pm sent :) sweeet

the serotta, the yaqui, the litespeed...good lord just how many high end 650 bikes does a person need? not that there's anything wrong with that :)

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Michael in Fresno
"Do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man" V. Corleone

Here is the order of bikes my brother and I each owned since 2000 and their status (we almost always buy in double at the same time):

1. Yaqui Mariola - 76 degree - tried this trend of using more slack angles, but it just did not work for me - gave this frame to a freind who uses it as his winter / indoor tri bike with STI shifters

2. Yaqui Carbo - 78 degrees - had Ves build me a carbo exactly like the QR PR i had in 98-2000 which i really liked (and ironically he built as the contract builder for QR's USA built bikes). I had not done any bike fit work before having Ves build this frame and determined after some time that i wanted to shorten the top tube, increase the head tube and use Vision bars. Ves's bikes are all built around Syntace bars which have much more extreme specs than any other bar. Gave this bike to the same friend who has the Mariola above. It fits him really well and is a gorgeous machine. Im glad it found a good home.

3. Litespeed Saber - 51cm - thought this bike would be the last i owned for a long time. The top tube on paper was exactly what i was looking for, but it turns out was actually longer than my carbo b/c of the setback seatpost and down tube. Sold this fame to another friend who was just getting back into the sport after a long hiatus. He has 3 other Sabers and absolutely loves the new one. Again, glad it found a good home. My bro sold his to a college friend.

4. Serotta CXII - built to my new vision of the perfect bike for me. Wonderful machine not terribley expensive. Only downside was a tad heavy and heck I did not want to be the only guy without a carbon bike in the rack so by bro and I decided to enlist the help of Craig Calfee who built us bikes back in 95 (yeah, we bought b/c of Dave Scott's 94 Ironman performance on same bike). I got hit by a car on my old Calfee which destroyed the bike, but i still have many fond memories.

5. Calfee Tetra Custom - simply awesome. I hope to be done with bikes for a long time, but i do like to tinker with new machines!

No, you are not done. At some point in time, probably sooner than you think, you won't want to be the only one with a non-aero frame in the rack.

Anyone who has on their 5th bike since 2000 is not done--Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Nice looking Serotta by the way. Hope it finds a new owner.

good point on not having an aero machine on the rack. ive actually considered this but figured for now its much more important to focus on working on the engine rather than tuning the transmission. clearly for me (and probably most) it is conditioning that is going to be the biggest factor that determines performance. however, there is nothing wrong with free speed. options are pretty limited if i stick with 650s which just seem to work. maybe a felt, custom parlee TT rig or a griffen. who knows.