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| My Merida Scultura 904 Comp posing at Loysel's Toy Café |
Heh! Nice title right? Anyway, don't let the authoritative
sounding title fool you. That is just my way of saying "Steps
I took when I ventured into Roadbiking" .
sounding title fool you. That is just my way of saying "Steps
I took when I ventured into Roadbiking" .
Anyway, why get a road bike? For training purposes!
Most professional XC riders train on a road bike.
Even downhiller Rachel Atherton was on
a Cervelo road bike when she had that accident
a Cervelo road bike when she had that accident
Round The Island training rides (RTI in Singapore
Roadie speak) are much faster on a roadbike. I know
that it can also be done on a MTB.
I have done it twice and twice I came home at
almost lunch time and almost bonking. Compare this
with my Roadie friends who go at around 5AM and then
reach home in time to have breakfast with their families.
Ok, now that I've convinced myself that road bikes
are good for training and marital bliss,
let's go and discuss the steps I took :
1. Buy a Roadbike
This should be a no-brainer ... if you have money :-)
Since I am always short of this magical stuff that
Since I am always short of this magical stuff that
makes the world go round, I had to do some hunting.
Off I went to Vertex to take a look at last year's ...
No, make it last 5 years' bike models from Specialized,
Giant, and Cannondale. Sigh, no dice. Nothing fits
my budget.
I then went to Hup Leong at Chinatown and looked
longingly at a 2013 version of the Merida Scultura
904 Comp in white and blue. John approached me and
asked what I was looking for and what was my budget.
I said I have only this much (or is it this little hehe) and
that I think a good aluminium bike should be good
enough for me. If he can give me an aluminium frame
with carbon seatstays and carbon fork then that would
be like hitting the jackpot already.
We both sighed and stared loonnnggg and hard
at the ALL carbon (even the fork steer) Scultura 904
at the ALL carbon (even the fork steer) Scultura 904
... and then he asked me if I want THAT all
carbon bike instead? I said of course !!!!
So he fitted the bike to me, put in Shimano 105
pedals and kept the cleats for when I come
with my new roadie shoes :-)
Before I do a review of the Merida Scultura 904 Comp,
here is Road.cc's review of the same bike.
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| My carbon Shimano roadie shoes - pic courtesy of Google Images |
2. Buy a pair of Carbon Roadbike shoes
I went back to Vertex and headed straight to Tay
Junction/Giant. I saw some cycling shoes on sale
there and I wasted no time trying on a few pairs
that would fit my budget.
Of course, these would be the plastic/composite
soled shoes. One of the salesladies whispered to me
that there is this Shimano Carbon soled shoes which was
a few years old and is on sale for 50% off. That should
a few years old and is on sale for 50% off. That should
fit my budget!
I tried them on and they were sooo stiff. If anyone
of my friends saw me at Tay Junction on that day,
they'd swear that they can see a thought bubble
on top of my head showing myself winning a sprint
in Tour de Bintan (teeehihihihi).
I was willing to take the display pair that I tried
on but the saleslady said she'll get a new
pair for me. Nice :-)
Again, before I make a review of my Shimano
SH-R215s. Here's a review from Cycling News on
Dec 2004 (gasp! My shoes are that old?)
3. Have your bike fitted to you
Bike fit is not that important for Mountain Biking.
Case in point, watch any UCI XCO race last
year and see how many times you will see
Absalon, Schurter or Fontana sit on their saddles.
I think there was even a race when Fontana
elected to continue racing without a seatpost
when his seatpost broke?
But for road cycling, you may have to sit 2-3
hours straight! Hence a proper bike fit is
necessary.
A few years back, I emailed a bike fitter which
was featured in the Singapore Cycling magazine
SPIN. Not sure if I remember correctly, but I
was quoted 400$ for a bike fit. Yes, I know bike fit
is important BUT I didn't know it would cost
that much :-(
So, I turned to my ever dependable friend : Youtube.
Just search for bike fit and you will see all the
videos where people will teach you how to do a basic
bike fit ... for free :-)
bike fit ... for free :-)
I know that having a professional do the bike
fit is ideal. However, I am just looking for a basic
fit and these Youtube videos should be ok for this.
So in the end, I fiddled with the following :
position of the cleats
saddle height
saddle fore and aft position
position of the cleats
saddle height
saddle fore and aft position
As for the stem length and stem height
(spacers under the stem), I kept the stem
height as is (all spacers under the stem). I then
kept shortening the stem from 100mm to
kept shortening the stem from 100mm to
80mm and finally 70mm UNTIL I no longer
feel numbness on my hands whenever I cycle to
East Coast Service Road.
That is the extent of my bike fit.
Here are two videos that I used as instructional
videos for fitting my bike :
Ok, that's it for Part 1. See you again for Part 2
where I will discuss grips, brake lever adjustment,
brake pads and tires.
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