A Champions Bike

It was great for Ridley to custom paint a special design for Micke to go along with his Swedish championship jersey, there has been pro tour riders not even get a special bike. We would have liked to take delivery of it much sooner but it takes some time to design and paint it, and with a summer vacation thrown in it was not possible to have it for Tour de Pyrenees like we had hoped. But it was important we have it for the teams biggest race, the 2.1 Poitou-Charentese.

I picked up the frame from Ridley last Friday and had to have it built before leaving for the race on Sunday. First impressions of the frame were good, a nice pearl white with mettalic blue and some flat yellow highlights. An all blue and yellow design would be too much, the white separates everything given that his kit is all blue and yellow. Ridley put some nice touches on the frame which I think Micke had some input with, by putting his name on the on the down tube and the description Svenkes Mastre 2010 on the top tube is a reminder of what the special paint scheme is for.


As nice as the frame is what was more of a thrill to work with was the Shimano Di2 groupset. I had seen it up close on other teams but had never worked with it let alone ride with it. The group goes together like any other groupset with just the wiring being obviously different than connecting standard gear cables. The wiring takes a little extra time to route the right way, you dont want to get it wrong and have it caught or rubbing on anything. I was supplied also the internal wiring kit, but holes needed to be drilled and time did not allow for that. With a task like that you don't want to rush it and have it all go wrong. I also had to go to a shop to buy part of the wiring that was not supplied for some reason, the kit that runs from the shifters to the juction box [junction A]that sits at the handlebars. Three wires, a small box with a couple of lights and a button cost me 99 euros, not what I call cheap. But without it the group could not be put together. With this trip taking some time from the build it was quicker to run the wiring on the outside, the trick is to make it look neat and tidy.









the group layed out before being mounted to the frame.


Another thing to be aware of is when adjusting the limit screws on the rear derailluer, you can not move it side to side like the mechanical version as you will damage it. The front derailluer you can move side to side as like the mechanical to set the limit screws. The angle screw I don't really see the point of but comes with small protector pads so the screw does not damage your frame, this I did not use as it will depend on the type of derailluer mount on your frame.

The shifters I think are a nice shape, with a similar shape but a softer feel to the old 7800 version, the 7900 shifters are an improvement [as far as comfort goes] over the previous but the Di2 hoods make the 7900 feel like a lumpy mattress. It is also good that they went back to having the fixing bolt on the side rather than on top. Shimano should have used the same hood design on their other groups as even Lindsay could get her hands around the hood and still brake easily. So I think it is a more user friendly design, with no big eye sore of a gap if you dial in the reach adjustment.


like the previous 7800 the fixing bolt here is in a much better position.





With the group all wired up I could now set the limit screws and adjust the gears. I have to admit it was much easier than what I first thought. Without the chain on you set your high and low limit screws on both derailluers, go throught the gears while checking alignment. Then fit your chain, shift the derailluer to a middle cog, press the button on the Juction A box until it lights red and shift the gears until it is running quiet and smooth. In adjustment mode the rear derailluer will move micro shifts both ways so it aligns correctly, once done press the button again to go back to normal shift mode and your done. If all is ok after test riding then you never have to tune it again, easy. This is by far for me the best groupset to work with, it will only go out of alignment if you bend your hanger, the front has automatic trimming and shifts perfectly. It took a couple of rides for Micke to get the gears feeling right so they weren't noisy or skipping, but with a quick adjustment I had it shifting correctly.


But now the bike has being stripped of the Di2 and replaced with standard 7900 shifting due to a broken wire to the front derailleur. I first had the wire running on the right behind the crank, but that had to be changed when Micke changed to his SRM crank where it was pushed against the wire. So it had to be rerouted and the only option was behind the bottom bracket in front of the rear wheel. There was just enough space for the cable but the Schaals-Merksem race we did last Sunday was condtions like a wet Paris-Roubaix. Mud had built up on the tyre and wore through the wire exposing the electronic wires. The shifting still worked but every now and then the rear derailleur would shift by it's self or not at all, yet the front would shift fine. So now we will run the wires internally but Micke will have it done by someone back at home, which saves me the hassel.


not such a new bike anymore on the left and what damage the mud did on the right.






Componets have come a long way over the years. When I started riding it was 6 speed and then in my senior ranks 7 speed came out, it was a big thing. Gears were like 13-21 with a 42x53 up front and shifters on the down tube. Frames were steel, wheels were 32 hole box section rims and clipless pedals had just come out. My racing bike then was a custom built Hillman with Suntour Superbe Pro, Mavic open 4cd rims, Time pedals and Cinelli bars and stem. These componets then were the best you could buy, Suntour was new on the road scene, as with Time, but as with Mavic and Cinelli there was not too much else to go for, they were the tried and true racing brands. Apart from Suntour, all the brands then are still around today and now have carbon everything, but electronic shifting is by far the biggest change, Mavic had tried some years ago but failed. Shimano seem to have go it right first go and now it will be a matter of time before it's rivals can match it.

On another note, it is almost the end of season here as the team enters it's last few races, for me however I have one more race as I prepare to head home mid September for the World Championships to mechanic for the Norwegian team. Thanks to Morten it was a position I was offered due being a local. So there is a little stress organising some things there but I look forward to working my first worlds.

Til next time
Mark