First post on WW although I've been lurking for a couple weeks. Seems this is the place to have actual discussion about all things bike rather than another bike forum type site which unfortunately lends itself to bashing people for asking questions or voicing opinion (not me in particular, but it happens more so than it should).

The two bikes I currently ride (well, not right now since I destroyed my arm driving and ATV (quad) off a 20ft sand dune) are an '06 Trek X01 and an '06 Cervelo soloist team...

The X01 is awesome... about 1,000 offroad miles on it and about 1,500 on road miles on it in 2006, before the arm injury. I switched out the stock bontrager 46/38 cross crank for an FSA compact 50/36 crank to better suit it for on and off road riding, which is what I used it for the end of '05 and all of '06. Love the bike. So blazing fast off road.

1 day before I left for vacation (and unknowingly the end of cycling for me for several months.. damn quads) I finished my Soloist build.. first build... first true road bike ever (always rode mtn bikes). Got 5 test miles on it and now about 100 trianer miles (booo!) on it. Here's the build list:

Cervelo Soloist Team (56)
Wolf classic carbon fork
Full Ultegra 6600 10sp group
Ultegra 6600 crankset (53/39)
Ritchey Pro DS aero wheelset
Oval Concepts A700 handlebars (42cm) and stem (110cm)
Oval Concepts SLAM aero bars (just added)
Fizik Arione Ti saddle
Michelen Pro 2 Race yada somethinorother tires (700 x 23)
a couple bontrager tubes
some Tacx bottle cages
Speedplay zero's (the cro-mo's)
Cateye wireless computer w/ cadence
there's some cinelli bar tape
ummmmm.... oh.. some fancy salsa skewers (the ritchey ones were lost in shipment when I got the wheels back in april)

It's close to what you'd expect from a soloist I guess, but I built it myself with limited bike mechanic knowledge, so it kicks a$$

I'm dying to get back outside... hopefully sometime in november I'll be cleared.

Anywho... that's about it... bada bing bada bop betty boop. See you in the forum.

edit: bike weight is somewhere between 16 & 17 lbs... I don't have a fancy scale (yet) so it's an educated guess + the 'ol weigh yourself then weigh you and the bike trick ... I'm looking to upgrade the seatpost (to the carbon version) and the wheels... but I've got medical bills to pay in the mean time.

The X01 loaded comes in around 23lbs.. not really looking to drop weight there though. The soloist is the one worthy of upgrading.

Welcome aboard! I have to agree with you. We do have a great community spirit here for the most part.

Nice bikes mate.

_________________
PLAY DARTS! *WARNING* MUST HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR TO PLAY!!!

I second that (just dont be an idiot, please - doesnt sound like it though ), Welcome to the board as well, its a shame to hear about the broken arm though, any more news about when you'll be able to ride again - as that soloist needs to be ridden ! When you're ready to upgrade, theres a fair few things you could do to it as well, depending on your budget, with wheels and cranks being probably the most obvious. Wonder how the new M5 cranks woulld look on the black anodised solist, but I'd prefer to hear how durable they are first before people start recomending them.

Very cool rides, dude !



And welcome aboard !!

_________________
Pollice verso.

Thanks for the welcome!

The arm is healing slowly as there's severe nerve damage holding it up, but I'm at week nine and see the surgeon next week, so hopefully he'll clear me to do some light riding and start strengthening the wrist more. I'll have to truck the bike to a bike path for the meantime to avoid traffic since I have very little strength in the arm right now and control may be an issue in chaotic areas (especially since I have to ride through philly streets)... I was able to install & tape up my aero bars last night though (very sore today though... worth every ounce of pain ). Pics below.

I like the Ultegra cranks so far, so I'm going to keep them for now... I am however going to put some cash down for a new wheel set. Most likely zipp 303's (maybe a 404 in the rear and a 303 up front). I saw a set of spinergy stealths with white spokes... looked pretty cool, but I've heard bad things about spinergy durability. I do a good combination of flats & climbs when I ride, so I'm thinking the zipp combo will work well. I don't compete (except against myspelf) so it's all for personal satisfaction.

The ritchey wheels have served me well so far and for $200 for the set you eally can't go wrong... my only complaints are that they are a tad sluggish at higher speeds and I feel like I'm wasting energy keeping them spinning. We'll see... I'll probably ride them through the winter then upgrade early spring (if I can hld out that long ).

I reall ylike these slam aero bars... I used to use A710's, but with my arm all screwed up, I needed something to support better and something easier on the wrist for gripping... I think these will be "medically friendly"

Tsiolos!

Before you post in the main forum click on the forum instructions link in my sig.

_________________
This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.

haha... nice. I know about 20,000 people from other forums that should see that.

So my doctor cleared me to start playing outside again on Fri 11/3... 2.5 months after my left wrist fracture... so of course, saturday 11/4 I was on the road... well, kinda. I drove the bike to the local bike path (8.5 mile loop around the art museum if you know the area). Other than the lungs being a little rusty, and the wrist being a little sore and uncomfortable on the bars, it felt good to get back out there.. the SLAM aero bars are a life saver if you've got a broken wrist ... all was going well UNTIL...

Somewhere around mile 8 or 9 of my planned 10 mile test ride... I was in my aerobars thinking I could do another 10 miles no problem... I look at my computer, 24mph, things are going good, I look up... some [Insert tons of curse words here] idiot out with his friend, is riding on the wrong side of the path about 15ft in front of me, not even looking where he's going or paying any attention - he's watching cars driving by or something... unfortunately for me, others come up on me quick, as I'm sure you all know, and I was just clearing a slight bend in the road... so I yelled "HEADS UP" loudly as we're about 3 seconds from a high speed head on collision. "OH SH*T!"... he yells and tries to swerve back to the right side of the path... too late.. I knew we were crashing.. I tucked my injured wing into me, tucked to lower my center of gravity and pulled as far over as I could on the path... as he hits my left side, I throw my left upper arm/shoulder into him as a brace so I don't get thrown into the street... well, the shoulder tosses this guy off his bike hard (more than deserved in my opinion)... no helmet, no nothing... I think he was wearing a members only jacket or something.... somehow I didn't fall, and the injured wrist wasn't touched. I end up with a bruised left upper arm and scuffed up jersey/shorts from his bike scraping past me).

So anyway, I stopped to see if he was ok... the guy's knees looked bloodied (43 degrees out and he's in shorts? eh)... and tangled in his bike. His friend kind of waves me off like 'don't worry about it'... I checked again if they needed help.. no no he'll be fine. Ok, whatever, I tried..

So I counted my blessings on day 1, went back to the car and went home... That's the problem with bike paths... weekend sub-recreational-amateurs who don't pay attention and think there's no one else out there.

Went out today and had no issues... hopefully it'll stay that way... sheesh.

On the bike note, I've got a Cervelo carbon seat post coming.. and am about ready to upgrade the wheels to mavic cosmic carbone premiums... MUUAHAHAHAAA!!!

Today in philly... almost 70 degrees... but a tad muddy.

Let me just say that if anyone out there has a cervelo soloist team... get the carbon seatpost... no arguing, just do it. I can't believe the difference in ride quality... unreal.

updated pics...

new wheels... Rolf Vigor RS
pic of my headset spacer... Ale Vested Omen (anagram of my name)

no scale other than the one in the bathroom, but I'm guessing still sitting around 16lbs:

one more.. clearer pic

Had a chance to ride your Vigors yet? interested in your impressions. I have a set myself but they are not the RS models.

_________________
This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.

yup... got in 35 miles on them today. decents seemed a little wobbly around 30mph, but it could have just been a combination of the road, wind (15-20mph winds today), and my gimp wrist not being able to adequately control the bike at high speeds. Flats they were awesome... very smooth... very quick to accelerate, hold speed nicely... climbed very well too. I'm impressed and am very happy with them. I even did about 1.5 miles off road on them on a gravel path/fire road/plain old dirt, mud and rocks... no problems at all. Perfect for an all around wheel.. I was cruising at about 32mph on flats alongside traffic for several miles and it was almost effortless... I don't think I'd want anymore of an aero wheel for all around road riding though.. I definitely noticed the crosswinds more than I did on my other wheels, even though the difference in depth between the two is minimal.

That's pretty much the impression that I got from mine.

_________________
This board and the world in general would be a much nicer place if everyone could just take themselves a little less seriously.