Change of handlebar setup

Lately there has been a couple of posts on the CF forum regarding the handlebar setup. Although I was pretty satisfied with the setup I had on my Z Pro, I noticed that for longer rides (meaning +60 mile rides) I was looking for alternate hand positions. I've read about and seen the add on whisker bar solution that Randy Schlitter put ons his handlebar, but I don't like the concept. When it comes to multiple hand positions, nothing beats an trekking or so called butterlfy handlebar. So I put one on my Z Pro. I switched my medium stem riser with the curved riser facing forward, but that was stretching it way too much. Turning the riser backwards was way too close, so off it went. I now use the butterfly handlebar in combination with the long stem riser and that seems to do the trick. The shifter and brake levers are positioned in the beginning of the handlebar, where they are supposed to be. When you ride with your hands near the shifters, the bike's very easy to control. When you're out of town and going for the long road, there's no need to keep your hands there and you've got plenty of options to put your hands. I even managed to rest my ellbows on the curves when riding into strong headwinds, which gives you a little aerodynamic benefit. I have not put many miles with this configuration yet, but if the weather'll be with me, I certainly will !

The new handlebar setup ...

Almost perfect angle for leaning your ellbows on ...

Helping out a fellow rider ....

I had an early shift at work yesterday and since the weather was really nice, I took my Z Pro for a ride in the afternoon. There was a mild breeze, but blue skies all over and plenty of time (more or less anyway). I took a trip across the border with the Netherlands and really enjoyed the Z Pro: all the advantages of a regular road bike minus the discomfort of the saddle !
When I returned from my trip after 40 miles, I noticed a fellow biker who was walking his bike on the road close to home. I noticed that his rear tire was flat and asked him if I could help. Turned out he was Dutch and 10 miles from home without anything with him : no patches, no spare tire, no pump .... Since I always carry that stuff, I parked my bike and offered him my tire levers, my patches and my pump. As soon as I saw him trying to get his rear tire off the rim, I realized he'd never done that before. When I asked him, he admitted he had never done something like that before. Amazing .... Anyway, to make a long story short : I replaced his rear inner tube with my spare one, since his tube had multiple leaks. I let him do the pumping though, that was something he could do, right ;-) ? He thanked me for helping me out, told me his name and the place he lived and was on his way again. And I was home soon after that, feeling that I did my good deed for the day. Made me feel pretty good ....

War Memorial

Spring finally arrived this weekend and since I was off from work today, I took my Z Pro for a spin this afternoon. First time I wore my shorts and my short sleeve bike shirt today, only a few white clouds in a blue sky and the sun. And a mild breeze, of course, which was pretty tough to ride against. I took off against the wind, as usual, and rode on the tow path near the canal until Dessel, where 2 main canals cross. Because the weather turned out to be so nice, a lot of bikers had the same idea. I crossed the border with the Netherlands to return via Postel. Now there's a bicycle path that runs straight through the forest over there near the border and halfway, there's a War Memorial. I've seen it a dozen of times, but never took the time to stop and see what's it all about. Until today. Turns out that in WW II, in the night of June 21-22 1944, a British airplane crashed over there. They put up the Memorial in September 2006 to remember the locals who risked their lives to rescue and hide the only survivor from the crash.

My ride was about 50 miles and average speed was almost 18 mph. If it wasn't for the wind, my average speed would've been higher, but that's only a lousy excuse, no ;-) ?

The War Memorial in Postel

Back on the road again ....

Due to circumstances, I did not ride my Z Pro much these last months. In fact, since I returned from my short holiday in Germany last December, I did not ride it at all. Mostly because of the weather; winter was mild when it came to temperatures, but pretty wet. Only last week, the weather finally turned around and I took the Z Pro out of the garage. Only to find out that I should have cleaned the bike more appropriate ! There was a lot of rust everywhere : on the chain, most of the bolts, even the spokes, although they are black, show some sign of corrosion where they cross each other. Guess riding on the German roads when they were salted to prevent them from freezing, was not so good for my bike ! Anyway, I only have myself to blame for this negligence, so I tried to find some replacement stainless steel bolts. I went to almost every hardware store in the neighbourhood, only to find out that they were not available ! Gee .... Guess I'll have to look on the internet to find me some SS or aluminum replacement bolts. Why don't bikes come with SS or aluminum bolts when you buy them ??? Maybe that would make them too expensive, but still ...

My other CF bike, the 700X, is now exactly how I want it and is a blast to ride ! Shifting the Alfine hub is precise and very light. It is a bike you can ride anywhere, just as long as you keep cranking the pedals. Last week I took it to the local trail to test ride it and it went pretty well ! Only on tight corners, the length of the bike makes you realize that you're riding something different than a mountain bike. The other thing I'm still not used to when riding trails, is that you cannot clamp the saddle between your tights, like a regular bike. Still wasn't as fast as the others on their mountain bikes on the trail, but hey, give me a couple of more months and I'll keep up !

Not a pretty sight ....

New Cf bike : the 700X

Today, I finally picked up my new 700X from my bike shop. Much later than planned, but I can hardly blame the bike shop for that. Reason is that Shimano could not deliver some of the products which according to them, should have been available already two years ago. Anyway, since I'm leaving for a short holiday starting tomorrow, I insisted that my bike should be ready to ride today, and it was. It's not 100% as I want it yet, but it comes close. Although 2 MARATHON CROSS tires were ordered from SCHWALBE, they only sent one. So the front tire is only temporary (I don't even know the brand). I ordered the ALFINE internal hub gear with the chain tensioner, but they only delivered the hub. So the chain is temporary tensioned by a 105 derailleur. Brake levers are DEORE LX instead of ALFINE, I wanted a hub dynamo in the front wheel, which I'm still waiting for .... But anyway, tomorrow after my night shift I'll ride my new bike to my holiday's destination (only about 60 miles from where I live) where I hope to testride it all week. To be continued !

ALMOST exactly as I want it ....