After having some guys at the Louisville Ironman recommend the ISM Adamo Race Saddle, as well as a friend of mine, I decided to try them. I bought a yellow one for my tri bike. Not my first choice of color, but the cheapest one I could find. Well, second cheapest. I didn’t want pink. I didn’t have it for the Ironman. But I got it shortly after and did some longer rides with it. It is definitely seems to be more comfortable once I got it adjusted. Doing to the adjustments took a bunch of time. I think I have it dialed in pretty close. It might benefit from some tweaking still.
I have wanted to get another ISM Adamo Race Saddle for my road bike. I also looked at the ISM Adamo Road Saddle too. But it wasn’t much cheaper than the race saddle. I have been watching eBay hoping to get a deal on one. I even almost bought a pink one for $50. I offered the guy $45, he countered $50. But when I decided to buy it, he had closed the auction for some reason. Whatever. I did buy a grey one. So Tuesday while I was one sick from work, I took the time to measure the position of and remove the yellow seat from my tri bike, and install the grey one on the same position. Then I installed the yellow one on my older Trek 1000 road bike. I use this bike for spinning on the fluid trainer. So I can spend a lot of time on it. That’s why I wanted to have the same saddle on both of the bikes I train on. I spun for a couple miles, and I think I got the position pretty close. I will do more spinning when I start training for the Lake Placid Ironman.
I watch craigslist for bikes, and see mostly overpriced junk. People listing old recreational bikes as “race bikes”. Yeah, most race bikes have safety brake levers, shifters on the stem, and foam covered handle bars. Idiots! But every now and then somethings pops up.
Last night I saw a Trek bike on Craigs List for $349. The seller didn’t list the model, but had a picture. I did some quick research and figured out it was probably a Trek 5200 carbon fiber bike. The guy mentioned it had Ultegra components. So I knew it wasn’t a Trek 5500 which had the same frame, but had Dura Ace Componants. This is like the bike that Lance Armstrong rode in the Tour De France a few years ago. $349 was a steal. Not sure what year the bike was made, but likely 2001-2006.
The listing was time stamped at 9:30pm, and I emailed the guy at about 10pm. I would have been willing to go see it last night. 3am? No problem. I would have had to go through an ATM to get the cash. I checked my email before going to bed. And even in the middle of the night. No reply. I finally got a reply this morning. The guy said the bike was tentatively sold. Grumble. I changed the listing later in the day to say the bike was sold. I would have loved to have had a Trek 5200! A carbon fiber in general with be cool. Or one with sti shifters.
I guess I am stuck with my 1990 Trek 1000. It’s a good bike, but not a Trek 5200. Somebody got a steal!
Trek 5200
Currently on my road bike, I have a Cateye Strada and a Polar HRM watch. That way I have speed, and my HR. I mainly use that bike for spinning. Works fine.
But on my tri bike, I have a Cateye computer on a little plug mount between my tribars, but there is not room to mount anything else. I could wear a HRM watch, but that would be hard to see without constantly flipping my wrist.
I want to try to keep my HR in Z1/Z2 on my upcoming Ironman. So I am looking at buying a new computer with an HRM. I have considered mounting my Garmin Forerunner 305 up there, but for regular use, it would be a pain to have to keep it charged, and taking off, and putting it back on.
A few computers I have been looking at:
Polar CS100b (I already have a Polar HRM strap)
Cateye V3
Garmin Edge 305.
The Polar CS100b is the cheapest at about $72. But some people have reported issues with the speed sensor not working. I am guessing they installed them incorrectly. The buttons are supposed stiff too.
The Cateye V3 I can get for about $123. It had cadence which would be nice. I like the display layout. It has calories, but supposedly the number is screwey.
The Garmin Edge 305 appears to be a bike version of my Forerunner 305. I can get a refurbished unit for $170. I like my 305. The unit would be easier to put on and take off the bike. But unlike a regular bike computer, I would have to make sure it is charged each ride. I would get data I can DL into the computer which would be cool. But other than an initial look, I don’t do much with it. I have read a bunch of reports of the unit shutting off when people hit bumps. That would not be cool.
The Garmin 705 would be cool, but much more expensive.
I am currently leaning towards the Cateye V3.
I would love to have a full blown power meter, but I can’t afford that.
I have had a wobble on my chainring. When I upgraded my front derailleur, it become much more noticeable. In certain gear combinations, the chain would rub against the derailleur cage at certain parts of the pedal rotation. I could see the chainring go side to side.
I started looking on ebay for a new crankset. The crankset that is on my bike is the original Suntour Blaze. I wanted to upgrade to a Shimano Ultegra crankset.
But then I looked in my Barnett’s Manual. Wow, look in the book. What a concept! I found a solution. My Trek bike was made in 1990 and had square spindle ends. What the manual said to do was mark the spindle. Then tap the crank on with a plastic or rubber mallet. rotate the crank to see how much wobble there is. Use the rubber mallet to remove the crank. Rotate the spindle 90 degrees, and tap the crank on. Rotate the crank and check for wobble. Do this again in each of the four spindle positions until you find the position with the least wobble. Then mount the cranks.
I went through the procedure as described in the book, and sure enough, I found a couple postions with much less wobble. So I mounted the cranks, and now the wobble is almost non-existant! I am guessing the wobble snuck in when I swapped out the bottom bracket for a sealed bearing version.
I am still looking at buying a Shimano Ultegra crankset if I can find a good deal on eBay.
I have been wanting to replace the front derailleur on my old Trek 1000. The derailler it came with was the original stock Suntour Blaze. Many of the other components on the bike had already been ugraded. I had bought a Shimano 105 front derailleur (FD-5600) at one point, but it was a newer one designed for the newer narrower 9/10 speed chains. But it was the only Shimano 105 I could find that had a clamp size of 34.9mm. There were some other derailleurs from that period, but they were for frames with braze fittings on the frame
I had given up for a while on replacing the front derailleur. But then I discovered that Shimano make a Braze On Adaptor for a 34.9mm seat tube! Sweet! And I could buy the fitting for under $15. Then I would be able to use any of the older braze-on front derailleurs. I ordered the adaptor. Then I started looking for front derailluers. I decided to get a Shimano Ultegra braze-on front derailluer. Actually, at the time, the Ultregra stuff was called Shimano 600. But it’s Ultegra. I got a great deal on a Shimano 600 (Ultegra) fd-6401 front derailleur. With shipping, it cost $15. Both the clamp braze on adaptor and the derailleur came extraodinarily fast. Installation was easy. Now I have an Ultegra front derailleur. I am looking at upgrading the rear 105 derailluer to Ultegra as well. And maybe the brakes, and shifters if I can find good deals on them.