Yay, after 6 years of duathlons I'm finally getting a TT bike!!

[zoom-zoom]

The bad: not the bike I'd originally had my heart set on, as our shop lost its contract with BMC. That leaves KHS and Focus. The smallest Focus is at least 1 full size too big, on top of being an especially aggressive frame. Instead of smooth and light carbon the new ride may be heavier and sorta buzzy, as it's alum.

The good: the KHS is "dirt cheap," for the specs and should fit me well in an XS. It will leave some budget for wheel upgrade, too. The BMC would not have. And I can someday upgrade the frame, assuming I continue to love duathlons for several more years...as much as I have for the past 6 years. Assuming the frame fits me well, I'd like to target my first Powerman du, next year.

[ny biker]

Congrats!

FWIW I don't ride any faster on my carbon road bike than I did on the old aluminum one. And I did find that buying the wrong wheels for the carbon bike made things beyond buzzy. So having good wheels on an aluminum frame that fits well could serve you very well. And I think Muirenn has found that a carbon stem on an aluminum bike can make the ride smoother, so maybe that's another upgrade to look into.

[zoom-zoom]

Ahh...I'm not yet sure how the aerobars attach to the steer tube, but I'll definitely look into a carbon upgrade on that if it's aluminum.

[OakLeaf]

You KNOW this thread is useless without pictures. Enjoy!!

[zoom-zoom]

I definitely will! I hope I'll have it in a week or so.

[pinsonp2]

Any new bike update yet?

P2

[zoom-zoom]

Any new bike update yet?

P2

About a week and a half ago I finally got to race on my bike...it went pretty well. It took almost a month, but by race day I didn't feel like steering with my elbows was quite so terrifying. First run leg and bike leg were good...and then my legs and lungs were totally uncooperative for the last 10k run. Between the heat and humidity it was rough going and I had a PW for this event (4th time doing it). Summer run races are rough.

Bike is otherwise pretty comfy (I guess...? Having not ridden a TT bike in the past, I had nothing to compare it to). Took a while for my neck and shoulders to not be tight and stiff, but that was expected. No crotch pain, whatsoever. Not nearly as much vibration as I'd expected with an AL frame, though the bike is relatively heavy. It's a good 4#s beefier than my road bike. I'm definitely thinking that eventually something lighter would be really nice. It's a tank on uphills, especially with the wonky TT geometry.

DH upgraded the brakes on the bike, though, because the Tektros that came with it were awful. Not too surprising. I think they were roughly the same model that was on my very first road bike and they were equally bad. There were stop signs at bottoms of steep hills that I would avoid. I'd plan my routes to not make use of those roads.

[Catrin]

Congratulations Zoom!