new arrival

I picked up my new road bike today. It's a long time coming - in part because I had to wait for the tube to be ordered but also because I've wanted a made to measure number for quite a few years now. she looks great - the colour only being a little lighter than the duck egg blue I specified. The weight is the big difference - my old machine is steel and I think the new one is 7.7kg which will work out quite nicely in the mountains. unfortunately though, I have now run out of excuses for being slow.

for anyone interested the spec is pretty basic but fits my budget. as sean kelly said recently - anything under 8kg does the job. whilst I enjoy quality I'm not the type to get wound up over a few grams - jesus, we add a litre of water to the frame on most rides. anyway - here it is:

frame: easton lightweight aluminium taperwall tube (everwin built)
fork: mizuno carbon 'alpe duez'
seat post: shimano dura ace
handlebars: nitto 104 aluminium
components: shimano 105
pedals: shimano ultegra
wheels: campagnolo vento
saddle: selle san marco
computer: shimano flight-deck

the computer seems really nice - if you look in the photo there are a couple of dimples on the rubber hoods on the handlebars - these control the computer which means you don't have to faff about dangerously - you just press to change settings/readings. the display also shows your gear ratio which means you don't need to skew your vision between your legs to see what gear you are riding. yow did I ever do without it?

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