It has been quite a while since my last brush with the Carbon Fairy but with the start of the racing season, the arrival of spring (well, the supposed arrival of spring , we’ve seen precious little so far) and the promise of warmer days to come I guess it was inevitable that there would be some new carbonology going on in my ‘collection’… Last year I switched to a fixed gear exclusively for my time trialling… not the most logical choice in Cornwall’s hills but it worked out pretty well. That was on my steel framed Condor Pista EOM (admittedly kitted out with some nice jewellery) which I wrote about here… and here :o)
This time I’ve been magically blessed (with a little help from Mastercard) with a Condor Stadio carbon track frame… in not too many words… it’s lovely… So far it is using all last year’s components, heck, they were pretty nice so complement the frame well. It’s built up really light for a TT machine… as pictured just 15lbs but with the new hollow track crank from Truvativ and the 55T carbon chainring from Fibre-Lyte I just ordered (I know, I couldn’t help myself….) it will be not much more than 14lbs. That MDT ring and Miche BB on there now is heavy… The frame geometry is a little more relaxed than most track frames, ideal for use in longer events and that seems to translate perfectly to road time-trial use. Now all I need are good legs….
To quote one viewers comments I can explain “the girle 17T sprocket” fitted in the pic… I’m using it in the hilly Lizard Sporting this weekend (see below). A dry run on the course yesterday indicates the 55×17 is a perfect gear for me, the hills are pretty steep and nasty, the stiffness of the frame and the light weight let me climb very well but I can still spin along at 25-30mph on the flats and gentle downs… It’s not an ideal course for a fixed but I am interested in the challenge. For sure I will lose out on the descents as I can’t spin this gear faster than 40mph safely on the rough surfaces.. but they are slightly technical descents anyway so may not be much slower than the geared boys (or rather “girls”.. haha) … we shall see.
Not much else to say about it really except it’s ace, stripped down perfection if you ask me. More pics when the carbon chainring and new crank arrive… Ah, one quick caveat on the pics below.. that is not my garage door, it is not even my house so no comments please about ignoring the DiY for too long :o) I went looking for somewhere scabby to show off the shiny, carbon techy perfection of the machinery….. gawd I am such a tart.
not my garage door..
DID Track chain, EAI Superstar sprocket & Royce track hub. Shiny…
well mikey, you know the weather isn`t going to get any better until your sister, who is just a little ray of sunshine, returns from latin america and brings this lovely buenos aires sunshine with her :o)
no comment…
That is one beautiful looking bike! I’m looking for a fixed frame to TT myself this year (Unfortunately not as exotic as that) any advice?
Andy
hey, sorry for slow reply, have been mucking about over in Montreal (well, it was work really…). re frame, Planet X new track frames look a bit of a bargain, though you could look at alloy from Terry Dolan. I used to TT my Condor Pista EOM… ( http://mikesimagination.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/condor-grows-teeth/ ) the frame is now for sale if interested… lol!
cheers
Mike