Mike's Bike Blog

For the last few days my wife has had to endure me calling a couple times a day. Normally she would not mind, but she knew I was just calling to see if the Orbea had arrived. Yesterday it finally made it's way from the Orbea US headquarters to my house.

Like a kid at Christmas I frantically opened the box and peered inside. I really didn't know what I was going to get besides it being an Orca. I had sent over a bike I created using the Orbea Made to Order Web site, but RoadBikeRides.com had already arranged a deal with Orbea. Luckily I got the size and color I wanted. The bike came with Dura-Ace components, I was hoping for Sram Red, but hey I won't argue with a free bike. I'll probably end up selling the wheelset that came with it as well. The Mavic ksyrium sl that it came with are a $1,000 wheelset, but my powertap won't lace to it.

I also made one other change at least for the time being. When I took the bike down to Austin Bikes to get built I had them take off the Dura Ace cranks and put on an Ultegra SL Compact crank. I might put these back on later, but for this weekend I'll need every bit of help up the hills.

Yes you read that correctly, I'm going to break my own rule about riding new gear in a big event. Tomorrow I'm going to attempt the Tour Das Hugel with the new bike. In all actuality I'll probably have fewer problems with the new bike than I would have with the Fuji. With the Fuji I couldn't shift into my 26T cog because the shifting mechanism was problematic, it has difficulties shifting off the cog. I really have to finesse it. Plus I've always have had shifting problems where the chain will come off and lodge between the cranks and the frame.

Maiden Voyage

All I can say is wow. The bike is fast! With the Fuji I really have to work to get my speed above 22 MPH, when I hit 24 mph on a flat I'm at my threshold. Tonight when I took out the Orca I was going between 24 and 29 MPH with ease, well at least it wasn't taxing my heart rate. With the PowerTap, the old wheels and the Ultegra crank the bike weights 18 pounds. The shipping weight was measured at 15 pounds. The Orca is lighter than my Fuji without wheels but a good 3 to 5 pounds I'd guess.

Twitter

If you haven't noticed I've started using Twitter. I'm using it mainly to update on my rides and bike related things. Tomorrow during the Hugel I'll be twittering my progress. On the right side of the blog page you'll see my twits. Follow me on Twitter.