Building A Rocket.

So last Saturday nights bike building plans got shelved when Kat suggested we go out and get sushi for dinner which totally worked in my book! It wasn't until Monday when I got out for the first ride on my Opal with thanks to the guys at Westside who provided a little final wrenching help. I have been also lucky this week that the weather gods are finally shining on Denver, with blue sky days and temperatures that allow no bulky gloves or shoe-covers.  Perfect conditions to test out some new rigs!  I must say I really liked the Opal straight from the get go.  It's a little odd being back on standard frame size after spending the last two season on my compact Giant but essentially my fit is identical, just the tube shapes are a little different.  Speaking of tube shapes one change I have noticed is just how stable at speed it is, and is significantlly stiffer through the head-tube and BB than my TCR.  But to be fair, Giant have since updated their frames, and I am essentially comparing a 2010 bike to a 2008 one.

Haven't had a chance to build up the Aletta TT frame yet, and it looks like this week's first race for the season will be spent still on my Giant Trinity unless I have a massive window of time open up in the next few days.

 

For those nerds out there, spec is predominatley SRAM Force with a little Red thrown it here and there with FSA bar/stem (and soon to also arrive post).  Dura-Ace remain my pedal of choice this year and race hoops are my Renoylds 46mm tubulars rolling on some White Industries hubs.  Oh and yes that orange test saddle is going when my new white Fizik Antares arrives... phew!