7/20/13 1:31 PM

The last couple of days I have been doing a charity ride and spied some serious bike bling and watched it work ,

Campy Super Record, the electric groupo. Damn, it just goes click, nothing doing, nothing. Just click, and a new gear. Amazing.

For the € it better be perfect and what saw showed it was.

BTW it is on a VWD S5. No slouch of a a frame either.

7/20/13 2:03 PM

No message. There is nothing to say.

7/20/13 2:16 PM

Erik, how's the weather down there for your ride? It's been brutal here, 95F and humidity in the 70s yesterday, not much better today. Just noodling around on my commuter I feel screwed up. Century tomorrow, but it's supposed to be to be 70s and not humid, aka perfect!

I'll be outfitting a new bike, don't quite see the EPS, but it would be fun to take a spin with it.

7/20/13 2:52 PM

89 and 89. It has rained so much we have been swamped for weeks but not brutally hot.

Did 67 yesterday and 85 or so today. 100 tomorrow. (Miles). I was wringing out my Fizik bar tape yesterday. It was disgusting.

Don't think a parlee would perform as well as the S5.

See the link for ride data.

http://app.strava.com/athletes/143321

7/20/13 5:26 PM

I've been eyeing off the new Colnago CX Zero, as a frame that, if what I've read is true, can accept slightly larger tyres than most road frames, and isn't designed on the assumption that I want my handlebars six inches below the saddle.

7/20/13 5:31 PM

BTW I saw today that a S5 won't take 25mm tires.

7/20/13 9:20 PM

The first is filled with toys - Cervelo, Cannondale, Specialized, Wilier and Pinnarello. My wife goes with me all the time I'm there. But my other one used to be safe until they started carrying Colnago and Parlee as well as Guru.

My wife sure is going to be tired!

7/21/13 7:43 AM

I've lusted after the S5 for a while now but can't justify it because my old Ghisallo still fits perfectly and at home the P3C ain't gunna be any slower than the S5...not to mention I need TFS 12 degree heads for the Caddy more than a new bike :-)

BUT, I noticed at the TdF Giant has a new aero road bike called the Propel...their testing show it to not only be faster than the S5 but also nearly a lb lighter, so while I am predisposed to buy Canadian I fear this Giant may be my next bike purchase.

And speaking of great purchases, after about 3000 miles I can't say enough about my new 808 Firecrest clincher wheels, even in the mountains they are great wheels with no measurable penalty to be paid on some pretty serious grades. But what really impressed me was the ability to withstand a beating.

I was doing by usual Thursday night club ride out of Woodstock last week when my worst nightmare came to be...on a fast, tight, winding descent I hit something hard and got a huge pinch flat on the FRONT. A moment later in the first corner after the hit when leaned over I started to wobble big time as the tire tried to roll off the wheel, within seconds of that the rim was making direct contact with the pavement. How I managed to maintain control is a miracle because with the speed I was going it took a while to get stopped the whole while listening to the crunching of my new all CF wheel riding on the pavement. Now here's the impressive part, when I went to change the tube, obviously I inspected the rim, and I could not find a single scratch, notch or abrasion...don't try that with an aluminum rim.

7/21/13 8:31 AM

Good story, congrats on many levels, mostly keeping the tea kettle up.

As for the S5 vs the PC3, think positive! It isn't going to be any FASTER at home.

;-)

7/22/13 3:59 AM

I think performance wise you would find the S5 leaps and bounds better than your Litespeed. The bottom bracket of the S5 is like a tree stump and areo rules. Buy Canadian. You can build it up stupid light very easily.

I just don't like Giants anyway.

Btw aero bikes will beat the crap out of you though. I hear the S3 is a pretty smooth ride.

7/22/13 9:13 AM

Yeah I've hear from a couple guys who have S5s that they ride 'harsh'...and I've also heard the P3C actually has a better ride than bikes like the Soloist and the newer iterations of that model. Thing is, when I get on my P3C I find it to have a much harsher ride than my Ghisallo so I can only imagine what a rock the S5 would be.

As for the "aero rules" comment, you ain't gunna get any argument from a guy who's recently added about 2 lbs of weight to his 'climbing bike' for the sake of aero.

7/22/13 9:47 AM

Does anyone here ride an aero road bike? Do you think it's faster in a real world way? I always like the idea of anything that makes me faster. But aesthetically, I just don't like the way the aero frames look. The Cervelo R series get my bike lust going more than the S series....

7/22/13 9:59 AM

That's my feeling about the s5 exactly. Maybe high performance, but fugly and that tucked wheel guarantees it will ride like a rock. The R series Cervelos, OTOH, are stunning.

The Giant Propel intrigues me as well, a mix of excellent looks, aero and weight.

7/22/13 11:29 AM

I am firmly [not counting the Scott Addict] headed in the opposite direction WB and CS lengths. Still like a steel neutral front end though...

But a few rides on the Scott prove to me stiff light and fast may have one component I am willing to loose. And it ain't comfort, which of course actually means not totally uncomfortable. ;)

Met a friend 1/2 ride route yesterday. Told him to bring a bike with Look pedals so he could pop on the Paramount [61CM BTW] and get a feel, he had been ogling it. Shows up with an old CAAD 3 [63CM] and we swapped bikes for a bit. I could not believe how nice that thing rode with 23C tires and freshly pumped up. I was tippy toes on it though. His inseam is 2" more than mine, thankfully he pedals heels down...

7/22/13 1:47 PM

quote:

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Don't think a parlee would perform as well as the S5.

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quote:

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Maybe high performance, but fugly

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7/22/13 2:45 PM

I'd get a Parlee just for the name . . .

7/22/13 4:01 PM

For a slight upcharge, he will make the decals PARkinLEE.

7/22/13 4:19 PM

Aero bikes are absolutely faster for the same watts when compared to non aero bikes. My average speeds went up the first ride on one. Testing by the big dogs prove it. And so does my Strava account.

7/22/13 8:35 PM

> If you stop to analyze it, it's no longer lust.

Beautifully practical analysis of lust :)

Sandiway

7/22/13 8:48 PM

"If you stop to analyze it, it's no longer lust."

Yea, well there is that. ;)

7/23/13 8:15 AM

"The Giant Propel intrigues me as well, a mix of excellent looks, aero and weight."

My thoughts exactly. I tend to like the look of an aero bike but ONLY if it has some pretty major aero wheels (ie. 808 minimum) but unfortunately the S5 just doesn't do a lot for me, the S3 was far better as is the Propel.

And I've got lots of side-by-side comparisons using SRMs that prove beyond any doubt that aero is worthwhile if you're serious about how fast you go. Aero has kept me in with some pretty big boys who should have dropped my sorry ass and funny enough couldn't figure out why they didn't.

7/23/13 9:46 AM

saw it first hand this weekend.

One guy on a full on Tri set up versus a guy on an S2 (not me), 30 watts less for the Tri guy when side by side, and the S2 is no slouch at all.

Both running SRMs and in the 200-250 range when on the front pulling. (roughly 34-38kph)

Fit and bike make a HUGE diffrence aero wise.

7/23/13 1:15 PM

Did they both have aerobars? Neither?

7/23/13 2:08 PM

nope

Tri bike vs road bike, both running SRM on flat ground and weight for both was about the same too. We talked about it and it was an on the fly/off the cuff experiment.

I did a lot of riding this weekend and during centuries you have time to talk when not pulling as most know.

7/23/13 2:23 PM

Did they both weigh the same? Now if they switched bike and the numbers followed the bike I;d be more inclined to put stock in it.