Thursday, January 27, 2011

California - Day 2 Tsunami2 Frame

So I spent a lot of the day anxiously waiting for the Tsunami2 frame. In the meantime I started gathering the parts I'd brought here to SoCal to help complete the bike. I'd stowed them in various checked bags, distributing the weight and "dangerousness" so I wouldn't get charged (money or legally).

The easy one was the fork.

The 3T fork.

I thought I'd be packing it in my bodybag duffle but the bodybag was made for little kid-sized bodies. The fork box, with the uncut steerer, wouldn't fit.

Of course once I cut it down to the right size it'll practically fit in my laptop bag. But it's not cut and therefore I had to put it in my bike bag.

Except for the poor box design (which forces you to practically rip the box a bit when you open it... maybe that's intentional), the fork looks, well, confidence-inspiring.

The Missus balked a bit when I pointed out that the fork cost me half again as much as the frame. I explained that I thought about it a bit while on the trainer. I'll be descending down some big descent, chin tucked in just over the front tire, 55 or 60 mph, and I'll hit a bump. Or need to brake hard.

And I thought about what kind of fork I wanted under my chin. Would I feel okay if I had a $200 cheaper fork?

Would I trust a fork that wasn't designed by an F1 carbon fiber engineer?

(You need to picture me standing on one leg, the other leg up in the air per a "tuck", both hands holding the center of an imaginary bar, with my head held low, chin down, over an imaginary front wheel. Apparently it made an amusing sight because it elicited giggles when I explained it this way.)

The fork has very slim aero blades.
It also came with some very cool stickers.
Most importantly it inspires confidence. And I haven't even ridden it yet.

Clockwise from top left:
Iodine C headset; Contour battery; Park fork cutting guide; Ritchey 120mm 73 deg stem; blade to cut carbon fiber steerer tubes; Nokon housings.
Note also the bike scale in the top right (black item with LCD screen and buttons).

The rest of the parts took a bit more treasure hunting. Between the two big bags I managed to squirrel away everything. I imagine I'll find a couple more things, like the Contour battery charger (it's here somewhere), a front chain guard, and other things I'm sure that have slipped my mind.

I didn't find the bar tape till later (Cinelli white cork, Bontrager black fake cork) but I have two choices for myself. I couldn't find my white Titanio so I'll probably be using the black tape.

Oh... and I found more stuff.

Clockwise from top left:
K-Edge front chain guard; top and side "access" Specialized bottle cages; Contour battery charger (and battery); a bunch of extra Nokon segments; BB30 bearings and such.

I think that finalizes most of the stuff for the Tsunami2.

Now for the frame. Where the heck is it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is the new frame painted black ?

curious


keviN

Aki said...

It's black, yes. I'm going with an unfortunately named theme, black and blue and red all over. So to speak.