New brake levers

Although I still like the looks of the XT brake levers I originally put on my Z Pro, braking was never quite crisp. I could slow the bike down, but that was about it. Until now I never had to make an emergency stop during my rides, but still ..... So to have some more safety into my rides, I replaced them XT-levers with flat road bar levers. While surfing the internet I discovered that Shimano has the BL-R 550 specially designed for flat road bars and they do have them in black, so the choice was easily made !

Yesterday I rode the Z Pro to my bike shop (I do not have a compressor at home to remove the rubber grips) where I switched the brake levers -and I got called stupid by the bike shop owner for mixing V-brake levers with road calipers. When riding back home I immediately noticed the difference in brake power when I needed to stop. Now it is possible to lock up the rear wheel, something that could not be done with the XT-levers. And to be honest : I kinda like the simple looks of the new levers.

Simple but effective

At last .... alive again !

I know, I know : I should be ashamed ! It's been almost a year since I last posted something on this blog .... And what's even worse : only today I took my Z Pro for a ride since almost a year too ! I can't explain why, but I did not ride my CF-bikes much last year. Most of my cycling has been done either with my Stratus XP or my velomobile. Don't know exactly why, but I just didn't feel like taking either the Z Pro or the 700X for a ride. And even then .... In the last three months, I did not even bother to ride the XP or my velomobile. Only used one of them for commuting and that was it. Could not bring myself to grab a bike and take it for a ride ... Of course, I did ride my old Beemer, but that's something completely different .... So anyway, today was THE day. It was a nice spring day with mild temperatures and since the forecast predicted a drop in temps and rain for tomorrow, I took the Z Pro out of its storage. Inflated the tires, checked the brakes and the chain and off I went. There was a mild breeze, so it was pretty tough to keep the speedometer above 19m/h but anyway, I really enjoyed myself ! Of all the bikes I own, the Z Pro is defenitely the most responsive one. This makes perfect sence, since it's the only bike that has a regular rear derailleur and cogs instead of an internal gear hub. And it's also the lightest, which is also nice to ride !

It took some time to get adjusted to the seat again, but that's only acceptable after not riding a CF seat for such a long period. So yes, I did feel my sitbones after I completed todays' 40 mile ride, but not that it hurt or felt uncomfortable in any way. And yes, I really did enjoy the ride and kept wondering why I didn't spent more time on the Z Pro before. Oh well ....

When I got home, I noticed that the rear tire needs to be replaced, for it has several worn spots as you can see in the picture below. Since it'll be raining all day tomorrow, I'll have plenty of time to replace the rear tire.

Time for replacement ....

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 ....

Short holiday in Germany

Today one week ago my wife and I went to Kronenburg in Germany to spent a short holiday. Since my new 700X wasn't ready yet, I took my Z Pro with me. I'm quiet familiar with the region, I guess this was the 10th time we visited the area. So far all the bicycling I did over there was with my mountain bike, since there are miles and miles of trails to be discovered (and I know most of them by now). I was planning to take my mountain bike with me on this trip, so a couple of days before we left, I took my MB out of our garage and took it for a spin. It had exactly been 11 months since I last rode my MB so I just took it for a ride to see if everything was still okay. The bike was okay, but myself .... Oh boy, did I suffer during that ride !!!
My butt hurt, my hands and wrist were sore, my neck ached .... When I returned from my trip, I told my wife that no way I was going to ride that bike again !!! I put the MB back in the garage and that's were it's going to stay from now on ! Maybe some of you think I'm a baby, and maybe you're right, but I'd like to tell myself that I'm spoiled by riding recumbents and my Z Pro ;-) ! Anyway, when my 700X'll be ready, there will be plenty of time to ride dirt roads again !

Anyway, taking the Z Pro with me meant that I would only be riding on tarmac roads. No big deal eather, since most drivers are very polite towards bicyclists over there. During all my rides I never got cut off short or felt in any kind of danger when cars or trucks overhauled me. When arriving at the top of hills, they all stayed behind me and waited until the top before passing me leaving me plenty of room, something I can only wish for here in Belgium !!!

Just out of Duppach, going uphill again ....

After two weeks of rain, the weather was dry during our stay in Germany, but very cold ! I'm not a wuss when it comes to cold temperatures, but I could not stay longer that 3,5 hours on my bike. Temperatures never went over 20° F during daytime, with a mild, sometimes strong eastern wind, which always feels extra cold. On Saturday I managed to ride 45 miles but I was so cold afterwards, that I wasn't recovered on Sunday. When I rode again on Monday, I had less problems with the cold. I rode my Z Pro for a little over 180 miles during my stay and again enjoyed the CF concept in every ride : I never felt uncomfortable and the bike felt stable as a brick, even when going downhill at + 40mph. I even managed to ride the Z Pro on a gravel road, were the only worries I had was trying not to think of getting myself a flat tire. But the Z Pro handled just fine, no problems at all.

Riding the Z Pro on gravel never gave any problems (here somewhere between Stadkyll and Schönfeld )

New frame arrives ....

It has been raining a lot lately, which means that I did not ride my Z Pro much. To be honest, the only riding these last weeks has been with my velomobile, which is used for commuting. Let's hope it'll start freezing soon ;-)
Last week I received an e-mail from Spincyclz to inform me that the 700X were ready to ship. So I ordered one immediately and yesterday, a small pick-up from Fedex delivered the frame. Is this fast service or what ?! Today, I took the frameset to my bike shop and discussed the hardware with Harry, the owner. I already decided on most of the parts, the only thing that's still in discussion is the kind of brakes. I know that I want disc brakes, but I prefer mechanical. Harry tried to convince me to use hydraulic brakes from Shimano, according to him they are the most reliable at this time and he did not receive any complaints about them so far. Since he could not tell me the exact prices for both types of brakes, but he will contact a couple of distributors tomorrow and let me know. We'll see tomorrow ....

New Crank Forward ....

It has been rainy a lot lately, which means that I did not ride my Z Pro much. Only on a few occasions, the roads were dry enough to take a ride. I hope winter will finally kick in, so we'll have some really cold winter days ( I still prefer freezing temperatures over mild but humid days!). But anyway .... I just ordered the 700X frameset from Nanda Holz from spincyclz.com. I have been mailing him in the past and he offered me a fair price including shipping. The 700X will be built up by my local bike shop, which will be some kind of challenge for them. They've already know my Z Pro, but to actually build a CF bike up from the frame will be completely new for them. I've discusses the frame build up with them and agreed that the final decission on components will be made once the frame set arrives. Still have to figure out whether or not I want disc brakes or regular ones, hydraulic or mechanical, ....
The reason for ordering the 700X is exactly the same as why I decided to buy the Z Pro : to replace a bike I do not ride anymore. In this case it is my mountain bike. I used to ride a lot on trails, in forests etc. and I still love to do so, but lately I do not feel comfortable anymore on a regular bike. I have not touched my mountain bike since last year, and even then I took it on a short holiday, so .... The 700X will replace my mountain bike but will also be the bike I want to take with my on holidays. It'll the bike that can be ridden everywhere, and that is exactly what I'm planning to do ! Can hardly wait to get a ride on my new steed !!!

And another ride ....

Although the weather forecast predicted rain today, this afternoon the sun broke through the grey clouds and brought some color to an all grey day. Since I was off from work, I took my Z Pro for another ride. It is a strange thing, but the more I ride this bike, the more I seem to like it ! I cannot explain why, but lately it is the bike I'd like to grab first whenever I feel like riding.
I still have my Stratus XP and my velomobile, but it's a total different ride on the Z Pro. Anyway, I enjoyed another 2-hour ride, crossing the border and riding most of the time in the Netherlands.

The fall colors are wonderful and just before I returned home, I noticed some small kind of mushrooms between the bicycle path and the forest. I took some time to take some pictures, before riding home. It's the small things that makes life beautiful sometimes !

Don't know what kind they are, but they looked cute !

Early autumn ride

The last 5 weeks I had to take a course for work, which meant I was too busy to take a ride on my Z Pro. Luckily, last Friday was the last day and since I was off from work yesterday, I finally managed to take the Z Pro for a 2,5 hour ride. Weather conditions were almost excellent : clear blue skies with a breeze. Autumn has defenitely started, as could be seen by the beautiful colors of the trees and all the leaves on the ground. A lot of people were riding their bikes on the towpath near the canal, I'll bet it's gonna be more crowded today, because it's Sunday and weather conditions haven't changed. Too bad I have to go to work later this day ....

I finally found a small bag that I like ( more or less that is ) to attach to the Z Pro's handlebar. Most handlebar bags are too bulky for my liking, the one I found is originally a digital camera bag but it's still large enough to hold the essentials : a cell phone, a digital camera, tire levers, a spare inner tube and some patches ( I just realize right now that I forgot to include a multi tool, I'll put one in right after posting this ). I'm still not used to the position of it (behind the handlebar instead of in front of it), but since most CF-riders put it there, it's probably just a matter of time to get used to it.

After finishing my ride yesterday, my lower back told me that it's been a couple of weeks since I last rode my Z Pro. Not that I noticed some kind of pain, but my bakc told me that it wasn't used to the position anymore. Well, one more reason to ride my Z Pro some more !

And it's supposed to be weather proof too

New wheels

Yesterday I picked up my new set of wheels. I wanted the wheels to be completely black(meaning black rims, black spokes and black hubs) because I think the black goes well with the yellow frame. It did not turn out that way, since the Shimano 105 hubs are no longer available in black. Rims are PRO R50 Classics and the hubs are Shimano 105. But the wheels do look nice, 36 spokes both in front and back and I'm pretty sure that they'll be much stronger than those crappy Shimano's WH-R500 and WH-R535 wheels I had before.

On my last few rides, I swapped the short stem riser for the medium riser. I wanted to see how much it influences the speed, since your upper body should be more erect with the medium riser. So far, it does not make much of a difference, I can ride the same speeds without putting in more effort. I'm gonna leave the medium riser for a while to see how things will work out ....

I'm still looking for a small (and good looking, if possible) handle bar bag. So far, all my rides have been without taking any tire levers, pump or spare inner tubes with me. I've probably been lucky so far that I never had any problems so far, but just in case, I want to have something to put it in. Just haven't found one that I like so far .....

Ready again to put in some miles !

Short holiday

I just got back from a short week's holiday. Together with my wife I spent 5 days in Bareveld, a small town in the north of the Netherlands. Since it was only a short holiday and I had to take a bike with the car, the only bike that came into view was the Z Pro. Since I knew that Wijnandt, who owns a Rans' Cruz, lives less than 6 miles from this place, I sent him an e-mail letting him know I'd be there this week so we could meet. We met on Tuesday morning and it was very awkward to know that 2 out of the 4 CF bikes here in Europe were at one place at that time ! We switched bikes so I could try Wijnandt's Cruz while he tried my Z Pro. While both bikes are built up for completely different purposes, it was nice to ride another CF bike !
Wijnandt was so kind to invite me to his home, where he showed me his other bikes : he also owns a WAW velomobile, a Grasshopper from HP Velotechnik and a rowing bike .

Lots of nice sceneries near the canals (here in Oude Pekela)

During my first ride on Monday night, another spoke from my rear wheel broke (surprise, surprise !). Luckily, Wijnandt took me to a bike shop in his home town who replaced the spoke so I could keep riding my Z Pro. Until Tuesday afternoon that was, when another spoke broke ! I was so pissed that during my short holiday I broke 2 spokes in 2 days that I called my bike shop back home and ordered a very strong hand built wheel set. Funny thing though is that I kept riding with a broken spoke for the rest of the week without any significant problem. I could not use my back brake because I had to unlock it to keep my rear wheel running, but luckily the front brake worked okay.

On Thursday I rode my Z Pro to Memorial Center Camp Westerbork , which was only 26 miles from the place we stayed. This is a place were there used to be a camp during WWII. From 1942 to 1945 no less than 107.000 Jews stayed in this place waiting to be deported to Germany. Only 5.000 of them survived. We took a guided tour around the camp. It was really impressive, to say the least ....

Just a small part of the 102.000 rememberance stones representing the one who died ....

The Bornem Bike Deathride

Yesterday I took part to the Bornem Bike Death Ride, an annual bike event organised in the provence Vlaams-Brabant. The reason for this name is that the 62,5 m ride has a hilly course (we have no mountains in my country), which makes it ideal to test your level of fitness. Although there's also a shorter more family friendly 22 m ride, most part of the riders show up for the 62,5 m ride on road bikes. In total, some 6.304 riders showed up this year.

Since it was the first time I participated and there was some kind of climbing involved, I decided to take my Z Pro to complete this ride.

I showed up at the registration line with my yellow Z Pro and wearing my SPD-sandals, which caused a lot of comments from the roadies. I think most of them considered me some kind of geek, seeing me on a bike they've never seen before and wearing sandals !

As soon as I started however, I passed everyone of them. I could easily maintain average speeds of +20 mph on the flats and especially on the climbs it was very easy to pass other riders. I only got passed once by 3 riders, but I overtook them on the first uphill. No one passed me after that !

At the first stop, several riders walked up to me to ask questions about the Z Pro like where I got it, did I make it myself (yeah, right !), does it ride easily, etc. Of course I answered all their questions patiently, referred to the Rans and CF website and even let some riders sit on my bike. I got the same questions at every stop and mostly the sarcasm they had at the start had turned into some kind of admiration (for the bike, that is ;-)

I finished the ride in 3h20" with an average speed of just above 19 mph, which is not bad at all, considering that I live in a very flat area.

The next time I'll take part of such an event with my Z Pro, I might take some small pieces of paper with the Rans and the CF website for further information !

The medal I got after finishing the ride

I've ridden my Z Pro a little over 1500 miles now and still like it very much. The only thing that still bothers me is the breaking of spokes in my rear wheel. I lost count of the numbers so far, but it's getting to a point that I'm considering getting myself a new pair of wheels (that would be my third !). I'm certainly not overweight, I'm well within the Z Pro's weight limit, but still ....
Although my bicycle repair shop told me it's the wheels and not the bike that is causing all these breaking of spokes, I still have my doubts. According to them, all wheel sets that look fast and have a small number of spokes, are having the same problem. Gee, if so, why are there so many nice looking wheelsets being made ?
Yesterday I was riding my Z Pro and after 15' I heard that dreadful "ping" sound again coming from the back. And yup, another spoke gone. While I was halfway between home and my bicycle shop I decided to ride to the bike shop since I brought in my other rear wheel for a spoke replacement earlier this week. Unfortunately, they didn't fix it yet since they ran out of stock on the straight spokes for that model. But they replaced the broken spoke of my Shimano WH-R550 rear wheel in a couple of minutes, so I could continue riding. Guess I'll have to look for some stronger wheels, let's get surfing the internet ....

First metric century

Did not ride my Z Pro much during the last week, mostly because of the weather. It did rain a lot and since I do not wanna ride my Z Pro in the rain .... right !
Last Saturday morning, just before finishing my night shift at work, I read in the newspaper that the WILLY IN'T VEN CLASSIC took place that day. This is an event that is organised every year with all kinds of bicycle rides, from short family-kiddy rides to longer rides for die-hard roadies, named after Willy In't Ven, a roadie who was pretty famous in Belgium in the '70's. While I was supposed to go to sleep after I got home, I just rode home with my velomobile, had a snack and somehting to drink, filled up 2 waterbottles, changed my velomobile for my Z PRo and headed towards Oud-Turnhout, the place where the rides started. I checked and payed the entrance fee and off I went. There was no rain for the time being, but it was pretty windy, and because I did not get any sleep, I decided to ride the 53 mile tour. The only thing you had to do was follow small road signs that were painted on the bicycle paths and roads and pay attention to traffic. There were supposed to be 2 stops where you could grab something to eat and/or to drink, but I guess I missed one for I only encountered one. Most riders on the tour I chose rode regular road bikes and were riding together in small groups. Although I was riding all by myself, only 9 riders passed by me (I tried to follow the first small group of three that overtook me half an hour after I started, but they were just a little too fast for me).
I remember that after riding the Z Pro a little over 2 hours, I was thinking that no way I would be doing the same thing on a regular road bike, especially not after a night shift ! Most other riders noticed that I rode a different bike, but no one made any remarks about it towards me. Maybe they were even sleepier than myself ;-)
When I got home, I had finished riding almost 66 miles. Only then I realized that I had just finished my first metric century on my Z Pro. Average speed was around 18,5mph, which I think was not bad at all, concidering the lack of sleep and the windy conditions. And surprise, surprise .... a couple of miles from home, another spoke from my rear wheel broke ! Luckily for me I managed to ride my bike home. Swapped wheels again when I got there, took a shower and stayed on the couch for the rest of the day. I did feel my lower back a bit, not that it hurted, but it made me aware that I hadn't ridden my CF bike much lately. Needless to say I slept like a rose Saturday night !

Handlebar woes

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the deep V-bars from Rans to try out something new. I installed it with the short riser and took a couple of rides with it. I liked the position but found there's not enough room on the handlebar : I could hardly set up my shifters, brakes and grips on the straight parts of the handlebar. There was no more room for my bell and the bike computer. Also, putting bar ends on the V-bars simply looked ridiculous so the bar had to go.
I went back to the medium riser with a MB downhill bar. It's almost the same height as the V-bar set up but gives me plenty of room on the bar itself.
I have ridden a little over 1300 miles so far and still like the bike very much. I now have 2 wheelsets for my Z Pro, both from Shimano : the
WH-R550 in black and an older set (can't seem to find the number anymore, it has less spokes but really looks nice). When it comes to looks, I do prefer the older set of wheels, they really make the bike an eye catcher. Only issue with these wheels is that every couple of 100 miles, I break one spoke, mostly in the rear wheel. With these kind of wheels, when a spoke breakes, you can't ride anymore because the wheel's too out of true to continue riding. In order to keep riding while the wheel is back at the bike shop, I now have another set. Can't tell much difference in riding though, I'm not such a bike geek ;-)

The Z Pro with my favorite wheel set

Bottle cage holder part II

Riding with the bottle cage holder installed on the top tube did not work for me, because it touches the inside of my legs. So I put the cage holder to the seat post. Since the holder has two rubber straps, the size of the seatpost is no problem. It is only possible to use regular size waterbottles, which do not touch my tail light, a larger bottle would. At least I can take an extra bottle on my rides now (I always drink too little anyway).

Bottle cage holder in a more traditional place

I also replaced my regular bar ends with so called anatomic bar ends and really like them. They are less fatigueing and their position allows my back to stretch a little less. Also the discomfort of my neck, which occurs only when I look back over my right shoulder, is a little less this way. Still haven't found the perfect cockpit, but I'm getting there ;-) !

The handlebar set-up as it is right now ....

Yesterday afternoon I took another ride with my collegues. We were only six this time and just like last week, I was riding in front most of the time. I'm still getting a lot of comments on my bike, but also a lot more questions about it.
We did a total of 50 miles with an average of 19mph, which was not bad at all, considering there was a mild breeze. Most of my collegues are really surprised that I can ride my "weird bike" at the same speed as they do on their regular road bikes. And I do have to admit : it is nice to hear that you have to slow down, because some are having trouble keeping up the pace. Last week I got the same request, so I guess I'm getting there ....

Adding a bottle cage holder

Since the weather is getting better every week now (and since I'm not drinking enough anyway) I decided to add another bottle cage holder to my Z Pro. I do not like riding with a backpack on my back, so I found a rubber cage holder which easily straps to any kind of frame, no matter the size of the tubes. Only problem with the Z Pro is the finding the right place. Since the frame has some weird angles, there are not so many options. Forget the inside of the seat tube, there's no room to get a bottle in and out. The outside is possible, but cannot be reached while riding. So that leaves the top tube. I tried to put it on top of the tube, but than it is too wide for the inside of my legs. Only the inside of the tube is possible for me.

This is the position I'm going to test on my next rides


This position is possible but not practical at all