So I'm guessing that you are all aware that I have been riding the Redline cyclocross bike now for the past few months. This happens to be the only road/cross bike that I have ever really ridden. I have done plenty of miles of riding on this bike and however good i think it is, i cant help but feel if i had a new and up to date carbon bike, it will make a difference and i will be blown away by how far the technology has come on. i find myself forever looking at different bikes and mainly Carbon deep section wheels. I, and I'm sure many other people, always have a whole list of dream kit that they wish they had, just for the never ending struggle to be faster. I would say that number 1 on my wish list is the Zipp 303 firecest wheels. I look at them and dream of me out on my bike, just flying past people and laughing at them completely exhausting themselves, just to get near the speed I was cruising at....
Clearly I am deluded, and the marketing world has won the battle making me believe the hype with some cleaver sounding words. But even magazine, online and personal reviews rave about them. I couldn't help but think that I needed to try them out for my self.
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| Cannondale super six...also super quick |
One of the duDes 'Matt Newman' at my local bike shop, 'Cogs-bikes' in plymouth, happens to have a set of zipp 404 firecrest wheels. These aren't the ones I would personally have but apparently, they have very similar aero properties but a touch faster than the 303s. I thought it would be a long shot asking if I could have a go on his wheels sometime because they are soo expensive. But luckily enough for me, he agreed and said I should have a go on his bike at the same time. I thought this was very cool of him and really appreciate it! Would never have got the opportunity any other way, unless I bought them. The idea of being able to ride them got me a bit excited.. So of course, I thought up of test to see how fast they really are and do a versus battle with the Redline.
My first thought when i warmed up on the bike was the riding position, i'm used to a cyclocross position, so it felt a bit weird at first, but then i quickly noticed how easy it was to get up to speed and how it just kept going. Whilst out on the battle, i thought up many differences of the ride position and the way it rode compared to the Redline.
Here's those thoughts......
- It was real nice and stiff and felt like the power transferred straight through the cranks,chain, wheel and to the floor with absolutely no loss.
- It felt like it cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter..
- side wind hitting the wheels was a first and bit scary but i got used to it.
- It was surprisingly quick uphills, thought it was going to be a bit sluggish but it was quite the opposite.
- Ultegra shifters felt weird.
- The position whilst stood up felt really nicely balanced and controlled.
- I have never gone for a ride where i felt soo fast with as much effort.
- how is this going soo fast?
- not sure i would feel the same benefits of the wheel in CX
- why is going this fast, soo easy.
- haha lolol rofl at the cyclists i flew by..
So that's just a few things i could remember. In conclusion, i liked it, it was fast!
Now for the geek tech stats bit..
About a month ago I did a strong ride on my redline. Setup was:
- Rolf vector 20mm deep wheels
- 46t front chain ring
- 27-12 cassette
And obviously a frame where aerodynamics were never thought of whilst designing.
It was a 20mile loop and I pushed hard to see how fast I could do it. I can't remember the weather or traffic conditions, but I have a feeling that both were good.
Here's the stats straight off the Garmin
- time 1.02.58
- dist. 20.17miles
- avg speed. 19.22
- max speed 37.22
Today I did the same route but on the Cannondale equipped with the 404s
I was hoping that I was going to smash the times above to justify me saving and spending lots of pennies..
Lets note that the previous results were over a month ago, and I'm probably a lot fitter than I was then. Weather today was fairly windy with a noticeable headwind but nothing drastic. Traffic on the other hand was a bit of a nightmare with bad timing at traffic lights...I probably need to find a better route to do tests.
Setup was:
Zipp 404 carbon clincher 58mm deep section
52t front
25-11t rear
This gearing instantly means I can hit higher speeds and therefore be able to hold a higher avg.
Stats:
- time 59.22
- dist 20.10
- avg 20.31mph
- max 38.84
I really don't think that these result show a fair result. I was 2 mins quicker on the Cannondale but I felt held up by the traffic a lot and I think that if I rode the Redline in the wind from today, it would have been a very different story. Only 1mph higher top speed which shows the gearing was not a big factor. One major thing to note is how much more energy i had left in me. I definitely felt a lot less exhausted.
Thanks for reading, and hope you found it interesting.
On a side note, this bike is actually up for sale...
£1800 for the bike with mavic Ksyriums
£1300 for the zipps which will come with brand new Decals
orr £3000 FOR THE WHOLE LOT.. (frame size is 56)
i aint got the money but it sems like a good deal. If your in the area Pop into cogs bikes shop to have a look at it or speak to the guys. alternatively, here is their facebook
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