Rider Or Bike Factor

Seriously.

It is not all about the bike. Rider is the most important.

I just got back from riding an easy 30k with Geoffrey Kronenburg through my usual route. (Geoff was in Team 2020 with Yuen Li and Puzi in year 2000 and 1999, he is also an IronMan and does races with Quick Release, amongst his credential!)

He made it looked too simple. Armed with De Rosa 9 speed (largest cog was 21) which weighed in at 18lb, i was struggling to keep up with him on the climb at Bukit Damansara.

It's really not the bike. It's the machine that powers the bike that really counts.

So, we covered 25km before i had a flat after the Pencala Tunnel. I've learnt a lot in that short 1hour 14minutes of pedaling with him, just by watching him, i guess imitating how he does it will be the first step in correcting my own technique. Yes, everyone's biomechanic isn't the same.

The Tri Bar worked well, i did not have upper body ache as per what some would say. Infact, the only discomfort i get is when i switch to road bike position, as the stem is too low, the pain on the palm as i hold the brake cover was at time, painful as all my weight rested on the palm.

Will do more fine tuning and might just take Geoff's advice to install the Tri Bar below the handle bar and reposition the elbow pad to the handle bar, this way, i can raise the handle bar stem to my normal height and still get into aero position.

Oh ya, top speed differences? Obvious! Without pedalling through the downhill, i managed a good 56.5km/h which i usually only get by spinning the crank like some dog! This time, i didn't even pedal!!!

Thanks Geoff, for the opportunity to ride with you, truly, you've shown to me that it's the RIDER, NOT THE BIKE!