I honestly can’t figure out how people ride bikes with saddles that slope down like that. I’d be constantly sliding off the bike and having to hold myself back with my arms.
His bike has the SRAM hydraulic calipers, I don’t know how long they were in production but maybe 1-2 years at most. I hope he doesn’t have issues with them, but yes they were hard to find he said. He also said that they are surprisingly easy to work on, once blead they have a nice big trim knob and are super powerful and modulate smoothly.
I ride my saddle flat/slight nose down, from riding with him though he is almost always in the drops (he is 6’1 also) so maybe having the nose tilted like that allows him to plant better or be more comfortable?
Every bike he has has the same saddle at the same angle including his MTB.
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His bike has the SRAM hydraulic calipers, I don’t know how long they were in production but maybe 1-2 years at most. I hope he doesn’t have issues with them, but yes they were hard to find he said. He also said that they are surprisingly easy to work on, once blead they have a nice big trim knob and are super powerful and modulate smoothly.
Gotcha, that makes more sense since they didn’t look like the Magura brakes! I’ve heard the SRAM ones were a lot better, glad that they’re not too much of a hassle after the initial setup. I think they never really took off because good rim brake calipers are pretty strong with cables, as long as you dont have tight bends in the cable. That’s another reason I love the S5, external brake cables makes running housings so much easier and braking much better. There’s lighter calipers for sure, but I do love the power of the DA 9100 calipers. They really crank down without even pushing too hard on the brake levers.
I honestly can’t figure out how people ride bikes with saddles that slope down like that. I’d be constantly sliding off the bike and having to hold myself back with my arms.
I ride with the saddle angled down probably 4-5 degrees, any more and it’s hard to generate power on the flats and especially slight downhills. It’s a lot more comfortable when you have an aggressive position, and helps open the hip angle and generate more power. Having a totally flat saddle bring me saddle sores and lower back discomfort on longer rides, and I can’t generate power as effectively climbing. It also feels like I’m smashing my sensitive bits into the saddle rather than the saddle supporting them.
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My little project is nearly finished now, still tinkering with the exact hoods position hence no bar tape yet.
Took it out for a ride already and I’m impressed, it’s actually faster than my modern disc brake Madone SLR 7 and just feels so much more nimble and responsive. May have to sell the Trek now as I don’t see the point of owning it. Will try to ride both bikes back to back to confirm my theory, but Wilier definitely feels faster.
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“Very average bike to me…”
I had a similar experience. A few years ago I bought a NOS C50 and built it up with Campy Chorus, etc. It was fine. But after years of hearing the angels sing about Colnago, I guess I expected something better than, “fine.” 
I ended up selling it after ~500 miles.
That said, if a Master X-Lite in Saroni livery fell into my garage, I’d be perfectly happy just to look at it.
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They were the oem campy pads.
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True that, some frames you just want them to ogle at them only. I’m looking for an Sworks Tarmac Ultralight for that.
I have some Farsports wheels which were horribly loud when I first got them. I eventually tried the Campy Red pads and with some experimentation found that they were quiet when the pads were set flat to the rim. This was completely counter-intuitive to aluminum rims needing some toe-in.
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I was waiting for that observation! Another time.
Im still not dead yet; 3 out of 4 of my stable are rim braked. Discs are good on the gravel bike but I don’t really feel I need them on road.
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My 2019 Basso Venta Electric Blue
Lun Wheels 45s
Ultegra mechanical
Nothing fancy
Saving up for my next bike but it will be a while. NJ/NY/Pa has some steep long-ish descents but most of my riding is rolling, and I don’t ride in the rain often. This bike works for me perfectly and she gets a lot of compliments.
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My 2021 Emonda ALR5. I received the frame thru warranty after my 2015 Emonda had a crack develop in the weld at the seat post. I added everything else brand new. Shown is a 50/34 Absolute Black Oval Crankset, but currently it’s not being used. I swapped it out with a 52/36 105 to use in conjunction with my 11-25 cassette.
My back up bike. 2010 Trek 1.5. My first proper road bike. Did a complete rebuild in 2020, was originally 9 Speed Tiagra, upgraded everything to 11 speed 105. It’s currently out of service though as I robbed it’s crankset to use on the Emonda. Plan to have it back in action soon.
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A decade old and a real battler. Still going strong. Absolutely love it.
PS guess the summit location. (Would have preferred discs coming back down…)
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+1 for Giant bikes! I’ve got a trinity and propel (the propel is disc tho). I’m thinking of building a super lightweight TCR!
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R.I.P. my CAAD12 2016-2019
Got this SuperSix Evo Hi Mod frameset NOS and a new R8000 group as a replacement. Still ride it for most training and indoors.
My race bike is a 2020 Venge (Aero, Di2, discs) so the opposite end of the spectrum. Both are great!
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Retired to a travel bike this last fall. Still a strong runner. 1999 Trek 5500 Dura ace with Rolf wheels. Original owner.
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