Interbike: Part One

You know that I know that you know that I hate writing these XYZ sort of entries; however, Interbike lends itself well to that style, so here we are. Interbike XYZ-ing.

Yesterday we arrived in Vegas at 9:30am, having awoken at 3:30am in order to make a 5:30am flight from Greensboro. First event? Fit Kit Seminar with Kyle at 12:30pm.

Until 8pm.

Now before you start to say, "8 hours on nothing but bike fit?" let me tell you that bike fit is perhaps the most important part of cycling. You can ride the latest carbon fiber Di2 Zipp 404 tubular speed sparkle dust speed machine to your heart's content, but if the fit ain't right, you ain't gonna get your money's worth, and more than likely you will get hurt to boot.

What did I learn?

While I want to say "a lot," it's not so much that I learned anything I didn't know before, as I was truly able to see how reliable and easy using the Fit Kit is in order to establish a solid framework for your fit.

I also found out that in reality, I need a custom frame: 53.5cm seat post and a 59.4cm top tube + stem combination. Which is why my seat is so totally jacked up and my handlebars are so totally scrunched up as close as they will go.

Today I got into the meat and potatoes of Interbike, and the day I was most excited about: Outdoor Demo Day.

I took an early morning bus out to the location for a 26 mile Tour de Lake Mead ride, a staple of the event and a ride for which I lined up an Amira S-Works. I met a fantastic woman, Susi Wunsch (www.velojoy.com <--her blog, awesome, go read it now), whose mission was to scope out the latest/greatest women specific items in the bike industry. We talked on the way out about women in the industry, the developments, the atmosphere, the products, and the attitude that surrounds the topic.

A stimulating conversation about bikes with an awesome lady cyclist at 6:30am? There are worse ways to start your day.

Upon arrival, I made a beeline for the Specialized tent, which was already swarmed, and was told that I was expected and I could grab any bike that would fit.

Umm, yes please.

Turns out the S-works Amira was spoken for, so I grabbed the exact model of Amira that I have. Shortly, though, I realized that I didn't come all the way to Vegas to ride what I already own, so I scoped out some more. The result?

An SL3 S-Works Roubaix with...wait for it...

D12.

Cha Ching.

I actually didn't even realize it had D12 until I got it into the stand, because, come on, who is going to bother to put that on a 49cm frame? Thank you, Specialized.

I also felt extremely bad ass because not all of the Sp. team had arrived yet, which meant that those who were there were swamped with bike getting readying before the ride. I asked if I could just put my pedals on myself and get it ready to go or if there was a liability thing and they had to do it. They were more than grateful for my pitching in, and pedal putting on/taking off has become pretty routine for me at this point. I also lubed the chain, made sure it was shifting ok (though I wouldn't have been able to make any adjustments on the...wait for it...Di2), and adjusted my saddle height to 69cm.

The ride itself? Gorgeous. Also more than I bargained for. 13 miles speeding downhill, during which I was more than happy to cruise. Being so light on such a light bike (and I mean probably 12 pounds) and going downhill is actually a disadvantage, because I can't use gravity /momentum as much as heavier riders. No skin off my back, I wasn't there to win any races (though some people definitely were).

So what was the bargaining? 13 miles uphill getting back. And I mean uphill. No mamby pamby rollers. I mean...I mean take Baker's Crossroads, and extend that for 13 miles.

Yeah.

The upside?

I got to spend that much more time on a Di2 bike. Let me tell you, it is not hype. It was amazing. AMAZING. On the way down, for kicks, I went from little to big to little to big to little to big at an annoying light-flippy speed, and the shifting didn't bat an eye. And cross chaining? What cross chaining? What may that be?

Returning the bike was hard to do. While I found my Ruby to be a little flexier than I would have liked, the S-Works Roubaix never put a wheel wrong during my ride. The Dura Ace wheels didn't hurt either, of course.

With the ride out of the way, it was time to actually demo demo. First up?

The Cinelli Strato

http://www.cinelli-usa.com/bicycles/91?build=62780869-1F59-4555-8FBE-124B6A073CEF

I didn't know much about it before I rode it, I had seen it earlier that morning and noticed it was my size and definitely wanted to give it a go.

When I ride bikes at de Oro, I have to admit, they all feel somewhat the same to me.

Not this time.

Ladies and gentleman, I am in love.

This was the first bike where I could actually tangibly FEEL the stiffness of the bottom bracket, I could FEEL the immediate power transfer, I had a different sensation in my pedals and my legs compared to other bikes I've ridden. Going downhill was screaming fast and accurate, cornering was a breeze, and even climbing back up with my rubber-ish legs proved no problem. What I hated was the Campy Chorus on it, wtf, but the bike itself? Magical.

Next up I wanted to ride the new Masi Evoluzionne bikes, but they only had the 56 and 58 frames done in time for the show, so I settled on a Steel Gran Criterium instead.

Poor me.

I've heard that Steel is Real, but this bike showed me how. I know it's not the top end steel frame on the market, but it felt like....like the road had an extra layer of smooth on it. And even though it was a heavy bike in comparison to carbon, it climbed easily. And I know this because I was dreading the climb back up, waiting for mashing that never came. I wouldn't describe it as sprightly on the ascent, but definitely efficient.

Next up? Well, I decided to go try out the competition. Trek. They had a 50cm Madone 6.7.

The result? Underwhelmed. It felt like just another carbon bike, nothing new or exciting like when I was on the Strato.

Of course, by that time, the wind had kicked up pretty seriously, and I was getting blown all over the road on those carbon feathers. I decided that I wasn't going to be able to really get a feel for the bikes since it was all I could do to stay in a straight line, and there wasn't anything else there that I really was itching to ride, so I called it a day in terms of bikes.

BUT! There were other awesome things to check out. Which I did.

LeMond Trainers:

http://www.lemondfitness.com/product_listing/19/revolution-bike-trainer

When Dale sent me an email about this trainer, I got really excited. Though trainers, along with just about everything else in the bike industry, are not my specialty, I thought the concept behind it was fantastic. I've ridden several different brands of trainers, some of them top of the line, but they all felt draggy/muddy/sandy. I was told the only way to steer clear of that was rollers.

Not anymore.

How did it feel? Let's just say it felt so realistic that I kept going for my rear brake to "slow down," only to remember that there was no rear brake, because there was no rear wheel, because it was a trainer.

Also, you don't have to worry about wearing down your tires or bringing an extra wheel to races. You don't have to worry about putting a skinny on your mountain or cyclocross bike. You can just hook it up and ride. And I mean RIDE. Resistance is controlled by your shifting. The bike also has a little bit of play, so there's a more realistic rocking feel.

Yay for LeMond Trainers.

BePop Pedals:

http://www.beboppedals.com/prod.htm

Before you say anything, I know.

Bebops are dork pedalz.

Why, though? They give Speedplay a run for their money in terms of weight (across the board lighter). No, you can't adjust the float, but they also don't pop out on hard efforts due to the cleat design. They have step down entry. They can be both road and mountain pedals. They may not be the pedal of choice for a serious racer, but for the person who walks into your store who wants a do-it-all pedal that can go on all of their bikes? Why not this one? How did they get the cache of "dork" pedals anyways? Say what you want, based on what I saw/read, I like them.

And that's about it for Demo Day. I met up with Leigh Carter at Quality Bicycle Products, a former Greensboro native who used to be a manager at REI before Dale hooked her up at QPB. She was awesome, gave me a good contact person at Giant who I will look up tomorrow at indoor Interbike. It was also just nice to talk to someone who knew the same people that I knew.

So that's that. Interbike Day One: Complete.

Tomorrow:

- Speedplay's Vector power meter

- Chris King questions for my friend Jeremy that will probably be way over my head but the information will nonetheless be faithfully relayed

- The Fashion Show