A quick update from the Giro de Sardinia with Assos

Hi there! OK, it's been a while since a post here, but there has really not been much time and frankly I've been too smoked! I really wanted to make sure to get a few pictures posted of the Giro de Sardinia race that we're doing right now with Assos...
I'll try to get another posting up tomorrow going through one day here. It's amazing the job that Assos is doing here. This is a pretty major undertaking and due to them I've had one of the best experiences ever on a bike, also one if not the hardest experience! So again, to all the guys and girls at Assos, THANK YOU!

Malcolm Elliot getting a pre-race rub down prior to Stage 2. Malcolm is amazing on the bike, super chill, great to talk to with and did I mention SUPER fast?! It's been great getting to know him a bit as well as all the other people who are doing the trip with Assos.


One of those other guys is Olympic silver medalist Franco Marvulli who's been an Assos team guy for a long time now. Like Malcolm, super friendly and super fast! He'll be racing in Minneapolis on the track this June I believe, if you are in the area you really need to go watch him race. Make sure to say hi from AC as well...


Stage 2, picture from one of the Assos follow cars. This is about 43km into the 150km stage. I'll go more into detail about how fast these stages start in the next post, but we can just say it was FAST. Oh, and nervous. And yes, windy and wet... The climb itself was really not that bad, but at the speed the leaders were going it didn't need to be. As such, I was dropped halfway up but the race is big enough that you'll find a group to suffer with eventually...


After we crested the main climb we had a lot of this; up and down. Beautiful roads, cyclists that know how to handle a bike, FULL ROAD CLOSURES, etc...

OK, sorry for any spelling errors, bad punctuation etc, but I'm smoked and kinda don't care right now! :-) Just had a massage so I'm tired and hungry again! We have a team meeting in about an hour to go over the stage tomorrow (a 40km team time trial) and then dinner. Will be back with a more detailed post hopefully tomorrow, if not, soon! If you have any questions about bikes or anything actually going on back in California, give Kalara, Woody, Ralf or Kris a shout!

Thanks for reading...

Lugano, Switzerland

Just two days until the start of the Giro de Sardinia. The Giro de Sardinia is a 7 day stage race run as a grand fondo. There is a shorter and a longer distance race (the entire Assos crew is doing the longer one of course!) which includes an individual time trial, a team time trial a few rolling "sprinters" stages and at least one day for the climbers.
Assos is pulling out the stops for this event and I am super grateful to have been invited and want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone at Assos CH and Assos USA. So, THANK YOU!
I'll try my best to keep you all up to date as the race unfolds and will hopefully be able to score some pictures as well, though I'll be too busy trying to hang on for dear life, so will have to find the official photographer...
Right now I'm in Lugano Switzerland getting everything ready, riding a little and buying some last second gear at the unbelievable Assos Nucleo store right on Lake Lugano.
Lastly, if this looks like it might be fun for you, get in touch w/ me at the shop when I return and I'll tell you how you can be a part of this next year...

The day started here, at the Assos Nucleo store. I have been here a few times and have seen it as a shell when they were just starting construction on the building. The store itself has three floors, the main showroom down the stairs, the entry on this floor and a large room upstairs where distributors and some shops get to see the future clothing lines from Assos. Right now it's filled with the new winter 2011/2012 range...


Here's another view of the main floor. Very clean, very organized & very Swiss. As you would expect this store contains every single piece of Assos clothing and a few items from other brands that they have partnered with...


Downstairs in the main showroom. Here are the brand new Heritage jerseys that we covered a couple weeks ago. These are pretty limited and we still have a few left so give Woody and the guys at our shop a call to get one...


When in Rome... just had to get these shoes so I'd fit in at the race...


Which meant I had to get the brightest yellow DB shirt to go with them!


The Assos bike. Assos has been working on the "Goomah" (more on that later) for about three years now. I was here when they were riding the first editions and they have come a long way. Assos is not taking this lightly. Are they looking to enter the bike manufacturing world, not at all, but they wanted to make something themselves and base that on the way that they ride. It's been a work in progress and as it stands now, it's a very trick, fast, performance oriented bike which will be available in VERY limited numbers. If you are interested in one of these, let me know when I return and I'll get into a little more detail. Don't forget that back in the mid to late seventies, Assos developed a range of carbon bikes and components, one of the first to do so in history, so they are not new to this!


After shopping at the Assos store, we went further downtown to find some lunch. On the way we passed a bank with this car in the lobby! This is a (1985?) GPS Lotus Renault Turbo. It was driven by Ayrton Senna and honestly made the hair on my arms stand up just thinking about what this car must have sounded like on the track!


We had to be buzzed in to the bank and I'm not so sure they were stoked when all I wanted to do was shoot some pictures of this car, but they humored me and allowed it...


Then, I finally got out on a ride. After fighting the rush-hour traffic, which was not bad since in Lugano that consists mostly of Ferrari's and Porsche's...


...and did a little loop in the hills to get rid of all the air miles. Pretty stunning area...

OK, that's it for now. Need to pack for the flight to Sardinia in the morning and get another spin in this evening. Woody, Kalara, Ralf and Kris are still at the shop so head on in or give them a call to keep them company! I should hopefully have another report up tomorrow from Sardinia, so check back often!

Black & Blue Pinarello Dogma

Here is the latest Pinarello Dogma to roll out of Above Category's doors. Don't confuse the gorgeous carbon/blue Dogma as the team sky bike though. While yes, it's the same frame that the team uses and the same colors it's just a few logos away from a non-team bike that just happens to be the same colors. I bring this up as we've had a few customers who love the colors of this bike but did not want a "team" bike. Easy enough to fix that, just peel off the head tube, seat post and seat stay decals and now you have one of the more low key Pinarello Dogma finishes going.

We just received the MOST Talon bar in the same carbon/blue graphics and it is a great match for this bike as long as you know your stem length and bar width and plan on keeping it that way. Also, these bars are shaped like the Deda Zero 100 bars being shorter and more shallow in drop.


We built this bike with Campagnolo Super Record 11spd group with the titanium axle. Also, we used the Campagnolo Shamal 2-way wheels...


...with the brand new Padrone tubeless tires from Maxxis. We'll let you know how we like these tires when we get some good miles on a set, but at over $130 a piece we would hope that they perform quite well!


Nice Campagnolo carbon hub shell.


Seat post minus the SKY logo topped with the Fizik Arione CX carbon saddle.


And to round off the build, a pair of Speedplay Zero Ti pedals which if you've been in the shop or read enough of our posts you know are our favorite. Let us know any questions or comments you may have by contacting us here!

Moots Demo Day at Above Category!

Save the date! Tuesday, April 19th (one week from today) Moots will be be driving their big Sprinter Van up from the Sea Otter race and then parking it in the AC courtyard! The van will be stacked full of Moots bikes, something like 18 in total. These will include but not limited to the VaMoots, Zirkel, CR, and the flagship RSL road bike.
We are very excited to announce that the brand new and just released Moots Mooto X RSL 29er will be in attendance as well! You have the opportunity to be one of the first to ride this new super light race bike!
So come on by the shop starting at noon next Tuesday to talk to Moots and learn a bit more about their bikes. You can also check out a bike for a demo ride as well. We should know the exact sizes and models that are coming shortly. We will have a shop ride in the early evening as well. The demos will be on a first come first serve basis as well, so come early to make sure you have a chance to ride one!

The one and only Moots RSL road bike!


Our shop RSL. We have a few thousand miles on this bike as well and can answer any questions you may have on it...


The brand spanking new Moots MootoX RSL! They'll have a good number of these so any sized rider should have a chance to get out on one...


OK, so one more time, next Tuesday, April 19th at Above Category MOOTS will be here with a lot of bikes. We know, Tuesday is a tough day to get away from the office, but maybe you'll have a bad tooth or a bit of a cold and won't be able to make it in that day?! Give us a shout with any questions and see you here!

Here's the short list of what will be in the van...


18 MXYBB
19 MXYBB SLIDER
20 MX YBB
16 MX-RSL
17 MX-RSL
18 MX-RSL
19 MX-RSL

Road Bikes

54 RSL
56 RSL
58 RSL
50 CR
52 CR
54 CR
56CR
58 CR

MS's new Pinarello BOB

Here are a few shots from the latest build here at AC. This is the Pinarello Dogma with the black on black (BOB) finish. There is a lot of BOB going on here like the saddle and wheels as well. The frame is Di2 specific and as such has a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 group and Lightweight Ventoux wheels. Tires are Continental GP4000 tubulars and the bar and stem are from Deda. Bottle cages are Arundel and to top it off, a Fizik Aliante saddle. All in this 59cm bike as built is just a tad under 15.5lbs.

Lightweight Ventoux wheels with the black labels. Our favorite wheels at the shop for everyday riding and of course climbing. The are light, super comfortable and stiff enough for our needs.


The Fizik Aliante braided carbon saddle.


Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 drive train.


If I personally were to ever switch from Speedplay pedals, it would most certainly be for the new Dura-Ace carbon pedals. They just look the business.


If you'd be interested in riding a bike like this, give us a shout! Thanks for reading...

Day's Done, by Dario Pegoretti

We just received a few pretty exclusive bikes into the shop from Dario Pegoretti. The three bikes are all 55cm and are a Day's Done, Marcelo and Duende. The Marcelo and Duende are special as they are the new 2012 model and we won't see anymore until next year. So here's a very good chance to throw a leg over a bike that no one else will have for quite a while.

The Day's Done is special as it's only the 2nd such bike in the states. This one has been sold already but we've started taking orders as Dario is building them now...

Here are some pictures from the Day's Done and note that the fork was just sent in to the painters to get painted the same color as the frame. Enjoy!

The Day's Done is an over-sized steel bike with lugs. A mix of old and new technology in steel.


1&1/8 head tube. You can get it with a carbon fork (stock) or have Dario build you a custom steel fork if you'd prefer. Nice detail with the orange as well...


Seat tube panel


Down tube Panel


Head badge by Dario


We have yet to talk to Dario about the actual reasoning behind the holes in the chain and seat stays, but are guessing it's mostly aesthetic. We could definitely be wrong there and will find out as soon as we can. Regardless, it's pretty cool looking...
*We just received a note from Nelson Frazier at Gita explaining why Dario does this to the dropouts. "There is a reason for the “holes” in the stays at the dropouts. The small cylinders that are brazed into the stays give more surface area to braze the dropout. Since Dario likes to use non-tapering stays, he can’t use conventional dropouts as there wouldn’t be enough contact area. This is an alternative to using the “hooded” dropouts he uses on the Marcelo and Responsorium that he feels fits better with a lugged frame." Thanks Nelson!


Made in Italy


Cool Columbus tubing sticker...


More beautiful over-sized steel lug detail!


Seat tube cluster


Integrated binder bolt beats integrated seat post any day of the week...


The all new Pegoretti 'Day's Done'. Taking orders now, give us a call to have Dario start building one for you!

Teaser

Promised to have a blog up today, so here we go... OK, crazy day at the shop which is great of course, but was not able to post. So here is one last teaser shot in anticipation of tomorrow!