Sette Razzo SC to CR

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that I had sold my IP-106 frameset. That leaves poor little me with just one carbon frame in the house, my Sette Razzo SC. Happily, I'm growing to appreciate the Razzo more every time I ride it. Today's ride started off in planning as a group ride, then three of us, then just me and buddy Mike.

We were riding Chestnut Ridge, one of my favorite trails in Ohio. Mike hadn't ridden it before, so it was a new experience for him. Unfortunately, his pre ride prep involved a late night of imbibing while watching OSU hammer Illinois, so he wasn't in peak form for this ride. At least we both made it up the hill to enjoy the view from the apple barn:

Alum, Alum, Henry's S24O, and Chestnut Ridge

It's been a busy week of biking around here. Wednesday after work, I went to P2 with a few friends. Our first lap was still slick from an afternoon thunderstorm, so it was slower and a bit tentative as we warmed up and the trail dried. But the next lap, I was ready to open it up with my latest bike build:

Still (but not steel) singlespeed, but now with 100% more suspension! I really enjoyed railing this around the twisty, rooty P2 singletrack. For solo rides, I tend to putter around the trail, but group rides bring out my competitive spirit. In this case, I ended getting a bit too far ahead of our group while I chased down a pair of racy looking guys (one had a number plate, even) on what I think of as Midwest race bikes: carbon hardtails, big drop from saddle to seat. In the end, I caught them just before the parking lot, and the quick lap allowed me to get home before bedtime for the kids.

Saturday morning, Brian and I hit P2 again. We took some action shots:

Three Bikes On and Off the Bubble

I'm up to six bikes now, which is about twice my comfort zone. Of course, this has me thinking and scheming about how to rearrange my bike fleet. I'll explain this through three rides on three different bikes:

1) Last weekend, I took my spare parts build Cross Check for a quick spin to the library. I actually had the CC posted for sale, but I set my price on the high side, perhaps subconsciously knowing I didn't really want to sell it. That, and I'm really enjoying the way it rolls on the supple Racing Ralph tires. Those supple tires, though, didn't help when I couldn't bunny hop over the sharp edge where the road had been ground down, pinch flatting my rear tire (I can't bunny hop worth a darn if I'm not clipped in). I got a little nervous when I opened my tool bag to only find a 26 x 2" tube. Luckily, I also had my patch kit, AND the glue hadn't dried, so I successfully patched the tube and carried on.

With only a mini pump to use, my tire didn't have as much air as I normally like. Finally, I had a legitimate use for the public bike work stand near the rec center. I started to pump, only to realize there was no resistance. Maybe this was why:

I carried on, soft tire and all, and had a nice afternoon ride.

So with my Camargue having a solid grip on the utility duties, the CC and ye Olde Trek are left to duke it out for sporty bike duties.

Sette Razzo SC Introduction

I've had my Sette Razzo--my first carbon frame--hanging around for some time. Due to commitments in my weekend schedule, work, and the general crapiness of Oury grips, I wasn't able to take it for a good ride until this weekend. But before I get into the ride details, let's take a closer look at my build and the frame:

Coming off my Krampus, my goal for this was to make a lighter version of that: big tires, smooth riding, but light enough to be a realistic single speed. In that respect, I'm pretty happy how it turned out: the wheels are my Velocity Blunts from the Big K, the front tire is the Knard, the rear is a Mission Vee 2.4. I'm impressed that this frame has the clearance for this big tire:

Still Here, and Meet the Plastic Fantastic

It's been a while since my last post. Since I took the kids camping two weeks ago, my schedule has been: sick - sick - work travel work travel - family weekend - work travel work travel work travel. After putting many miles on my TSX, it was nice to come home to my (sleeping) kids and lovely wife, and of course a frame box.

Which contained this:

Yep, my first carbon frame. After researching all the direct order Chinese frames, I wasn't ready to commit even that much money on something that far outside my steely comfort zone. However, when this Sette Razzo SC popped up on ebay in an XL, I took the chance (and ended up being the only bidder, so I got it reasonably cheap).

I rarely involve Jodi in my bike stuff, but I had to hand this frame to her so she could feel how light it was. "Wow!" was her reaction. I'd like to wow you with the actual frame weight, but my fish scale has decided to take a dive now. I figure I'm dropping 2.5~3 pounds over my typical steel frame, which likely makes no difference at all on the trail, but sure feels impressive when you heft the bare frame with a pinky finger.

It'll be a while before the Sette hits the dirt, though, since I need to order an adapter base plate to fit my non-tapered fork. If I actually like the how the carbon rides, I have visions of a tapered carbon fork and a Knard up front. We'll see how it plays out.