The secret of life

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10/2005

Click on the links below for the high resolution versions of the shots to the left.  This is my current race bike, a Seven Alaris SG with S&S Torque connections.  The bike is straight gauge Titanium with torque fittings in the main bike frame that unscrew with a special tool so that it can be dis-assembled for airline travel.  As an aside to the allow this, the brake and shifter cables have to come apart via splitters.  This led to the idea of being able to swap the front of the bike out from basic road setup to triathlon and back quickly.  When Ari at City Cycle did my fittings for the custom frame, we kept this in mind so the geometry is a compromise but very, very close to my normal road race settings - stiff and fairly stretched out.  The Torque connectors are the Titanium oblongs on the top and down tubes.  City Cycle, S & S, Seven Cycles

 

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update 7/1/2005

My Ottrott got stolen almost immediately -- some low moral neighbor of mine cut through the door of my storage locker in the basement and stole it with only 32 miles on the clock - hopefully he has permanent saddle sores.

I replaced it with a frame of almost equal size that I bought on e-bay.  An all aluminum Raleigh - its ok but the buzz of the aluminum frame has led me to order a Ti SEVEN - more when it arrives on that...

here is a picture of the Raleigh frame

My long time ride was the Battaglin (red and white below) - I gave this after 10 years of riding/training/racing to the UCSD Cycling club.  Below is my 3'rd hand $100 fixed gear commuter (an old road race Trek)

updated in 2002 (i think)

1991 Battaglin SLX  (Steel) - an excellent ride in fine Italian tradition - stretched out top tube for comfort on long rides yet a tight geometry for fast handling and excellent Criterium or descending manners.  Outfitted as a bit of a mongrel - Campy Chorus drive train, Campy Record shifters, various other Shimano parts (brakes, headset, seatpost).  The wheels have served me well as both trainers and racers - Mavic Open SUP Pro in the rear (hand wire tied and soldered with galvanized wire - stays true till the end of time and is super stiff), MA-40 upfront.  Chrome steel fork ;-)   Gotta love the internal cable routing  - they don't make many like that anymore !

photos will go here when I get them back from Wolf Camera

I recently had a major overhaul done by City Cycle (at the corner of Union & Steiner in San Francisco) as a tune up for the final season

The mechanics did a fantastic job on the bike - it has ridden perfectly all summer - but unfortunately it speeded up the bike lust and I am now working with City Cycle on a Serotta Ottrott ST (Titanium & Carbon Fiber exotic) - more bike than I need but man it rides nice...

The Ottrott ST comes with pivots in the rear triangle (here) - the combination of materials and the rear triangle supposedly give you a lot in corners and descending.  I certainly found on my test rides that I could push this bike a lot farther into corners than any other Serotta they had - yet it was not as twitchy as my Battaglin - I think the geometry is a little less tight but manages to deliver better handling.  I got off the bike with a huge smile and somehow justified to myself the extra $$ for the upgrade from the mid-range.