… is mostly back together again.
The road rash from the crash in the Memorial Day crit is rapidly healing. The worst spot is on the back of the left hand, which was itching up a storm through the night and resulting in me throwing in the towel and getting out of bed at 4:37AM (uggh!) since I could not sleep. Still a bit of bruising, but that is fading. All of the bodily parts seem to function.
Last night the Colnago was restored to some semblance of working order. The shifters are on and seem to shift fine. I wrapped up the bars, trying the fi’zi:k tape made of Microtex. Not sure about how it will feel or wear, but it is a pain to work with. Only thing that I have used that is more of a pain is the Brooks leather bar wrap.
This weekend I plan to get out and see if the body and bike will be up to the 47 mile Pescadero Road Race 8 days from now.
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June 6, 2008 at 1:34 pm
eugene
The fizik tape wears like iron, ride is about equal to two rolls of cloth tape, harder than the cork stuff. It can be cleaned up using windex and elbow grease. I have not tried this but am told it works.
June 6, 2008 at 8:31 pm
CyclistRick
Eugene - that is what I heard, and why I decided to give the Fi’zi:k stuff a try. But it is sure a lot stiffer and harder to work with than cork.
June 6, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Todd Manley
I had this same tape on my bars when I won down at Cantua. For the last lap when I was off the front I was hunched over and had my forearms resting on the top of my bars. There was absolutely no cushioning from this bar tape. The next morning I was bruised and pretty sore. Since switching back to the cushy Deda tape I’m pretty happy.
June 7, 2008 at 5:20 am
chris
I thought Brooks leather wrapped well. Maybe it depends on the shape of your bars.
June 7, 2008 at 7:07 am
CyclistRick
Todd - yep, lack of cushioning can be a problem. Guess that is why they sell the gel underlayer.
Chris - the Brooks looks great, but the lack of stretch made it hard to get it to lay flat around the bends and curves; really problematic in the figure 8 around the levers, and Ergo levers are tricky anyway.
June 7, 2008 at 3:34 pm
ali
hello fine men.
choosing bar tape boils down to only 1 essential question…Which brand best matches the colors of your kit.
and rick, see ya at the track!
June 9, 2008 at 10:24 am
CyclistRick
Ali - The Wife belongs to the style police, part of having a degree that is, in part, from an art school. So I get a lot of feedback on the match thing. And we have this conversation about matching, and besides the kit there has to a match or a complement to the bike. My kit is rather bland, black, blue, white while the bike has black, pink, yellow, and green. The only 3 way match would be black, but that is too boring.
June 9, 2008 at 1:47 pm
twinkiepatissier
Oh man…Fizik bar tape is such a pain in the arse to wrap, I agree. I spent all Saturday afternoon trying to perfect it.
June 12, 2008 at 10:49 pm
andrew
yo, hope the healing is going well. how’s that microtex bar tape working ? curious.
still doing the train huh? maybe if I wake up I’ll head over to pescadero to cheer on some of ya.
June 13, 2008 at 1:29 pm
CyclistRick
twinkie - Yep, real pain. I am not sure if I like spending THAT much time wrapping the bars. BTW, we saw you lined up at the Memorial Day crit, but since I was laying there waiting for the EMT to return I could not jump up to say hello.
Andrew - yo. You must be glad to not rely on CalTrain these days; too many times getting bumped lately. As for the MicroTex, real pain to wrap and no padding are the bummers; supposedly easy to clean and long lasting but I am not Susie Spotless and rewrapping once a season is no big deal. I think I may go back to Deda/Cinelli cork next time around.