As almost everyone that knows me is aware, I am often very anal picky about seemingly minor details. I like to think that it is just the engineer in me trying to be awesome. Enter my booze fueled weekend mechanic extravaganza! AKA a loser's Saturday night at home.
I have a problem with "entry level" $2000+ TT bikes. Several bikes in this range that boast internal cable routing in the frame (almost any TT bike nowadays) simply slap on a base bar and aerobars suitable for a bike circa 1995, with cables strewn in all directions. My complaint has absolutely nothing to do with aerodynamics and everything to do with how awesome (or not) my bike looks. Yes, I am super materialistic and way too slow to worry about the extra drag of exposed cables.
I recently purchased some snazzy Dura-ace brake levers to replace my sub-par 1995 Tektro levers (again, not appropriate) that were less than confidence inspiring when descending a hill of any size. This is the main reason for my weekend workshop.
OK, done crying about it. Here is a breakdown of what went down:
I have a problem with "entry level" $2000+ TT bikes. Several bikes in this range that boast internal cable routing in the frame (almost any TT bike nowadays) simply slap on a base bar and aerobars suitable for a bike circa 1995, with cables strewn in all directions. My complaint has absolutely nothing to do with aerodynamics and everything to do with how awesome (or not) my bike looks. Yes, I am super materialistic and way too slow to worry about the extra drag of exposed cables.
I recently purchased some snazzy Dura-ace brake levers to replace my sub-par 1995 Tektro levers (again, not appropriate) that were less than confidence inspiring when descending a hill of any size. This is the main reason for my weekend workshop.
OK, done crying about it. Here is a breakdown of what went down:
- Remove Aerodrink bottle. Replace with wine glass.
- Remove old Tektro brake levers, cables and bar tape.
- Refill wine.
- Install new brake levers. Seriously sweet, definitely worth the trouble of installation.
- Drill out caps at back of Profile Design aerobars to allow cables to pass through.
- Refill wine?
- Run all cables through bars and frame.
- Install my absolute favourite (because of looks, of course) white Fizik Microtex bar tape.
Before. Gross!
This is my new favourite use for my Aerodrink bracket.
After. Cables running through the bars and zipped in close.
Nice brake levers, tape and bike. Gross picture.
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