About the Bike

Here are some pics of my road bike (aka Thunder) and some accessories to Thunder.

First here is Thunder.

Thunder is a 2005 Trek Pilot 2.1. The frame is made of ZR9000 Custom Alloy Aluminum (very light, very strong). The fork and Seat Stays (the black parts) are carbon fiber (probably in the 100 strands per inch range). Carbon Fiber is very light, very strong and absorbs road noise more than Aluminum does (it's also much more expensive). I opted for this set up because an entire carbon fiber frame can break under a lot of stress, and I can put a lot of stress on a bike. Once I lose more weight, my next bike will probably be all carbon fiber (I can dream...).

Thunder weighs in at 21.6 lbs as you see it (incl pedal, bottle cages and bag). For comparison, Lightning (my mntn bike) weighs in at 30.8 lbs and my old steel Roadmaster mntn bike pushes the scales at 36.0 lbs. The lighter the bike, the quicker you will go in the long run. A pro, full carbon bike will usually run about 15 lbs equiped.

Currently Thunder runs a full Shimano 105 triple ring set up, which means it has 3 chain rings in the front (52-42-30 teeth per ring) and 9 in the back (11-25). "105" is also brand name for Shimano, it is their medium grade set-up. Ultegra and Dura-Ace are the step ups from 105, and each step would add about $500 to the price of the bike (I know...). They usually do not offer 3 front chain rings in Ultegra and Dura-Ace, because the smallest one is called a granny gear, and if you need to use it, you don't need to be spending the money on the good stuff (Yes, I still need it).

Here is a picture of my dashboard:



I have 2 computers on board. The one on the left is a Garmin Edge 305. It's a GPS system that tracks practically anything I want it to. If you click on the picture and zoom in you can really see the display well. I currently have this screen showing me my current heart rate, my avg heart rate for the entire ride, the % grade I am going up or down, my elevation (I live at 330ft, Ronin and HF are at 600ft), calories burned for the ride, how long I've been riding and time of day.

But the main thing I like about the Garmin is that I can download all the data to my computer and it will print a map on Google Earth showing me where I went, my heart rate at any time on my ride, I can compare lots and examine a ton of data about my ride. It's really cool. I also have a mount for it on Lightning, so I can do the same for my rides on that bike. See I told you it was cool...

The other computer on the left my basic cycle-computer, which has a sensor on my wheel that can tell me my speed, miles covered this trip, avg speed, max speed, total miles covered, etc. This one is a little more precise than the garmin, because it measures via actual wheel rotation, vs satelite. I find the old school computer is just a bit more accurate, so I have the Garmin measure other stuff that the old school computer can't do. Plus 2 screens give me more info than 1.

Ok, Now to get silly. Here is a pic of one of my cycling shoes.

These are Shimano SPD's (SPD is just a brand name for Shimano's shoes). I like Shimano shoes because they are fairly wide in the toe box. These shoes have a carbon fiber sole, which makes them very stiff. You do not want flex in your cycling shoe because that takes away from your power.


Here is the bottom of my right shoe.

You can tell it's my right shoe becuase the bottom of the cleat is all scratched up. When I come to a stop, I unclick my right foot and set that on ground to steady myself. My left cleat still looks almost new. My pedals are Speedplay X2's (same brand that Fabian Cancellara uses (he won the stage at the TDF today) mine are steel, his are titanium). They have unlimited float, which means I can rotate my foot sideways a lot. Most pedals do not allow you to rotate your foot much on the pedal, these do.

Here is a better pic of my pedals.



Here is a pic of my helmet (it was on sale when I got my bike, nothing noteable about it besides that)

Here is my new workstand.

Workstands are surprisingly expensive. They usually run $150-$250 (tell me about it). I got this one at Performance bike in Bonita for $39. It definitely has it's limits, but it will be serviceable into the foreseeable future. A few weekends back I was washing and working on all 3 of the bikes and I about died afterwords. I am getting too old to be on my knees, or squatting for a few hours. My legs were sore for about a week afterwards. So I got this to help aleviate that.

Here is a pic of the stand in action...

Ok, that's it for now. I could get real crazy and post a pic of my gloves, or my cycling clothes, but I'll save that for another time...