Greetings from Portugal

[Sanches]

Hello Everyone.
My name is António Sanches, and I'm a federated (I think that's how you call it) mountain biker in Portugal for team Liveplace by Palegessos/Bicicletas Santiago.
A little while ago I found out this forum, wich I found to be very nice, and now I want to show you all my training bike.
I bought it when it came out in 2007, and it has been my training companion ever since, with many upgrades done over the years.



List of material:
Frame: Specialized Tarmac SL 2007
Fork: Specialized S-works full carbon
Wheels: Prototype custom wheelset
Brakes: O2Components Ultralite
Skewers: Edge aerolite
Crankset: Ultegra w/ridea ceramic bearings
Rear Derr: Ultegra
Front Derr: Microshift Arsis
Levers: Ultegra
Chain: YBN 101SFL
Seatpost: KCNC Ti pro lite
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Team Edition
Pedals: Look Keo 2 max
Stem: Ritchey WCS
Handlebar: Specialized Pro Road
Cable housing: Alligator I-Link
BottleCages: Specialized Customized

Total Weight: 7100grams
I considered it to be a light bike, given it's purpose wich is for training, since most of my team mates ride old steel bikes in their trainings
Cheers

[jbaillie]

Nice! So you're a competitive mountain biker but use this one in training?

[Sanches]

Yes, this is where I do most of my training sessions.
Back in 2007 when I started I was more into road cycling, but in my area there aren't many teams, so I had to travel a lot to compete and be with my team mates.
A few years later, in 2009, I bought my first mountain bike and started riding in local marathons. Since then I got myself into mtb teams every year, and given up on road competition.

[alexarcilla]

Hi Sanches!
nice bike!
can you share with us your protitype wheelset? (hubs - rims)

[Sanches]

Hi there Alex.
The wheel components were chosen by me, and they were built in my presence, with the following parts:
- Rims made by Kinlin for the Prototype company, model XR-300
- Pillar's lightest steel spokes, the Mega Lite SS
- Carbon Hubs with Enduro super smooth bearings, made for O2Components

The total weight of the wheelset is 1440gr, and I payed 350€ (about 448 USD) for them.

[Juanmoretime]

Welcome to the forum. Your wise in starting with the wheels since they are the most critical area and best upgrade that can be done.

[Sanches]

Thank You Juan.
The wheels were bought about a month ago, I had a pair of R-Sys Premium before.
Believe it or not, they gave me a few problems in their last year in my hands (or legs lol).

[LocoDuck]

Nice to see it's still going strong in its sixth year of service.

[Sanches]

Yes, it still does its job well, although from the original bike only the frame and fork remain

[swimmingskibble]

Seja bem-vindos! Great looking bike.

[bura]

welcome to the forum and sorry to all other new people joining in who I have missed to salute .