Tri Bar, Speedometer Mount and Wheels!

Took me about an hour to get it fixed.


Before

The set up was simple, i removed my HRM mounting and my Speedometer. Then, mount the Tri Bar and bolt it down.

I sat on the bike and test it out, doing minor adjustment to ensure that my forearm and upper arm will be in a 90 degree angle before tightening it.

Did minor adjustment to the seat height by increasing it by 5mm (www.slowtwitch.com's 5mm rules) and lowered the stem to it's minimal height as the Tri Bar was raised by almost an inch and half. Got to get as Aero as possibly can. (To look fast, remember?)

Then, i angled the nose of the seat down a bit to give more room for the family jewel (don't want to end up with my nether region numb after the ride) and checked the position against the big mirror in the dining room.

The results?

OK, i need to lose those flabs...otherwise, position looked like a winner. (no, i'm not showing any pics of the flabs)


After : err....

As seen in the After pics above, the Tri bar looked funny on the handle bar. So, i did furhter adjustment by tilting the handlebar up a bit, as i've lowered the stem, i would want the brake handle to be higher so it would be more comfortable for me. Then, i tilt the tri bar down to almost level and checked for comfort again.

At the current after "after" adjustment, the bike looked more normal without any sign that it would looked funny. (pics to come later, forgot to take yesterday la)

Next step was to find way to mount my speedometer.

I ransacked my tool box and found an unused pipe which was light enough and thin enough to be easily cut through the hacksaw. Took some measurements and proceed to cut it at 6.5cm long.

Then i fix it and held it in place with the help of a few cable tie and mounted the speedometer bracket onto the pipe.


Looked "intergrated" eh?


Ta da....The other black thingy is my HRM mount

And this is how it looked like from the rider's seat...


cockpit - can do la!

Azmar called me up later in the afternoon and passed me a set of 700c Wolber's rim and 7 speed cogs.


Wobler TX Profile Aero 700

I've been waiting for this and i was so excited with this.

So, yesterday, i took the old tire out and gave the rims a wash.

The cog size is 13-14-15-17-19-21-24. Compared to my 5 speed's 14-17-19-21-24 it seems to have no differences when it comes to climbing power but i would suspect a better distance gain on the highest gear combo of 52-13.


7 speed...

I refitted the tires and tubes into the Wolber and fitted it to the bike.

What a difference the rim made the bike looked! (OKOK, pictures later ok!).

Then, i couldnt' resist. I had to weight it.


hehehehe

So, i took the weight before and after to see if i need to lose more weight on myself.

When i first got the bike, it weighed about 9kg. So, when i fitted the TriBar, extra bottle cage, SPD-SL pedals, alloy seatpost, it weighed in at 10kg.


10kg

To make sure the scale is as accurate as possible, i stood on the scale and weigh myself with and without the bike. On both occasion, the clean weight differences is exactly 10kg.

Then, i changed the rims to Wolber and instantly it showed a good 500grams (or less) savings!


9.5kg?

OK, fair enough that the tolerance of these scale might be as high as +/-500grams, but i did took a few readings (with me on the scale; as the higher the weight goes, the tolerance will be less and weight shown will be more accurate) and it all shown the needle to be deflected to about the same spot.

So, officially, even with the TriBar (which claims to weigh in at 595grams) and 2 extra cogs in the rear freewheels, the bike "officially" gained only 500grams or less!

The weight savings equals to 500ml of water and i still think i would benefit more losing 5kg (lets make that 5.595kg since the Tri bar is in) than investing in lighter equipments. A 2006 Merida (with Aluxx frame) fitted with Tiagra groupset (minus the pedals) would weigh in at 8kg. So, a 1991 Colnago with these ol'skool stuff coming in at 9.5kg is very reasonable!


Sexy!

The old 105 RD(Rear Derailleur) works like a charm on the 7 speed, all it took me was an adjustment on the "H" screw setting to allow the RD to drop to the higher gears and fine tuning adjustment for the SIS (Shimano Indexing System - as in "click and accurate" shifting in layman terms)

Now, all is left to do is to true the wheels (i lost my spoke wrench) at my usual bike shop!

Bandit called me up and told me he successfully put in the LX shifters into his Road Bike's handle bar. So, instead of him spending on the more expensive STI system, he has Mountain bike styled shifter on the level portion of his Felt Tri Bike.

Now, should i do the same? More pictures will come, i promise!