Pushing a Boulder Uphill
Yesterday I took my brand new 2008 Cannondale System Six out for a ride after work. Since I had bailed on riding the day before, the cycling gods saw fit to punish me with a 30-50mph headwind. One of the curious things about this particular route is that the wind is channeled so that this time of year heading any direction except south puts you into a headwind. So, for the vast majority of the ride, I was not moving fast. At one point, I saw that I was putting out over 300 watts on a flat section of road and only going 13 MPH. Now I know I'm not the most aerodynamic of riders, and my Cda approaches that of a barn door, but even I find that sort of ratio kinda disheartening. The only thing you can do at this point is put your head down, focus on the effort, and remind yourself what wonderful training this turned out to be.
When I finally turned and got what was more or less a tailwind, all grievances were forgiven. That's the way it works sometimes. Unfortunately, this period of self-delusion was much shorter than the grind that preceded it. Part of the fun of riding bikes, I guess.
I did find that I enjoyed riding this particular bike. After years of riding full carbon frames made with 100% carbon (I stole that from the Wankmeister), riding this aluminum/carbon mash-up was fun. It felt stiffer than my old BMC Road Racer, but didn't beat me up at all. I can put some abusive miles on this one, I think. It makes me even more interested in how the Storck will turn out. I think I have a travel bike that will perform admirably even after being manhandled by the TSA. I've spent far more on bikes that I was less satisfied with. I guess I should probably stop listening to the bike industry and just ride. Then again, somebody has to prop up Asia's carbon fiber industry.
Speaking of Asian carbon fiber, I also was test riding a set of generic 60mm Chinese carbon clinchers. I've ridden open-mold Chinese tubular before, but carbon clinchers are another layer of complexity to make, since braking has a tendency to make the cheap stuff delaminate and explode at inopportune times. To mitigate this, the ones I bought have an alloy rim embedded into the carbon- basically an aluminum wheel with a carbon fairing. Much heavier, for sure, but hopefully slightly less likely to pitch me face-first into the tarmac at speed. I still like chewing my food, so that's a concern. Your mileage may vary.
In the wind, I'm always surprised how deep section wheels can kick you around. I always figured that my impressive, kite-like body would be more of a factor than six centimeters of carbon, but lateral gust after lateral gust showed me that it does matter. This was part of the reason I bought them. I figure I can get used to that effect with a wheel that is easier/cheaper to change a tire on, then be better prepared when I get slammed on my race day tubulars. That's the theory. Plus, I'm a gear whore and "needed" another set of wheels to put on the frames that seem to be reproducing in my garage like rabbits.
Are they going to replace my expensive carbon or aluminum race wheels? No. Are they going to replace my utility, high-spoke-count, box-section wheels? No. In reality, they have a limited application. I'll probably take them out for flatter group rides, flat races in the rain where slowing may be required, or races I don't really care about. To people who don't know any better, they look fast. I'll let them believe that right up to the point where they drop me. Later on I'll blame my lack of performance on their weight or hubs or whatever excuse I can come up with.
There's an upside on both ends of that equation, unlike when I ride into a headwind.
When I finally turned and got what was more or less a tailwind, all grievances were forgiven. That's the way it works sometimes. Unfortunately, this period of self-delusion was much shorter than the grind that preceded it. Part of the fun of riding bikes, I guess.
I did find that I enjoyed riding this particular bike. After years of riding full carbon frames made with 100% carbon (I stole that from the Wankmeister), riding this aluminum/carbon mash-up was fun. It felt stiffer than my old BMC Road Racer, but didn't beat me up at all. I can put some abusive miles on this one, I think. It makes me even more interested in how the Storck will turn out. I think I have a travel bike that will perform admirably even after being manhandled by the TSA. I've spent far more on bikes that I was less satisfied with. I guess I should probably stop listening to the bike industry and just ride. Then again, somebody has to prop up Asia's carbon fiber industry.
Speaking of Asian carbon fiber, I also was test riding a set of generic 60mm Chinese carbon clinchers. I've ridden open-mold Chinese tubular before, but carbon clinchers are another layer of complexity to make, since braking has a tendency to make the cheap stuff delaminate and explode at inopportune times. To mitigate this, the ones I bought have an alloy rim embedded into the carbon- basically an aluminum wheel with a carbon fairing. Much heavier, for sure, but hopefully slightly less likely to pitch me face-first into the tarmac at speed. I still like chewing my food, so that's a concern. Your mileage may vary.
In the wind, I'm always surprised how deep section wheels can kick you around. I always figured that my impressive, kite-like body would be more of a factor than six centimeters of carbon, but lateral gust after lateral gust showed me that it does matter. This was part of the reason I bought them. I figure I can get used to that effect with a wheel that is easier/cheaper to change a tire on, then be better prepared when I get slammed on my race day tubulars. That's the theory. Plus, I'm a gear whore and "needed" another set of wheels to put on the frames that seem to be reproducing in my garage like rabbits.
Are they going to replace my expensive carbon or aluminum race wheels? No. Are they going to replace my utility, high-spoke-count, box-section wheels? No. In reality, they have a limited application. I'll probably take them out for flatter group rides, flat races in the rain where slowing may be required, or races I don't really care about. To people who don't know any better, they look fast. I'll let them believe that right up to the point where they drop me. Later on I'll blame my lack of performance on their weight or hubs or whatever excuse I can come up with.
There's an upside on both ends of that equation, unlike when I ride into a headwind.
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