Almost race set up—just 404 with cover on the rear and a torhans vr bottle

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-shoki

This is my first tribike. 2016 Felt IA16, I bought it used in 2018. Added and changed out some parts, added ISM seat, added Supra carbon wheels. I use the same wheels for racing and for training. I wanted to do a proper bikefit but haven't been able yet due to virus measures. I don't have a repair box, i used a standard bottle cage. Contemplating getting a powemeter. Colours are not exciting but suit me fine, my triclub outfit colour is all black with red, yellow & white accents and lettering.

Looks great! Inspiring me to take on a similar project with my old aluminum P3...

How was the prep work to remove the preexisting paint? The photos make it look like the front triangle was easier to strip than the rear

I sanded it over many hours. The previous owner had powder coated it, and it was thick. If I were to do it again (and I might, it was a fun project, but there are some details that I’d like to have done differently) I’d strip it chemically.

I pretty much gave up when I got to the rear triangle. It would have taken forever.

The carbon fork was much easier to sand down, not sure why.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Looks great. But, why did you strip it to bare metal? Scuff sanding should have been fine for 95% of the surface. But, yeah I'd either have it stripped or media blasted. No way would I hand-sand.

I HATE sanding...I especially hate sanding things that aren't flat---or rather have INSIDE curves and joints. That's why I refuse to refinish furniture...and why my wife loves it. But, she's willing to crochet and all those other tedious things.

It had already been powdercoated by the previous owner, I didn't really want layers of paint on paint. The best way to get a really nice surface is to strip down to bare metal.

I'll probably do it again in 5 years or so, cuz why not? What I will do next time is 3 things.

1 - chemical strip
2 - build a paint booth with air filtration. some dust did settle on the clear.
3 - use auto paint in HVLP rattlecans.
4 - better quality tape and maybe some stencils for the graphics.
5 - learn how to count.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

 Custom paint or DIY?

Hey great bike! where did you the Di2 Battery?

What bike is that????

Looks like one of the Chinese open molds. Looks nice.

Jeroen

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Owner at TRIPRO, The Netherlands

Yes, I know the decals don’t match but they are for my plasma.....

I like the mix of new and old on this bike.

Yes, one of the Chinese manufacturers. The model is FM086. I bought it direct from the factory some years back.

Reminds me of my old bike.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

Finally got around to taking some pics with the new rear storage box (thanks Yannb!) and extension brackets:

Oldie but goodie. She usually lives on the trainer, but I fixed her up and took her outside today. Very responsive and sturdy. A good aluminum bike is hard to beat.


***Can someone share how to post a photo without a link?***

So I have a poll question for the forum. For racing, specialized trispoke clinchers, or zipp 303 tubulars from about 2001 with a white wheel cover? Or some combo of the 2?

Assume that these are race day only wheels. Vittoria pit stop in case of flats.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Tri spoke clincher front, get a wheel cover for the rear based on a clincher rim. Based on those choices. Second choice would be dual tri spokes.

I had been running the trispokes, but I already have the zipp tubs with hardly any kms on them. Picked them up secondhand for racing crits, then stopped racing crits, so they’ve just been sitting unused. Resale value on them isn’t much, so selling and buying something else isn’t an option.

So those are the choices, no others.

Crosswinds with the trispokes can be a bitch, especially on a couple of courses here that have a tendency to funnel the wind. So you can go from zero wind to a 60 km/h gust and back in no time at all.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Paint stripper on alloy would have saved you lots of time and effort IMO.

Nice project ! I'm like one of your children (on pics), I like to use the hand saw ;-P.

LOuis :)

I have been riding trispokes for years and never had an issue and have always though it seems myth that they are an issue in cross winds. I have raced dual Hed GT3 at Kona several times and they are far less scary than Hed 9 rear and 7 front descending Hawi on a windy day. I now train on Hed H3+ and they are no more an issue to ride than deep spoked wheels in strong gusts IMO.

So have I, but they do seem to be a bit more of a handful than my old zipp 440 / disc rear (650c) on my old cervelo p2. That thing tracked steady in anything.

Could be that I just need to set it up with a disc rear, but I also hate having to mess with disc adapters.

Iirc, the GT3 was supposed to handle crosswinds better than the original specialized shape, which is what I have.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I had the original Hed H3 before the GT3 and now have a pair of H3+ so same surface area. The GT3 are shallower and probably best combo of wheels I've ridden for not freaking on a windy day descending Hawi so probably true.

The issue with older 303 tubulars is finding a fast 19mm tubular. I have a shamal 12 spoke and trispoke front tubular and was lucky to find a couple clement tt 19mm a friend had laying around.

So I would go clincher trispoke with like a super sonic 19 and a 303 back (disc cover) with a Vitoria corsa speed...and cross your fingers for no flats.

Or just get a used 404 wider tubie for the front (200$ maybe)

Maurice

The issue is gonna be tires. our roads are crap, and at my weight I really don't want to be using 19's or 20's. I have a pair of NOS 21mm Vittoria Corsa CX's for the tubulars, they've been sitting on the rims (mounted, unglued) for years. Continental attack / force combo on the trispokes w/ latex tubes (I think that's a 22mm front?)

I know those aren't the "ideal" from an aero perspective, but just trying to balance out reliability concerns as well.

Yeah, in an ideal world i'd get a new set of wheels, but there's no budget for that. a PM or smart trainer and a new saddle for the tri bike are coming first, and those will be a while yet.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly