23 June 2013

A couple of new, shiny items to share today – firstly my new race shoes. I was looking for a new pair of shoes, and becoming frustrated with the lack of anything not made in China (Sidi looks like one of the few options). Having been very happy with the US made Castelli kit, I thought it would be good to complete the ensemble with US made shoes. Step forward Brad Harper of Riivo in California. Although I went with his ‘stock’ offering, he still took tracings of my feet and interviewed me about my fit preference before building me a pair. The resulting shoe fits snug as I requested, and is very well put together. And I could get them with a four bolt Speedplay sole too. Weight on my size 10 pair is 552g. Not needing the Speedplay three-bolt adapter saves 48g, making the shoes+cleats at 618g. For comparison, my S-works shoes with cleats (and necessary adapter) are 646g. The carbon sole/heelcup is heat moldable if any adjustments are needed. I need to get a few hours of ride time in them to see – so far they feel good sitting in the house!

Next up is a very light pair of wheels from Dash, with their lightest carbon hubs, Sapim spokes and Enve 1.25 rims. The pair weighs in at 890g.

In other shop news, I should have the pics of Parker’s tri bike back in a few days, Ryan’s tandem is coming along – all brazed up, more pictures soon – and I have been working on Ben’s TT bike. This will have full internal Di2, so I have been machining a mount for the micro-usb charging port which will be integrated into the seattube. Keeping busy!

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