Pimp My Ride 2012

One week out from Ironman and it's time to get the bike ready.  Jason and I spent time this weekend dialing everything in.

First step is cleaning the bike.  It wasn't too bad seeing as it's seen a lot of trainer action lately to avoid the rain.  Still, I can't show up to such an important event with dirt on it!  Since Jason was doing some other jobs, I got to clean it with no cranks, chainrings, or chain on it.  Made it easier to get into a lot of nooks and crannies.  For anyone familiar with me, you know how much I like a clean bike, and I'll put in some serious effort towards that.  Check out my post on how to clean a bike here: Bike Bath.  I also took off the bottle cage and pump mounted on the down tube.  I need all the aero benefits of my sweet Specialized Transition frame!

All shined up, and Jason put bigger chainrings on.  Living on hilly Vancouver Island, I have pretty wussy gearing.  But headed to a fast course like Arizona requires some different gears, so new chainrings, different cassette, and new chain.  Smooth!

New bar tape, computer mount off, and bar-mounted bottle.  I love having the bottle right in front of me on my bars, as it reminds me to drink.  

Race wheels on, and we may add a disc cover once we get there.  This will be the first time I've raced without tubulars.  Jason's been doing a lot of bike gear research (nothing new, that may be the understatement of the year) and he's decided we should move to clinchers.  New clincher tires have almost as low rolling resistance as tubulars, and with latex tubes ride just as nicely.  We're going to put Stan's sealant in the tubes to help prevent flats - lots of thorn potential on a course that rolls through the desert.  Another advantage to running clinchers is I only have to carry a tiny tube rather than a spare tire.  I can change a tubular and clincher in about the same amount of time, so that's a wash.  Clinchers it is.  Jason is the bike gear guru around here, so if he thinks clinchers are the way to go, then I defer to his judgement.

A quick test ride up and down the street and we're ready to roll.  Which actually means taking the bike apart (sort of) and packing it up for travel.  For tips on how to pack a bike, check out my earlier post (click here).  Flying with a bike is a source of stress for me, so I'll be happy when we're there and everything's reassembled just right.