A while ago, I got the very special opportunity to shoot #2 of the special 60th edition Colnago C60. Built up with full-on Campagnolo Super Record 11s mechanical (what else?) and Bora Ultra tubulars, it’s also specced with custom Colnago-branded bottle cages and full-carbon saddle. When I put it into my car to drive to location to shoot, the value of my car doubled. That was fun.

A lot of fun to shoot. The light wasn’t perfect, but I love the setting, and I was happy to find the location.

Enjoy!

The money shot.

yah

This is a really comfortable saddle and totally saves 100 grams, too!!!!!!

The frame and fork are a Sekai Grandtour 2500 from 1977. I got the bike free and then overhauled it… Although the only real replacements I had to do was give it new tires. A good clean and new grease was really the only other thing needed.

SS Conversion was ~ $25
Brooks B17 was $50

Love it. Enjoy:

Ahhhhh

Remember when Nashbar was good? Rims are Nashbar too

Lugz. The original frame was a Sekai Grandtour 2500 which was Sekai’s middle-range racer. Uses Tange High Tension double-butted tubing.

Original stem. We don’t need to go racer low.

Uncolored natural cork tape from XLC

On top of the bike is a Brooks B17 Narrow that I got used and broken in for $50.

Diacompe Sidepull, single-pivot brakes. No QR.

Lugs. I was considering stripping, sanding, priming, respraying the entire bike, but that’s easily a $100+ project including all the extra tools I would need

Sugino Maxy crank spinning on a square spindle BB that I repacked during the initial overhaul. Original crank, not a new one.

The nut of the rear QR

Shimano rear QR. Solid, which I need for the Singlespeed rear hub. It’s Shimano, although it reads ‘Made in Italy’ on the back.

I borrowed one of my teammate/friend’s bike for some pics. I think they look cool. Another bike coming soon to a thisiszachwong.wordpress.com near you🙂

Stick it in the big ring. Line up the wheels. Don’t move a muscle. Boom: Money shot. Holla.

Shimano Ultegra rear mech keeps the 10 sp shifting crisp and clean.

All cables are routed internally. The S5 cables are actually not that hard to route due to removable frame inserts.

Zipp 404 Firecrest detail. Wide rims and an understanding that wheels have to be aerodynamic from both sides have led the Zipp design to be copied by all other wheel manufacturers since.

The braking is actually really good for a carbon rim. I was pleasantly surprised. Modulation is a little eh (sort of an exponential power curve with respect to lever pull), but final stopping power is just as strong as my 105-on-aluminum brakes. Didn’t catch what brake pads they were, sorry guys. They look like regular Shimano pads, though!

25mm Michelin Pro4 tires leave just a teeeeeny bit of clearance with the seattube. Phew!

Of course. Although Cervelo has stepped down sponsorship a little since the days of Cervelo Test Team, they still remain a major player on the WPT.

Due to the shape of the aero seatpin, Cervelo uses a proprietary seatpost wedge. The screw compresses a steel clamp against the back of the seattube wall.

Because Cervelo uses a proprietary seatpost, it’s built with a two-position mount to help any rider achieve their optimal position. A much more practical solution than making riders buy different setback seatposts.

The name might be a bit cumbersome to type, but Kevin chooses a cushy Fi’zi:k Arione Tri2 Max.

Aero is everything, says Cervelo. Er… that might be someone else. Regardless, Cervelo chooses to route their cables through the top tube behind the stem. The extra bends in the cables aren’t very conducive to friction-free shifting, but it’s all about the aero on this bike.

As seen by Kevin. He chooses LizardSkins bar wrap for a grippy, textured feel.

A photo from the same obstacle as the first picture. Campton cross is a really cool, very fast course that has a lot of variety and a great course layout utilizing all of the features.

I love this picture. Here’s a common body position and facial expression whenever I’m in a cross race. My face goes wild while trying to balance my bike. In the background, you can see the super-talented, super-fast Diego Arana. If he keeps it up, he’ll be the next David Lombardo/Gavin Haley/etc

I suppose today is as good a day as any to announce that I’m racing for Team UPB/www.ultimateprobikes.com this cyclocross season. The owner of Ultimate Pro Bikes, Joe, is my road team’s (Tower Racing) bike shop affiliation and I got my 2014 Felt AR5 there. I plan to get a power meter next spring so I didn’t have any funds for a cross bike. I was going to race anyways, on a 26″ rigid fork MTB that we have that weighs +/- 30 lbs, but Joe heard about my predicament and is letting me borrow a bike for the season. How awesome is that? It’s such an honor because this is my first cyclocross season and he’s putting a lot of trust/faith in me. Here’s a picture of the sweet Felt F65x that I’m riding, blinged out with some Clement MXP Clinchers (I’ll probably do a full photo shoot w/out the battle scars at some point, similar to my Felt AR5 shoot):

A super-solid CX rig. I’ve already pushed it through its paces through my poor riding skills (ha!) and it’s still riding awesome!

Maybe I’m sponsor-plugging, maybe I’m not, but I really like that Felt specs all their CX bikes with disc brakes. The F65x is specced with Avid BB5s and they’re a lot better than most cantis I’ve ridden (and I’ve ridden the Shorty Ultimates on aluminum rims). Although I haven’t raced, I’ve been following cyclocross (BTB, svenness, World Cups, etc) for over a year and it seems like disc brakes give a big advantage. If you have the money to get into Felt’s hydraulic disc models, even better. My dream build would be a Force CX1 w/ Hydraulic Disc Brakes on Felt’s F1x Frameset.

This year, Joe is trying to invest in juniors like other people invested in him when he was a junior. He’s always looking for other juniors who want to compete and have fun, so contact me (comment, e-mail, etc) if you’re interested! We have clinics/practices pretty much every week either on a Wed/Thurs morning or on Saturday, which are really helpful b/c Joe has tons of experience. It’s a ton of fun and a great team.

At the beginning of this post, I say “as good a day as any” because today I got my first win! The season has started in absolutely fine style: First race of the season was out in DeKalb, where I raced Category 4 and Category 4/5. I got 5th in the 4s, and 3rd in the 4/5s. Podium in my second (sort of, I raced the 26″ MTB at Afterglow juniors last year) CX race? I’ll take it. We’ll ignore an embarrassing Juniors race yesterday (Saturday, 15-18 Juniors) and skip to today, where I got 7th in the 4s after getting stuck behind another racer on the singletrack climb and 1st in the 4/5s after a 1st-row stage and an overall great race (fastest lap of all participants, fastest average, 29 second gap, etc). Here’s the money shot:

Team UPB takes 1st AND 3rd!

This win is AWESOME, but there’s still tons of work to do. Gaining experience with different pressures, continually practicing corneringz, dismountz, and runningz, gaining fitness, etc, etc, etc. Let’s not forget what happened just a few weeks ago, and get too caught up in what’s happened thusfar. I’m going to upgrade to Category 3, but I don’t know how that will work with church.

Today I had a race.Today I had my ass handed to me.Today I learned that there’s no substitute for hard work. I can follow Charon Smith, read Dan Chabanov’s blog, and buy a Bear Dev Team shirt, but until I start really killing myself during workouts, I’m not going to be fast.Today I learned that stuff doesn’t equal speed, it equals money that you don’t have any more. I can plan out which 900 dollar power meter I’m going to buy next February, look for carbon bars that will suit my exact ergo preferences, and read reviews upon reviews of the newest aero wheels, but it’s not going to put me into 1st place.

Practical Reviews focuses on how well the product works and my personal experiences with the product. Practical Reviews tries to rise above the poetic nature of many bike review sites and instead give real-person thoughts.

From an economic perspective, S-Works equipment doesn’t make a lot of sense. Riders can gain more utility per dollar with other upgrades (or losing weight or riding more, etc). In fact, the Specialized engineers recognize this and loudly proclaim that S-Works is 100% about racing, no cost spared. The equipment does get expensive, in general sitting at the most expensive price point in the category (i.e. $400 shoes, $10,000 bikes, $250 helmets). That said, all of it is damn good.

First things first: sex appeal. Very high. The matte black shoes are slick, with a very low, narrow, and sleek profile that screams speed (to me). The all-carbon sole has a marble finish and a stark white S-Works logo stamped onto the middle of the thin sole (the sole doesn’t match the shape of the foot to save weight and only provide support where it’s needed). The shoe itself has no seams. Apparently, thread is too heavy, so the S-Works guys decided to thermobond everything, which means they use black magic to hold the shoe together. Or something.

I don’t know if I’m the biggest fan of this process. The thermobonds end up being a little sloppy, or at least not exact. By no means are they a mess, but the intersection of the upper and the sole is not uniform and that bugs me a little, especially given how sleek the entire shoe is. When one small detail is off, it throws off the whole shoe. But then again, I ride so fast that no one could ever notice.

The blue BOA dials of the S-Works Road Shoes are strong and micro-adjustable. They’re a great, convenient feature to have on the road.

The shoe has (and has used) two Boa S2 dials, S2 meaning 2nd generation. The older S-Works used Boa dials that were a pain in the butt to service (I know because I’ve done it for other people, all while gagging over their footsweat invading my nose, sorry for that image). These are pretty simple: Pop the entire dial out and replace it with a new one. No messing with knots, or threading, or anything like that. Simple and pretty quick. When I switched the stock Boas to the blue ones on my shoes, it took me only about 10 minutes. Although I’m not a Grand Tour contender who races down mountains at 70k+ and then goes on to win the Vuelta, I’ve never had any problems with the Boas getting stuck. I think the ubiquity of the Boa dial across multiple brands speaks to how much the industry trusts them. Overall, the retention system is fine, although the Velcro strap leaves some to be desired. My toe never feels tight, which might be a fit issue, but could be a design flaw, given how well the rest of the shoe tightens down. Each click of the Boa dial is 1mm, which really allows you to dial it in (and quickly, versus something like a ratcheting clip).

One complaint I do have about the shoes is that the carbon sole scratches very easily. I’m not the most gentle with my shoes (heck, I walked through a field with them on the very first time out), but I wasn’t impressed with how much they scratched in the first week (when these pictures were taken).

The carbon sole has been crafted heavily to reduce weight but maintain stiffness, although it is prone to scratching.

The greatest thing about these shoes is the stiffness of the sole. I didn’t know if I would notice the stiffness (which is supposed to save you 6 watts…), but I truly did, right out the door. It’s hard to describe how it feels, but it gives you that wonderful feeling that everything you’re putting into the bike is making it go forward. I’ve felt that when riding ultra-stiff bikes like the S-Works Roubaix and I feel it every time with these shoes.

Of course, these shoes are light. I think each shoe is 200g and when you pick them up, you can tell right away. I won’t woo you with stories of how you need to save 100g per shoe, but it brings a smile to everyone’s face the first time they feel them. I don’t care about whether I need it – I like having it!

As for the S-Works clinchers… I can’t tell you rolling resistance numbers (which are reported very high), I can’t tell you that I feel the 220 tpi over my $12/ea Nashbar training tires, but I can tell you that I feel confident on them, that the tread is pretty sleek, and that I really do believe that there have been times when my bike was leaned over a bit too much (looking at you, turn two of Willow Springs RR) but I didn’t hit the deck. Knock on wood, I haven’t crashed yet nor had a flat with these tires. They just came out with the S-Works Cotton tires, which are 320 tpi! Yummmmmm.

Overall, very happy with the S-Works road shoes and tires. The shoes might not be economically “worth” it, but they’re sooooo nice and are a fantastic upgrade, especially after I got fitted for the correct Specialized footbeds. Verdict: 5 stars.

TL;DR: Expensive, but rightfully so. 100% performance shoes that are optimized for speed.

ABR State Road Race Report (Two Rivers Road Race)

End result: I won. Yay! I first heard about the race through the team email group, and I decided to race because A) I need to race more for experience and B) I figured the Juniors field wouldn’t be very competitive and I could perhaps get my first win ever.

The course is in rural Illinois and consists of a 18-ish mile course with pretty good pavement (although a bit rough/high-frequency vibration-y) and a set of railroad tracks that absolutely suck to go over. Unfortunately, the race wasn’t very well run. It was ABR and registration took 30+ minutes, the finish line was 3.5 mi away from registration and parking, making it suck for my mom since she had to walk over, and there weren’t that many people. But then again, ABR doesn’t have a lot of staff and at least they’re doing stuff, which is better than I can say. I figured the race would end up being a split; there weren’t any course features that would split the field and, although it was all cornfields and flat farmland, the wind wasn’t very strong (maybe 5 mph), so crosswinds weren’t going to be a deciding factor (maybe in a larger group, but my field started with 10 people.

I set pace during a neutral 3mi rollout to the start/finish and then I fell into about 3rd position. Then, the race sort of fell apart. The other junior, 17-year-old Isaac Drew from Bike Heaven, sort of rolled off the front at maybe 26/27mph. The first few times, the race stayed together, but after the fourth effort, I ended up in a 3-man group with Isaac, and another rider racing Cat 5s, “Steve” (quotes to mean I only know his first name). I wasn’t having any problem holding the pace, but I didn’t want to tire myself out taking pulls. I feel like when you’re in a breakaway, there’s a sub-competition to pull the least possible. So, Voeckler-level facemugging, loud complaining, and innocent guttering occurred. This race was one of the places where knowing the direction of the wind is vital. The wind was pretty much directly West->East and on the North/South stretches, I would always “pull” along the very right side of the road, guttering my companions without a draft. They didn’t realize this or didn’t care, and neither said anything nor pulled anywhere except in the middle of the road. I still think I had the best sprint, but every extra watt mattes when you’re going for the win.

Anyways, the race was kind of weird. There wasn’t really a threat from the guys chasing, who neither had the firepower to chase or the numbers (they were in small groups of 2 or 3). In the last few miles, we literally sat up on the tops and had a chat about the race.

Skip to 1k to go and I positioned myself in last position. I watch a lot of pro cycling and my sprinting style lends itself to being last or at least behind someone in the sprint. For some reason, I attacked with about 400 meters to go. I was pretty confident in my ability and thought I had the win after my initial burst. Unfortunately, though, I heard Isaac coming up on the left. At this point, I was afraid that I was going to lose. Those doubts that always come when the race gets hard started to bombard my thoughts and I was scared of losing. I tucked in on the left of Isaac, who had come around, and got ready to kick again. I had no idea where Steve was, and was a little scared of him coming around both of us with enough speed that I wouldn’t be able to close it in 200 meters. Thankfully, that didn’t happen; I got into Isaac’s slipstream and laid it down for the last 170 meters, finishing at least 4 bike lengths ahead of a charging Steve. I even got to post up, which was cool.

Yes!

Woodale Criterium Juniors Race Report

Not much to say about Woodale. The course is super fast. There aren’t any tight corners, there are significant downhill stretches, and the hard sections, a tough headwind on the day for about 400 meters and a small, 3% grade, did little to limit the speeds. The field in juniors was me, another 17 year old who didn’t race a lot, Alex Timperman, a 12 year old, Carlos something, and two ten year olds. I felt pretty confident I could pull out my second W of the year.

The race ended up evolving pretty much like the Two Rivers Road Race. Essentially, Carlos, Alex, and I dropped the two 10 year olds and rotated at the front. It was pretty mellow until the last lap. I expected the final lap to go like this: I would strand Alex or Carlos on the front, or sit on in third wheel like during the race. I figured Carlos would attack up the small incline into the last corner, and then I would follow him and sprint around him at the end. It pretty much turned out like that, except Alex did the attack. I covered it immediately, coming around Carlos to do so. I expected, then, for Carlos to come around and counterattack and I kept watch for that. Alex’s attack was good, but short, so I figured Carlos could kick around it. I didn’t know how fast his sprint was, so in my anticipation of anything from him, I left a pretty significant gap to Alex with 200 meters to go, probably 2 or 3 bike lengths. When I realized I needed to get going or get second, I shifted into my last tooth and fired up the pistons, coming by with a bike throw at the end and winning by a half wheel.