Equipment - Red Tsunami Thoughts

As I said before I seem to go through a cycle every year. At the beginning of the build up for the new season, typically Dec or Jan, I'll refresh everything. I'll check tires, wheels, tape, chain, cassette, whatever. Every year or three I'm building up a frame so everything gets refreshed automatically. Part of this refreshing is to check whatever computer I have on the bike. Since 2008 that's been an SRM, and in the ensuing years I've had to install (solder) batteries in the spiders and one in a headunit (the SRM PCV).

As the season progresses results come more from what I do in a race rather than training, fitness, and other stuff that happens outside of the race. In other words it's more about tactics (for me), especially in the last few laps. Whatever numbers I put down is kind of irrelevant. This means that stuff like SRMs take on less importance.

Therefore, as the season goes on, as I get that accumulated fatigue, as I start to have equipment run down, I tend to lose something relating to the SRM. It might be a battery in the HR strap, losing the strap after a race, maybe a magnet dropping off a wheel, a wire failing on the harness, or even a battery failing in the spider or the computer head. Depending on my fatigue level I'll just let it slide.

This results in, at the end of the year, absolutely no data. I think for a couple months in 2010? I ran with just speed. I had no cadence, no power, no HR.

Still, though, I like looking at what I did in a race. In 2012 I didn't ride as much so I never experienced the big equipment wear drop - in fact all the equipment had remained the same since the beginning of 2011 which was my last refresh period.

I hope that at some point I'll have seasons where I'm racing and riding enough where I start accumulating that fatigue again.

Even without that equipment fatigue I have one big project in place for 2013: put together my now-red Tsunami.

I have the black bike and it's basically all together. I mean I can go and ride it right now if I wanted to, and I ride it on the trainer. Okay, it has crunchy BB30 bearings and a less than nicely aligned headset (it steers very stiffly) so I want to get those surfaces redone. I'll refresh the chain, cassette, and tape. I may do the cables but I did them last winter and barely rode this whole year.

Generally speaking the black Tsunami is usable.

But the other bike... now we're talking. The frame is a lot lighter at 1200 grams, over 450 grams lighter than the black frame and 200 grams lighter than it was before, and the new ENVE 2.0 fork is about 100 grams lighter than the original fork. This should cut about a pound off my race bike weight compared to the black bike and about two thirds of a pound off the weight of the then-orange Tsunami.

Since I'll be building it up with virtually the same parts the rest of it should be the same. I have a few bits and pieces to cut some weight but the majority of the parts will be the same as before.

Of course this means I have to build the thing.

The only things I have installed on the bike are the bottom bracket bearings, bottom bracket spindle, and the headset. The rest of it is still sitting in boxes and such, waiting to come together. I made a last minute decision to put new Nokons on so I ordered them the other day. When they arrive I'll start assembling the bike.

Although it won't come in at any world shattering weight, it should hit about 16 pounds with race wheels on it, about a pound lighter than before.

If it comes in lower than that I'll be totally psyched but I don't see that happening. I'll see how it goes.