Joining The Arms Race

Yellow 2006 Cervelo Dual

In no other sport in which I've competed has equipment had such a large effect on finishing time as a triathlon. I'm not used to losing due, in part, to opponents spenting thousands of dollars more than me on better wetsuits, bikes, carbon fiber this, and aero that. Well, now that I feel like I've committed myself to the sport, I've decided to go all in. I went to BikeSport, a triathlon bike specialty store in Dearborn, to get an exact fitting. I ended up getting a 2006 Cervelo Dual on sale. Here's a list some of its features:

  • Wolf TT carbon fork
  • Shimano DuraAce 10 speed drive-train
  • Visiontech aero cockpit
  • Shimano R-550 wheels w/ Vittoria Diamante Pro Lite tires
  • Variable geometry seatpost
  • FSA Gossamer MegaExo Crankset
  • Cervelo's light, aero aluminum frame
  • Yellow!

It's a great bike for the price, and if I can't place well with it, then it's not the bike; it's me. And that's all that I'm asking for—an even playing field. I've got one more triathlon in a week, and I've been hitting the roads trying to get accustomed to riding in an aero position. The trickiest thing has been staying on the bike. I haven't fallen off yet, but there is a lot less control over a tri-bike than a road bike. It's much harder to steer with your elbows at the center of the head tube, and it doesn't help to have the brake levers on a different set of handles than the shifters. Of course, I was just as fearful when I took my road bike out for the first time, and now it's second nature.

3 Comments

YELLOW!!!! Beautiful! It will be a thing of beauty to see that streak by I am sure! Congrats!

Yeah, sweet bike steven. But, I think I'm going to stick to running. Where the most I'll need to spring for to even the playing field is a couple bucks on carb-gel packs and maybe $150 on some asics gel kayanos... but, not that I don't still come in middle of the pack. :) Good luck on the Detroit Marathon by the way... my first 26.2 mi attempt (the 2006 cleveland marathon)ended in the abysmal time of 04:24:55 with an average pace of 10:06 m/mi. Much slower than my half marathon pace which is more like 8-8:30 m/mi and I placed in the 48th percentile well below my expectations. There's always next year though! Anyway, I'll share with you what I've learned... bring enough food!!! I was starving by the end. Nothing was worse than that. And make sure you've got at least one training run of greater than 17 mi under your belt. That will help with knowing when you need to take in carbs. Also, you're going to be alittle sore for a few days... it took me like 3 befor I could use stairs effectively. :) enjoy

have you considered investing in some rocket shoes?

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