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As Florida cyclists we are all very familiar with heat, sweat and humidity. But do you know what effect this can have on your bike?
Sweat and humidity leads to corrosion. And this can cause rust which will eventually lead to breakage or failure. This can not only rob your performance but can also cause an accident. The trouble is that often you can't even see the problem unless the parts are inspected (which may require removing them). Here are two good examples of corrosion problems I ran into in our Naples store. The picture on the left is under the aero-pad of an aerobar. The bolts are so corroded they are about to break, and can't be removed without destroying them further. If this cyclist was riding in the aero position and the bolt gave way he would have likely crashed. Triathlon bikes have the added problem of a sports drink spilling there. The picture on the right is of a headset bearing that is corroded and affecting the steering of the bike. This bearing is not dissimilar to a bottom bracket bearing. Imagine how much extra drag (cost in wattage) a corroded bottom bracket bearing causes! Shift and brake cables also can rust and corrode which effects the shifting and breaking properties. The bottom line is that for safety and optimum performance, any Florida cyclist should have your bolts and bearings inspected by a pro mechanic every 6 months. Be safe out there, I hope to see you on the road! Greg
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Trek Bicycle Stores of Florida is a proud sponsor of the Segafredo-Trek Triathlon Team. The team which is made up of athletes of all ages and abilities had a great season! This short 2019 highlight video showcases the passion and fun that the team embodies! If you live in South Florida and want to join and race with the club, ask to join our FaceBook User Group to learn more... https://www.facebook.com/groups/TrekTriFlorida/ Competing in an Ironman, riding a century or running a 100 miles is hard enough! One of our customers, Charlie Catalano has done all of the above and has the added challenge of having Type 1 Diabetes. Check out the inspirational video! Trek’s 2020 Domane has only been for sale since July 25th, but already it’s getting rave industry and customer reviews. Bicycle Magazine said the new Domane is "one of the best road bikes you can buy now." I hope this blog post captures what the all the buzz is about! Just in case you missed this… there have been a few major trends and technologies have been converging over the past 5 years.
Trek not only embraces these technologies, if anything their R&D has driven new technology forward and made it mainstream for cyclists. Trek encapsulated all of the hot bike technologies into it's new Domane design. The Domane has been Trek’s best-selling road bike so it had the daunting task of pushing the envelope but not alienating it’s fans. If anything the end result is MORE DOMANE than ever. Even plusher, more stable ride. More versatility and more comfort. The new disc brake only Domane accepts tires up to a massive 38mm! With the right tires this makes it suitable for gravel adventures and Florida Levee riding! It’s faster too! The new frame not only looks better, picking up Madone design cues, it is more aero with cleanly routed internal cables. There is a wide price range and spec starting with the $2399 SL4 to a totally tricked out custom Project One! The SL frame is built with 500 Series carbon fiber. The SLR frame upgrades to a lighter 700 series carbon fiber and has adjustable rear suspension. Check out the wide range 12 speed, electronic shifting Sram AXS Force or Red configurations! Or let us help you spec a custom Project One. And on the subject of spec, I’d recommend getting tires and wheels optimized for most of the riding you plan to do. If for example you do high speed Florida group rides, a 25 or 28mm tire with a Bontrager XXX Aeolus 6 is the hot setup. Trek does spec some models with it’s super wide rim Pro3V wheelset and 32mm tires. This wheelset is great if Levee riding is your gig, but won’t even accept a 25mm tire as it’s too narrow. The new frame design has a seat mast (similar to the Madone SLR) and has two seat post size options so a pre-bike purchase fitting is highly recommend. We include a bike fitting at no charge with a bike purchase. Our knowledgeable staff is here to help you find the perfect bike! For more info or to schedule a bike fitting for a new bike, email gpelican@trekbikesflorida.com Check out the new Domane you won’t be disappointed! Trek’s exotic Madone SLR, the hot bike in the aero road sector, just got faster!
The Madone SLR’s custom aerodynamic handlebar and stem offers lower drag and faster speed, but until now could not be used with a clip on aerobar. Trek announced just announced and all new Madone configuration called the Madone SLR Disc Speed that integrates the aero road handlebar with the cleanly designed and proven Mono-Bar from Trek’s Speed Concept Triathlon bike. The Madone Speed offers the ideal solution for anyone who wants to go even faster on a road bike, and for triathletes who want to train and race on one great bike! The aerobar is easily removable with just two bolts. This makes the Madone Speed an ideal solution for cyclists who compete in both mass start bike events (where aerobars are illegal) and non-draft legal triathlons where aerobars are the norm. Existing Madone SLR owners will be able to upgrade their bikes to accept the Speed Concept Mono-Bar. And this option is available as an upgrade for future Madone SLR customers. Contact us for more information or to schedule this upgrade. Cycling helmet safety has not evolved much over the past 30 years. Until now helmet manufacturers have focused their design on conforming to the existing safety standards, which is based on a linear drop impact test. This has changed with Bontrager WaveCel! Trek’s teamed up with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Steve Madey, and biomechanical engineer Dr. Michael Bottlang. Drs Madey and Bottlang who have collaborated for the past 25 years and pioneered advances in fracture care, thoracic and pelvic trauma, and head injury prevention. They're funded by grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to help prevent traumatic brain injuries amongst cyclists. This elite team of specialists developed a testing protocol that more accurately represents the stresses caused in a real cycling accident. The result is WaveCel a collapsible cellular material that lines the inside of Bontrager helmets. This revolutionary material is proven to be up to 48x more effective than standard EPS foam at preventing concussions from common cycling accidents. Unlike a standard foam helmet, which is designed to protect against direct impacts, WaveCel accounts for how most cycling accidents actually happen—ungracefully, with twists, turns, and angled impacts. WaveCel absorbs energy in multiple ways. On impact, the layers of the WaveCel material move independently and flex until the cell walls crumple and then glide, actively absorbing direct and rotational energy and redirecting it away from your head. This three-step change in material structure—flex, crumple, glide—is remarkably effective at dispersing the energy from an impact. Nearly 99 out of 100 times, WaveCel prevents concussions from common cycling accidents. You can have a lot of bikes in your life but you only get one brain!  Editorial by Greg Pelican There was a period when racing a “state of the art” bike could be a scary experience because of the bike design! It’s interesting to look back at how much racing bikes have evolved and improved over the past 20 years. During this period I was a competitive masters racer and worked in the bike industry, owning Bethel Cycle in New England and currently working for Trek Florida as our Marketing Manager. I’ve been lucky to test, race and sell the best bikes in the world from Cannondale, Cervelo, Guru, Serotta, Seven, Look, Colnago, Pinarello and Trek. Over the years some bikes stand out both good and bad. There was a whole period from about 2000 to around 2012 when most of the brands sought to increase the stiffness or decrease weight resulting in a bike that was either too harsh riding or too flexible descending. It took a lot of nerve and skill to race these bikes at the limit. I can remember descending on a Look carbon bike that had a fork with a 1 inch carbon steerer tube. It was fine climbing but downright dangerous descending. The bike was so flexible it couldn't hold a line cornering and was prone to high speed wobbles. The contrast to this was Cannondale. Owning a shop in their hometown of Bethel Connecticut, I was intimately familiar with their oversized aluminum bikes. Light, tough and great for sprinting but if the road was rough your wheels bounced off the ground. Back then the big brands put more of a priority to hyping stats such as the lightest weight or stiffness to weight ratio then they did to ride quality. It is no wonder why custom brands like Serotta, and Seven flourished and were sought after. The forgiving yet strong properties of steel or titanium matched with great design produced awesome riding bikes. It’s fair to say that during the first decade of the 21 century bike manufacturers were learning how to work with carbon fiber. The art was not totally refined and mistakes were made. Several carbon fiber fork companies had design failures and didn’t survive. I had a teammate who got badly injured when his carbon fork snapped. All during this period Trek developed and refined the first mainstream full carbon bike, the OCLV, which offered a nice balanced ride. Early on Trek understood the need for oversized headset bearings and an oversized tapered steering tube for their carbon frames and forks. Trek took a more conservative approach, focused on ride quality and as a side note won a lot of big races. Fast forward to the current day… cycling research and technology has advanced nicely. It is now common knowledge that good brakes allow you to race faster, wider rims – tires and lower air pressure help you corner faster and do not increase rolling resistance, and the right amount of suspension keeps your wheels safely planted on the ground. All of these advances make you faster, but also have the really nice side benefit of making the bike more comfortable and easier to ride fast! Trek’s aero Madone is now in it’s second generation. Trek did an awesome job refining the already industry benchmark aero bike. Trek’s excellent white paper explains their research and design objectives for the Madone SLR. The new Madone SLR is the epitome of the evolution of the road racing bike! Not only is it the fastest aero road bike, it is smooth and stable in all conditions. Trek incorporated the following features into the design.
In conclusion, the Madone SLR is like a well-balanced knife, very sharp but easy to control. What blows me away is how easy and fun it is to ride fast! The Madone SLR takes the lead in ride quality and refinement of the current generation of racing road bikes. And is light years ahead of the first generation carbon fiber bikes. If you are riding a road bike more than 5 years old I highly recommend testing a Madone SLR and see for yourself! Don't get me wrong, we are all about getting people riding bikes! Peloton has done a great job marketing and getting people riding indoors on their spin bike. But we would like to propose another option... Did you know you can buy a real carbon fiber road bike, plus a smart trainer for less than the cost of a peloton? Did you know Peloton's spin bike is "dumb" compared to a "smart trainer" like a Cycleops M2 or H2? Check out the following video for a full feature and cost comparison. Please share with anyone who is considering buying a peloton. Why not be able to ride inside and out! Click on the "Drop the Peloton Promotion" button if you want to order or learn more. One of the rights of passage for any cyclist is changing a tube out on the road... but even this can happen to veterans! After the short teaser video watch the excellent flat repair video from Joaquin Herrera our Estero Service Manager. Joaquin does a great job explaining and demonstrating the nuances of on the road flat repair! Enjoy... Full flat repair video below... by Greg Pelican Power meters have become a mainstream training tool for serious cyclists and triathletes. The price has come down and there are many variations and manufacturers. Garmin’s third generation Vector 3 pedals not only offers a great lightweight pedal and flexible solution for power, but also includes Garmin’s Cycling Dynamics which open up a whole new world of useable ride data. This bog post explores the untapped potential of Garmin’s Cycling Dynamics. As a techie, racer and bike fitter the potential use and application of Garmin's Cycling Dynamics fascinates me. Yet when I search for relevant research from coaches of how this is being used I found next to nothing. The truth is that the technology is still so new there is not much out there. Cycling Dynamics provide great info you can see real time on a ride or post ride:
A member of our Segafredo-Trek Tri Team, Grace Plager, was advised by her coach to see me for a bike fitting after experiencing pain and loss of power in her left leg at Ironman UK. Despite her bike issues Grace had a fantastic race and qualified for the World Championships in Kona this Fall! I was excited to help her out. I knew Grace from the club but never had worked with her as a bike fitter before. When I put her Trek Speed Concept on the trainer I noticed that she had Garmin Vector 3 pedals. This got me thinking... I asked her if she had her Garmin file from the Ironman race. She did! Grace even told me she noticed during the race that the "PPO" screen (Pedal Platform Offset) was way off. Very interesting! I was wondering about the left to right power balance as well. When I reviewed the Garmin Connect file the average PPO for the left was +1.1 mm (towards outside of the pedal) and for the right -4.1 mm (towards the inside) . The average power data was also skewed at a 48/52 right bias. When I dug deeper into the Garmin Connect file (see charts above) the actual data fluctuated a huge amount so the average didn't tell the whole story. When I compared the PPO standard deviation from Grace's file to one of my own it was over 3X greater. There were many points greater than 10mm off the center axis for both her left and right leg. Her left to right power shifted much more than the average too, and the trend for both power balance and PPO got worse deeper in the race. Next I had Grace ride on the trainer both and observed that her seat was very high and she was rocking her hips and reaching at the bottom of pedal stroke. Motion capture and measuring with a goniometer confirmed that the seat was high. We were able to replicate the PPO data from the race, and she felt pain in her left knee. Now here is where it gets interesting... I lowered the saddle to the correct height and had Grace pedal. With the seat at normal height the PPO went to the center for both pedals! After looking at the Garmin file, before seeing Grace ride, I was suspected this might be a cleat position problem that could be solved by moving the cleat. But clearly that wasn't the case or the solution! When her seat was high Grace was rocking in the saddle which caused the uneven pressure to the pedal, and wide fluctuations. It is likely that when she experienced pain in her left knee she shifted her position on the saddle to minimize the pain, and this also shifted her pedal platform offset. This story has a happy ending! The changes I made to Grace's bike setup resolved her pain and comfort issue and she is again training hard for Kona! And for me I was able to use a new tool, Garmin Vector 3 and Cycling Metrics, to quickly pinpoint and resolve a fitting issue. What was unique was to be able to use hours of race data to better understand the cause of the problem and get real time data feedback in the fitting studio to confirm the solution. My brain is now wondering how oval Q rings effect the position and length of the Power Phase when pedaling. But I digress, this has nothing to do with Grace, I'll save this for another blog! In closing stop by one of our 8 stores and check out the new Garmin Vector 3 pedals. I highly recommend them and Cycling Metrics as an excellent training and racing tool. CONGRATS GRACE AND GOOD LUCK IN KONA! |
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