Show Me A Photo Of Your Road Bike - Page 3

Built up from a bare frame by myself - one component at a time.

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king_matt87

Hay you have the new carbon merida. Whats it like? is it light? stiff? where are you from and when did you get it??

I race for the Merida Team we have been using the mag frames 909. but next year we will have the carbon ones!

My Classic. Just returned to riding after a 10-year break and went for an older steel frame. A red 1996 Ciocc EL-OS. The bike always turns heads. The Columbus EL-OS tubing is unbelievable. So smooth to ride...

Geometry:
-BB to Centerline of TT: 53.0 cm.
-TT length (cl to cl): 54.0 cm.
-Standover height: 79 cm.
-Wheelbase: 96.5 cm.

The components:
-Frame: 96 Ciocc EL-OS
-Fork: Columbus steel (chrome)
-Cranks: Topline 52/39 170 mm.
-Bottom bracket: Campy Chorus
-Front derailleur: Campy Chorus
-Rear derailleur: Campy Chorus
-Brake levers/shifters: Campy Record 8-speed
-Brakes: Campy Record
-Wheels: Campy Record laced to Mavic Open Pro's w/ red nipples.
-Seatpost: American Classic
-Saddle: Selle Italia Flite
-Handlebars: TTT Forma
-Tape: Cinelli Cork Gel (black)
-Stem: TTT quill 1" 110 mm.
-Headset: Campy Record
-Tires: Continental GP3000
-Skewers: Salsa (Italian colors)

http://www.designkeywest.com/ciocc.html

This is the ultimate gloat as I got a great deal on this bike.
It is a Casati Ellisse Genius frame that weighs 3.5 pounds. Here is a link for more info http://www.racycles.com/rd/catalog/c...us_2038691.htm
I Make wooden handtools for woodworking. My shop is in the basement of a big old building. There are several woodworkers. This bike came from a contractor who used to be a bike messenger. He has several brands of components on the bike. I got the bike for about 200 out of my pocket and 3 hours labor.
I had not ridden for about 10 years and I had just planned on riding it around town for my errands. But I ended up commuting once I got used to longer rides. I put a bigger Gel seat on as my butt could not take the seat on the bike but after three weeks I put the regular seat back on. I had on some shimano dX BMX pedals but my feet would all off the sides as my work shoes were pretty worn out. He gave me some great shape speed play petals and good shoes (lucky we have the same shoe size)
This is the first racing bike I had ever ridden. It took some getting used to handling and I still can’t look over my shoulder without wobbling. But I spend about 1 hour a day riding and will do more soon.
http://www.knight-toolworks.com/pictures/bike.jpg

here's my new purchase....a casati monza frame with look hsc carbon fork and cane creek headset. i'll be building it up with ultegra build kit. not sure what wheels to get yet (between kysriums, cosmics, and velomax).

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Isn't that akin to heresy putting Ultegra on that beautiful Italian frame?

i guess you could say that. it's actually gonna be a budget bike for now. if i decide i love the frame, i'll rebuild it again someday decked out with campy record and all.

A lot of aluminum riders here ..............

Guess they've never ridden a well designed steel frame ......

And don't give me any BS about weight ........ unless you are a Cat. 1/2 racer, having a 17 lb bike doesn't help you at all ........ it is just bragging rights.

Trying racing an aluminum frame on crappy roads for 50+ miles, then do it on a steel bike. MUCH more comffortable on the steel ........

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'05 Aussie version Giant TCR C Zero ...... finally went over to the dark side and riding a carbon bike. But you can't beat a 17 lb. ride!!

Eagleman 70.3 half ironman - 6/11/06 - here I come!!

Guess they've never ridden a well designed steel frame ......

Thats what I posted. A handmade Italian steel frame. it's a nice bike. So it has a frame that weight’s 1# more. It is a fast bike that I know will hold up.

If you're including me and my Klein you're totally wrong. My first racing bike was a Columbus steel Ciocc in 1985 and I've had a Columbus steel Eddy Merckx for the past 10 years. Raced in Collegiate and USCF (definitely NOT Cat 1/2). Ridden dozens of centuries on them - extremely well-made and I still like riding the Merckx but my Klein is more comfortable after 90 miles than either of the steel bikes were. Plus most of my riding is hilly including long climbs and the weight (17-1/2 lbs) absolutely makes a big difference.

If you like steel bikes then I'm happy for you (really!) but stop trying to convince the rest of us that we don't know what we're talking about.

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I'm not busting any specific persons chops on this thread .......

I AM busting on the people who go out and buy a 16 lb. Huffydale when they can barely maintain 8 mph up a hill to begin with.

I have raced steel and aluminum (and ridden many carbon and titanium bikes), the aluminum beat the sh-t out of me on crits, and was terrible for longer road races. Carbon and ti were way to whippy and were horrible for sprinting and climbing. I definitely prefer steel.

I'm 6'-1, and when I was racing weighed 170 lbs (much more now that I haven't been riding for 5 years .... I'll be back down again by next year .. ....). I had my custom built GT Edge Excell tubing steel framed bike down to 19.7 lbs in 1995. And that was a 60 cm frame .......... I had the Edge alumnium that was my sponsor frame, which had the same geometry, but was just dead feeling ..... I was my teams best sprinter AND climber, and was always faster on the chromo bike.

I even raced my Colnago a few times, and that was a 21 pound beast compared to the Edge. Other than geometry being more long road race design, it still rode great.

As a mechanic and salesmen, I'd always down sell people because they wanted the latest/greatest/lightest bike. I'd have them take a spin on the different frame materials and tell them to let me know which rode the most comfortable or fastest ..... Then I'd tell them if they wanted to be faster, just to ride and lose weight on themselves first.

Only when you are at the peak race weight will shaving pounds off the bike make difference.

I definitely don't criticize people for their frame choices ..... as long as they aren't hypocrits. If someone weighs 200+ lbs and buys an aluminum/ti/carbon frame to get the lightest bike to climb with, they are only fooling themselves, and wasting money ......

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'05 Aussie version Giant TCR C Zero ...... finally went over to the dark side and riding a carbon bike. But you can't beat a 17 lb. ride!!

Eagleman 70.3 half ironman - 6/11/06 - here I come!!

Any statement such as "steel bikes are better" is an oversimplification. This neglects two vital things, frame design and bike fit.

A well designed Al frame that fits you well will be more comfortable than a poorly designed or ill-fitting Carbon/Ti/Steel/Mg/Beryllium etc bike.

Plus there are other features that together are far more important to comfort than frame material. These include (in no particular order) forks, saddle, seat post, wheels, tyres, tyre pressure, & quality of your shorts.

i know what you meant by this statement, but you have to be careful how things come out. my bro-in-law is about 210 lbs, but dropped down to that from about 50 lbs. more (and can't really lose much more due to his large bone structure). he rides a litespeed ti bike, which i believe is perfect for his build.

i think its just the shot angle.

here's proof

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It's people like you who make me feel ashamed about post photos of my bike

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Steve
CyclingForums.com