Cutting Up Expensive Carbon Bikes with Raoul Luescher

I dropped into see Raoul Luescher from Luescher Teknik to see what we could do with the noisey seatpost on my Giant TCR build. While I was there I had Raoul tell us about his recent Instagram posts that had me intrigued. He's cutting a LOT of carbon bikes in half and sharing the results.

In this video Raoul shows us a LOT of expensive things cut in half, discusses the build quality, talks about how to safely cut carbon fibre components, and a lot more. He's an encyclopedia of knowledge and can explain the technical concepts of carbon in ways that's easy to undertand for us not-so-composite savvy people.

Some background on Raoul:

Raoul has also been involved with composite materials for over 25 years. He has been employed by Boeing Aerospace, Defence and the Australian Institute of Sport. He has extensive experience in quality control of composites, manufacturing and design. Raoul has designed and built many composite items, including items used in the Olympic games, the Malvern Star range of carbon bicycles which won an Australian Design Mark and the groundbreaking BC composites Tammar mountain bike enduro rim. He has worked with national, Olympic and professional athletes in a technology and equipment advisor role and is passionate about sports performance.

Subscribe to Shane Miller - GPLama on YouTube

Links:
Raoul's Instagram
Luescher Teknik  /  http://carbonbikerepair.com.au

Cycling Maven Videos Featuring Raoul:
Carbon Fiber - The Truth
Carbon Wheels - The Truth I
Carbon Wheels - The Truth II


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Bikes and components in this video: Specialized, Trek, Giant, Focus, Pinarello, Lightweight, Cannondale, Wilier.
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Web: http://shanemiller.net
Instagram: http://instagram.com/gplama
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/gplama
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gplama
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/gplama/
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2014 Tour of the South West - Masters A

The 2013 ToSW wasn't the smoothest event on the calendar last year. To their credit, Cycling Victoria and the Warrnambool City Council were quick to respond to rider feedback and stepped things up for 2014. The most notable was the appointment of Marty Tobin as an experienced Race Director, an excellent move. The major hiccups from last year were addressed and despite the damp start on Saturday morning, it was a successful weekend down on the coast.

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Stage 1 - Road Race - 85km

Nothing much to report here from my perspective. I had no team, no GC aspirations, and wanted to be as fresh as possible for the Stage 2 TT. Watching the teams do their thing and generally keeping out of trouble passed the time. A few teams missed the break and went to the front, excellent. Some teams kept knocking into each other and almost bringing down the bunch, not excellent.

(Most of) the bunch just rolled across the line and were surprised that the time gap to the leaders was only 4 minutes. Given how slow our last lap was, I'd assumed we were well over 10 minutes down on GC.

An observation - It appears the loophole in the CV grading system is that being in a VRS team is a golden ticket straight to MMAS A Grade, bypassing the points/qualification process. The result is a mixed field of riders and level of experience in MMAS A.....

A few incidents that kept us on our toes, and unfortunately one rider in hospital. Riders sprinting the grupetto for 17th place and time gaps when we're 4 minutes down doesn't earn any respect. They'll get 17th place and the respect of the bunch if they just go to the front for the last few km. Things we all learn making our way up though the grades....

Tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Photo (c) http://www.jouptonphotography.com.au/

Anyhows... It was back to the car for lunch and to get the TT bike ready. Last year I went back to the car to find Von's broken bike and her in hospital. This year she (and her bike) were unbroken after Stage 1. It was already a good day.

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Stage 2 - ITT 12.7km.

I've never been a fan of the "time trial specialist" label. I'm just a bike racer who likes to obsess over controllable details, and all of the uncontrollable ones too.

After 100s of TTs, I'd finally trusted that a pacing strategy would work. Knowing the theory is one thing, putting it into practice when you're racing the clock is another.

The course was fast. 55km/h for the first 5km to the right hand corner. The rolling hills back into the wind were also over and done with in no time at all.

Photo (c) jxpphotography.com

Photo (c) jxpphotography.com

Photo (c) jxpphotography.com

The final km into the wind was @470W, way too much left in the tank, but a lot better than coming to a grinding halt into that block headwind.

Official time of 15:53. A few seconds faster than last year, a few watts more, and the Shiv TT rig I'd built up only last Tuesday was flawless.

I spent the rest of the afternoon warming down on the ergo, continually hitting refresh on the result website. I had the MMASA fastest time, giving me the stage win. Big John Cain (Giant Celtic) was in 2nd and an in-form and now in yellow, Versteege (Zoom Video) in 3rd. A bonus was that Elite A didn't break the 16min mark, so I'd set fastest time of the day. And I checked the weather stats for wind changes when they were TTing, nope, they had the same conditions! Awesome.

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Stage 3 - Warrnambool Cemetery Criterium. 40mins + 2 laps.

1.2km course with a killer 200m 6.5% hill every lap. I was 10th on GC after the TT, still minutes down, so GC wasn't a concern. The GC teams should control the race and time bonuses, I had nothing to lose. Game on from the gun.

I kept on the attack all race, trying to get a break established or chasing those who didn't take me with them. The boys from Total Rush were keen to get away with me, but nothing was sticking. I was happy to see David 'Steggles' Sturt (The Hurt Box) go solo but he was soon closed down as the pace was red hot up the hill every lap.

At the 15 minute mark I was cooked. 350/428NP, waiting for the bunch to kick away up the road at any moment. Getting a few seconds rest on the back straight was all I needed to keep chipping away at the hill and pushing for a breakaway.

At 35 minutes the lead group sat up on the back straight. I rolled though to the front, still expecting to be swamped at any moment, it was the inevitable conclusion to my race. I'd mentally pulled the ripcord and was running through scenarios of how I'd try to keep in contact with the rear of the 24 or so riders left. After all, I was a TT specialist doing hill sprints.

The number of spectators on the barriers was growing each lap, so it wasn't long to go. My Facebook check-in before the race at the cemetery said, "Go hard or die trying", and I wasn't dead yet.

Typically this is the point in the race where I'd say "the shit went down"... but it was going down all race... so I guess at the 40 minute mark when I bridged across to Steggles and we opened a gap from the chasing bunch, the shit going down was now even more relentless, and about to get worse!

Photo (c) http://www.jouptonphotography.com.au/

Crossing the line with two laps to go we had a good 6 sec gap on the chasers. On the bell lap Lee Burchell (Bike Gallery) had made it across solo. There were now three of us holding the 6 second gap at the top of the hill. After his solo bridge to us, and with balls bigger than those in Rundle Mall, Burchell drove the back straight into the final corner to ensure we kept clear. I was 2nd wheel, Steggles in 3rd.

Burchell took the final corner first and opened up his sprint, I went right, Steggles left. I was still in disbelief at the position I was in.... surely I'm not going to..... a few kicks later I was over that line first. I let out a "FUCK YEAH" in true disbelief. I quickly apologised to the nearest spectators I'd stopped in front of, not before the commissaire hit me with a $100 fine for language. hah!

Photo (c) http://www.jouptonphotography.com.au/

Winning a TT is more of a relief than anything. Winning the crit was an emotion that I haven't had for a long time at a bike race - and one I won't forget for a while. FUCK YEAH!

Best $100 I've ever spent.

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Full results: http://my3.raceresult.com/details/index.php?eventid=26768&lang=en

Jo Upton Photography:
http://www.jouptonphotography.com.au/tour-of-south-west-2014-stage-1.html
http://www.jouptonphotography.com.au/tour-of-south-west-2014-stage-2.html

Peloton Cafe Photos:
http://pelotoncafe.com.au/2014-tour-south-west-stage-1-photo-gallery/
http://pelotoncafe.com.au/2014-tour-south-west-stage-2-photo-gallery/
http://pelotoncafe.com.au/2014-tour-south-west-stage-3-photo-gallery/

Bike Build: Specialized Shiv Elite A1... with some mods.

While waiting to get back on a stealthy Shiv TT rig again after my ''van Summeren" moment on Richmond Boulevard, I pulled the trigger on a budget TT bike, a Specialized Shiv Elite A1 Apex.

The budget-minded Shiv Elite features a lightweight alloy frame with UCI-legal airfoil tubing, a stiff carbon fork, and our Hydroformed Alloy Aerobar for wind-cheating speed and solid handling. The SRAM Apex 10-speed drivetrain adds reliability and efficiency.

Out-of-the-box pretty.... A good starting canvas.

These bikes hit the market somewhere around the $1500 mark, then dropped to $999, and if you're lucky you'll find one lower than that. I've pointed a few people towards these rigs in the past and they've been happily TTing away on them.

Everything comes in one massive box, wheels and all, partially assembled. Thanks to the guys at The Ride Cycles, the first thing I did in the workshop was to disassemble everything to start the build from scratch with my own parts. I had a plan to squeeze more speed from the budget-beast.

I'm very happy with the result. I was able to set this up with the exact measurements from the Shiv. The basebar is a little higher, but the arm pads are spot on for height.

Done!

Swapped out parts:

Groupset: SRAM Apex -> Shimano Dura-Ace 7800/7900 mix.
Cranks: SRAM S150 -> SRM Wireless Ant+ 175mm.
Brakes: Tektro -> Shimano Ultegra Rear, TRP T925 Front.
Brake Levers: TRP TL720 Aero lever -> Shimano Dura-Ace BL-TT79 Carbon.
Saddle: Romin Evo Comp -> Specialized Sitero.
Stem: Specialized EliteSet -> 3T -17degree 110mm.
Headset: 20mm spacer cone -> Replaced with low profile spacer.

Modifications:

Basebar: Kicks removed from outside/brake levers to flatten the front end.
TT bars:  Shortened to meet 2014 UCI regulations (80cm from tip of lever to center BB). Mounted underneath the basebar. 
TT pads: Slammed on top of base bar. Secured with longer bolt into the TT bars on the underside.

RIP Shiv 2012-2013 :(

After a few days in the carbon ICU at Luescher Teknik, we made the executive decision to switch off life support to the Shiv. The fall that should have been a standard 'brush yourself off son and get on with it' scenario. It wasn't that at all. I'd pretty much WWF slammed the frame sideways into the ground at 47km/h. Not exactly what it was designed for. Neither was my clavicle, that is another story. I'm just lucky the finish line on the day was only 200m up the road, one small bump and I'd have been riding it into the ground rodeo style!

After 1000s of training k's, 1000s more on the ergo, and chasing TTs all over the place - I'm a bit down about parting ways with my trusty friend. Yeah, it is only bike. I'm sure all riders will relate with the statement - "but we've been through so much".

I thought I'd trawl though my race logs for some stats for a tribute to the Shiv..... a TTribute.... for lack of a better word. I know it isn't all about the bike, but this is hands down the one I've had the most success on. If the next rig I'm on is 1/2 as successful as this one was, it'll have a pretty hard good life too. :)

Stats from the last 14 months:
 
- 32 TT events raced.
- 28 wins.
- 31 podiums.
- 10th at the Elite Nationals.
- 700km race kms on the rivet!
- Championship wins across three states.
- Numerous course records.
- A few sneaky Strava KOMs.
- One on course lay down.... :(
- Not one DNF! Rock solid equipment!

2012:
June 6 Wangaratta Tour 2012 - Stage 2 TT A Grade 1st Place
June 10 Blackburn CC Kew ITT - A Grade 1st Place.
June 16 Coburg CC ITT Wildwood - A Grade 1st Palace
June 23 Northern Combine ITT Champs - 1st Place
June 30 Cycling Victoria Paraparap ITT Open Elite - 1st Place
July 14 Cycling Victoria Phillip Island ITT Open Elite - 1st Place
August 8 Cycling Victoria Masters State ITT Champs - 1st Place MMAS1/Fastest Time.
August 11 Ballarat-Sebas CC ITT 1st Place A Grade.
Sept 8 NSW State Masters ITT Champs - 1st Place MMAS1/Fastest Time.
Sept 15 Geelong CC ITT - 1st Place A Grade
Oct 3 Cycling Australia Masters Nationals ITT Champs - 1st Place MMAS1/Fastest Time.
Nov 17 Coburg CC ITT in Bright - 1st Place
Nov 19 Alpine CC ITT - 1st Place
Dec 1 Tour of Bright. Stage 2 ITT. 1st Place MMAS1/2/3
Dec 18 Seymour Broadford CC Tuesday Night TT - 1st Place
2013:
Jan 9 Cycling Australia National TT Championships. 10th place Elite.
Jan 23 SA Vets Woodchsester - 1st Place MMAS2/Fastest Time.
Feb 16 Horsham Tri - Fastest TT leg.
March 3 Northen Cycling ITT Champs - 1st Place/Fastest Time.
March 30 South Pacific and Vic State Vets ITT Championships - 1st Place MMAS2/Fastest Time.
April 21 Blackburn CC Kew ITT - 1st Place A Grade
April 27 Tour of the Southwest. Stage 2 ITT. 1st Place Masters A.
May 5 Cycling South Australia Masters State ITT Champs. 1st Place MMAS2/Fastest Time.
May 19 Blackburn CC Kew ITT - 1st Place A Grade
May 25 Cycling Victoria Paraparap ITT Open Elite - 1st Place
June 6 Wangaratta Tour 2013 - Stage 2 TT A Grade 1st Place
June 16 Blackburn CC Kew ITT - 2nd Place A Grade
June 23 Cycling Victoria Castlemaine Elite Open ITT - 1st Place.
June 29 Geelong CC ITT - 1st Place A Grade
July 13 Cycling Victoria Phillip Island ITT Open Elite - 1st Place
July 28 Cycling Victoria State Clubs Teams TTT Champs - 2nd place Elite.
Aug 3 Cycling Victoria Wangaratta ITT Open Elite - 3rd place.... including a crash... and RIP Shiv.

Specialized Australia HQ - A Quick Tour

Von and I had the opportunity this week to drop past Specialized Australia HQ in Port Melbourne. I've seen snippets of what they do behind the scenes on Le Tour Prologue, seeing it all in person was something else!

Specialized are unique in the industry as they not only sell bikes across all ranges, they also cover gear (helmets, shoes, clothes), equipment (saddles, tyres, etc), and offer professional bike fit services (Body Geometry) - and on top of this they run Specialized Bicycles Component University (SBCU) to train the masses who'll be selling and servicing their gear. I had to explain that to put the photos in context - They do A LOT!

Best smile I could crack while freshly broken.

Training area - Retail shop and workshop fit out. Very impressive!

Lunch with bikes. My kind of lunch room.

Training session on hold... they were all out riding.

Body Geometry Sunbeds. (A good tan is a MUST when it comes to correct bike fit)

Dual fridge configuration. The one on the left is for UCI certified 3:1 food.

Mmmmmm S-Works McLaren TT lid. I drooled like Tony Martin over this.

Behind glass - Police line up. This bike looked like the culprit.

Melburn Roobaix corporate infiltration! It is the new Fight Club!

One thing that stood out for me today was that everyone I met was truly passionate about cycling. The staff bike parking area was FULL! A little birdy even tells me their Sports Marketing Specialist has just entered the Noosa Triathlon in November. (Good luck Emily!)

If you're not on a Specialized bike then maybe their shoes, helmets, or butt-measured-for-perfect-fit saddle is the item on your shopping list to make your bike time more enjoyable. (I have to confess, when Skinny Luke at Total Rush loaned me a Romin saddle a few years back he was unable to pry it from underneath me.... and I'm still riding it!)

I could have taken a billion more photos of everyone involved behind the scenes - It was a busy operation keeping one of the world's biggest bike brands ticking along in Australia. So next time you're in at Total Rush, Bike Gallery, Bike'n'Bean, or any Specialized dealer in Australia, you'll know the people you're dealing with are skilled up, well fed, and have had a blast ripping around on the latest Specialized bikes between training sessions. They know the gear inside out.

Huge thanks to Dave and the crew at Specialized for their ongoing support and offering to show us their HQ.

June 2013 Wrap - TTs, TV, & Tweets

A lot of what we've been up to has been covered on Twitter and Facebook, but I've thrown together a summary for the site here for those who are in web-only land.

Magnetic Island - Beach holidays!

A few days with family on the island after the Wang Tour was a great break from winter in Melbourne.

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Kew TT - Blackburn CC. Zonta Group TT Round 4. June 16th 2013.

From 28°C on a beach to 2°C and a damp course in Kew. My numbers were good after six days off the bike, just not good enough to stop a stomping Dave Kelly coming in 1st place with a 29:12. 2nd place for me at 29:32. Thanks to Contour and The Peloton Cafe I captured my entire ride on film/SD card!

Full Results: http://www.bbn.org.au/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=138560  (PDF)

Photo op with Hayden Veld (BBN CC), winner of F grade!

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CV Open ITT: Harcourt / Castlemaine CC. June 23rd 2013.

This course is a sleeping gorilla. You don't realise how tough it is until you're out of the saddle grinding at full gas... only 3.8km into the race! We were sprung with an additional 5km on the start line, meaning we'd be doing 25km not 20. With still conditions and the lovely HED3 front wheel, I managed 1st place in Elite. Ace!

Photo (c) jxpphotography.com

Photo (c) jxpphotography.com

Event Photos: http://jxpphotography.com/2013-castlemaine-itt/

Cycling Victoria Event Wrap/Results: Link

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Geelong TT - 23km. June 29th 2013.

Only a 'clubby' race but when you're up against someone who is never too far behind on the results, it is game on 100%! The circuit is getting rougher every race, really sapping any rhythm you get into. Lap 2 was a bone shaker. 1st place. I didn't quite make the 1 minute catch on Nick Squillari (AWS) who had the Contour camera on for the race.

Full Results: MyLaps

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GreenWedge Photochop

After 7,500 Tweets one of them has hit the mark. The photo I 'shopped after seeing the GreenEDGE bus get wedged under the Stage 1 finish line at the tour did the rounds on Le Tour Prologue (Fox Sports), Cycling Central, GreenEDGE's own Backstage Pass, CyclingTips Facebook, even a few GreenEDGE riders re-tweeting it. Only a few gave credit to where the photo came from. Interesting to see how the popularity game works on social media with the 'big players'. (I watermarked the image so I could see who ripped it)

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Le Tour Prologue - Fox Sports / YouTube

Von and I were a part of the Strava segment on Fox Sports' "Le Tour Prologue" last week. We had a blast filming up Yarra St, then going into the studio to talk about Strava with the panel. Despite what I said on the show, it was 'made for television'. I'm no Strava addict, not any more. I must have come across pretty convincing as I've had to explain to a few people that it was a bit of a piss take. 

Behind the scenes - Von!

Behind the scenes - My own fluffer!

Control room - Busy place!

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I AM Specialized!

Yep! I've been on a Shiv and SL4 Tarmac for the last 12 months and loved them, so I was keen to get on board with Specialized. A few phone calls and emails later and I'll be throwing my leg over these machines for a while yet!

2,500km, 10 days, two states, four races, and a new bike!

2,500km in the car that is (not on the bike!). It has been a busy schedule over the last two weeks. I managed to disguise a few races as 'weekend holidays' very successfully. No complaints from Von. She shared the driving and got in a few races herself.
 
2012 Back to Bright - HCC Social Group

This is an annual gathering of Hawthorn CC members, friends, and other miscellaneous characters up in Bright. After reports of a pretty ordinary weather in Bright from Rod Upton the week prior, we had perfect conditions all weekend. Friday I rolled over the Wandi TT course then out to Tawonga Gap and back with Von. I skipped the group ride on Saturday and headed up to Wangaratta for their club TT. Wang CC's setup at the sale yards is the best I've seen at any club. New toilets, showers, club rooms with a stocked fridge. Can't ask for anything more.

The 20km T shape course was changed to 2x 10km laps of a square block. I'd ridden the T course to check out the wind, no time to ride the new course so I was going in blind. I was off last and chasing my 1 minute man, Tully Lyster. It took 12km for the catch. Tully lifted and pegged himself just a few meters behind all the way to the line.

Results:

We made it to the local paper too. Here is tall man Tony Reeckman and I at presentations. Standing next to Tony makes me look like a rugby player. I was cooling down when they called me up, so I ran over to the club rooms with one shoe cover still on, thinking nobody would notice.... check the photo... that'll teach me. (Click the photo to enlarge)

 

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B2B Mt Buffalo Handicap

Chief handicapper Robin Brown pulled off one of the most impressive estimation list to date. The top 10 riders were all within 2 minutes of each other. I knocked a minute off my time up there even before the Tour of Bright, but still a minute down on a PB. I ended up fastest time but only manged 8th in the handicap. Fellow Coburg CC ring-in Abby Grave took the win by only a few meters. One year scratch will get up in this race, and I'll keep going back giving it a shot.

The magpie whisperer.

Wandi TT turnaround. I love this course. It is the new blog banner too.

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South Australian State Masters TT Championships 2012

Just a short trip over to SA.... not. We stopped off in Horsham to see the family on the way through, and we had a late breakfast with old-school pro Doug Issell who's now the man behind the Wal Smith Memorial Casterton 50 Handicap. Von and I are already locked in to race and volunteer with the Northern Combine on that race date, which is a bugger, as I'm sure Doug could have helped us with some generous handicaps. Next year for sure!

The SA TT champs were back at Langhorne Creek, same as last year. We drove the course a few times to get familiar with the landmarks that would break the effort up. This included giving the landmarks nicknames... "3k tree... or 17k tree on the way back"... "4k bush"... "5k house". Anything to break up a dead flat time trial is welcome come race day.

Bike check. The jig was getting a workout.

MMAS1 entry numbers were thin as always, 5-6 on the list. David Stevens (Brennan IT/MMAS4), world masters pursuit champ and CA Masters of the Year 2011, had flown over for a few days to compete and head to the track with the SASI team. He'd be the guy to watch for the fastest 20km time honors across all age groups.

Photo (c) Chameleon Photography

I came in 14 seconds off last years time with a 24:49 @47.1km/h. Gold for MMAS1 and fastest 20km of the day from David Stevens who clocked a 25:59 in MMAS4 for Gold. Von won WMAS1 and was so proud of her medal she wore it all the way home.... all 695kms of it! haha!

Full results/photos: http://www.sa.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=46434

Synchronised zipping.

MMAS1 Podium.

It was a long drive home....

A long drive requires the worst food possible.... Ararat around 8pm.
Like Bargearse, I ordered "CHIPS".

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Mt Donna Buang TT (Blackburn CC / Cycling Victoria)

We arrived home from SA around 10:30pm, unloaded the TT bikes, then prepared and packed the road bikes. Long day! Up again at 6am for the drive out to Warburton. The legs were feeling pretty good for the warm up, aside from the rain and freezing conditions. I thought I'd go alright after Buffalo the week prior.... but after 20mins in it was lights out. I cracked pretty hard on the steep section into Cement Creek and had nothing all the way to the top. I almost turned around and rolled back down, but I thought wtf, keep going. 2.2 degrees and frozen fingers, my standard final 1km smash-to-the-line was at max heart rate and not stressing the strain gauges in the PowerTap too much. 10th place out of 15. Climb time was spot on what I did in similar conditions 4 years ago.

Matt Clark won with a high 46min, followed by Genesys Pro Jono Lovelock, and Budget Forklifts' Jason Spencer. Nick Bensely had an absolute stomping ride too, check his write up here.

Full Results
Photos by Michael McRitchie

Like a scene from Ghost... and like Demi Moore I might have looked the goods,
but on the inside I was feeling like a 49yo lady, sans the coke addition.

Von before the race in Carl's hat. Coach Carl even gave me a hug
after the race to warm me up. Ace bloke! 

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New Bike!

After 5 years the Scott CR1 frame has finally been retired. I'm forever grateful to have some very generous people and sponsors behind me who make these kind of upgrades possible.

Yeah yeah, mismatching wheels... a Beach Rd no-no.

Shimano swapsies from the Scott. The plan is for SRAM Red. One day....

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Random Visuals:

Creeping? I don't get it.

25km/h?! That is creeping. SA is a confusing place on the road.

Crossbones cupcakes! Yeeeaaarrhhh!

Von testing the beds....

Strathalbyn, city of churches.. Or a screenshot from Quake 3.

Last of all... Random Audio:

I put this together after listening to a few pumping tracks in our travels.... and who better to have mixed in but the Tan Man himself. You can download the MP3 and put it into iTunes. Enjoy.