Sunday
Welcome to GamJams Midwest Tech, where we check out new gear and gadgets designed for bike racers like you.
Last fall, I had the good fortune to have in my possession a pair of nearly identical cyclocross bikes. While I wasn't exactly storming the Midwest with my two-bike arsenal (that would be this guy), I had a fair amount of fun and recorded a couple of decent results.
One was a Trek Cronus CX Ultimate — the top-end carbon race bike. SRAM Force-equipped with Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes. The other was a Trek Ion CX — the aluminum sibling of the Cronus. They had identical equipment, down to the handlebars, seatposts and saddles.
Though I rode and raced them both for their intended purpose, I finished the season favoring one over the other. I liked the aluminum one better. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. (Though I should say first off that the Cronus is a fantastic bike. I love my Cronus.)
Put those things bullet points together, and I think it makes a compelling argument for going with aluminum over carbon for cyclocross — especially if you're paying full retail. But what about on the road?
Yeah, what about aluminum for the road? Do the same rules apply?
Taking into account my experience last fall, I decided to make
the switch for my 2013 road bike as well. After reading reports from local riders on 16.5-pound aluminum builds (that didn't cost a fortune), I went with the Specialized Allez Race. Aluminum frame, carbon fork and steerer, nice, smooth welds and a black-on-black paint job. Pretty cool looking bike. It retails for $2,400 with SRAM Rival and DT Swiss Axis 4.0 wheels. (The frameset-only price is $880.) Cannondale has a number of iterations of its popular CAAD10 aluminium race setup in the same price range.
After swapping out parts — SRAM Force, 3T build kit and my faithful Dura-Ace wheels — I took it for a quick test ride. And it was fantastic. It is, of course, stiff. And thanks to fortunate geometry similarities, it feels exactly like my Cronus setup. It has a slightly different road feel, which is to be expected. It has a different hum than my previous carbon bikes had.
And the performance? I can summarize that by saying I probably won't buy a carbon race bike again. I raced it a few days after the build was complete and noticed no difference in performance whatsoever. It's light, it's stiff, it accelerates swiftly on command. And it's reasonably inexpensive compared to a similar carbon build.
Plus, it is a worry-free machine for me. I'm not talking about mechanical bits or maintenance. I'm talking again about durability. If it ends up on the pavement, it will most likely suffer scrapes and scratches, or maybe a dent. I can't say that about a carbon frame, though I've been lucky so far. Let's just say I've become a lot more sensitive to that issue since having to pay for my own bikes after leaving the bike shop. Before, I always had the attitude of, "Eh, I'll figure something out," if a bike broke. And now it's, "Can I pay to replace this cabon wonderbike? No? Better ride something I could replace if I had to."
Would I like having a carbon race bike? I would — I enjoyed the heck out of the series of bikes I've been able to race over the past few years. But as a guy who serves often as pack-fill, I think I'll be just fine with this one. I'll check in toward the end of the summer with an update.
Sunday
Welcome to GamJams Midwest Tech, where we check out new gear and gadgets designed for bike racers like you.
SRAM signaled its intentions for the future a few weeks ago when it introduced its new Red 22 and Force 22 groupsets. Both groups will go to 11 speeds on the rear, matching the efforts of Shimano and Campagnolo.
For Red 22, which will look the same as "new" Red, not much has changed beyond the extra cog. Force 22 gets a number of upgrades from the current 10-speed system. What's been lost in the product-release buzz, though, is that Force was just updated in the fall. It picked up a number of the traits of "old" Red, including Zero-Loss shifting, a re-branded Red crank and stiffer chainrings.
When we were building up a new bike this spring, we headed straight for the Force section of the catalog. Every single road and cyclocross bike that's lived in our garage since 2009 has been Force equipped? Why? It's light, it works well and the price is right. We'd all love Red or Dura-Ace, but for most of us it's just not going to happen. Force has treated us well over the years.
The old "new Force" — as in the one before Force 22 — is essentially the old (pre-redesign) red, minus the carbon shift paddle. It features the same ZeroLoss shifting as the former top-tier design at the same price as the 2012 model.
Cosmetically, the ZeroLoss Force shifters are almost identical
to their predecessors. The only way you can tell the difference is the tiny print on the inside of the shift paddle (right). Click on that image to blow it up if you have to.
Performance-wise, though, they're a big notch above. For the uninitiated, ZeroLoss means that as soon as you press the lever, you're shifting. Well, almost. There's a millimeter or two of play before the paddle starts pulling cable. Compare that to the old Force shifter — and especially to a Shimano mechanical shifter of any stripe — and it's a much quicker shift.
Will that make a difference a race situation for your average amateur-racer hack? Probably not. But our imaginations are very active here, and we like the crisp feel of the ZeroLoss shifters. We like them so much we're going to try to find another set before everything goes 11-speed.
When you can get top-end performance for mid-level price, that's a smart buy in our book. And when the guts are essentially the same as the old top-end bits (which are still perfectly wonderful)? That's hard to pass up. If you're a SRAM rider and embarking on a new build, the "Old New Force Which Used to Be Red" shifters should be your first purchase.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lee Bumgarner of Team Kaos/Alegent
Creighton Health leads the Midwest Flyover Series after round one, thanks to a pair of victories in the Pro 1/2 Chris Illig Memorial Omnium.
Bumgarner opened the weekend with a victory in the Iowa City Road Race and followed it up on Sunday by claiming the 36th annual Old Capitol Criterium in downtown Iowa City. Lucas Marshall (Midwest Cycling Community) was second in the criterium.
Jennifer Perricone of ISCorp Cycling/NCSF currently leads the women's Pro/1/2/3 series standings. Peter Oien of Central Plains Cycling heads the Cat. 3 series standings.
Suzanne Wilson of Team Kaos/Alegent Creighton Health also claimed a victory on Sunday. Wilson won the women's masters 35-plus race after placing second in Saturday's road race and time trial. Rich Pearson, also of Team Kaos/Alegent Creighton Health, won the men's masters 60-plus road race on Saturday as well as the Old Capitol Criterium on Sunday.
Photos (Facebook)
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