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Today May 2021

Yesterday down the river, the herons are nesting. It doesn't look too populated now, but when the young ones get big enough they'll be all over in the water there. Some years ago they located a couple hundred meters upstream, but the ongoing 'reforming' of the river sides seems never-ending. Lucky that they've left this area alone. Actually, two rivers meet here, the big one in front, a smaller one coming in on the right side of the pic.

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Hit Fujiten.
Goal - feel out the newer bike, relearn the lines, have fun, don't get hurt.
This was all accomplished. 2 PRs were set - but that was not the goal as I never went above 70% effort.
The Ibis Ripmo is amazing and at home on some of these trails, so I was working less to go just as fast as my old Hightower.
In retrospect - I am a little bummed I didn't make one or two runs all out.
I am 7 seconds off the KOM on the "black" course and I never went for it....
Now I kind of have a goal for next time. :D
 
This month has been busier than I expected with unfortunately not enough time to ride despite the great weather. Did my first 輪行 earlier this month with @jonmanjiro around Miura which was great.

Helped my friend dial in his new road bike the other day and managed to ride down to Zebra via my usual route for the first time on about two months. Either the hills have gotten smaller or my legs have gotten stronger but it was easier than I remembered. I guess I can thank @Justin for taking me out to the mountains and ripping my legs off last month, building some more fitness.

Anyways the new bike is finally arriving on Saturday so I've got no excuse not to smash it next month.

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This month has been busier than I expected with unfortunately not enough time to ride despite the great weather. Did my first 輪行 earlier this month with @jonmanjiro around Miura which was great.

Helped my friend dial in his new road bike the other day and managed to ride down to Zebra via my usual route for the first time on about two months. Either the hills have gotten smaller or my legs have gotten stronger but it was easier than I remembered. I guess I can thank @Justin for taking me out to the mountains and ripping my legs off last month, building some more fitness.

Anyways the new bike is finally arriving on Saturday so I've got no excuse not to smash it next month.

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Can't wait to see the full build. The frame is a beauty. I've got some serious bike envy right now.
 
A riding buddy had the same bites two weeks ago from going up Wada. They never seem to bother me, I think its because I ride too fast for the bugs to catch me. The wife says its because my legs have the color of dead flesh.
I belatedly figured out what's been causing these insanely itchy bumps. I thought it might be fleas. Wrong. Chiggers. ツツガムシ. They live on the tips of long grass and attach themselves to your ankles and shins as you walk through it. The bites tend to be around the sock line. You can't feel the buggers while they're biting. The itching starts several hours to one day later, which is why I don't notice what's happening at the time, but often wake up the next morning in hell. The worst part -- they stay on your skin for several days, biting and feeding and making things increasingly hellish, unless you make a proper effort to thoroughly wash the area with hot soapy water. Little sh*ts.
 
yeah it was just perfect and quiet, apart from some arsehole blaring music from a speaker in his bottle holder 🤭
 
FWIW, Wiggle dropped their price on the non-tubeless ready Continental GP 5000. They are now 4,300 yen per tire. Just in case anyone needs to stock up, that is a pretty good deal.
 
FWIW, Wiggle dropped their price on the non-tubeless ready Continental GP 5000. They are now 4,300 yen per tire. Just in case anyone needs to stock up, that is a pretty good deal.
I'm in need of some new tyres to be honest. What's so good about this brand and model?
 
I'm in need of some new tyres to be honest. What's so good about this brand and model?
I run Continental Gatorskins. Haven't punctured in years. But I've been eyeing the GP5000s because they are lighter and supposed to be stickier in the rain while still offering good puncture protection. I think folks who want to go faster prefer them to the Gatorskins. In general, Continental has a good rep for quality, and my experience with them has been really good.
 
I have not run the GP5000s, but I have over 12000km on GP4000s with my Ritchey and who knows how many miles on other bikes that have come and gone.
My Trek arrived with Gatorskins and I have not swapped them.

My 4000s gave me more confidence when leaned over through a corner at full speed. My Gatorskins feel great in the same situation, however the front feels a tad nervous. Never had an issued in the 1300km on the Gatorskins... but the feedback is different.

I have also not gotten a flat on my Ritchey or my Trek. So both are fine in this regard.
I have gotten 2 flats in Japan and both were with Vitoria tires the day after rain when all the crap with washed up onto the road.

If I were in need of tires soon, I would be jumpiing on a new set of 5000s. I hope they are the 4000s, but a tad better.

* Note *
My tires are routinely hopping curbs and on occassion performing trail duties.
 
I really like the colo, and the metallic (?!) paint. That's not a boring, black bike!
And to think I almost went with the black!

Just got back from the bike shop today. Not enough time for a proper ride yet but I did a short ride from the shop back home. The guys at Punto Rosso helped me dial in the fit and of I went. I'll need to do a could hundred km on it to dial things in but eventually I'll have the fork stem trimmed.

I didn't get to crazy on the ride back because I had a backpack full of accessories but first impressions:
Bike feels a lot stiffer, in a good way.
Ride is as smooth as the Bianchi if not better.
Brakes being separate from the shifters on Di2 is nice when downshifting while braking.
I can hear a slight rub on the front disc while doing a standing sprint. Not sure if this is normal for disc brake bikes.
The fit feels a lot better than the Bianchi. The reach is much shorter so I feel less stretched out. Also with that and the narrower bars the bike feels more responsive during a turn.

Proper review coming soon but these are my first impressions.

Also the bike weighs 7.5 kg with Ultegra pedals. Still need to swap over bottle cages and my new computer mount when it arrives.

Here's some teaser shots for now.
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And to think I almost went with the black!

Just got back from the bike shop today. Not enough time for a proper ride yet but I did a short ride from the shop back home. The guys at Punto Rosso helped me dial in the fit and of I went. I'll need to do a could hundred km on it to dial things in but eventually I'll have the fork stem trimmed.

I didn't get to crazy on the ride back because I had a backpack full of accessories but first impressions:
Bike feels a lot stiffer, in a good way.
Ride is as smooth as the Bianchi if not better.
Brakes being separate from the shifters on Di2 is nice when downshifting while braking.
I can hear a slight rub on the front disc while doing a standing sprint. Not sure if this is normal for disc brake bikes.
The fit feels a lot better than the Bianchi. The reach is much shorter so I feel less stretched out. Also with that and the narrower bars the bike feels more responsive during a turn.

Proper review coming soon but these are my first impressions.

Also the bike weighs 7.5 kg with Ultegra pedals. Still need to swap over bottle cages and my new computer mount when it arrives.

Here's some teaser shots for now.
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That looks like one beautiful bike, congratulations. Spec-wise, I don't think you could (sensibly) ask for more: aero frame, disc brakes, Ultegra Di2 (i. e. electronic shifting), aero cockpit, carbon wheels. All it needs is a strong pair of legs and open road! Congratulations.

By the way, how deep are the wheels? They look like about 45 mm to me.
 
@OreoCookie yep. I feel like I've checked all the boxes for everything that I could ever want on this build.

Wheels are 45 mm mavic Cosmic SLR. Despite being an aero frame all the builds I've seen have 45 wheels. Next step up would be 60mm but it's be worried about cross winds at that depth.

Other random specs:
Added a D-fly wireless adapter so I can use the top shifter buttons to control my Wahoo, and display gears, di2 battery power etc.

Handle bar is the integrated setup from the Zero SLR. They don't offer the Filante specific cockpit in Japan apparently.

Shifters are actually Dura ace that they threw in free of charge because they weren't able to get Ultegra shifters in time to finish the build.

The wheel hubs are also extremely quiet which is sort of disappointing because I love how loud my Hunt's are. 😆
 
I can hear a slight rub on the front disc while doing a standing sprint. Not sure if this is normal for disc brake bikes.

Not normal for hydraulic disk brakes. Rotor rub is more likely on cable-operated disk brakes (e.g. if you have a slightly bent rotor) because the cables operating the pistons that push against the pads have more friction in the housing than the mineral oil (which has essentially none) of a hydraulic system.

Is this thru-axle? If your fork has a quick release, check it's properly seated and closed tight.
 
I can hear a slight rub on the front disc while doing a standing sprint. Not sure if this is normal for disc brake bikes.

Thru-axles and brand new pads on a brand new disc... properly bedding the pads in will likely fix that. If not, the caliper just needs to be re-centered on its mount in relation to the disc. No doubt the shop thought they did that when building up the bike, but the only way to know for sure is ride the bike and use the brakes. Easy fix, and lots of DYI videos on YouTube if you're game, or a five minute job for Punto Rosso.

Love your bike's clean lines, and she does look great fully "dressed". Very classy 🤤
 
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