The Glamorous Life of a Pro Cyclist

Today is bike project day. Here's a photo of everything i have to get done in preparation for Het Volk.

BIKE
My friend Niels recently took one look at my bike and exclaimed that I have everything on it. I don't think it was a compliment considering the collection of parts - Veloce left shifter, Ultegra 9-spd right shifter, XTR rear deraileur, Campa 10-spd cranks, mix-and-match wheels and tires, etc.

I also think my oversized Deuter saddle bag, front and rear lights, seatpost attachment for race numbers, and handlebar rope (to hold my gloves) may cause the bike to look a bit cyclo-tourist. If only he would have seen it the day before with its platform pedals (Speedplay attachment).

Since my team bike has not yet arrived, he was looking at was my backup Scott bike equipped with anything i could find around the apartment combined with a few parts Serge lent me.

Today I will switch the shifters to veloce 10-spd, change all brake/shifting cables, housing, install veloce rear deraileur, change chain to 10-spd, switch wheels to silver American Classic 350's. Then i will see if it works.

Jan (not Big-Eyes) will arrive this afternoon to collect me and my hoopty bike to fix the expected damage I will have done. I'm so lucky!!

SHOES
Just got my snazzy new Specialized shoes in a few days ago. Installing the cleats are always fun...not! It is especially hard when I've already stolen some of the screws I need to install the cleats for another pair of shoes. And since they are Speedplay X's - not a popular model here in Belgium - I am hard pressed to get screws that fit. I will first check with my drill neighbor then a hardware store.

It is frustrating that i can't wear them NOW, though, because they look so yummy - almost good enough to eat! Yes, they're vegetarian. (Specialized has really put in a lot of effort to switch their line over to non-animal products! Bravo! No more smelly shoes.)

iBike POWER METER
I am about to join the watt-measuring craze. I wouldn't have done it if i hadn't discovered iBike. There is no fancy hub or cranks or any other funky gadget that would force me spend an exorbitant amount of money on extra parts or time on reading a complicated manual.

It's just like a normal handlebar mount computer but i get watts, calories burned, hill gradient, interval timer, altitude, wind speed, and everything else that your high tech bicycle computer will do. Since i have multiple bikes, I am sold on its versatility to easily move from one bike to another. I'll let you know how it goes once installed. It will be fun to compare results and experiences with Geoff (gewilli in the blogging world.)

Off to work now!