Its finally in

“I’m on my beater bike”
"Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It weighs less than a fart and costs more than a divorce." By spokesandbeans

I give you Cortez: The newest addition to my geargasm... the Felt B-14



After almost 2 months anxiously waiting my 2011 Felt B-14 is in! While Retul was having it put together by Colorado Multisport I scheduled my final bike fitting. With Matt (who I got fit by previously) being occupied by a wedding I settled on a fitting with Ivan. A few people in the RMTC had been fit by him and he came highly recommended since he was trained by Todd Carver the bike fitting master.

This morning I showed up promptly at 0956 at the Retul studio in Boulder (if you're on time your late, especially if you are type A). However, the studio was no longer being used for bike fitting so I had to drive over to Colorado Multisport, also in Boulder. The problem with this was that CMS just had moved into a new space and the directions given were hazy at best. But I eventually found it. I was greated by a film crew Holly and Courtney from Retul for the demo they were going to film and use me in, and to my surprise Matt had reworked his schedule to get me set up!

My bike was center stage proped up and locked into a Cycle Ops trainer. Matt was using my initial zin measurements from my frame finder data to set the seat height/position and aero set up. I had brought pedals, my brand new Look KEO's and my Adamo ISM road seat (which I had been riding on my road bike for the last month to get used to it).

The session started out with a few interview questions with the Retul camera crew and then the moment I was waiting for, my introduction onto my very own TT bike. After getting my first road bike last year, I certainly stepped it up a notch this year. The fit was great, like a glove made of carbon fiber.

I got to hand it to the people at Retul, the really are no joke. They know what their doing with the fitting and rider education service that they provide. Its cutting edge and I cant wait to see whats next. Stay tuned for the demo video after its edited and approved.

Things are looking up

Ever heard of the saying keep your chin up with a keen eye on the horizon? Well thats exactly what Ive been doing since ive moved to Colorado. I've kept an open mind to try and apply myself in many different directions and its really starting to pay off. Im settling into the CO laid back lifestyle which is a lot different from the work-A-holic NYC lifestyle I recently (over a yr ago now) left behind.

Two recent opportunities have been passed to me:
First off the shoe review program with Competitor is on hiatious for a little bit but may continue with Triathlete Mag, but when one door closes another one sometimes opens right up and Brooks has invited me to review a pair through their testing program. I had signed up months ago and anyone can enter so I suggest you do so Here.

Also, I've hinted that Retul is going to include me in a promo video.

"Hi Dan,

If it's still okay with you, we would definitely still like to do some filming next Friday for a short promo video on Frame Finder. I would like to do a few interview style questions on your bike buying experience with Frame Finder and take some footage of your final fit with Ivan. I will plan on seeing you at Colorado Multisport next Friday, the 13th. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. We really appreciate you participating in the promo video.

Best Regards
Retul"

Build your house with steep walls

That was the advice of a pro cyclist thats a world champion indoor and outdoor and TT
On Tuesday night of this week we had our RMTC meeting at Retul in Denver to discuse bike training and bike fit. Retul was nice enough to host a massive crowd of 70 packed into their fit/show room. And this was the advice he gave:

Shift before you need to
keep a 90-110 cadence at all times (even up hill)
And view your training as if you were building a house with steep walls. Meaning as little base prep as posible but including Anaerobic Zone training.

Bike Fitting

As previously mentioned, when I signed up for the Rocky Mountain Tri Club we ended up having a deal with Retul for a bike fitting and I jumped on it! I just got done with a very informative and thorough fitting session of almost 2 hours with Mat over at Retul in Boulder. This is the same studio that fit Carfrae, Dibbins, Reed and Deboom before some of their major wins in 2010.


Since im in the market for, and have not yet acquired a TT/Tri bike I had my fitting on the adjustable fit bike made by Exit, but first we went through a history and goals interview. I consider myself a power runner, I bring my knees up, I open up my hips. I have strong hamstrings, quads and calfs which have a better then average flexibility and are incredibly balanced (this is key for a smooth peddle stroke, or a great runway run up in pole vault). Right off the bat we had a problem. My inexperience, lack of bike knowledge...I didn't even know some of the answers to what I was riding, and what brands I like. I guess gone are the days when you just get on your bike and ride. A TT bike is not a bike, its a masterpiece of carbon technology! It ended up that I had old style Look cleats and we had to change those out (mud still on my Pearl Tri Fly III's from my last race in Sept.) because they didn't even have those pedals. No biggy.

I mounted the Exit bike and we got to work. First starting out on seat positioning. This is where we almost immediately changed out the stock Felt seat (Felt SL Tri/TT Saddle). What can I say? I guess im just a little too tender in my undercarriage region. We changed that seat out for an Adamo saddle and it was like night and day (it will be an additional cost to my big purchase but a very important one). Comfortable, I could now attempt some very aggressive aero positioning. I couldn't believe how different this position was from the one I set myself up with on the road bike. After spinning some varying intensity for 20 mins with adjustments along the way I was surprised that my quads weren't burning, and my calfs weren't ready to go into lock down mode. The goal of a TT bike and optimal aero position is for better running off the bike. I didn't know the exact definition of this until this point. I now know why so many have passed me on the bike... my domination it seems is soon to come.


Retul Fitting
Mat took a few recordings of me spinning which then made a 2D computer model of yours truly and was complete with a readout of positions, and angle data. When we were sure we had the sweet spot I dismounted and various coordinates of seat, bar, and frame were surveyed to form the Zin.

The Zin coordinates were then uploaded to a frame finder software that Retul is in the process of completing (ya that's how cutting edge this place is, they give you access to their software before its even finished). It turned out that my best fit bike will be in the ball park of a Felt size 56 or Cervelo size 54 both bikes I've had on my list since they are for short legged, long torso-ed individuals like myself. I got a lot of questions answered. Sorry for not having any pictures but I wanted to keep Mat and myself focused on the task at hand..its pretty important to get it right.

Let the bike search begin...


Felt