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Re: Official Speed Concept Owners Thread [TurboCurbo]
Been reading these recent threads with GREAT interest. As one of the first here to own the SC (acquired early June) and perhaps one of those who have ridden it more than 1000 miles already (including IM LP) and have been daring enough to wrench it myself (changed the stem and the seatpost head and been fiddling around with everything else I can fiddle with), here are some comments:

- I do not have any of the dreaded fork paint cracks and I constantly check my fork for such. Am I lucky? I don't think so as the crack-fork-paint syndrome seems more a rarity than a commonality.
- My headset has never been loose even after changing the stem from a 60/45 to a 100/45. I torqued it down to spec and after some creaky sounds I torqued it down even more and no problems to date. Frankly I think my headset is too tight and I might just change the cables to Nokon to "loosen" the movement a little bit.
- Stem change is a fairly easy job and the sequence of tigthening the bolts is fairly obvious. One important thing to note is that a longer stem will need longer cables and if the original cables (as cut by the LBS mechanic that originally assembled the bike) is not long enough then you will have to get new cables and cable housings. Once again, fairly easy if you are comfortable wrenching your bikes.
- Brake strength. My brake pads are the original Bont corks (brown color that came with the bike) and I have no problems with braking strength. I have used various wheels already from Zipp disks to 808 to 404 and the original Bonts Aeolus. Brakes worked fine on all those, even in the rain going down Keene In Lake Placid.
- Brake width issues - the front brake widths can be adjusted with the built in side adjusters so no issues there. The rear brake widths can only be adjusted by loosening the brake cable. Since we don't really want to do that everytime we change to a wider rim rear wheel I have only been changing the brake shoes / pads assembly. Easy enough.
- Aero bar slippage - solved with Taxc paste. end of story.
- Uneven brake arms - solved with grease on brake arms. end of story.
- Aero box. My box was initially rubbing but only on the original Bont Aeolus wheels (came with the bike) that is higher profile than any of my Zipps. The rub was not constant and only occured on certain uneven portions of the tire and if the box "shifted down". As a solution, I cut some thick leftover handlebar black tape (the rubber type) and glued these tiny strips to the bottom of the main box where it meets the frame. Voila, higher box, problem solved. The rubber also saves my frame from stratches that could be caused by the plastic box.
- What can fit in the aero box? As I stated in previous threads, I was able to fit a spare tubular (Vittoria Triathlon) a cannister, Tufo tape and cannister head - all into the box. The secret is folding the tubular properly. The top lid can pop out (it popped twice only in the first few rides I did) but only if it is not closed properly. There is a way to do it right and after I figured that out, it never popped open again.

The SC is a complicated bike but in a good way and I guess that is why we bought it because it has features that no other bikes have. However, we have to understand that due to the technical aspects of these features some bikes that are not adjusted properly will have some issues. Based on what I have been reading here, these problems seem to plague only a few and they have been assisted by the LBS and by Trek. My issues have been minor and there has always been a solution.

I will be racing Toughman this weekend on Zipp 808s in the rain. Will give some feedback after the race.

P:)

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Last edited by: paxfobiscum: Sep 10, 10 6:48

Edit Log:

  • Post edited by paxfobiscum (Dawson Saddle) on Sep 9, 10 18:34
  • Post edited by paxfobiscum (Dawson Saddle) on Sep 10, 10 6:48