work and due to building up my brand new Guru Photon Friday to...you guessed it...race on that coming weekend. So no riding in 5 days, 7 hours of sleep in 48 hours and a new bike. Crazy? No. My first lap was crazy. We are not even a mile into the race and I see my friend (from Joe's Pro Bike) Michael Hall go off the front unchallenged. I think to myself, "why not, its the one race this year Shama Cycles is sponsoring and I have to at least show my face somewhere". So I jump like a man possessed after him and quickly find his wheel as we ascend the first climb. We uturn with a gap on the peleton and I take over on the down hill...letting God's gift of gravity do its trick. Yes, while the 14lbs1oz bike might fly away if left unattended, the 200lbs engine atop it still descends like your IQ while watching Jersey Shore on MTV. We take a turn or two and find ourselves approaching the start finish area and I get to the front (or Michael lets me) and I come in on the first lap in front of a two man break in the first lap. I am so proud! I hit the second hill with ease and begin our descent. THEE Shama is off the front on a Shama sponsored race. We make the left turn to head back away from the spectator area and I hear the carbon wheels swooshing as they grab our wheels. I quickly accept the break/rest to be given by the pack and jump in on the back. But some how I am not getting a break, I am not resting, I am still working...and working hard. The adrenaline from my GLORY LAP has faded and my large gorgeous quads are full of lactic acid that won't flush out. Oh the pain. I come through on the second lap hanging out in the back proud to see my Shama kit on better men towards the front of the pack. We start our third lap and I look up and involuntarily I am off the back. CRAP! I am tired and want to give up, but I see some other guys I know come by me and I jump in to work with them. Now begins the "off the back" race as I eat my Humble Pie. Well I would have eaten some if I could breathe and chew at the same time but sine I can barely breathe my pie will have to wait. I finally start to feel good and start laying it out working hard each lap to catch up to some of my team mates ahead of me who have experienced my same fate. I start pulling entire laps closing the gap and catching my guys. Then I wonder "hmmm, maybe if I had sat in and warmed up would I still be there?....NAAAA I got a shot of me off the front!" haha So I carry on and have some fun coming into the last lap I sit up and decide to let others take some pulls while I rest up for a final K attack. We come up to the finish line for the last lap and I am feeling good in the back of this 8 man group I help create and they call it as our last lap. Ok, now I was not going to win and I was going to place in the last half of the group anyway. BUT SERIOUSLY???? I pull these guys for lap after lap and they cut our race short as I get scored behind them? I just had to laugh at myself for being up set about it at all...well I didn't laugh right away...I was too busy yelling at the refs contesting the final lap decision. Kidding...I swallowed it and rode off the course to watch the finish. I quickly began to cough like an old man from the cold dry air in burning my lungs as my heart rate tries to slow down. Questioning what happened (dropped) from the first race...I quickly got ready and signed up for round two of punishment. I mean...I am here...I can't go anywhere else for a while and I have two legs that work. I jump into race #2 and in the first lap I see these two guys jump off the front. One of them looked like a straight up MS-150 rider with his saddle bad and basic blue jersey with black shorts and yellow helmet. There is a guy who races (cause he is wearing a perfectly matched team kit) on his wheel so I quickly jump to to catch their wheel. We hit that first little climb and OMG this MS150 guy is accelerating and I am blowing up! WTH???? Then right before the 180 team mate and killer climber Bill Krause jumps around me and goes right up to the two and so does everyone else. My one Glory Lap dreams were quickly crushed on the descent back and I just rode in the back of the pack and as we started in on our second lap and the pain crept in and my lack of fitness was exposed to all as I pulled out of the race after 1 freakin lap! Oh man. Ok, so I have not trained, slept, or anything right for racing. Oh well...that is why I have a team that races for me and that is why they did great that day with two top tens. Plus lets face it...we just flat out had a great time. The sun was out and it was some great racing with some great friends in Austin....and that is why I really race.
This was the simplest course one could hope to race on. L Shaped, two u-turns with little hills at the U-turns. 187ft of elevation gain in each of the 2 mile laps. I thought to myself, "tough, but no problem". I mean I didn't get dropped in any of the races last year on much tougher courses. How did I prepare for such an easy Saturday race? Well I raced the Sunday before in New Braunfels. That's good right? Then I got 3 hours of sleep on Thursday night and 4 hours Friday night due to work and due to building up my brand new Guru Photon Friday to...you guessed it...race on that coming weekend. So no riding in 5 days, 7 hours of sleep in 48 hours and a new bike. Crazy? No. My first lap was crazy. We are not even a mile into the race and I see my friend (from Joe's Pro Bike) Michael Hall go off the front unchallenged. I think to myself, "why not, its the one race this year Shama Cycles is sponsoring and I have to at least show my face somewhere". So I jump like a man possessed after him and quickly find his wheel as we ascend the first climb. We uturn with a gap on the peleton and I take over on the down hill...letting God's gift of gravity do its trick. Yes, while the 14lbs1oz bike might fly away if left unattended, the 200lbs engine atop it still descends like your IQ while watching Jersey Shore on MTV. We take a turn or two and find ourselves approaching the start finish area and I get to the front (or Michael lets me) and I come in on the first lap in front of a two man break in the first lap. I am so proud! I hit the second hill with ease and begin our descent. THEE Shama is off the front on a Shama sponsored race. We make the left turn to head back away from the spectator area and I hear the carbon wheels swooshing as they grab our wheels. I quickly accept the break/rest to be given by the pack and jump in on the back. But some how I am not getting a break, I am not resting, I am still working...and working hard. The adrenaline from my GLORY LAP has faded and my large gorgeous quads are full of lactic acid that won't flush out. Oh the pain. I come through on the second lap hanging out in the back proud to see my Shama kit on better men towards the front of the pack. We start our third lap and I look up and involuntarily I am off the back. CRAP! I am tired and want to give up, but I see some other guys I know come by me and I jump in to work with them. Now begins the "off the back" race as I eat my Humble Pie. Well I would have eaten some if I could breathe and chew at the same time but sine I can barely breathe my pie will have to wait. I finally start to feel good and start laying it out working hard each lap to catch up to some of my team mates ahead of me who have experienced my same fate. I start pulling entire laps closing the gap and catching my guys. Then I wonder "hmmm, maybe if I had sat in and warmed up would I still be there?....NAAAA I got a shot of me off the front!" haha So I carry on and have some fun coming into the last lap I sit up and decide to let others take some pulls while I rest up for a final K attack. We come up to the finish line for the last lap and I am feeling good in the back of this 8 man group I help create and they call it as our last lap. Ok, now I was not going to win and I was going to place in the last half of the group anyway. BUT SERIOUSLY???? I pull these guys for lap after lap and they cut our race short as I get scored behind them? I just had to laugh at myself for being up set about it at all...well I didn't laugh right away...I was too busy yelling at the refs contesting the final lap decision. Kidding...I swallowed it and rode off the course to watch the finish. I quickly began to cough like an old man from the cold dry air in burning my lungs as my heart rate tries to slow down. Questioning what happened (dropped) from the first race...I quickly got ready and signed up for round two of punishment. I mean...I am here...I can't go anywhere else for a while and I have two legs that work. I jump into race #2 and in the first lap I see these two guys jump off the front. One of them looked like a straight up MS-150 rider with his saddle bad and basic blue jersey with black shorts and yellow helmet. There is a guy who races (cause he is wearing a perfectly matched team kit) on his wheel so I quickly jump to to catch their wheel. We hit that first little climb and OMG this MS150 guy is accelerating and I am blowing up! WTH???? Then right before the 180 team mate and killer climber Bill Krause jumps around me and goes right up to the two and so does everyone else. My one Glory Lap dreams were quickly crushed on the descent back and I just rode in the back of the pack and as we started in on our second lap and the pain crept in and my lack of fitness was exposed to all as I pulled out of the race after 1 freakin lap! Oh man. Ok, so I have not trained, slept, or anything right for racing. Oh well...that is why I have a team that races for me and that is why they did great that day with two top tens. Plus lets face it...we just flat out had a great time. The sun was out and it was some great racing with some great friends in Austin....and that is why I really race.
Guru Geneo refreshed
So towards the end of 2008 Laura Meichan came to me for a new road bike for her 2009 racing season. Being the super elite Cat 2 retired road racer that she is we had to choose the best and go with what she was comfortable with. We chose the Guru Geneo and of course had it made in a custom geometry to fit her better than the previous bikes she has raced on. While she did not race nearly as much as she did in years past when she did race she made it count and always did well and even won some races. Since being spoiled on a custom road bike she quickly lost love for her time trial bike and with venturing into triathlons and duathons (winning her AG or Masters in everyone) she wanted a new triathlon bike. So we have a year old road bike and wanting a new TT bike. With road being her main thing we decided to upgrade the Geneo from 7800 Dura Ace to Sram Red with Gore Sealed cables. We dropped some lbs and improved the function of her shifter area with the better ergonomics of the Red shifters and adjust ability. Her first ride was hilarious as she had crash course on a hard ride of the new shifting system.
Next up...building up her new Guru Magis with her old Dura Ace. Watch out cause she is gonna hurt some age groupers on that one!
Next up...building up her new Guru Magis with her old Dura Ace. Watch out cause she is gonna hurt some age groupers on that one!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
First race back since the wreck
More to come. Team Shama Cycles and ProActive had strong results and showings. I hung in no problem on the circut race hanging in with ease. I am pumped and ready to race some more!
Monday, January 25, 2010
The NEW 2010 Guru Evolo
So here is the new "cost effective" custom carbon frame from Guru at only $2500 the new Evolo is selling very well. I actually just got mine in as well. Of course the hard part of what I do (other than blogging at 2am) is having to ride what I sell....which is why I only sell nice bikes. I know...its a tough rule to live by but I suffer through it. So far I have done three very hard rides on this rig and I love it. I am rocking a 15 lbs bike with out even really trying. Yet the feel is a ride that is not scary light but solid through and through. Accelerating on it is a piece of cake...and the ride is smooth as butter. Sorry, this is what I get for typing while my stomach is growling.
I was put out of commission for 3 months due to a very bad crash in a crit. This coming Sunday is the first crit of the season and I am no where near where I would want to be fitness wise. But hey, I am just happy to be able to ride again and with a new rig like this...there is no better place to test it than in a hilly crit. I can't wait!
Pegoretti upgraded
One day early January I had a guy walk into the shop after running into FOP extraordinaire Steve Quick at Memorial Park. He was looking for new shoes. I had some bikes to work on but no appointments so it was easy to talk to him about shoes. We chose Bont shoes. But they are so different than any other shoe out there I was worried he would not appreciate the shoes unless his fit was right which he mentioned he was not that comfortable anyway. So he rolled in his bike and it was this beautiful hand welded Pegoretti. We set him up on the trainer and heated up the shoes to get them ready to be molded. We chatted about the bike and how he came to own it and what frame he was coming off of before this one. Full Campy Record 11 and other really nice parts...but nice is only good if it fits. With new Bonts cooling on the feet we began the fit and quickly I realized some things that need to change. We did a little here, a little there, and before you know it over the period of a week of making a change, liking it and wanting more, we changed EVERY THING but the front and rear derailleur,brakes and shifters. New wheels, new cranks (Zipp ceramic BB holding Lightning crank), chain rings, chian, bars, stem, seatpost, saddle, new cables, and cages. Sure, we made it lighter but the real story is how much more comfortable, faster, and can go for longer than he was before.
Now as I work on his old bike (a Steelman) to get it a little more like this one....we joke about the most expensive pair of shoes he ever bought that one fateful day. hahaha
Now as I work on his old bike (a Steelman) to get it a little more like this one....we joke about the most expensive pair of shoes he ever bought that one fateful day. hahaha
Pink & Black Guru Crono for a friend
I am a lucky guy. I get to meet great people all the time and form relationships from them all. I met Robin a while back and realized what a great person she is and also how much heart she has in racing triathlon. When she wanted a new bike she came to me out of trust and friendship and I could not have been more honored. So we began our process with the most important part first...how much pink is too much pink??? haha So sat and planned out each part of the bike almost based on color. If Nokon would make pink cables then they would have been on here too. We even have HED making us pink decals for the wheels...I will add those when they are on the wheels. Ok, the really important part was the geometry of the bike. She just had a HUGE PR at Ironman Florida (no she was not drafting, haha) and to pull her off of her Cervelo P2SL and promise her more speed on the bike and into the run. So of course my job was huge there. We designed the frame and got it all going. Mean while I even got Zero Gravity to make a pink color for the accents on the GSL brakes. She came in for her pre-fit and upon sitting on the bike she was in tears. Now usually I make people smile when they see their new bike and get to sit on it on the Computrainer. But no, not Robin, she was emotional over having this nice of a bike built up the way she wanted. While it caught me off guard seeing her tears...it reminded me what it is I really do...I help athletes dreams come true on two wheels. I can't wait to follow her this year in her races and see how far this new rig will take her and to how many more PRs.
I love my job!
I love my job!
Friday, January 15, 2010
GURU PHOTON
The new heavy weight killer frame on the block is the lightest frame made with some of the best riding characteristics there can be in a bike. This one and my own will soon be built up I can hardly wait. Much more to come on these frames here....
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