The Wash Bike

I have plenty of bikes now, so this one becomes the dedicated Mt. Washington machine.

The frameset is my 2002 Trek 5200.  My first modern-era road bike, purchased from Grampie in 2006 I guess it was.  The gateway to insanity.  Alloy steerer, King headset.

The wheels are a set of Mavic R-Sys tubulars that I raced ‘cross on for a few seasons.  The rear wheel was a near total rebuild after a hapless barrier accident at Quad Cross.  After that I pledged to keep them only as hillclimb race wheels.  Factory Ti skewers.

Tires are Tufo S3 Lite, 700×21.  I am gram shaving with these.  I am hoping that they work out.  I plan to run them around 100psi.  Tires each took one coat of glue.  Rear rim was new and got two.  Front rim was a shit show.  Still covered in a layer of tape and glue that would take a mighty effort to remove, I left it, added one fresh coat and called it good enough for a bike designed to go uphill in a straight line at less than 10mph.

So after 15 minutes of testing tonight, the R-Sys freehub went to shit and stopped making the bike go.  For now, I’ve swapped in my ’06 Ksyrium SL clinchers with Vittoria Evo CX 700x25s.

Brakes are TRP R920 SL.  I’ve written about them before.  I will probably pop the rear one off in August.  Until then I need two brakes to descend some other mountains.

Seatpost is an EC70 setback I sourced a few years ago; I don’t love it but it does the job.  Weight savings across seatposts is marginal, so replacing it made no sense.

Saddle is an older Specialized Toupe, Ti rails, a 143.  It weighs nothing.  I couldn’t be on it all day long, but I can tolerate it for a hillclimb.

Handlebar is an Easton EC90 SLX3 that was a scratch-n-dent deal at Jenson for $78.  It had a pathetic little scratch on one of the drops which precluded them from selling it at retail.  Pretty much as light as they come.  46cm.  I usually run a 44, but for the price I’m in.  I thought really hard about running a TT base bar, like Cam Cogburn did last year, but I couldn’t find one that made sense.  They generally weighed as much as a drop bar, so why bother.  Sure, you can run one brake and ditch an entire brake lever, but I need both brakes.

Bar tape is Specialized S-Wrap.  On the minimal side and has a weird texture that really grew on me.

Dura Ace 7700 downtube shifter.  Going back to the future on this.  The 5200 from this era still had shift bosses, so I thought I’d get a little nostalgic and use them.  Aside from weighing practically nothing, I have a thought that this will force me to think a little more about shifting.  The last time I used downtube shifters was the early 1980s.

Brake levers are SRAM 900 singlespeed levers.  They’re not the perfect shape for me, but the best I’ve found so far.  In my head, one day I will redo the drivetrain with SRAM and go back to an integrated shifter, in which case the hoods will still match.

Stem is a 120mm Easton EA90.  Nice looking, good match, $55 shipped from the eBay, great deal.

My computer is a Garmin 810.  I had a 510, but this one is a lot easier to see, it’s more responsive, and GPS.

Drivetrain.  We’ve been over this before; for now, I’ve settled on taking my old setup.  XTR M960 175mm cranks.  XTR cups.

Factory 22t inner chainring.  I am flirting with a Rotor 23t ring, but still on the fence.  Because I’ve had issues throwing chains before, I run a K-Edge on the inside, and a rounded-off 32t XTR ring in the middle position.

I think it’s an XTR chain.

Rear cog is a Dura-Ace 12-25; $50 eBay find from a few years ago.  Derailleur is the Ultegra 6500 model that came with the Trek, still serviceable.  Minimal play.  Pulley seals were shot when I last serviced it, so I tossed them and we run without ’em.

Williams carbon cages.  As far as these things go, they’re the best value going.

Pedals are Speedplay X/2.  My right leg makes a weird orbit when I pedal and nothing less than the crazy float of these pedals will work for me on the road.