On Saturday I ended up demoing the stand and getting the entire thing reworked. New wood and all that stuff. By Sunday afternoon it was all back together and happy. There was a small leak on the cold water inlet that I fixed quickly late Sunday night. That was easy. The soldering of the P&T pipe wasn’t so bad either. Hot water is good.
Bicycle John’s in Acton had a demo day on Sunday. It was great. Lots of bikes to try out and free burgers! I tried a Look 595 with Dura-Ace. It was awesome. I took the bike out on Sierra Hwy and rode at about 14 mph to get the feel of it. The Dura-Ace compnents are very very nice. Instant shifting! Once onto Soledad Canyon I let it rip down hill for about 2 miles. Top gear boogie. This bike shined at speed. No shimmy, no problems, just straight smooth speed. Climbing seemed effortless which was expected since the bike only weighed 16 lbs. and a few ounces. At $7,000 I will not be getting one soon. Next up was an Eddy Merckx sXm with Chorus. This bike is the real deal. The laid back geometry suited me perfect. I took both hands off the bar and drank some water. The bike went straight and stayed true. Very nice. At speed this bike rocks! No sketchiness at all, very stable and comfortable. The Chorus parts were nice and crisp. The Neutron wheels were sweet. Nice acceleration when I hammered it. The next demo bike was a Pinarello F4:13. This bike was a bit too big for me but none the less I gave it a shot. The Rolf wheels were immediately noticeable. Very light and responsive, probably too fragile for me (the rep said they were a climbers wheel so you needed to be a bit careful). The frame was very stiff in the bottom bracket which resulted in easy speed with hard pedaling. I took my hands off the bar for a drink and almost crashed. The front end was twitchy which would be nice for crit racing but a little buggy for my tastes. This bike was outfitted with an ergometer. The display had so much info I can’t even remember it all. I cranked it up to over 800 watts for a few seconds which was fun. Overall this bike would be a great crit racer but I am sure that I would take the cheaper (only in $$) Eddy Mercks sXm over the Pinarello F4:13 due to its stable geometry. It simply suites my riding style better. So now I need to rustle up 4G’s to get my dream bike put together. Soon, very soon.
