A Great Day in the Mechanics Room

Hey guys,

Tomorrow is my first non-draft legal triathlon, the Two Town Triathlon. It's really small, just a 300 yard swim, a 10 mile bike, and a 5K run. It's a super sprint, so it really shouldn't take that long. However, on the participant list, some fiercely fast competition has showed up, like, these guys are so fast that they'll probably pass me on the swim, and it's staggered, because it's a pool swim. But regardless, I probably won't be able to beat them, so I'm just gonna go for a Top 3 overall spot. But, I'm not going down without a fight. Today, I went to the shop and rented some race wheels. I have a Zipp 900 Tubular Disc wheel on the rear and a Zipp 808 Tubular on the front. Guys, this is my first time on aero wheels, and so I'm not gonna lie, you feel AWESOME. I was cruising around testing them and you feel pretty pro. So, if you haven't had the experience, I'd recommend going to your local shop and renting some, just to feel the way that they ride. But, it was crazy hard to get the wheels on! I'll tell you the story: Originally, I was going to run a set of Mavic CXR's, with 80mm rim depth. So, I get the wheels down and start to put them on my bike, but because I've never ran any kind of aero carbon wheel, I didn't know you have to switch the brake pads. So, I take the wheel off and switch the pads out. Then, when I put the back wheel on again, the brake pads are angled so that the wheel doesn't turn, the brakes are rubbing too much. Great. So, I take the wheel off once more and adjust the brakes enough so that they will accommodate the wheel. This happens successfully-awesome. Then, I move to the front wheel: this is simple, right? I switch the pads out and then throw the wheel on the front. Guess what? These brakes are even worse than the rear brakes! So, I try to replicate what I did on the rear brake, but that wasn't enough, it was to no avail. I asked our experienced mechanic what he thought, and he sat there stumped for a long time, adjusting, readjusting, tweaking, and doing anything possible to try and make the wheel fit. Eventually, he said that my bike simply wasn't going to be able to ride the Mavic CXR. I was bummed, but then again, I was excited to run a Zipp Disc wheel. So I go, switch the brake pads, and switch the cassettes over once more. Then, I was finally ready to install the new wheels. The back wheel went on without a problem, but then the front wheel started to rub slightly again, but we were able to fix that. Then, as I was going through the gears, the rear derailleur started to screw up! I had been in the shop at least 2 and a half hours at this point, so it was taking awhile. I got my mechanic buddy to come help me out, and then I was finally ready to go.

All in all, this was a fantastic experience, because although it did take up a lot of my time, I was able to learn a TON about my bike and get closer to it. I feel ready for this race and I'm stoked to be debuting all this new equipment. Other new items I'll be using are the Giro Air Attack Shield as my first aero helmet, a basebar bracket for a Profile-Design aerodrink bottle, a Louis Garneau Pro Trisuit, Rudy Project Swifty sunglasses, and a pair of Brooks Pure Connect racing flats. It's gonna be an interesting day! Wish me luck out there guys, I'll definitely do my best. Tomorrow there will be product reviews from my racing standpoint, as well as results and opinions and funny stories. Thanks guys!

Happy training!