Two Wheel Blogs

Two consecutive days in the Centaur wind tunnel. I'm feeling it. This old guy is used to getting up early, but 4:45am is a bit earlier than I prefer.

Ah, but it's a small price to pay for the knowledge gained. Plus I get to see the sunrise; and when I get home I get to have another breakfast.

Sunday's session was a continuation of the previous day's look at Timetrial helmets. Saturday I looked at my Giro Advantage II and a borrowed LG Rocket. Today my plan was to look at Andy's LG Rocket and a Spiuk Kronos he'd borrowed.

I got another rude awakening this morning at 4:45 AM when my alarm went off. Time for more aero testing at the Centaur Road wind tunnel.

Today's test was one I had been really looking forward to. I had in mind a head to head test of timetrial helmets. Today I tested a Giro Advantage II against a Louis Garneau Rocket.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but a couple of weeks ago Andy Coggan and I wrapped up an aero testing session by switching helmets. He took my Giro Advantage II, and I took his LG Rocket. We each did a single pair of runs - just two data points each - in the hope of getting some idea about which timetrial helmet was faster.

This happens to me sometimes...I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about something really important like clamp diameter of road stems/bars and how it is marketed (that is sarcasm BTW, I have no idea why I lose sleep over such silly things).

Before I start let me go back a bit and cover some really basic things that you probably know.

Years ago when you went to buy new bars or stem for a road bike, your LBS ONLY had to have a few bars and stems in stock in order to suit your needs (that is sarcasm again).

I have seen this done before and often wondered why in the heck someone would do this to a saddle...and here I am doing it.

First of all, there is a very good reason for doing it. Second of all, not everyone should rush out and do it.

I have enjoyed the feel and performance of a fine leather saddle for some time now. Recently I acquired this new Brooks Swift model which is a bit narrower than the B-17 that I have used in the past. While I like the narrower profile, lighter weight, and generally stiffer shell, I have noticed something in recent weeks.

Tonight a group of us met up at Rockbridge State Park, (the venue again for the Show Me State Games this weekend), and threw down a few laps. There was about a half dozen of us all togeather with John L and Flying Nick in attendence. I was very reluctant coming out tonight as I have a pretty nasty knee injury I've been dealing with for the past week. It has kept me from riding, and consequently has made this week hell.

There. See? What'd I tell you?

Didn't I tell you the Seven Cycles Custom Ti MTB handlebars would look good on my coffee table. Not bad, eh? I think they look stellar.