Laura and I both ride custom built Merlin titanium-frame bikes. Laura's frame is an Extra-Light and mine is regular titanium. Both bikes were fit by Chad Kayser at College Park Bikes in College Park Maryland. Chad is brilliant at just about everything there is about bikes and he did a terrific job with our machines. Both frames were built in Massachusetts before Merlin moved to Tennessee.
Although our bikes, especially mine, are generally equipped for lightness, we both ride Brooks racing saddles. Light as leather saddles go, these are nevertheless much heavier than the typical racing saddle. However, unlike typical racing saddles leather saddles will deform with use to fit your anatomy and we find the comfort of riding a broken in leather saddle to be so great that we gladly carry the extra weight. Many riders shy away from leather saddles in general and the Brooks saddle in particular because they have a reputation of having a long break-in process which can be painful because the saddle is as hard and unyielding as a rock when new. It took about 1000 miles to fully break in my saddle but I did not find the process to be inordinately uncomfortable.
We both ride Rolf Sestriere wheelsets. The Sestrieres are low weight, low spoke count, low rotational inertia, quick acceleration racing wheels. The combination of the light Sestrieres with the heavy Brooks saddles often evokes polite bemusement from other riders. I have close to 12,000 miles on the Sestrieres at this point and haven’t had any trouble with them. I gather, however, that my experience isn’t typical. They have a bit of a reputation for being a troublesome wheelset.
We’re both using Shimano’s wireless Flightdeck cycle computer. Mine has given me no trouble but Laura’s has failed often. From what I’ve heard performance for this computer seems to be erratic. Perhaps quality control at the factory isn’t what it should be.
Kevin’s bike
My gruppo is Shimano Ultegra with the exception of the drivetrain which is Dura Ace. In the spring of 2004 I plan on moving to an all Dura Ace setup. I originally put on the Dura Ace drivetrain to save weight and used Ultegra for everything else because some of the other Dura Ace components had a history of breaking down relatively rapidly. The chainring is a 53/39 double. The cassette is a slightly modified 12-27. I replaced the 12 tooth gear with an 11 tooth gear which gives me 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, and 27 tooth cogs. At the time of this writing, this is a new gearing for me; I was using an 11-23 cassette. I love the big 11-53 combination for screaming descents and although the jump from the 11 to the 13 tooth gear is a big one (20 gear inches) I don’t think it’s going to be a problem once I get used to it. Most of the riding I do locally is in the 17, 19, 21/53 range and both cassettes have this sequence. I switched to the wider range cassette in order to pick up some low gears for a ride we will be taking in a few weeks in the mountains from Albuquerque to Denver. My initial response to the new cassette has been positive and I think I’ll probably keep it on the bike when we return from the Rockies.
This spring and summer I’ve been riding Vredestein Fortezza tires. Although rated at 145 psi (I usually ride them between 150 and 155 psi) they provide a noticeably smoother and more comfortable ride than the Michelin tires I had been using. Other gear includes Speedplay pedals, Reynolds Ouzo Pro carbon fork, ITM Millenium stem and a Cane Creek headset
Laura’s bike
Laura is set up with Ultegra components. She rides a 30/42/52 triple with a 12–25 9 speed cassette. Following a crash in 2002 that resulted in a broken ankle she prefers a slightly wider tire and rides Continental Duraskin +Ks rated at 120 PSI and ridden at about 125. Because she is uncomfortable in an aggressive racing position she has her stem (Stiffy Profile Design) turned upside down to achieve a more upright position. I used to urge her to get more aero but now I wonder if I’ll be able to catch her if she does. Other gear includes a Look carbon fork and Shimano SPD pedals.
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