Adding Speedy Weaponry
As January ended with lots of bad weather, time was better spent working on the bikes rather than riding them. The cyclocrosser had suffered the past few months and the last couple of rides in the wet and in the snow ultimately killed the last bit of shifting smoothness. As a singlespeeder, I have forgotten how shifter cables don’t like mud and water. The cyclocrosser painfully reminded me of that fact. One reason my mountain bikes don’t and won’t run geared drivetrains. Anyhow, this week two packages arrived with some speedy weaponry by Zipp. A seat post came via Ebay from Cycle Club Sport and a handlebar was acquired somewhat locally from the good folks at bikespeed.ch. The carbon seat post replaced the stock aluminum post on the Mares CX and the handlebar was going to trade places with another Zipp bar on the Alize. The old bar joined a Service Course SL stem to form an all Zipp cockpit on the Mares CX. While swapping bars, I tossed all the brake and shifter housings and cables and replaced them with new ones. Smooth shifting again. A butt-friendly Antares was bolted to the new post and some deliciously red bar tape wrapped the drops. The crosser’s ready for action again. A bit of cable work went into the road bike as well as its new VukaSprint bar runs brake and shifter cables internally. Here, I was able to re-use the black Specialized bar tape and only wrapped the drops ending the tape shortly behind the hoods. The bike’s ready to fly. Will the weather get good enough for take-off?
