above category news

AC blog has moved

2011-10-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that our blog updates have moved to https://www.abovecategorycycling.com/home/news

Thanks, now make sure to check it out, lots of great stuff coming up!

-AC

What's new, where we've been, gone AWOL, etc, etc...

2011-09-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was gently reminded that it's been two months since the last blog posting here. I've been slow before, but that's pretty bad, so here are my/our excuses!
First off, we've been working on a new website. It's now official and has been launched, but is a work in progress. I know that's not the standard way to do things, but it had to get up and we'll make the updates much quicker (in theory) now that it's live and everyone is looking at it every day! It's the same address as before; www.abovecatgorycycling.com so check it out if you haven't yet. We'll be adding all the great items that we use here to the site on a weekly basis, so check back, or better yet, make sure you are on our mailing list and we'll keep you up on what's new.
More on that later, for now I'll let some pictures walk you through what we've been up to in the last two months...

BAUM

One of the nicest custom bikes we've seen in a long time. So much attention to detail, Baum frames are also some of the highest performing regardless of material. We'll be going into much more detail on these bikes in the near future. If you are in the area, come in and take a closer look! Exclusively through Above Category...

Pinarello

The new Pinarello Dogma II's are trickling in slowly. We have a few at Above Category now, so come talk to Woody who got to ride them in Italy at the Grand Fondo Pinarello this year. If you've been looking at a Dogma, now is the time to get a bit more serious as they still don't come into the states in huge numbers and getting the color/size you want is easier now than in a couple months...

Parlee

Here's Ralf and Kris working on two custom painted Parlee Z5's. These are some designs that we've been looking at for AC team bikes, turned out great in the first try and with a few tweaks here and there it will be even better!

Tony and TJ walking away with the prototypes. Parlee is rolling out a bunch of new options this year as well. A few new finishes with the Z5 plus Di2 routing on all their bikes and finally some very nice new build kit options for complete bikes at very good prices.

Pegoretti

Here are a couple of Dario's frames we've had come through the shop in the last couple months that we are sad to see go. First this 2012 Pegoretti Duende...

...and then this sweet Marcelo.

New builds

We've also been super busy with a lot of new bike builds. Here are a few that stand out. There are many more but in order to keep this post to a respectable length we'll get to them in future posts. This one is my personal 5 year old Pegoretti Marcelo. Amazing bike and felt great to get back out on it!

This Parlee Z5sl was noteworthy in that as a size XL/Tall it was under 14lbs fully built. We understand that weight is not the most important quality in a bike, but taking into account it's size, the fact that it uses an aluminum bar and standard components (as in no one-off carbon brakes and such) it was pretty shocking to lift the bike and feel how light it was. Luckily, we know that the Parlee is an incredibly well handling bike at those low weights and this was confirmed after the first ride...

This Pegoretti Responsorium was super fun to build! Everything came together so well and in the end it looked amazing. For sure, one of a kind...

Our new bikes! Much more coming on these incredible bikes from Australia...

This Pegoretti Marcelo also came together really well. Perfect component spec to show off the handling characteristics of Dario's flagship racing frame...

Racing and winning some hardware...

Kris (AC Tech) unfortunately broke his collarbone during the San Rafael crit in July and had to miss the Cascade Classic NRC stage race and Elite Nationals but was healed in time to head up to Bend OR for the Masters National Championships. In his first race there, the ITT Kris rode all out on a course he knows pretty well...

...and took the Gold medal for his efforts! Well done Kris!!

Not to be outdone, Ralf (the other half of the AC service team) showed off his sprinting skills over the top of the Muir de Millwood, basically saying that if he'd been at Nationals it would have been a little tougher on Kris...

Woody was also able to get in on the action by completing the Grand Fondo Pinarello. He did the long course which included the ascent of the Monte Grappa, some 22km long with a few k's of over 20% thrown in for good measure. This is something every Pinarello fan needs to do at least once!

View from the top of Monte Grappa. Woody said the descent was one of the best he's done, ever...

Trip to LA to see the latest from BMC...

Tony and I took the short flight down to LA to talk with the guys at BMC and see what is in store for 2012. For the most part the models stayed the same with some small tweaks that should add up to an even nicer frame. One thing that we did not see though is the new TT bike which is a shame as it's been getting great reviews from the pro road racers and triathletes alike. I guess we can wait another week and see them in Vegas...

BMC did promise that the Impec is now ready to go though! Maybe even as soon as October. This one here is a 2011 but they did say there have been many improvements and the bike will not disappoint. They had a picture of an Impec with white lugs which was very nice looking. Hopefully they'll have one in the flesh at Vegas and we'll be able to grab a few shots in person...

FIZIK

We had a nice visit the other day from the folks at Fizik. They have a bunch of new stuff coming out next year that we are pretty excited about. New saddles, new shoes, Sprinter Gatorskins in a 25c width, etc...

The new saddles are completely different from anything out there now, but groundbreaking and Fizik are a term used hand in hand quite often. These saddles are very comfortable looking and we're looking forward to trying them out. Also, a huge thanks to Fizik for setting the AC crew up with some nice Fizik custom insoles!

AC kit from Assos of Switzerland

I put this at the bottom as even though we just received our 3rd batch we are pretty close to sold out. Check out our online store for what's left, and if your size is not listed give us a shout and we'll get you on the list for the next batch due to arrive in Oct/Nov. A huge THANK YOU to Assos of Switzerland for making these jerseys for us, we are honored! We'll also have a post soon going into a little more detail on this kit and how it came about...

A note on this blog: Hopefully soon we'll be putting all of our new posts up on our new website. We're changing our a few things and are just waiting to work the kinks out for that to happen permanently. Just a heads up if you come here and see that nothing has been updated for a while! Thanks for reading!

Perfect time for that new Pegoretti! Frames in stock now...

2011-07-04T17:55:00.001-07:00

We are happy to announce that we have a descent amount of Pegoretti frames in stock again! Some we've had for a little while but most are new and won't last. This is the last shipment of stock frames that are due for arrival for a while so if you've been waiting for your own Pegoretti now could be a great time to grab one while they are here and still be able to ride it this summer!
Give us a call or come on in to reserve yours. Also, give us a call to see what is left as this list will slim down pretty quick...

Responsorium

60cm Ciavete. This one also comes with a matching Ciavete fork. Very rare...

Another shot of the 60cm frame... Click here for geometry

60cm $5,000

Catch the Spider $4,300 (frame & fork)

49cm geometry (same for all models)
50cm
52cm
55cm
56cm
57cm
58cm
59cm
60cm

A Responsorium in Catch the Spider that we did last summer. We did a custom painted fork and stem for this one, plus matching Speedplay pedals, Fizik tape and saddle of course!

Goze $4,300 (frame and fork)

50cm Geometry (same for all models)
52cm
54cm
58cm
59cm
60cm

Fiorellin $4,500 (frame and STEEL fork)

This particular frameset was also a show bike at NAHBS last year and comes with the steel fork. Having been a show bike it has been built before and may have slight signs of that. But once built back up everything will be covered. There may be minor marks from being boxed and shipped to different shows though nothing more than a few rides on the bike could do anyhow!

56cm Geometry

Marcelo

Baci $3,400 (frame & fork)

49cm Geometry
58cm

Thelonius $3,400 (frame & fork)

51cm Geometry
53cm
57cm
61cm

Ciavete, 2012 Model! This is one of only a few 2012 Marcelo frames in the world right now. This was a show bike from the last handmade show in Austin. Beautiful frame, comes with the new size Chris King headset and a fork. Since this is such a rare bike we would prefer to build it here. So, if you want to see what the new frames ride like months (or longer) before anyone else, give us a shout and we'll put together the perfect build!

56cm Geometry $4,500 (includes frame, fork, Chris King headset and front derailleur clamp).

Duende

Osei $2,850 (frame & fork)

57cm Geometry

Osei again!

ABVD $2,850 (frame & fork)

51cm Geometry (Same for all models)
55cm
56cm
58cm
59cm
60cm

Guantanamo. Bad pic, sorry. OK, you have to use your imagination here as we don't have a pic of the Duende version of this paint scheme. The Duende has a black base with silver barbed wire. This is a very stunning frame which also tells a story...

Another picture...

Again, sorry for the not so great pic but ours are not here yet to shoot! This is the actual paint scheme in the correct color but on a Marcelo. The sizes we have below will be a Duende and will NOT come with a steel fork.

52cm Geometry (same for all models)
56cm
57cm
59cm
60cm

Again, like the Marcelo, we have one of the only 2012 Duende's anywhere right now. And like the Marcelo we'd like to build this one up! We've got some great ideas, so let us know if you fit a 55cm and we'll get it going in time for some summer riding!

55cm Geometry $3,700 (frame, fork, Chris King headset, Edge 1.0 fork and front derailleur clamp)

8:30am

We've had this one for a while but really not sure why. Very simple DEEP dark blue. We've built a few of these up before and they are stunning. Very inexpensive and the perfect Pegoretti to get while you're waiting for that Day's done to come in!

59cm Geometry $2,300 (frame & Edge 1.0 fork)

Love #3

Love #3 in the Manovella paint scheme. Note that the fork does not come painted like this. This was custom done for us.

53cm Geometry $3,400 (frame & fork)

We also have a custom Love #3 just like this one in the Baci paint scheme. It's a 50cm seat tube and a 54cm top tube for all the short legged, long torso cyclists out there!

50cmX54cm $3,400 (frame & fork)

This is a very special Love #3 to us at AC. A few years ago Dario sponsored our racing team and these were the bikes we raced on (except for Kris on his Marcelo). This was a frame that was ordered by a friend of ours who since ordering has gone up a size to a 59cm and as such this one is now for sale. It's a standard 58cm but the head tube is almost 1cm shorter than stock at 18.2cm. Ride a little bit of AC and Pegoretti history!

58cm Geometry $3,400 (frame & fork)

Thanks for reading, and again, let us know how we can help you get onto a new Pegoretti. If you have a friend who's been looking or you know someone who would love one of these incredible frames, please pass this post onto them! Give us a shout with any questions you may have...

Fourteen rides on; ENVE's new 6.7 wheelset

2011-06-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

We received the brand new ENVE 6.7 wheels a little over two weeks ago. We've been waiting for these wheels for quite a long time. The guys at EDGE (as the company was known as back then) have been telling us about this new wheel for quite some time. This is not a project that they came up with in the past few months in response to other wheel manufacturers offerings but something that has been on the drawing board for a while now. Needless to say they did a great job of keeping hush all this time, setting our anticipation quite high. Upon receiving these wheels the looming question is; was it worth the wait?
First off though, what exactly are the 6.7's? The six stands for the 60mm front wheel depth, while the seven is for, you guessed it, the 70mm rear rim depth. What the 6 or 7 doesn't explain is the other major trait of the wheels which is the width. 26mm wide for the front wheel and 24mm for the rear.

If you look close enough you can see the rim on both sides of the 22mm Continental Sprinter tubular tire. These wheels were tested w/ this tire and the 23mm offering from Vittoria. Jake at ENVE confirmed that either of those are the ideal combination for these wheels.

Looking at the front wheel with the tire glued on my first thought was that maybe we should have a larger volume tire installed. It was a bit unnerving to see so much rim exposed and I even thought there could be issues with aggressive cornering and the chance of the rim making direct contact with the tarmac. After the first ride this has proven to be no issue whatsoever. And on tire width, the guys confirmed that these wheels perform best with a 22 or 23mm tire.
The rear wheel is 24mm which makes it no problem to mount these wheels in the tightest of frames and I'm sure helps keep the weight to the minimum as well.
Claimed weight is 1458g with the DT240 hubs. We didn't weigh them to confirm, but in the past all of the wheels from EDGE/ENVE have been pretty close to the claimed weight. Plus, if you are looking at just the number on the scale, these would not be the first choice anyhow.
These wheels were built in conjunction with Simon Smart, an ex-formula one aerodynamics expert who has helped develop many other cycling products. But none of that matters if the wheels don't perform. So, what do we think after just 14 rides? Read on...

The 60mm deep, 26mm wide front wheel

Our first ride on the 6.7's was an 80 mile 8000+ft of climbing, 5 hour day. To be fair, not the exact kind of course that these wheels were meant for. The first thing I noticed was the stiffness of the wheels. The second thing I noticed was the braking performance.
I want to spend a little time on this point. The braking is PHENOMENAL! I believe that these have the best braking cabon wheels I've ever been on and rival most aluminum wheels as well. It is not an especially powerful brake action, but a smooth and modulated feeling. I feel too much emphasis is put on strong brakes anyhow, we are stopping a light machine and our own body weight after all. The contact patch of a 22-23mm tire is very small and whatever traction there is in the first place is dramatically reduced when we hit the brakes. The last thing you want is to have the tires brake loose on a fast and technical descent. Also, when riding in a pack you want predictable braking, especially in panic situations as it keeps the guys behind you actually behind you, not on top of you. There has not been one hint of a squeal yet out of these wheels. They have not made a peep at all which can't be said for a lot of carbon wheels out there. I haven't ridden these in the rain yet, so wet weather braking performance has not been tested.

The rear 70mm deep, 24mm wide wheel

Climbing performance:

At a claimed 1458g these wheels are not heavy but also not terribly light especially for tubulars. But again, for this depth and stiffness there are not too many wheels out there that are lighter. Again, our first ride had over 8000ft of climbing so I got pretty familiar with their climbing abilities right off the bat. Another thing I have to admit is that the wheels that I just took off this Parlee Z5 were Lightweights sub-thousand gram Obermayers. So keep in mind that any wheel I put on after that was going to be at a disadvantage!
I did notice the weight for sure. They did not accelerate nearly as fast as many other lighter and more shallow sectioned wheels that I've ridden have. Once up to speed on a consistent grade though and they felt as fast as any of these lighter wheels. But we don't have too many consistent grade climbs around here, so I honestly did feel the weight quite a bit.
But again, these wheels are not made for climbing. They are made for fast flat to rolling courses and the fact that they climb as well as they did is very promising. That being said though, I'm really looking forward to the 3.4's that are due out very soon. If they are even close to the 6.7's in terms of speed and stiffness and a bit lighter, I think they could be the wheel of choice for climbers looking for a little more speed out of their wheels.

Near the top of Mt. Tam about to be rewarded with the best braking wheel out there...

Descending performance:

The most important feature to a good descending wheel? Stability and braking performance which the ENVE 6.7 has in spades. This is just my opinion, but I feel we live in an area with some of the best descents I've ever been on. Fast but technical, great and not so great pavement and most of the time, wind.
These wheels are super, super stable. We have some pretty good wind here, especially on the ridge going up to the top of Mt. Tam. While I can't say I haven't gotten blown around a bit, it has been no more and even less than some of the shallow section wheels I ride on a regular basis. These wheels are super stable. And while one of the first things I noticed was the stiffness of the 6.7's they don't bounce you around too much on bumpy descents. They hold a line perfectly and confidently and let you enter corners with a little more speed than on some other wheels I've ridden. And then there is the braking. You can grab a handful and not worry about locking up the wheels at all (at least with the Hive RevL brakes I have been using. It'll be interesting what a pair of Dura-Ace 7900 calipers feel like). Even on some of the short 20% descents we finish the ride with there has not been any noise at all. Also, at full lean I have not felt short on traction one bit, so these get the highest marks for descending of almost any carbon wheel I've been on. The last thing I'll mention on descending is how fast the 6.7's feel. The get up to speed really fast and hold that speed longer than anything I've been on. Just coasting down some of the rollers I put meters on guys who are usually right with me or even ahead of me in the past.

Speed?

Yes.

OK, they are fast, fast descending, fast on the rollers and fast on the descents. Like climbing, I think they are fastest once up to speed as they can maintain that forever. But in a sprint that starts from a slower speed I think the 3.4's will be the ticket. For sure you still have to have the legs, but these just feel faster and will make the perfect flat to rolling course race or group ride wheel. This could also be the perfect wheel for triathlons which have a lot of wind like Kona, or the perfect wheel for hilly time trials...

Build quality:

Hand built in the states, the fit and finish of the rims are perfect. No flaws in the construction that we could see and very robust looking. They look and feel heavier than they are and if they last as long as some of the other EDGE wheels we have we will be very happy. A nice feature is that you can buy the rims separately so you can use any hub you like. The DT Swiss 240's are super high quality but we like the fact that we can build them with the King R-45's or Dura-Ace hubs as well. We also like the blacked out graphics so we'll be much more inclined to keep the decals in place.

Conclusion:

In the short period of time that I've been riding the ENVE 6.7's I can and do recommend them for anyone looking for a well built, very fast rider looking for some extra speed on flat to rolling courses. They will be a great all around wheel if you are looking for that one set to do everything from time trials to road races. For events or rides that require more acceleration like crits or climbing, I'd wait for the 3.4's. For more technical information on how and why these wheels were developed there are many places you can look but I'd start here.

We have a couple sets of the ENVE 6.7 wheels in stock now, give us a call or stop by the store to order some or get a little more info!

Thanks for reading!

Stage 5 & 6 of this years Giro de Sardegna with Assos

2011-06-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Stage 5, TTT, 40km

Taking it easy for 40km with Rasmus...

Since we were so far down in GC I decided to go as easy as possible to rest my super tired legs for the queen stage the next day. I of course made sure to keep the warmers on so everyone knew I was taking it easy, not just slow! This was a pretty flat course w/ a few minor rollers and some wind and the Assos "A" team killed it, winning the stage by a minute!

Larry, from Assos USA couldn't laugh too hard as his skin suit was so tight. Just like motorcycle racing leathers, these things are not made for standing around in!

Larry's Goomah, ready for TTT action! Note the single water bottle cage, saved minutes! But really, I was surprised at how many TT bikes were out there. The benefits of being able to drive to the race...

Stage 6, I forget how long, maybe 140km? I do remember lots of climbing though...

Ahhh, stage 6, the queen stage; nice views and nice weather.

We'd be coming up this road a little later, but first we had to get to the start...

Getting the Assos caravan packed up nice and early for the two hour transfer to the stage start.

The stage start was at the TOP of a very long climb which meant all of us got to start the race w/ a long fast descent. Not nervous at all...

Ribo! He was following the long standing tradition of not shaving during a race. I'm not so sure that rule was meant for stage races, or for guys who get hairy so fast! This guy is fast as hell though, had a great race and is one cool dude...

Franco! If the Giro de Sardegna would ever be held entirely in a Velodrome, he'd win, hands down. That being said, he had a pretty killer race on the roads and hills here anyway...

Luigi!

Remember this road? Here I am, minutes up on the field trying to get back into the top part of the GC. No one could hold my wheel, had a great team working for me and was feeling great with dreams of winning the overall in my head... OK, not really. Actually, I am pretty far off the lead group, can't see them in fact and was waiting for the next group to catch up. But had enough time on my own to daydream! And trust me, if there was a stage of this race to be on your own and enjoy the scenery, this was it!

This was one of the tougher parts of the race. 3km at 13+%. This guy had enough energy to give a thumbs up but then blew. I felt great here and ended up have a great final stage. Super happy to feel better at the end of a hard week of racing than worse!

With the stage over, it was time for a shower and food!

Stage 7, Kermesse, 40km

Only two guys made it to the start of stage 7. It was cold, windy and looked like rain and after a hard week of racing when they said this stage didn't count, most stayed in bed. OK, maybe more than two did it and in hindsight I wish I would have but there is always next year. Above is Kale who owns Bicycle Haus in AZ.

Summary

So, it only took me about a month to write this report of our trip to the Giro de Sardegna with the Assos team. Looking back it was by FAR the most fun I've ever had racing or even just riding my bike. Sure, there were times during the event that I would have loved to be somewhere else, but looking back I loved it, loved racing with all the guys Assos put together and am hoping I can get there again next year. In fact, it's about time to get training...

Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for our next adventure!

2011 Giro de Sardegna with Assos. Stage 4, 120km

2011-06-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

Getting ready for the start of stage 4.

Stage 4 was the first truly sunny stage and personally what I thought Sardegna would be like the entire week. Today was another "rolling stage" though there were plenty of 5+km climbs scattered throughout the 120km course. Personally, I felt great and was hell bent on staying with the front group for the entire race. That started off well enough as I was at the front when we hit the first climb. I was happy and maybe a little surprised to still be there at the top as well! So far, going to plan. Then it started to get a little messy. What was left of the field went flying into a pretty confusing round about and I went left while everyone else went right. I had to come to a complete stop and let the entire field pass and then sprint for the next few minutes to get back to the front.
Great that I was back in front, not so great that I had to burn about 8 of the 10 matches I had doing it. Got up the next climb in front but was feeling it a bit and then it happened: I got dropped on the descent. I honestly could not believe how fast these guys were going downhill. I went from the front of the group in under a minute, and then off the back shortly after!
After chasing solo for the next 5km I got back to the front group at the base of the next climb only to get shelled right away. Oh well, at least I had enough to hang with the third group the rest of the way and actually felt like I was one of the strongest in that pack. In the end I took a flyer with 2km to go and died at 500m, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. This was hump day for me and I felt great and was looking forward to the next few stages...

The follow cars getting ready to depart.

Assos USA's John L. He was a crash victim from stage 2 and was still pretty stiff but was riding better every day with a smile on his face the whole time...

Fuel for the stage; hot dog buns w/ Nutella and cream cheese. LOVED these, and miss them! Plain water on the left, electrolyte on the right...

"Ribo" getting his Goomah checked out before the stage. He is also the manager of the Manga-Yio store in Lugano. Lucky guy...

Luigi!

Goomah

Malcolm checking his tires before the depart. Nice Team Pinarello Paris...

Riding to the start of the stage with Kale Keltz from the Bicycle Haus in Scottsdale AZ.

Pre stage interview with the race promoter...

I'm in here somewhere. At least there are some other racers who look like they are suffering more than I am!

Franco leading the way with Ribo and Tom in the lead group. Check out the guy who crashed and is covered in blood. This may be a grand fondo, but it was more like a full on race! Loved it!

Enve's new 6.7 wheelset has arrived

2011-06-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the UPS truck this morning; the brand new Enve 6.7 wheel set. Seems like it's been ages since we first talked to Jason and Jake of Enve Composites about these but they were true to their word and they have arrived!
We should hopefully have some tires glued on and have these on a bike in the next few days to see how they ride, but at first glance they look like they will deliver...

In the last few months Edge has changed their name, introduced new wheels and even changed the box...

The 60mm front wheel on the left and the 70mm rear wheel to the right.

Developed in conjunction with Simon Smart, the F1 aerodynamics expert.

Made here.

Check in with us as we'll be getting the miles in and will be able to tell you exactly what we feel about these new wheels. The 6.7 is the first model out in the new "Smart" range. Next up a lighter model, the 3.4 and then...
We have a couple pairs of these now, but they'll go fast, so give us a shout to get a pair set up for that next time trial, triathlon or Sunday world championship ride!
For more information on these wheels, click HERE.

Thanks for reading!

2011 Giro de Sardegna with Assos. Stage 3

2011-06-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Stage 3 of this years Giro de Sardegna was a rolling 110+ km race. Like stage 2 it started at a full sprint for the first 20 or so km's. Having ridden a TT and a long 160km in the rain the day before the legs were complaining a bit as well. The really cool thing to note in today's stage was racing through the towns. We did this a bit the day before, but not like this. Close to 180 cyclists flying through multiple small towns with narrow streets and a lot of people out cheering was a first for me and super fun!

Some scenery from stage 3

Super hero Malcolm Elliot getting his pre-race rubdown...

About 30km into the stage we hit the first "roller". OK, if you consider 10km a "roller" that is. Got dropped immediately, but kept my own pace and soon got a second wind and started passing groups at a pretty quick pace. By the top was in the third group on the road and getting close to the second. But after a long downhill the gap was too big and had to settle where I was.

Catching stragglers on the road. This stage was super fun and after the "rollers" we had about 25km of flattish roads to the finish. Super fast and everyone knew how to ride so we had some good fun with some great pacelines going. In the end though, did a weak sprint and finished third in our group. Just something about doing a sprint when it's not for the win...

2011 Giro de Sardegna with Assos. Stage 2, 160km

2011-05-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

OK, so tomorrow turned into next week, but better late than never in getting stage 2 posted! Been a bit of a mad house here at Above Category, but we're working on the organization thing and even hired a new member here. So that means more time for me to ride and do events like this! Thanks for your patience and without further ado, let's get to the review of stage 2 of this years Giro de Sardegna!

The morning before the first road stage at the team hotel. In the front is Franco Marvulli who is the current Olympic Silver medalist in the Madison. Stage 2 was 160km starting on a flat to rolling course and at about km50 we started two laps of an extremely hilly circuit. When we woke it was cloudy but dry. The dry part didn't last too long...

Here is the kit we received for the event which is also the official Equipe Campionissimo clothing...

A better look at the jersey.

One of our FOUR follow cars!

The start line. We were waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy in the back. Here is one of the things that made this race so hard, the start. Basically, in front of this group is a 3-4 foot wide mat that every cyclist had to run over in order to activate the timing chip. All fine and dandy for these guys at the front. Here's the thing though, once they crossed the line it was full throttle! WTF?? No warm-up, no neutral, just full gas. But what sucked is that for us way in the back, it took maybe 3 or so minutes to even hit that same mat. So, these guys who camped out overnight or something to get these spots had a three minute head start at full gas over us in the back. But what they didn't have was Malcolm Elliot and friends to pull them up to the front. It went like this, roll your bike slowly to the line, clip in, shift to the 53X12 and stand on the pedals as hard as possible for the next 10-20km! Then, once back to what's left of the field, move to the front in time for the hills. Fun stuff...

Stage 2 would take us into the hills and the mines...

This was the first climb which the race bible called an easy 5km at less than 5%. I don't think so, it was mostly 7-8% though the 5km part seemed right and the field split pretty quickly as the pro's at the front wanted to break things up.

Two of the guys doing the damage were teammates though, so it was all good...

At this point we were still with the front group. Right in front of me (I'm on the blue and black Dogma) is Luigi who is the R&D director for Assos and as I've said before has to be the coolest job in the world! Pretty much any Assos clothing you wear now was thought up, tested and perfected by him. He's also really, really strong, so now you know there are guys who ride all the time and ride strong looking out for you when it comes to what you wear!

After the main climb we hit 20km or so of rollers like this...

...which hurt a bit.

The front group on the rollers.

How did my race go? Super well, thanks for asking. I was feeling great in what I think was the 3rd group on the road and then got a flat on the rolling part during the second lap. It was at that point that it decided to pour rain and drop in temperature; nice. And even though we had all these follow cars, at this precise time, there were none anywhere. So I waited 20 or so minutes watching group after group come by and finally yelled to a teammate to tell the car at the feed zone to come back w/ a wheel. Finally, I got a replacement front wheel and soaked and shivering got back on my bike to finish the race. Not sure where I finished, but at least I got there!

I did have some company while waiting for a wheel though!

Stage 3 tomorrow, or next week, same thing...
But really, thanks for reading!

2011 Giro de Sardegna with Assos. Stage 1, ITT

2011-05-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 24th marked the first day of the Giro de Sardegna. This was to be a 24km individual time trial (ITT) on an out and back course. Due to what was supposed to be a really nasty day weather-wise the organizers shortened it to 12km. So, the Medio Fondo group started at the coast while those of us doing the full length race started at the race hotel and raced to the water.
Since we got in late the day before there was not really a chance to pre-ride the course (not that I would have anyhow) but it was a pretty simple layout. Start, then after about 200 meters take a right on a very crowded and sandy turn and then kill yourself for 9km into a stinging headwind. This 9km was dead straight with the exception of a few roundabouts. Then turn right for a few km, left for a km and another right to the finish. Simple enough, except for the killing yourself part!

The 9km straight section. What you can't see is the massive head wind...

Personally I didn't have any plans of going too hard. This was a seven day stage race and from what I saw the other racers were going to take it very seriously. I mean we had a current Olympic medalist, Franco Marvulli, a current pro and overall stud Malcolm Elliot and a bunch of other Pro's or almost pro's on the Assos team. So I thought it'd be better to save any energy I had for the road stages to come.

A couple of the Assos TT bikes. Easy for the Euro guys to bring bikes, not so easy for those of us traveling thousands of miles...

Since I was planning on taking it easy I of course didn't warm up at all, except for the 4km ride to the start line. But those plans ended pretty quickly. Another guy on our team started right in front of me, one minute before. I didn't know who he was at this time, but I would end up riding a lot of the event with Joost from the Netherlands as we were pretty evenly matched in fitness.

Somewhere along the long 9km straight, flat section...

So, I got to the start line, the official counted me down and I was off! All I could think was keep it slow and steady and I did exactly that, for about 100 meters. Then the ego kicked in with all the spectators and I of course felt great as it was only about 10 seconds into the TT and I put it in one of the lower sprockets in the rear and put my head down. I was gaining on Joost pretty quickly so kept at it. This was the longest and hardest 12km I have ever done, but it was fun and my legs didn't seize up too badly...

Yep, taking it easy. That's a pretty aero watch I have on as well. I didn't have a computer and had to make sure not to miss my start time. Also, I got my hands on a hard to find older Assos skin suit though the newer Assos Starburst suit is said to be a bit faster...

All in all, no warmup and I still finished top 50 (out of 280 or so), about a minute and a half behind the leader. Not bad on a road bike w/ pretty tame wheels on a flat course. So of course for next year I'll have all the gear; helmet, TT bike etc. and then only finish a minute down! Well worth the extra $4oo in bike fees!

Belgian stud Tom W. showing us how to do it. Pretty sure he was 3rd in the TT

The crappy weather didn't come until later in the day but I'm so happy that they kept it at 12km as I blew well before the line anyhow! I do wish I would have warmed up proper, but still had a blast and was now in race mode. The entire Assos team did well and was looking forward to the 160km road stage the next day.
For those of you who don't know what the Giro de Sardegna is, it's a 7 day stage race in Sardegna (duh) that is run Grand Fondo style. This means that the fields are pretty big, over 250 in the full and the same for the Medio. Most of the participants here take it VERY seriously and are EXTREMELY fit. Lots of Pro's, former pros and super fast amateurs. Pretty much everyone here knows how to handle a bike well in a huge field which is good as we went from wide two lane roads to very narrow streets through small towns.
This was a great event that I hope to do again and if you want to get a taste of what a full on stage race feels like in Europe come talk to us and maybe join the team for next year?!
Tomorrow I'll cover stage two, the first road stage. Thanks for reading!

The latest Custom Parlee Z5 from Above Category

2011-05-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here is our latest Custom Parlee Z5 build. This one is for Ken D. who spends most of his time racing LMPC and Porsche Cup cars at tracks all over the continent (and next year, the world) so he shouldn't be too shocked by the speed of this bike when he gets on it for the first time. Ken wanted a mostly white bike and that's what we did, but added the black logos and a little silver to even everything out.

The completed bike comes in at 13.27lbs as seen here, pedals, cages included. If light weight had been our main focus it would have come in quite a bit lighter, but light weight was not our focus, every day ride-ability was...

The inside of the fork was painted silver as was the Parlee logo under the down tube. Wheels are the Gen II Lightweight Ventoux's. If you can find a pair of these we highly suggest getting a set. Incredibly smooth, strong and plenty stiff, but rare...

More detail of the fork...

If you know us you know our favorite brand of saddle is Fizik. Our favorite Fizik is the Antares. We also love the Fizik seat post, maybe not the lightest (but light enough), but in our opinion the nicest and best looking post out there.

Stem and bar combo courtesy of Deda. Both in aluminum, the stem is 110mm and the bars are the Zero 100, 44cm.

Brakes are RevL by the Hive.

Front brake

Yes we have Cannondale cranks on a Parlee. Great cranks, light and very stiff. And Aluminum, we like aluminum...

SRAM Red that happens to be black

Here's a good shot showing the silver Parlee under the downtube.

New shiny black Fizik tape. It has much more grip than it looks like it would...

Parlee's super clean front derailleur hanger.

We rarely use lightweight quick release skewers, but the Lightweight lightweight (haha) QR is stiff enough and has worked well for us.

Bob Parlee, the brains behind the bike...

Keep checking back, we are in the process of developing the Above Category stock Parlee Z5 which should be out of paint very soon. We'll have the Standard and SL Z5 to show so stay in touch! To have us start on your own version of a Parlee give us a shout at the shop!

Thanks for reading!

A quick update from the Giro de Sardinia with Assos

2011-04-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-21T15:51:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-04-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-09T19:25:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-09T14:28:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

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!

Bill's new Moots Compact CR

2011-03-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

This is our latest Moots build for Bill B. A very straight forward and classy looking bike. But also a major workhorse with the nice stuff in the right places...

Build as follows:

Moots Compact CR, 55cm
Enve 2.0 fork, 43mm rake
Shimano Ultegra Rear Derailleur
Shimano Ultegra Front Derailleur
Shimano Ultegra Compact Crank, 172.5mm
Shimano Ultegra Bottom Bracket
Shimano Ultegra Chain
Shimano Ultegra Cassette, 11X28
Shimano Ultegra Levers
Shimano Ultegra Brake Calipers
Fulcrum Racing Zero Clinchers
Continental GP4000s clinchers
Continental tubes
Thomson set back seat post, 27.2mm
Chris King headset, black
Deda Zero 100 stem, 110mm
Deda Zero 100 bars, 44mm
Fizik soft touch tape
WTB saddle
King stainless steel cages
Speedplay Stainless Zero pedals
Total weight with pedals and cages: 17.28lbs

Deda Zero 100 cockpit

In the stand, halfway there...

Aesthetically, Shimano Ultegra is a nice match with the satin finish on the Moots frame...

We chose the very nice and super durable Fulcrum Racing Zero clincher wheels for Bills bike.

Sneak peak at the new Fall/Winter Assos clothing

2011-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick look at part of the new fall/winter line from Assos that we'll have stocked the beginning of next September. The great thing about Assos is that they make such high quality and high performing clothing that they don't come out with new clothing every year. For example the current rain jacket has been around for longer than I can remember. Same with the leg and arm warmers. So when Assos does come out with something new, it's worth taking a second look.
Last year Assos made some changes to a few pieces of their fall/winter line and added a few new items. Mainly the tights and knickers were totally revamped and we can tell you from many thousands of miles so far that they are amazing. The fit is super ergonomic and they do what they are supposed to, keep the cyclist comfortable in adverse weather.
That being said, here is what's new for next fall/winter...

RAIN.

Here is the brand new top of the range rain jacket from Assos. It's called the rS.sturmPrinz but you can keep it simple and just ask for the best rain jacket ever made. This is the kind of jacket that you grab when it's pouring out before you get on the bike and you know it'll be pouring hours into the ride as well. It's kind of like the new Habu jacket in that it's not really meant to stow. Pick the appropriate base layer, your favorite long sleeve jersey, put this on top and ride. These will not be cheap but then the best rarely is.

The back of the sturmPrinz. This flap you see here is not a pocket but serves two purposes. One is to offer extra ventilation and the other is to offer access to the jersey pockets underneath. No more pulling the jacket halfway up your back to grab your ham and cheese sandwich!

And then there is this guy. The Assos climaSchutz. This is a very re-worked version of the current climaJet jacket. We have a feeling that this will be our best selling rain jacket next year hands down. This is meant to be more of a stow-able rain jacket. It will come in a vest version as well.

Another look at the sJ.climaSchutz

Again, like the rS.sturmPrinz, the sJ.climaSchutz allows easy access to jersey pockets.

More vents on the side and under arm...

the Assos rainBootie S7. We are very much looking forward to these. We know a few guys who have been testing these for over a year and the feedback is great news to our ears. They have a tighter cuff on the top of the booty to keep water from running down the leg and into the shoes. They seem to be very durable if you keep walking around to a minimum of course. They will come in 3 sizes.

The rain cap

PANTS.

These are called the hK.sturmNuss which is Assos speak for rain half knickers or in English, rain proof knickers w/out bibs. These will be excellent for commuters or guys and gals that ride day in day out in cold, rainy conditions. I'm not exactly sure why Assos went knicker instead of a full pant but when you see the new rain booties it shouldn't be a big deal as no water will be getting in your shoes. If it was really cold I'd wear a pair of tights underneath instead of shorts.

The LL.fugu S5 bib tights. If you ride in Antarctica these are your tights. Meant to pair with the Fugu jacket, these are the warmest looking bib tights we have ever seen. Not really made for Northern California so we'll have to take a riding trip somewhere frigid just to get the chance to ride in them! We'll have them in stock but in limited numbers, so if you want a pair, get in touch with us now. Assos won't be bringing many into the states the first year...

Another look at the LL.fugu tight. We'll have more pictures when we get out to Switzerland again next month.

JERSEYS AND JACKETS.

This is the all new Assos iJH.tiburu.4 long sleeve jersey. Comes in black (shown), white and red. This will be more of a racing cut jersey and should fit snugly. Pretty bold in the design but we like it for sure. If you prefer simple graphics (like none) they will still have the Intermediate Evo Jersey.

The back of the iJ.tiburu jersey.

The iJ.bonka.6 jacket. Think of this as an updated AirJack. It will come in Black, White, Red (shown), Blue Calypso and Yellow Volt.

Back of the iJ.bonka.6 jacket. 3 BIG pockets plus a large zippered pocket.

WARMERS.

We didn't get enough shots of these but Assos has fully redone their arm, leg and knee warmers including the UV protector line. They are all (excluding the uv protect line) are made with the new Quantum Roubaix material that is used on this years bib tights and knickers. So much more ergonomic than before and very comfortable.

FEET & HANDS.

Interesting? Yes, these are called fuguSpeer. They are heavy socks with airblock protection. Who doesn't want warm feet? They will come in 3 sizes.

The new Assos winterBootie S7. In black and white (shown) and 3 sizes.

These are the Assos fuguBootie. Hardcore, cold and wet bootie. In person these looked amazing, more thought put into a bootie than we've ever seen ever before...

The new Assos earlyWinterGloves S7. Again, they feel warm without being bulky. Two colors, black and white (shown). XXS-XLG

This is only a part of what's new. There are new winter hats, more gloves, snow booties, womens tights w/ the new material and S5 chamois. More socks as well. It's been a while since Assos has really gone over their line and we are really looking forward to it. If you have any questions or want to reserve something contact us at the shop!

Last week at Above Category, in pictures Vol. II

2011-03-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last week was a busy week to say the least and the following photo's represent just a fraction of what went on. Here then are some pictures to guide you through last week at Above Category...

One word. Rain. We've had a bit, seems like 90% of the rides this month have been in cold, pouring rain and wind. No worries though, it filled up the lakes and will make us appreciate spring that much more! Also, I was able to get a few last rides in my 3 year old Assos ClimaJet rain jacket. It's done well, but is at the end of it's life for sure which is just fine as Assos is bringing out brand new rain gear next fall. Just in time for the rain to start back up!

Also gave me some time to test the Assos Habu jacket in the wet stuff as well. Work very nicely, though you do still get soaked. Even then I stayed plenty warm even on long rides and would just bring the Assos rain jacket with me for the descents. But overall this is the best winter jacket I have ever worn.

Another rain ride, this time with Tony and TJ.

And when it wasn't raining, it looked like this. But wait then, about five minutes after snapping this photo it poured, and then hailed, then poured some more...

San Francisco is RIGHT there, really, I promise!

Riding in all this crappy weather reminded us why we love Mad Alchemy so much. BTW, we are pretty much stocked back up on all there embrocation and chamois creme again...

The few times it didn't rain it was glorious.

And I got to wear my Fabian C. lookalike jersey...

OK, enough about the weather for now. We received a few Pinarello Graal TT frames in last week. The one on the left is for the shop while the white and red one is getting built up right now...

Another shot of the white and red Pinarello Graal. Don't think we'll be going with these wheels. This is going to a triathlete who I'm sure will be doing some proper 40k TT's on it as well. We want something deeper than the 50mm Lightweights. Would love some Mavic IO road wheels or even the new 80mm Mavic Cosmics...

It looks messy now, but it will be so clean soon!

Kalara did some re-arranging in the showroom. Verdict; we have too many bikes in here...

During the week, Kris built up some very sweet Enve 45mm wheels with Kris King R45's in Mango. Black aerolight spokes rounded off the package.

Built up they look like this...

...which Ed then put on his Parlee Z4 which looks like this...
(BTW, Ed is crazy. He's doing a 600k race in a couple weeks in an attempt to qualify for PBP on this bike. Hardcore.)

Here's another Moots we built up last week for Bill B. Nice and simple...and fast...and smooth...and light...etc...

Got this bike in last week! Did a write-up on it a few blogs ago, check it out...

Not only did we get the San Rensho, but we received this incredible Nagasawa track bike. Seeing these two bikes reminds me of how much history Japan has in cycling as well. Maybe not as long or as storied as Italy, but very storied non the less. Our thoughts go out to these people in Japan right now and hope they make as quick a recovery as is possible.

Ralf (who else?) built the Nagasawa up last friday...

And Joao claimed it about three seconds later!

All Fizik shoes are in! We have the R1's, R3's in white/black and red and the R3 Donna woman's shoes in almost every size in stock.

We installed a Shimano Yumeya kit onto our shop Pinarello Dogma.

The Yumeya rear derailleur pivot bolt is beautiful and good for about oh, 3 grams.

Brake pad holders and bolts also included in the Yumeya kit as is a chain, pinch bolts, jockey wheel bolts and shifter cables (for non Di2 shifters).

The week ended with a ride on Sunday that was entertaining to say the least. First I got my second flat in as many days on tubulars. No big deal as both times I fixed it in less than 5min and was back on the road. But yesterday, right after fixing the flat I picked up a stray branch that tore my Campagnolo Chorus Derailleur in half.

But luckily I remembered that I had a multi tool with a chain tool on it. First time I've ever had to do this on a road bike in over 20 years of riding. Got me over the mountain and back down again. Take it from me, go take a look at your riding tool kit and make sure you have what you need and that it is all in working order. If you need any help/suggestions come on in to the shop or give us a call and we'll help get you sorted.

And the one day of sun we had, Zack found the warmest spot...

My dream bike... 20 years ago

2011-03-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

It's times like this that I wish I'd had paid more attention in my English/Lit and writing classes. Not sure if I can really put into words the feelings that I had as I unpacked this bike from the box it came in this morning. Being able to explain just how many good memories this bike has invoked in just one afternoon of staring at it.

I forget which catalog it was that I saw this bike in, but I do remember that I was 17 years old and built it up thousands of times in my head in what I thought would be the perfect bike. And now, 20 years later it's sitting on the shop floor.

This one may not be built up 100% the exact way I dreamed it back then, but it's pretty damned close. I would have had Mavic GL330 rims instead of the Araya hoops that are on it now and I would have for sure had 32 spokes instead of 36. I wasn't cool enough to even know about the Dura-Ace stem and am blown away right now just looking at it so that's a nice change! Of course the Deda tires did not exist so it would have been Vittoria CG on the rear and a CX on the front. Also, the San Marco Regal saddle would have been perforated and lastly, white Benotto bar tape would have rounded out the look instead of the cloth tape.

And without further ado, may I introduce my dream bike from 20 years ago...

The San Rensho road bike...

Built as follows:

1987 Shimano Dura-Ace 7400 (I think!) 7spd groupset
170mm cranks 53X42
12X21 7spd FREEWHEEL
36 spoke (wheelsmith) Dura-Ace hubs laced to Araya rims
Dura-Ace Seatpost
Dura-Ace Stem!
Nitto bars, classic shallow drop
San Marco Regal saddle
Cat Eye cloth tape
19.92 lbs (no bottle cages or pedals)

The Dura-Ace parts were incredibly durable and I remember them lasting forever.

AND, they were incredibly shiny! These are tied with Campagnolo C-Record, Suntour Superbe Pro and the Mavic SSC crank as the most beautiful cranks I've ever seen on a bicycle.

The 7spd rear derailleur. I'll make the cable longer, but wonder if shorter housing worked better on these bikes? Hard to remember...

Closer look at the Dura-Ace rear derailleur

The freewheel. The 21 combined with a 42 chainring was my climbing gear. Learned a bit about cadence since then...

Beautiful Dura-ace rear brake w/ some pretty stiff springs. State of the art pad compound as well I'm sure...

Yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmm! LOVED this post! Satin finish and a nice little tilt adjust screw near the top of the mast...

...and the matching Dura-Ace stem! I had all but forgotten about this!

All the adjustments take place underneath this cap. Such attention to detail that we don't see as often today.

Such clean lines, absolutely perfect from where I'm sitting...

Dura-Ace headset and a chromed fork crown...

Front brake...

Rear Dura-Ace hub with the 7spd freewheel.

Square taper bottom bracket.

Best down tube shifters ever...

Attention to detail...

And more attention to detail. See the Dura-Ace on the wheel guides?

Nice quick releases...

Come back later this week for a check up with Team Sky's Pinarello Dogma and a closer look at Shimano Dura-Ace twenty years later...

Pegoretti Love #3 custom front end

2011-03-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots of a Pegoretti Love #3 that we had some custom work done to. The guys and gals at Spectrum nailed the fork perfectly, from matching the off white of Dario's frame to the artwork itself. This takes the aesthetic of this bike to the next level and there is going to be one very happy cyclist in Tennessee riding around on it this spring!

The complete frame set. You'd never know that Dario didn't do the fork as well...

Color match on the individual colors was spot on with the frame...

Dario Pegoretti set inside the fork leg is a nice touch...

Even the font is a match!

Projects like this are something we've been doing for a long time. Reading through our old blogs is a great way to see some of the things we've been doing. We are curious to see what Dario has up his sleeve with his new fork regarding finishing. We'd love to see him paint the forks to match his frames in house as designing the artwork, shipping the frame (for color matching) and fork to our painter is neither easy nor cheap. But the end result is worth it! Thanks for reading and give us a shout to see what we can do for you.

Pegoretti at NAHBS 2011

2011-03-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

When Chad asked if I wanted to check out the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Austin Texas, I jumped at the chance. It's a showcase of the world's top talent in the handmade bike world. Having worked at AC a few years back, as well as founding the AC elite team in 2008, I'd be visiting with some old friends in the industry.

On Saturday morning I finagled my way into the show an hour early in order to meet up with Dario Pegoretti and Giorgio Andretta. Giorgio is the man responsible for bringing Pegoretti bicycles to the U.S., and a good friend of the Above Category family. Dario is equal parts genius, artist, alchemist, and jester. I've spent time with him on his almost yearly pilgrimages to the Above Category shop in Mill Valley, and had the great honor to visit him in his workshop in Caldonazzo, Italy (I wrote about that trip here). He also sponsored our team with custom frames in 2009, which was an incredible privilege!

NAHBS is big, and it took me a while to find the Pegoretti booth. Wandering through the early-morning empty aisles of the show, I heard a familiar voice boom out. "Ciao Ian!" and there was Dario, wandering the aisles himself, in search of espresso.

Dario (R) and Giorgio (L) explained the many enhancements Dario has been working on... One of the most exciting is a brand new Pegoretti fork...

It's still in the prototype phase, and right now they only have six of them produced. Please remember that some of these details might change. This is what he told me about the new design:

The crown of the fork is very broad, mimicking the structure of traditional steel forks, to increase strength and stiffness. In Dario's words: "A very classic design." Also notice the aluminum cap. As Dario said, there's no point in having a flawless fork if you can't seat it perfectly in the headset!

The fork is all carbon, including the dropouts. In order to achieve the right balance of strength, light weight, and ride quality, it uses a blend of four different carbons. It's wide enough to allow 25mm tires, and possibly 28mm (depending on the final design). This is to accommodate a growing interest in riding wider tires.

The bowed shape creates a straight line leading down to the dropouts, increasing stiffness and absorbing shock.

"Falz" means "Sickle" in an Italian dialect.

The fork will be available in 45 and 50mm rake. Dario is still tweaking it, experimenting with different layups to further increase torsional stiffness. It's a race fork, and one that other frame builders have already expressed an interest in!

Check back for more from Pegoretti... the Falz fork is just one of many new developments. I'll be posting the rest over the next few days.

Dario Pegoretti, a sneak peak at what's new...

2011-02-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here just a couple shots, see how many changes you can find. Ian is flying to Austin right now and will be talking to Dario for a while tomorrow at the hand built bike show. He'll be getting all the information on what's new for these bikes and even a bit of the why...

For now, enjoy!

There are actually quite a few things that Dario has done to this frameset. How many can you find? We'll fill you in on everything in a few days...

Day is Done

We really, really like this one...

No, we LOVE this one!

Simple elegance

Last week at Above Category, in pictures...

2011-02-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

A lot has been going on here in the last seven days, in fact too much to write about here. So instead, here's a photo journal of the past week here at Above Category...

The week started off nicely, a newly built Parlee Z1 to ride and short wearing weather on Mt. Tam...

And then we had a nice visit with Larry K. and saw all the incredible new clothing from Assos that is coming next fall/winter. We'll have a few teaser pics posted on some of the choicest items in the next day or so...

Later, we built this beautiful Moots RSL for Don.

And then unpacked our first ever shipment of the brand new Fizik road shoes!

After a little rest, Ralf built this sweet new BMC Four Stroke Mtn. Race bike for Spence P.

Which turned out to be a 20lb fully built (minus pedals) kick ass race bike. I want one and I hardly ride Mtn...

Next bike to go out was Roberts Pinarello Paris. He's had this for a little bit but we tricked it out a bit with some black label Lightweight Standards. In tubular of course...

And then we got a ride in with our buddy Joao C. and Tony L. Got in a very scenic two hours between massive rain storms and stayed dry!

Took a postcard photo along the way...

Tony got a flat on his tubulars, but check out all the stans on his frame. It worked though and he was able to get home, though the hole was too big to save and we put a new tire on.

We watch a lot of movies here at AC, who can guess what movie this is?

Woody working...

and Zack sleeping.

Still thinking of how we're going to build this Parlee TT frame up. Di2 for sure, Lightweight disc, but what bars? Custom painted though for sure, as well as the seat post. White tape, white saddle but what front wheel?

Woke up Saturday morning with snow on Mt. Tam! That doesn't happen too often...

Woke up to this on Sunday morning. Camped out Saturday night for the Pine Flat RR on Sunday. This is the starting point...

Spent the day on the attack, but mostly got my ass kicked by a bunch of Jr's! Here I'm in a two man break with one of those ass kickers. Team did great, Alistair grabbed a second and Isaiah claimed a hard fought 4th. Alex killed himself for the first three quarters of the race and finished up riding piano with me at the back...

Building up another killer Parlee Z5 and trying to figure out which hubs will go best with the matte finish. Pewter or black? I'm voting pewter...

And we finished up today with an SRM installation on JK's Moots RSL. C-Dale SRM and a press fit 30 BB. Stronglight rings that we had to order mail order from France, nice...

Thanks for taking the time to read, or at least look at the pictures! Looking forward to this week as much as last! Until then...

Our new test bike, the Parlee Z1

2011-02-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

We've just finished putting 2000 hard winter miles on our Pinarello Kobh (see the post on that awesome bike here) and we're ready for a new ride. There are a few directions we can go in and at the top of the list was our new custom painted Parlee Z5, but we are still waiting for a few parts on that so it was decided to go with the Parlee Z1.
This is not a new bike by a long stretch, but based on how the Parlee Z3 performs (post here) we are expecting the same if not an even better experience. The fact that this bike has stood the test of time is proof of just how right Bob Parlee got it the first time around. And after a week of riding it I can attest to how good this bike really is, but more on that later. For now, here's a few shots of the bike and how we built it for our personal review... Enjoy!

Parlee Z1, Custom geometry. 56.5 top tube, 55cm seat tube (C-T)

Reynolds UL fork (yeah we know, they don't make them anymore)
3T Rotundo LTD bar, 42cm
3T Arx Pro Stem, 6 degree 110
Chris King headset
Chris King bottom bracket in GREEN!
Fizik shiny tape
Fizik post, aluminum
Fizik Antares 00 saddle
Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur
Shimano Dura-Ace front derailleur, braze-on
Shimano Dura-Ace shift/brake levers
Shimano Dura-Ace brake calipers
Shimano Dura-Ace cassette 12X25
Shimano Dura-Ace chain
Shimano Dura-Ace/SRM power meter, 170mm 53X39
Lightweight Obermayer wheels
Continental Competition 22mm tires
Speedplay Zero Ti pedals
King ti cages
All in, 14.94lbs

Shiny Fizik tape and 3T Rotundo Ltd's

Shiny cables

Chris King headset and shifter bosses without any barrel adjusters. The Dura-Ace stuff has been perfect and have not needed to adjust shifting once, so why bother with the barrel adjusters? Also of note, Parlee does not drill their frames at all and all mounts are molded on, not riveted...

Parlee's sweet front derailleur clamp. Light as they come and super functional. You can buy these separately and use on almost any bike. Heck, even Richard Sachs uses them on his bikes!

Light wheels...

What makes a Z1 a Z1, the stays. Beautiful.

Hand wrapped tubes, gorgeous and strong. Also, the GREEN Chris King BB! Not sure why I get such a kick out of the green stuff, just not many times when you can get away with it I guess...

Shimano Dura-Ace skewers, last of the breed of great, simple quick releases...

Fizik seatpost, quickly becoming a shop favorite. Nothing really needs to be said about the Fizik saddles, we've mentioned a million times how much we love those...

Shortest stem I've used in a while due to having a custom bike. Dario Pegoretti told me that 110 is the ideal sized stem for someone my height. Bike handles great so I believe him...

Great tires

Magnet is embedded in the wheels sidewall. Nice and clean.

Beautiful ti dropouts

Again, no holes in the frame. The bolts are molded onto the frame and then nuts are used to secure the cages...

Stay tuned as we start piling the miles on this bike. It'll be getting it's first race test tomorrow at Pine Flat... Give us a call or come on by to find out more about this hand built work of art!

The wait has ended: Introducing Fizik shoes, at Above Category now!

2011-02-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

In all fairness the wait really hasn't been too bad. In bike world time, it was actually pretty quick. Fizik made the major announcement that they were going to start making shoes at about Eurobike time, or at least that's when we saw some of the first pictures of them. We have been like little kids waiting for Christmas ever since.
So, I guess that February 16 is kind of like Christmas as we just received the first part of our order! We received the shoes you see below which are the R3 Uomo in white/black and red and the R3 Donna in black/crema. We'll have proper photo's up soon. The R1's should be here mid March by the way.

Just a start. We received pretty much every size of the Uomo R3 and Donna R3 in today so come on by and take a look or try a pair on.

The box

The box minus cover...

The box, opened. Cool box actually, packaged well...

And there you go, your very own pair of Fizik Uomo shoes ready to be put to use! Give us a shout with any questions!

Parlee Z5 in Candy Apple Red

2011-02-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

Seems like it has been Parlee month here at Above Category and in keeping with that theme, here is a Z5 that we built in December. This one also has been custom painted by Parlee in Candy Apple Red and unfortunately these pictures (taken by me, not Dean!) don't do it justice.

Straight out of the box and on to the counter. Very simple and very elegant.

Outside in the sunlight...

This is what most of the other makes of bikes would look like if they took off the cosmetic layers of carbon (or molded shapes) around the bottom bracket. Bob Parlee only puts on what is absolutely necessary for top performance and nothing else.

The bike was built with full Shimano Dura-Ace including the wheels and pedals. Fizik Aliante saddle and bar tape, Deda Zero 110 stem and bars and King Ti cages. Don't really remember the final weight on this bike but it was down there...

The other side...

Here's that BB area again, all built up. Parlee also has some great Shimano to BB30 adaptor cups made for them...

Sweet alloy Dura-Ace crankset. Also, you can see the Parlee carbon front derailleur clamp. Works extremely well and lessens the chance of over tightening the front derailleur bolt and damaging the seat tube.

Just like the Parlee Z1; twin seat stays. A bit more classy looking than a monostay (in our opinion at least) and supposedly offers a little smoother ride.

The front end

And out back. A 11X28 cassette matched to the compact crank pretty much ensures that there is not a mountain too high...

Thanks for reading, please contact us for any questions on any of these bikes!

Parlee Z5 w/ Custom finish

2011-02-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest Parlee build we completed at Above Category. Just delivered it to San Francisco this afternoon which is a little bittersweet as we loved having it hang around the shop. It does not get old looking at these builds, whatever the manufacturer! Dean shot a few photo's for us out back before we sent it off so that we could share it with all of you. Here is how it was built up...

Yes, light wheels, lite frame and fork and light group set, but low 13's is very impressive. This is a day in day out extremely durable build that is going to last a long time...

Parlee Z5 size Medium/Large with the tall head tube option
Lightweight Obermayer wheels
Campagnolo Super Record with Ti crank upgrade
11X25 cassette
172.5 standard 53X39 crank set
Look Keo Blade pedals in Ti with 16nm spring
Veloflex 350tpi tires
Deda Zero 100 SC stem 110mm
Deda Zero 1oo bars
Deda tape
Fizik Arione CX carbon saddle
Thomson Master Piece set back seat post
Arundel Mandible H2O cages
Edge 1.0 Tapered fork
All in... 13.27lbs

Stock Campagnolo Super Record brake set. No reason to mess around here as these are about as good as it gets in the stopping department. We did the single pivot brake in the rear, still don't see a need for the dual pivot option.

The 2011 Campagnolo levers are a huge improvement over the 2010 pieces. Not that the older ones were bad, but these are so crisp and precise. Good work there Campagnolo! White hoods and cable set round out the aesthetic on this bike.

For those of you who have followed us for a while you know we love all things Fizik. Their saddles are so well made and look great. There is pretty much a shape for everyone as well, so when it comes time to look for a new saddle, give Fizik a serious look. And if you have ridden one of their models and didn't like it, give another one a try as it could be perfect. This is the Arione CX Carbon model...

Campagnolo Super Record crankset with the Titanium Axle upgrade.

Thanks for taking a look! If you have any questions or want to get your own Parlee started, give us a shout!

Parlee Z3 dressed in blue

2011-02-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Just got this beautiful custom Parlee Z3 in from the guys in Mass. It looked amazing in the shop when we first took it out of the box, but then it just exploded when we took it out into the sunlight! Dean Bentley replicated that look in his studio for everyone to enjoy here...

This is my favorite shot. Check out the fork, subtle and OMG bright at the same time. The blue tint finish looks great on the uni and multi directional finish. Also, check out the slight sparkle finish in the panel. You can get the tint in a lot of different colors including the blue you see here, red, gold, green and many more...

deep

Just one of the many things we love about Parlee. So many different options with geometry, finish, ride tuning etc... The bikes are strong, extremely light, handle as well as anything we've ever ridden and have a classic look that will look good for as long as you own the bike, which if taken care of properly should be forever...

Let us know how we can help you get on the perfect bike from Parlee! At Above Category we stock the full range of Parlee Z5's in the shop as well as the Z1, Z3, Z4, Time Trial/Triathlon bike and soon, the track bike and the Parlee Cross bike. Contact us at anytime with any questions on any of the Parlee bikes or to schedule a time to see them in person. Of course feel free to walk in during our business hours as well! Thanks for reading!

Alpine Dam

2011-01-12T16:27:00.001-08:00

The Alpine Dam loop is maybe one of the most popular rides in Marin. Did a great ride this morning with Kris and snapped a few photo's and thought I'd pass them on... enjoy!

About 15 minutes into the ride and pushing 300W at Kris' warm-up pace is better than caffeine for waking you up at 7:30am..

Kris' awesome 3 year old Pegoretti Marcelo custom AC race bike still running strong...

Kris just finishing a 400W effort on BoFax

The Pinarello KOBH that we just ran a review on. Now up to 1400 miles...

The dam. LOVE this ride!

The reservoir...

Go this direction and you will head up a 12 minute or so incredible and twisty climb to Ridgecrest. Hang a left there and you'll hit the top of Mt. Tam...

Head this direction and you'll hit a few shorter climbs and rollers and then drop into the town of Fairfax.

Looking down from the dam...

Pinarello KOBH, 1200 miles on...

2011-01-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Above Category's review of the Pinarello KOBH. First off I want to thank everyone for their patience, yes, it has been a while coming! But, like I always say, these things take time. We are not ones to jump on a bike ride it for an hour or so and then subject you to our infinite wisdom! As of yesterday (08 January 2011) I have put 1,235 miles on the KOBH in the last month and a half or so. I've done easy rides on it, long rides, hard rides, sunny rides and very wet rides. I've done all sorts of intervals on it from standing sprints to long tempo climbs. So, suffice to say this particular Pinarello KOBH has pretty much seen everything that we'd expect it to see in its lifetime which leads us to our thoughts...

Official Team Sky spring classics race bike

WHY did Pinarello decide to build the KOBH? I forget if I asked this exact question of Fausto or Luciano last summer in Italy but I bet it has something to do with a certain Juan Antonio Flecha of Team Sky. Up until Pinarello's sponsorship of the British team they mainly supported the Spanish team Caisse d'Epargne and their band of skinny grand tour climber types. There was not much need for a burly classics bike or equipment. Forget about T-Mobile of the Erik Zabel days. Back then Pinarello still hand made magnesium and aluminum frames and could make special classic bikes pretty easily. Jump back to 2010 and there was no more metal in Pinarello's line so it would be a pretty big deal to design a new bike around a few races in Belgium. This brings us back to Flecha. He's got a pretty descent classics resume and going into the classics season Team Sky felt he would also have good support but one thing they needed was a bike that could handle these rough races. While I'm sure (and we have plenty of miles on it to back it up) the Dogma could perform well in these races it lacked a few features that we will cover below to be considered a true classics frame. Enter the Pinarello KOBH.

KOBH is short for the word cobblestone which makes sense based on what the frame was made for. The KOBH made about the best entry into the world that Pinarello, Team SKY and Juan Antonio Flecha could ever hope for; a win in the 2010 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad or the Omloop Het Volk for those that have been around a while. What does this mean for those of us that will never race Het Volk or Paris Roubaix? Plenty! How many of you ride on perfect roads every day? No potholes or cracks or broken surfaces. I know we have some pretty rough roads here and plenty of dirt thrown in as well which to some degree qualifies as our own personal classics courses. Read below and see how and if this bike is right for you...

The KOBH as pictured above weighs 16.26lbs. Not too bad for a bike meant for the worse roads the Belgiums can throw at it. Also, considering the SRM and all the dirt that was on it when we weighed it that is pretty light!

The flatter and thinner KOBH seatstays.

Round seat post! For those that may want to put on a different post for more or less set back. Shaped posts may look trick but not much you can do if you need to make an adjustment...

Here is a better picture of the entire rear end of the KOBH. The curved stays are said to dampen road vibration and bigger hits a bit better than the Onda stays on the Dogma...

...but the biggest feature of both the seat stays and the fork is that they are both a bit longer which allows for more tire clearance between the tire and the frame/brake caliper.

I've been running this same pair of Continental Competition 25c tires for all 1200+ miles. Running larger tires will dampen much more road vibration than any modified seat stay will. This to me is the genius of the KOBH and why you should really consider one if you want more comfort on your rides. The 25's feel as fast as the 22's I run on my Dogma and are more comfortable as you can run lower pressures. You can actually run up to a 28c tire on this bike which is unheard of with a pure race bike! Keep in mind that you can run 25c tires on a lot of bikes including the Dogma but not with this much clearance and definitely not a 28c!

The 47mm rake fork with the longer legs to accommodate the larger tire. The head angle on my 48cm (54cm top tube) bike is a bit steeper at 73degrees than my 53cm Dogma which has a 72.5degree head angle. This means that even with a much more raked fork the KOBH has a shorter front center than even a 51.5cm Dogma (53.5cm top tube). What does this mean? Not much to me as the bike handles incredibly but it is interesting...

Fresh off a hard 3hr ride doing what the KOBH does best, riding the rough stuff and getting dirty...

PARTS.

My KOBH test bike is set up as follows:

Shimano Dura-Ace front derailleur
Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur
Shimano Dura-Ace shift/brake levers
Shimano Dura-Ace brake calipers
Shimano Dura-Ace italian thread bottom bracket w/ Ceramic Speed bearings
Shimano Dura-Ace chain
Shimano Dura-Ace cassette 12X27
Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 SRM Power Meter 53X39, 170mm, Power Control 7
Shimano Dura-Ace C35 carbon tubular wheels
Continental Competition 25c tires (Vittoria Mastic cement)
Speedplay ti zero pedals
Deda Zero 100 stem 130mm
Deda Zero 100 bar 440mm
Pinarello tape
Fizik Antares saddle, kium rails
King Ti cages
16.26lbs

This has been my first real test with Shimano Dura-Ace 7900. At first I did not like the levers at all. They shifted fine and all, but I am not used to having a brake lever that moves side to side as well and it took me a while to get used to. 1200 miles later and I really like these levers. Shift great and are very comfortable. Have had no mechanical issues either. They are a bit of a hassle to assemble though with all the small parts you have to remove just to stick a cable in...

In my opinion the front derailleur is the best feature of the 7900 group. I have yet to drop a chain and shifts from the 39t ring to the 53 are flawless!

While I think the Dura-Ace brakes are beautiful, I don't like the performance of the rear caliper. This could be because of the way I ride as I have not heard this complaint from anyone else but I think there is too much power. We have a lot of steep and curvy descents here and I just seem to lock up the rear wheel too much when I'm braking from speed and getting ready to enter the corner. I have not crashed but have been very close a few times. Again, this could be just me, I do tend to descend with a lot of weight over the front wheel (from riding long stems) and maybe I just don't have enough weight over the rear? But I don't notice this when using the Campagnolo Single pivot rear brakes...

Best power meter on the planet? SRM

Favorite saddle

Pinarello have fixed the friction caused by the internal routing of the rear brake and it's as smooth as any external routing that I've felt...

If we sponsored Team Sky they could have these sweet stems as well...

I have had no mechanical issues at all during the 1200 miles on this bike with this setup. It's about time to replace the chain and tires due to the standing starts and sprint work which tends to stretch things out a little quicker. I've re-greased the Speedplay pedals once and other than cleaning the bike after most rides this bike has not needed any adjustments. I can say I'm pretty sold on Shimano Dura-Ace 7900. The C35 carbon tubular wheels have been amazing as well. I have been on some pretty rough roads and trails, bunny hopped (and missed) many curbs and potholes and they are as straight as the day I got them. The braking is not super powerful but it is very modulated and smooth. I have only had them squeal once or twice the whole time and overall they are great!

THE RIDE.

The KOBH feels pretty much like my Dogma. That is what everyone has been waiting for. All the questions I've received up till now have pretty much been, "how does it compare to the Dogma?". I was trying to figure that out the first time I rode it and then gave up coming to the conclusion; I don't know. This still feels like a race bike, it feels pretty stiff like the Dogma, climbs like the Dogma, descends like the Dogma, corners like the Dogma.

Why would someone buy the KOBH over the Dogma then? Easy, like I mentioned above I think a lot of cyclists should buy the KOBH OVER the Dogma! If you wanted a race bike for smoother roads just throw on some 22mm tubulars or 23mm clinchers and you are set. But if you want to smooth your rough roads out or be more comfortable at the end of that century put on the 25 or even 27mm tires and enjoy one of the smoothest rides on a high performance race bikes that you can imagine! I honestly did not feel the difference in geometry but I did notice a bit more toe overlap than on my Dogma, but this is mainly due to the fact that I chose the 48cm size to ride which with it's steeper head angle and fatter tires led to a bit more overlap than usual. This does not interfere with the ride at all unless you are going REALLY slow so it's really not an issue but I did want to point it out. Finding the correct size is key and a little different from other bikes so give us a shout and we'll make sure we put you on the best fitting size.

The KOBH descends as well almost as well as any bike I've been on. For pure technical descents I'll give the nod to the Dogma, but it's pretty close.

And for climbing? You'll notice a sharp decrease in performance from the legs well before any decrease in performance from the bike...

WHAT ELSE?

I like the Team Sky colors but this white, red and carbon scheme is pretty nice too! This particular frame is now built up with Campagnolo Super Record and Bora wheels and is ready to go in size 57 so if this seems like the bike for you come take a look while it's still here.

Now it's time to move on to another bike for a long term test. If you are interested in a low mile Pinarello KOBH that has been tuned and cleaned after almost every ride give me a call and we'll see what we can do to get you on this one!

Thanks for taking the time to read about our time on the Pinarello KOBH. Feel free to come in or give us a shout if you are looking to get one as the above information is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what we can tell you about this bike from our time on it!

Looking back; 2010

2011-01-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

As 2011 begins I want to take a minute and share some of the highlights from 2010 that all of us at Above Category have experienced. The list is long and I'm sure that I'm leaving out a ton but here's a start...

2010 was just another year that I had to pinch myself on pretty much every ride to make sure I wasn't dreaming. There are so many great places to ride in the world and all of us living here are so fortunate to be able to call this our personal training ground! From the rollers in West Marin to Mt. Tam and then to the Headlands I have never ridden ANYWHERE that offers the views, roads and such a wide array of terrain. As such it is our goal to run some cycling camps here in 2011. We tried this in 2010 but as the beginners that we are chose a bad time and I think made a camp that was just too long. I see us starting with a nice 3-4 day camp that should be manageable for anybodies schedule. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for dates!

In 2010 we stepped up our custom projects over the previous years. We were lucky enough to be the first shop in the world to receive the new Moots RSL road frame. For this bike we had Spectrum Powder Works custom paint the stem, forks, cranks and a few other parts to make an especially unique bike for the customer. The dark gray base color is incredible on the stock titanium finish from Moots and is now standard on most of the frames that we sell from the Steamboat Springs, CO company. This has been super fun and now it is very rare that a bike leaves our shop without some form of customization. I love that we can give a little bit of personalization to each bike that we build though it definitely does take a little longer to get a bike out the door but is well worth it and makes Above Category the shop that it is. Take a look at our older blog posts and you will see an example of some of the projects that I'm referring to.

2010 saw me race my first mountain bike race since I was a Jr. in the early 90's in WA. The event was the Boggs Mountain 8 hour endurance race that I did with Jr. team member Jack Keane. It was an amazing event and one of the most fun races I've ever done! The course was amazing, the competition was amazing and the weather (high 20's working up to high 40's and rain and snow) was typical amazing mountain bike weather! This race sells out quickly and I suggest everybody that has a mountain bike to sign up. It was great to get a race on one of the best mountain bikes I've ever owned as well. The Moots YBB was perfect and even got to test the Edge Composites carbon tubular wheels with the Geax Seguaro tubular tires. I can't really remember where Jack and I ended up in the results (4th or 5th) but I do remember having an absolute blast...

2010 was the year that our national level Jr. team really took it to the next level. Just recently we had four Jr.s at the US Cycle Cross National Championships and came home with a 2nd from Bjorn Fox (who races cross w/ the Cliff Bar team, but road for us and since road is cooler we'll take some of that!), 3rd from Spence Peterson (15-16), 7th with Alex Howard (17-18) and finally an 8th place with Michael Dessau (who races for us in Boulder CO). We had Podiums also with Alex Howard at Road Nationals and great racing there from Isaiah Rapko with a near miss at a podium. Every year these guys get better and stronger not to mention bigger. Most still race in the 15-16 and are getting ready to step up to the Cat II ranks this year. We have two guys racing in Belgium this coming summer and speaking of that, Bjorn Fox is there now racing cross for the US National Team. We have also just finished setting up a non-profit for the team and will be hosting some fundraisers to help support them for the upcoming seasons. Our ultimate goal is Cross Worlds in 2013 that takes place in the US for the first time! If you have any interest in helping grow the future of US Racing please contact us for information! On that note, we'd like to give a huge thank you to Greg Norris and Norris Family Insurance of Mill Valley for all of their support!

2010 is the year that our good friend Joao Correia left his comfy desk (or rather airline seat) behind and decided it was a good idea to go race as a pro (European Pro). A lot of folks know his story by now and for those that don't, should. Not too many years ago Joao was 200+ lbs and was not riding at all and working (which included eating) a ton. I met Joao a few years ago in Italy for the Grand Fondo event and he was already well on his comeback trail but I don't think any of us could have guessed where he would end up! It was an up and down year for Joao personally. He had some great races, finished majority of the stage races he entered but also had some bad crashes which left him chasing form when he came back. But for all those watching him it was a success and shows what the body is capable of if you put in the work! Weather you are trying to lose weight or race at the highest level or in Joao's case, both, he helped show what is possible!

A huge highlight for me personally was getting my brother Kyle out on a bike for his first real road ride ever. I'm pretty sure we all would love to get our family or non cycling friends out on a bike in order to show them what all the fuss is about. Just being able to show someone how great it is to learn all the roads by bike instead of driving or even learn roads you'd never have known about in the first place! And also to maybe humble them a little and making them realize it isn't as easy as it looks especially going down. I also learned a lot about patience and the right and wrong ways to introduce other people to the best sport in the world! Maybe this can be a great project for some of you, our readers, for 2011? Maybe you have an old bike sitting in the basement and an old kit you can lend to someone for a few rides? Sometimes that's all it takes is a little nudge and you've just changed someones life!

In July we were lucky enough to have two trips going on at the same time. Kalara and I went to Italy to ride the Pinarello Grand Fondo for the 3rd time and more importantly get a first hand look at the 2011 line. It was a blast and a must do for any Pinarello owner! Then we went north to Caldenazzo and spent a day with Dario, Daniel and Pietro where we talked about a few secret projects that they were working on plus saw a few new paint schemes and found out that my Luigino had been sold to someone else, thanks Dario... Then we headed to Lugano, Switzerland to visit our friends at Assos. We had an incredible time riding and eating with Luigi and Sabrina and checking out some of the new products they have coming out in the next year or so. After that it was down to Chianti with a pit stop in Maranello to visit Christos at the Ferrari HQ where we got the tour of a lifetime! Finally, we were in the small town of Lecci in Chianti where we stayed at Joao C's great apartment and did nothing but relax, ride, eat and watch a little MotoGP with the entire town...

2010 saw the return of Lightweight wheels from Germany to Above Category. We have always left no doubt that these are the best performance wheels made but after some bad distribution decisions by Carbon Sports for the US market we stopped offering them two years ago. But that was short lived as the wheels are just too good and Carbon Sports worked a deal out w/ Dave Powers and now they have the distribution sorted and delivery times are not an issue at all. We have been riding these wheels like crazy all of 2010. We have all models in stock for testing including the Obermayers, Standards, Ventoux, Disc and even the brand new VR8 front time trial wheel! We have raced them and more importantly trained on them all year. We have even tested the insurance program! Yes they are expensive but the best components in the world usually are! We are working hard and believe that we have become the most complete Lightweight dealer in the country, come on in or call to see for yourself! We will be putting out a lot more information on these wheels in the near future, stay tuned!

We rode, raced, built and sold a lot of dream worthy bikes last year. One thing that really stands out with Above Category is the fact that we ride everything we sell. That saying gets thrown around a lot I know but in our case it's an understatement. Not many places (if any) build up as many top of the line, high end bikes with the absolute best components and then proceed to ride them as hard as we can in the worst conditions on every road surface including plenty of single track (on road bikes) as we do. But we wouldn't have it any other way, this is the best part of being a road shop! Last year we rode, raced and even broke a lot of bikes and parts including but not limited to; the Pinarello Dogma, KOBH, Paris and Quattro. BMC's Team Machine, Race Master, Team Elite and Pro Machine, the Parlee Z1, 3, 4, 5 and TT bike. We also put a lot of miles on all of our Moots bikes including the Compact, VaMoots, YBB, Psychlo X, Zirkel, Mooto X, CoMooter and RSL. Of course we put many hours on various Pegoretti's like Kris' Marcelo and my Love #3, Marcelo and 8:30am. Then all the parts we put through the paces like every Lightweight wheel, many different tire combination including tubular, tubeless and clincher. Power meters, brakes, Di2, you get the point. Also we can't forget one of the most important things, clothing. We have tested and worn pretty much every piece of Assos clothing in every weather condition as well. We can tell you what is right for all body types and temperature ranges out there. Again, just come in or give us a call and let us know how we can help you with any of these things...

Maybe due to having so many Lightweight wheels in the shop, 2010 has also been the year of the tubular for us. 3 of us here at Above Category rode tubulars for the majority of last year. Due to this we learned all the positives and negatives of training on tubulars full time. Personally it is hard for me to even consider riding on a clincher or tubeless tire system again. I'm not saying it won't happen but won't be easy! I don't think it's hard at all to ride these every day you just have to be willing to learn how to do it. In most cases it is easier to fix a flat than clinchers and if you don't want to mess with glue the newest Tufo tape is excellent and takes minutes to install a tire. Coming up we will review a lot of the tubular wheels and tires and give our pro's and con's to each of them. Our goal here is not to try to make everyone ride tubulars but to provide accurate and dependable information in order to help you make that choice in the most educated manner. In which case we hope you decide to give tubulars a try!

While Kalara and I were in Italy, Tony was in Switzerland and France. He was the guest of BMC and was flown in to ride the new IMPEC and tour the facility while also getting an early look at what BMC had in store for 2011. After a few days in Grenchen they all left for the final stage of the Tour de France. But this is where it gets really silly. They had a whole area right at the finish line on the Champs-Elysees, kind of like court side at a lakers game. But more than that they had a 5 course meal as the race was going by finishing in time for the sprint finish. This picture of George that Tony took shows just how close to the action he was. For this we say a big thank you to all the guys and girls at BMC. It was a great trip and this year Tony is staying home!

Lastly, I just want to say thank you to all the great guys and girls that make up Above Category and have helped it become what it is and will be! Woody for the role of shop manager which means working the books and talking to all our distributors on a daily basis, trying to keep me in check and being a wealth of knowledge which he passes on to all of our great customers. Ralf for taking on the task of running our brand new service center and actually setting that service center up while learning everything at that same time. To say we're stoked to have Ralf here would be an understatement! Ralf has been working with bikes for a long time, most recently with the National Team in Italy and is a true professional. Thanks to our other mechanic Kris who is balancing training as a Cat I racer and a full time job quite well. Kris is our go to parts and bike torture tester. He rides so much and in every type of weather that we can tell pretty quickly if any product is worth selling or not. Also thanks to Tony for saving our asses in regard to all things IT related! Also for being the absolute fastest descender any of us have ever seen. It is actually frightening how fast he gets down the hills around here, but pretty cool as well! Tony is working on another huge project for us with TJ that we should be making public in about two months, so stay with us. Craig Upton deserves a huge thank you as well for doing all the great fits next door and teaching us all a thing or two about how to really ride a bike! Mark Riedy for all his help and experience really changed the way we do a lot of things here for the better. I also want to thank my wife Kalara for all the support and help this past year and last but not least Dean for the amazing photographs and support! We couldn't have done a fraction of what we did without all of your help!

That's it, had a great 2010 and looking forward to an even better 2011! Thanks for all of your support and taking a little time out of your day to read this!

AC Cross team at Nationals

2010-12-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to AC Jr. Spence Peterson for a solid 3rd place at Cross Nationals in Bend OR. today!

Re-birth of the Love

2010-12-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

This is a project I'll be working on for a little while yet. This is my personal bike, a Pegoretti Love #3, in fact the first bike I ever bought from Dario almost 5 years ago. I've had this built up before, which you can read about here. When this article was written our goal was to build the best race bike we could imagine and felt we did just that. Now, I am going to do that again, but even more importantly, make it look the part! We'll see what happens. Stay tuned for that, but it is going to involve some Super Record and a paint booth...

F'ing fantastic! Turned out absolutely perfect, thank you JT (Spectrum)!

Out of the bubble wrap. There is still something very special about the handbuilt bicycle. So many ways to personalize it, and being a Pegoretti, there is no doubt that you will not lose one degree of performance to any other bike on the road and in fact will come ahead of most if not all...

Perfect job matching the not quite white paint...

Details

I think Dario calls this paint scheme 'Franz' now. Whatever it is, it's awesome and can be great in almost any color combination...

3T ARX Team stem, and as you can see, 110mm/-17. I've shrunk or something as last time I rode this bike I was using a 120mm stem w/ Deda deep drop bars which are not short. Oh well, compact is good...

So, next up, components... stay tuned! And really, this is the time of the year to get these kinds of projects started, so give us a call and we'll get you going!

Thanks for reading!

Parlee Z5 in Chicory!

2010-12-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick sneak peak of a Parlee Z5 we are building right now. Had to stop as we have the wrong sized spindle for the compact Cannondale SI SRM crank and also didn't get the correct length for the custom battery mount. Learn something every day here... This bike is just plain rad, in aesthetic and performance. I think I may even have issues falling asleep tonight thinking of the finished product! Lightweights w/ the blacked out logo's, said SI SRM, pretty damn cool Deda aluminum post, The hard to get Continental Competition classics tires, our favorite bars and stem in the Deda Zero 100's, Shimano Di2 and of course a Fizik saddle...

Hopefully getting a Saturday delivery for the longer spindle...

This is a 104mm spindle, but when using a compact SI crank you need a special width, not really sure what that is now, guess we'll see tomorrow...

Parlee, please do us one favor and keep this logo...

At first, wasn't sure I'd dig this post. Now, I like. Quite a bit actually...

Bad pic, sorry, but this is the custom battery mount. Nice, clean and simple.

Again, nice, clean and simple. Had to keep the bolt here for the SRM magnet...

Most likely won't be able to finish the bike until Tuesday, but we'll have some great photo's for you all! Thanks for reading. And yes, the KOBH report is coming, like I said, hard to sit still today!

Pinarello KOBH

2010-12-02T21:03:00.001-08:00

Since we now have more than a thousand miles on our own Pinarello KOBH it is time to share our thoughts on this bike. Where does it fit in the line, who it's really for, how it rides etc... We also just built up another one in the red and white color scheme and wanted to post a picture of that as well, so stay tuned for a full review shortly.

The 51cm frame that we have been riding, more pics and our thoughts coming shortly, maybe even tomorrow if I can sit still long enough to write it all down!

The 57cm we built today. Love both colors but this one will get a little tweaking, thinking white tape and maybe the new Campagnolo hoods and cables in red? We'll see. Then of course it'll be looking for a good home!

Sneak peak at the new AC Service Center...

2010-11-18T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here is our excuse for the major lack of blog updates the last month. Looking back we are pretty psyched how fast we got our new Service Center built up. So, if you are local come on in and see what Ralf and Kris are working on and ask what we can do for you. If you are not local, sorry, but enjoy the pics anyhow!

The day before this was where Criag Upton did fits, the next day Peter had the benches built and installed.

Little lacking, right?

More benches looking out the front window. Finally, after a long while we have a view again!

Then Max came with his crew and put down our colors...

Exciting painting footage. Super nice work though Max

Concrete delivered yesterday from Mike and now we are mostly up and running. This is where the bikes get built, upgraded, cleaned and maintained at Above Category. Come on in for a closer look! Thanks for looking...

Views from today's ride...

2010-11-05T16:21:00.001-07:00

Another gorgeous day for riding here. Sorry for doing this but here is yet another installment of why it's so great to be able to live and ride here... Got out a little later than usual, sat around in the chamois for a few hours before I just got up, grabbed the bike and bolted. Today was a pretty chill hour and a half but the main reason I wanted to get out was to get the first ride in on the new Shimano Dura-Ace C35 wheels. More on them later, here's a few pics from our Paradise Loop...

Nothing like new tubular wheels, begging to get out...

The first stop here is more than halfway around the 25ish mile loop. This is in Tiburon, right next to the ferry. Not a bad backdrop for the KOBH

Just look up and left from the other picture above and you see a bit of Angel Island to the left and of course San Francisco dead ahead...

Then head through the back streets of Tiburon, near the police station and hang a left and quick right at the roundabout. Head up the hill and stop here. Not only is this one of the craziest pieces of property I've seen, the view to Sausalito and all the boats is not too bad either.

Flip the KOBH around and there is Mt. Tam. Above Category is right at the base...

You know, I forgot where I took this one, but no matter, pretty sweet...

Birthday at AC

2010-10-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Had a great Friday, first, it was Kris's birthday, and what did he spend his birthday morning doing? Baking an apple pie that we all ate! Thanks man... Then Dean Bentley came over and did an amazing photo shoot w/ us. It was also his birthday on Monday, happy birthday guys! Then we had pie, then some gelato from Noci, then pie with gelato... We got some cool bikes in to build for you guys and some to build for us to test. Our new Service Center is almost complete, the website is coming along and a lot more, so stay tuned. I'm getting more free time to get back to the good stuff like riding and doing this...

Kris showed up late on his birthday, but it's cool as he brought in this 20lb (no joke) cast iron pan full of the best apple pie I've ever had. Kris is one of the best mechanics around, but his baking may even be better!

Close up action shot of the pie. Most of the apples are from the shop tree, so even better! Beautiful!

Dean Shot a lot of Pegoretti's today, our plan is to make a couple beautiful prints as well, more on that later. Thank you Dean, can't wait to see the finished product...

Pegoretti Marcelo in que

Then, after a lot of shooting and building bikes, we gorged ourselves on the pie that kris spent his birthday morning baking, did I say thanks yet? Thanks (oh, and check out the portions! Love riding bikes!)

Zack had a tough day as well getting all our crumbs off the floor, thanks dude...

and thank you all for reading

The New Year

2010-10-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

No, it's not January 1st, but it is the start to a new year for a lot of cyclists or at least the ones living off the snow belt. This was my first week of real training for next season hence the New Year. And of course with this being our New Year we also received our first new weather in the form of rain and colder temps. Personally I love this time of year, it's been getting a tad boring wearing shorts and short sleeves for the past six months you know? Reminds me of starting training in Seattle except here it's about 20 degrees warmer... Anyhow, I'm pretty psyched to start training for real again after a few years away from any type of structure. We have only three years (two for some) of time left with our Jr. Team and I'm looking forward to doing some quality racing with them while I still can. So, stay tuned for reports on that training and racing and of course all the new bikes and wheels and other random parts we'll be testing/thrashing. Until then, enjoy the New Year...

Ride Scenery

2010-10-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here we go again, but (again) I just can't get over the place we get to ride here and just wanted to share a few pics from the ride this morning. Seriously, you've got to come here and ride! Bring everyone, San Francisco is about 15min away for the non riders among the fam...

From this one spot on Hwy 1 heading North towards Stinson Beach I took the four following pictures. This one is straight down to the beach. There were a bunch of seals swimming around which means there are most likely a few Great Whites somewhere out there...

Then this one, looking south towards Muir Beach.

And then the 3rd shot, looking up at the top of the ridge. I love seeing this view every time I take the hard right hander in the road and see the barren hill w/ the little bunch of dead trees on top, even better in the fog!

And of course had to get the bike in here with the Pacific behind the bluff to the left of the shot. Did some low cadence work today and the Pinarello felt super fast even at 40-60rpm...

Right before you get to Stinson Beach you hang a hard right and head up this hill. This is our common interval hill and where I did the low cadence work today. In about 20min depending on how fast you are, you will come to Pantoll Ranger Station. If you hang a left there you have another 8min to Rock Springs parking lot, go right there and there is another 10min to the top of West Peak. The view is very much worth the climb, oh, as is the descent!

Custom 56cm Pinarello Dogma available now...

2010-10-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

Custom Orange Silver & White 56cm Pinarello Dogma

We just got this one of a kind Pinarello Dogma in today. My photography skills are not doing this justice as the lighting is not all that great but the orange looks amazing on this bike! It's not a super bright orange, but a bit more subdued, and looks amazing w/ the white frame and silver graphics. This was a show bike for the trade show and we snapped it up as soon as we saw it. So basically this is a "My Way" paint up-charge, but we are only charging the normal $5500 stock price. And think about it, you can have it now, no six month to six year normal "My Way" wait time! This is a 56cm and we would prefer to sell this as a complete bike as again, you won't find another one and we have some very good ideas on a final build... There you have it, give contact us with any questions you may have!

O.K, really bad lighting on this pic, but it looks amazing and will be even better built up with what we have in mind...

Shop Ride

2010-10-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Joao and I riding the dirt path that leads into Samuel P. Taylor

Wednesdays ride, 7:00am at Above Category, 50ish miles Z2-3 as flat a ride as we have...
Come join us for 3hrs! Through the towns, up Whites Hill, up Golf Course hill, Nicasio Res, back on Sir Francis Drake, hope to see you here...

We'll be here, the bridge just inside Samuel P. Taylor Park...

And here, a couple miles of dirt path...

And then the concrete path in the middle of nowhere for a few miles, basically just a beautiful Marin ride...

Brooks; more than saddles

2010-10-04T22:05:00.001-07:00

Have to be honest here, we really have not sold too many Brooks saddles in the five years that Above Category has been around. Not that we don't think they are great, if not some of the best saddles made. Thing is, they don't really go with the bikes we build. Sure, it may be nice on a Pegoretti Luigino, or a Cielo, but that is more the exception rather than the norm. I feel the part of the saddle that you sit on is too far up from the rails and as such you have to lower the post quite a bit and unless you have legs the length of Andre the giant that is not the look we are really going for. Now, all that being said, I am really looking forward to building a Moots VaMoots w/ Brown King and a dark brown Brooks saddle and tape which I'm really hoping will be exactly what I am looking for!

And yes, Brooks does do tape. And even better, they have re-done it. It is now much flatter so it does not look ribbed across your bars and comes in a lot of custom pleasing shades now. We will definitely be sourcing some of that as well. But what we want to talk about and show you is this:

The new backpack, the last one you'll ever need

Brooks leather bags and backpacks. These are absolutely gorgeous. Hand made and very practical. And beautiful. We'll be carrying a few select models here soon and encourage you to come and see them in person and see what we are talking about. We will also be offering them online as soon as we get that site up... Until then, give us a call if you are not that close to us and we'll get one sent out right away.

The front of the back pack reminds me of an Army issue parachute, minus the reserve...

My next task here is to design a city bike around this bag and basket. No joke, it's going to happen soon and it will rock. This is the Camden Tote Bag and the Hoxton Wire Basket.

The do anything, take anywhere duffel bag, Brooks style. This is the Hampstead Holdall. It can be worn over the shoulder or attached toe the rear rack of a bike, or become the last carry-on piece of baggage you'll ever need again. This is my number one favorite piece...

The Barbican Leather Shoulder Bag in black

And in Brown...

So, you'll be seeing a bit more Brooks in the shop soon and we are very excited for it. Maybe even a saddle here and there if the bicycle calls for it? For more information or to purchase, give us a shout!

Friday night picture

2010-10-01T18:43:00.001-07:00

Pegoretti Big Leg Emma. My bike, about time it gets built. We'll start with a call to Spectrum Powderworks on Monday for a matching fork and stem. Have a wonderful weekend!

Bespoke computer mount?

2010-09-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

Woody "Macgyver" our shop manager has been growing a little tired of the minimal placement options of his Garmin 500 on the stem or bars. Plus he spent so much time to come up with the paint scheme on stem and bars that it was a shame to cover it up with the computer... So, in all it's glory Above Category presented by Woody debuts our custom computer mount thingi...

It's a little rough but this is prototype #1. To prove the Macgyver status, Woody made this from a cutting board!

Kind of looks like the SRM mount. Super tidy front end now. Woody was restricted by the materials he had which is why it's not perfectly centered. Again, this is #1...

Super aero! Not wind tunnel tested yet, but we'll get Smiley on it asap!

So, there you go, if you want one bad enough you can either talk nice to Woody and shell out maybe $1oo for his time, or wait for someone to actually make one as it is needed, esp. for TT bikes and such. (Unless of course, someone already does and Woody just wasted a Sunday!)

Di2 Moots CR

2010-09-24T18:03:00.001-07:00

I really didn't take too many pictures at this years interbike show. For the most part there is nothing really new since Eurobike and as I've told a few people, this seems to be the year of refinement for a lot of companies. One thing that caught my eye is not really new, more of a refinement on an existing bike. I'm referring to the Moots VaMoots CR (compact race) modified for Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. Weather you like or dislike the thought of the electronic gruppo, one thing can be said, it is clean, especially when the frame is modified to hide the cables and mount the battery. This Moots is one of the cleanest examples I've seen yet and is absolutely beautiful.

My photo skills leave a little to be desired here, but you can see how much cleaner the front end looks without the shift cables. Also I really like the Di2 levers. Much smaller and cleaner looking in my opinion...

More incredible Moots welds to look at, the super clean exit hole for the front derailleur cable (sorry, I'm sure there is a much more technical term for what I just said!). Also, and this is from a long time Campagnolo guy, Dura-Ace looks SO good on a Moots...

Very tidy battery mount. Really, the only thing this bike is missing is a king bb. Just another reason to give us a call and talk Moots! Next up, a quick look at a new product we'll have here soon...

Weekly Update, camps and 2011 stuff and...

2010-09-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another weekly update from Above Category. As usual there is a ton of stuff going on now which is why this blog gets updated so infrequently. But I am working hard on that and am pretty amazed that this is the second posting in one week! Damn, what's next? O.K, like I said we have a lot going on right now, some upcoming camps (one we are not putting on and a few we are), Pegoretti's that are in stock, new bikes on the way and a few other new products that we are starting to stock...

We'll start off with camps. The first one is not being run by us but by our friend Joao Coreia, currently racing with the Cervelo Test Team. He's doing a small and relaxed camp in Chianti, Italy in Mid October, coming up pretty quick. Knowing Joao (and Chianti) the rides will be amazing, and the food and wine even more so. And there will be a lot of hanging out at Paolo's (pictured to the left) bar in Lecchi which is only a bonus. If you can get away, I highly recommend getting out there for this! More info on Joao's blog.

Then there are our camps, we have 3 in mind for 2011. The first will be in January (24th - 29th tentatively) and will take place here in Marin. This camp will focus more on longer endurance rides to get you ready for the season to come (and our other camps). The rides will be incredible and a perfect way to start the year. Figure about 4K for the week including everything (food, transportation, mechanic, massage, etc.), and a more detailed itinerary is coming. Mark you calendars now and let us know what questions you have. The second camp we are planning is where Joao is running his camp, Chianti. Exact date is coming, but we want to run it at the same time as the Pro race run there on the strada bianche (white gravel roads) called Monte Paschi Eroica. The race is on March 5th which means the camp will most likely take place the week before. This is one of the coolest races on the calendar and we are super excited to offer a camp in this special area of Italy and with all the great folks who will be supporting it. Again, more info coming soon, but let us know if you are interested as space will be limited. We'll get into the last camp of the year in more detail later, but we will run it in conjunction with the Grand Fondo Pinarello in Treviso, IT mid July. This will be a do not miss camp and we are working on the details right now. Keep an eye out...

We now carry Oakley! But there is a catch, we only stock custom glasses that we design here. I think we came up w/ a few very nice and clean designs and of course picked colors that match the bikes and clothing we have here. We will be focusing on just a few of the models, the Radar, Flak Jacket, Jaw Bone and finally the Split Jacket when custom is available. We have sold out of our first couple batches but have a couple left with more on the way. Come on in and we'll get you set up...

On the theme of what's new and coming soon is the new line of BMC's. This is the Race Machine and is based on the Team Machine but a little stiffer and with a super sweet Gulf Porsche colors. We are pretty stoked as it still comes as a frame set so you can build it how YOU want to and is priced pretty well at $2850 which is a K less than the Team Machine. Love them or hate 'em BMC sticks it out there with their paint schemes. Yes, they have some black, white and red bikes, but every year they come out with some color as well. So if you like it and want to see more of it, buy it! We'll have them coming as soon as possible, hopefully in October. And of course we'll build one up about as cool euro as we can so you get an idea of what's possible... We already have the Team Machine in stock now and will be getting the Road Racer frame set in as well (in lime green!).

The new Pinarello's should also be coming in soon. The only exception is the new super fast TT bike, the Graal. Sold a couple already and even got one for myself as I do SOOOO many TT's. Maybe 3 in the past 5 years! I'm hoping this will guilt me into getting back into it. Really, in person this bike looks the business and coming from the minds of the British Cycling Federation (in part) I know how much thought went into it. Maybe not as sleek looking as the BMC TT01 but close and almost as expensive at $8500 for the frame, fork, headset, seatpost and handlebar and $9750 for the Di2 version. The Graal will come in 3 different color combos, Team Sky, British Cycling Federation (white, blue and red) and white and red. Hopefully available in November, but don't hold your breath, it may be as late as January. But look at it this way, plenty of time to save up!

Here's a pic of a BMC Team Machine we built last week with the new 2011 Super Record. As far as we know this groupset is still unavailable and will be so for at least another month or two. Or three. Or...
Anyhow, we have two groups left, one with 172.5 cranks and another with 175s. Right now the groupsets are on brand new Pinarello Paris'. We'd rather sell them on the bikes and have had a ton of interest in the bikes themselves but so far the sizing has not worked out. We have a 57.5 and a 54cm available. It seems that we have a lot of people looking for 50 and 51.5cm bikes, but no dice... Give us a call on this as even if the frames last the parts won't!

Speaking of things that won't last we have 4 new Pegoretti Marcelo's available. They are all the 'Thelonius' paint scheme and we have a 58, 59, 61 and 62 ready to go. Enlarge the photo to the left for a better view...

A quick update for everyone with pegoretti's on order that are still waiting. In the picture are a bunch waiting for paint and shipment to the states. I don't know who's are here, but they are coming along nicely. Our longest waiting frame currently is 14 months and I assume we'll see that sooner than later. We'll keep you informed as much as we can on wait times. On this note, we still have plenty of stock frames and as much as we love Dario's painting, the real magic of his frames is the RIDE. So maybe don't wait for the paint, get a stock bike and get out on it! That's why Dario builds bikes in the first place, to experience them on the road. But this is coming from someone with a Luigino that's been on order for a while, so I won't say too much...

We'll finish off this post by announcing that we have our Moots RSL demo bike in 57.5 built up and ready for you to ride! You can read our thoughts on this bike here.

Thanks for reading!

Our take: Moots RSL

2010-09-02T18:24:00.001-07:00

The very first Moots RSL ever built (for a consumer at least)!

So, it's been almost a year since Moots introduced the new RSL at last years Interbike show in Las Vegas. Having been on a Moots Compact SL for almost 3 years before that and knowing how much I loved that bike (the Compact) I knew the RSL would be a winner from the start. So much so that we made the very first order ever right there on the spot. I've already covered the details of the frame, of which there are many, so here I'm going to talk about my experiences on the road since I now have a couple thousands miles on my personal RSL.

My personal Moots Compact SL which has apprx. 10,000miles on it...

As you can see from the photo above, I have plenty of miles on the Moots Compact SL which was the highest performing Moots before the RSL. The SL model used 6/4 titanium for the main triangle and was discontinued a couple years ago when it was getting hard to source quality tubing of that grade. I always wondered why they didn't look a little harder to get more, but now I know, they were working on something totally new all together...

I've had a lot of people ask me why exactly they went with the press fit 30 bottom bracket on the RSL. Stiffness was not really a concern as face it, none of us are really going to flex a conventional spindle or shell, so it has to do with the larger down and seat tubes. Yes, Moots could have mitered the tubes a bit more and had more overlap but that heats up the bottom bracket shell even more since there is more area to weld and this can warp the shell itself, so by going with the press fit cups instead of the direct placement of the bearing in the shell it solves this problem and is also a little quieter. At first this presented the problem of being able to use anything but the SRAM or FSA cranks, but Zipp came out with an adapter for their cranks pretty quickly and so did white industries for Shimano. Now we are only waiting for the Campagnolo adapter which has been developed but is just not available yet. It should be soon, so those of you who will only run Campagnolo, the opportunity to do so is very close at hand...

Moots RSL #1, which we got in February

And did a super trick and somewhat custom build with...

Then I received my frame a couple months later and built it as seen above. Make no mistake, this is a metal frame that delivers at the level of the top carbon bikes out there now. This is a pure high performance bike. While I felt that the Moots Compact was a more than able race bike, the RSL is even more so. But Moots was able to add the stiffness, the direct and violent ability to accelerate matched by few bikes regardless of the material they are built from. But all the while Moots has kept the essence of what their bikes are known for, smoothness, comfort and control, longevity that other frame materials can only dream of. Also, this bike is light, easily UCI illegal light. My bike is 14.2lbs all in, pedals and cages included. Yes, I have lightweights on there, but at 1100g for the pair, there are lighter out there if overall light weight is what I desired. This is an everyday and year round bike build. 3T aluminum bars, SRAM Red and even the Hive RevL brakes are super durable and easy to maintain. We have a demo bike built in the shop now that is a 58cm and built with SRAM Force, 3T aluminum bar and stem, Thomson Elite post, Fizik Arione VS saddle, stainless cages and yes, Lightweights again, but still, 14.9lbs w/ pedals. Switch to Edge tubulars or even clinchers and you are still in the low to mid 15's for a metal bike, that will last a long, long time. Also remember, this is the top of the line Moots, it deserves a nice build!

The brakes are sweet and the seat stays are svelte

I have ridden this bike on every road surface and in every weather condition with many different wheels in order to see how it handled each situation. For sure the Lightweight wheels are special and will make any bike feel better, but the RSL felt great in all configurations. The frame is so smooth and felt great on dirt and gravel roads and seems to stick to the ground a little better than some of the over built super stiff carbon bikes that are all the rage right now. Climbing is great and descending is amazing. It did take me a few rides to get used to the handling, especially with the super light German wheels on it, and now feel that this is one of the more neutral handling bikes I've ridden. While the other Moots models are great climbing bikes they seem to lack the acceleration in the first couple hard pedal strokes on a steep climb or in a sprint that you find in a bike like a Parlee Z4 or Z5, but after those first few strokes it all evens out and the Moots' feel as fast as anything. The RSL on the other hand is more like the Parlee in that you feel the acceleration right away and with great effect. Again, the tubes are thin and flex more for sure but in a good way that enhances the ride, doesn't take away from it. If my only concern was ultimate stiffness the RSL would not be my first choice, but to be honest, I'm not looking for that ultra stiff bike. The Moots RSL is a bike that is at home in road races and century's, hard group rides and hill climbs. While it would hold its own in a criterium, it would again not be my first choice if that was the only type of racing I did. But for a stage race that included a criterium you would have a hard time finding a more suitable bike.

Riding the RSL with Fulcrum Racing Zero 2-ways

And Easton's new clinchers...

And in the pouring rain...

And finally, with Lightweight Obermayers...

In conclusion the Moots RSL is for anybody looking for that ultra high performing bike that happens to be super light, as stiff as you need and more comfortable than pretty much anything out there today in this category. Don't forget that it is titanium which means it's one of the most durable frames out there, does not fatigue over time, doesn't rust, corrode and can be rebuilt if you do mess it up and is just plain gorgeous. Pictured above is our 58cm demo bike, if you need proof and are looking for a new high performance bike, give us a call and come take a ride!

Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience in waiting for our review while we were out riding the RSL... As always give us a shout with any questions...

Weekly update, too much fun to write...

2010-08-25T08:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe that it's been over a week since our last update. I did promise some reviews and some insights from Tony's BMC Switzerland/TDF trip and some more Pinarello 2011 shots. And I do realize that I've failed miserably on all accounts. Not being one for excuses I won't give (too m)any. Basically we've been having too much fun and I've been too wiped to sit down and keep everyone updated on all the new stuff happening here. That will change soon (?) hopefully even this week as we really do have some great things going on! So be patient and keep checking in and hopefully every time you come back there will be something new to look at. Oh, and a huge THANK YOU for all of your support, it has been overwhelming and very appreciated!
For now, he is one of my excuses for not updating; Tony L. and I spent the last two days up in the desert at a track day school run by Keigwins at the Track. If you are not into motorcycles, sorry, but we should have more bicycle content back up maybe as soon as tonight (??)!

That's me with the Ducati 848. You may recognize it as it's been sitting in the shop showroom for the past year or longer. It's been a while since I've been back to the track and was stoked that I had company!

And Tony L. filling up the fire breathing 749R w/ some 100 octane.

Our camp for the two days. Both days were over 100 degrees, but it was in the desert, so a dry heat right? This is right on turn one of Thunder Hill Raceway.

Dusk on turn one, Monday night.

Tony kitted up and ready to hit our first session on Monday. Believe it or not, being wrapped in thick leather a base layer, back protector, heavy boots and a big helmet is not the most comfortable thing in 100+ degrees. Only one thing could really cool you down, going fast...

There were about 60 riders here, and this is the one shot of Tony and I together. This is turn two, an eternal 180 degree fast corner. Yes, this is Tony passing me on the outside. Was a common theme for the two days! As was the fact that we both went off track a few times, I think Tony did some cross country trips about 6 times to my two...

Hey Ducati, if you guys are looking for a third rider for next years MotoGP squad beside Rossi and Hayden, my contact info is on our main website...

Tony at full lean on turn six I believe. It was so freaking hot out that his helmet was melting and falling apart!

Coming down the steep hill after turn 5 into the off camber turn 5a...

Alright, back to bicycles soon! Thanks for reading!

Weekly update, custom stuff and huckleberry's...

2010-08-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

In an effort to finally get organized with our postings, we proudly present what's new with Above Category for this week! For the first time I've actually managed to get this out on Monday as it was originally intended. So without further ado, here is what's new with us right now...

First up, as of last week we took shipment of 3 brand new for 2011 Pinarello Prince bikes. They are built up with the brand Campagnolo Super Record, including the titanium axle upgraded cranks. The bikes look and ride amazing, pretty close to the Dogma in fact. The Paris bikes and frames are still a month or so out and don't expect to see the new Super Record in any quantity until close to the new year. We have a 54, 57.5 and 59.5 bikes available now. The 54 and 59.5 have both been used once (the Grand Fondo Pinarello) in Italy, but otherwise look brand new. They are both going for $7599.00 and the 57.5 which has never been ridden is going for $7999.00. Here is a chance to have an incredible bike for a great price well before anyone will see either the frame or components!

We also just received a large order of Mad Alchemy chamois creme and embrocation. I've personally been using both for the past few months and put it at the top of the list for both its effectiveness and the fact that it is 100% natural. Remember, your skin is the largest organ in your body, do yourself a favor and treat it right! We are now stocked up on chamois creme for men and women (yes, two different formulas) and embrocation starting from no heat to medium heat for those crisp summer mornings. Give us a call or stop by to try some out.

Speaking of the new Pinarello Paris bikes we have for sale, here is a shot of the new for 2011 Campagnolo Super Record. Full carbon rear mech, ti ultra-torque spindle upgrade, new chain rings and chain ring bolts and revised internals in the shifters. Maybe time to start thinking about selling your used 2010 parts to your buddy and get in line for the new stuff! Above Category is one of the few places to check the new Campagnolo out, so come on by and see it in person (until the bikes are gone!).

Parlee Z3. There are a couple things to take from this photo. One, summer has decided to show itself again in these parts, thank you very much! Two, I've decided after a two year break to put an SRM back on the bike (more on that later) and three, I love the Parlee Z3 (and Z1 and Z2 for that matter)! No doubt that the Pinarello Dogma and the BMC Team Machine are amazing bikes, and they really are, but how long has the Parlee Z3 been around? Classic round tubes, simple finish, nothing on the frame that does not contribute to pure speed and beautiful handling. I just feel so at home on this bike, so comfortable, yet feel just as fast as on any of the other bikes I'm riding. If you are in the market for a new bike, this is one you really should look at.

Custom AC.

Things are still changing here. Here is Kalara re-arranging the shop but even bigger changes are coming. Mid to the end of October will see our brand new service center. We are moving this part of our business back into our original shop to better serve all of our customers. Also, we will be looking for a qualified person to run the new service center and help form its direction. So, if any of you feel up to a challenge... We are adding new products all the time as well, so come on in and see what we can offer you!

One more new item, Huckleberry hammer gel. By far the best gel I've had yet. If your current bar or gel is getting a little stale, we have the cure for you in stock!

Starting about now, every bike you see here (and elsewhere in the shop) is on sale. Every year we buy a few bikes for ourselves (how else can we tell you how they ride?) or for display so you can see your dream bike in person. Now, as the end of the year draws near and the 2011's approach, we can offer up last years new and slightly (lovingly) used bikes for a great price. So, if you are looking for a Pinarello FP3 or Prince and even a Dogma, or a Moots road or mountain bike, or a beautiful BMC Pro Machine, Race Master or Team Machine or lastly a Parlee Z5, Z3 and Z1, this is your chance to get an incredible bike for a sweet price. Give us a call for details, this is strictly first come, first served.

Umm, yeah. The Moots RSL. We received the first ever edition Moots built. I've personally put over a thousand miles on mine. I've also promised a review for the past few months! It will happen this week, guaranteed! Not to ruin the surprise, but this bike is incredible...

Also, we have canceled our September camp in Marin. While we had a few clients already signed up and many more interested, the general feeling here was that it was too short of notice. Logistically we have not received many items yet that we needed to provide the sort of service we are known for and as such have canceled it. We will be announcing the dates for the next camp soon, but think sometime in January for a big dose of base building.

Thanks for reading and contact us with any questions...

Grand Fondo bikes; 2011 Pinarello Paris & 2011 Campagnolo Super Record

2010-08-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

We just got an extremely nice shipment in from Gita and Pinarello; 3 Grand Fondo edition, 2011 Pinarello Paris bikes complete with the brand new and still unavailable 2011 Campagnolo Super Record Group (with the titanium upgraded crank). These frames are also brand new for 2011, Pinarello rolled these out at their recent Grand Fondo. We received three complete bikes, 54cm, 57.5cm and 59.5cm. This is a great chance to get a bike that will not be available for a while and will not come in this configuration with Super Record at all unless you build it from a frame which will cost significantly more.

The 54cm and the 59.5cm have each been ridden twice, in Italy, which makes them even more desirable! Nothing like being christened in the holy land right? They each did a short, flat shakeout ride on the Saturday before the Grand Fondo, and then the Grand Fondo itself on Sunday which was apprx. 84miles in length. The 57.5 is brand new, never ridden, never touched.

These bikes even include the upgrade to the titanium ultra-torque spindle and bolt. Again, you'll be the first on the block (for a while) with the new Pinarello Paris and the new Campagnolo Super Record!

The new (mostly) all carbon derailleur...

The 54cm model comes with Fulcrum Racing Zero's with custom blue decals to match the frame. Maybe as it was ridden by the owner of Gita Sporting Goods, Giorgio A.?? The other two come with Campagnolo Shamals.

Looking for a good home! Contact us with any questions, they will not last long!

Pinarello, 2011 edition Part I

2010-07-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we just got back from two weeks in Italy and Switzerland. One of the main reasons for the trip was to see the new bikes from Pinarello for 2011. Quite a few changes this year, but thankfully, the Dogma is still top of the heap in their range with the only changes being in the finish. A bit less glitter and a little better design in our opinion. The KOBH is a very nice looking bike and I like what it offers on paper. Taking into account the victories the bike has been ridden to this year, I doubt it will disappoint on the road. Here is part I of the show...

First, the man who started it all, Giovanni Pinarello. Still working in the shop and as friendly as ever.

Couple of the pieces of history that Giovanni had a hand in developing for a pretty good cyclist from Spain...

And then the newer generation TT bike, the Graal. Some love the looks, some hate it, but I have two things to say, one, in person it looks amazing and fast and two, it was developed by the British Cycling Federation in conjunction w/ Pinarello, and if you know what we do about their bike development programs, this IS a FAST bike. They don't leave any stone unturned and have the results to prove it. We are very excited to get our hands on this bike...

The KOBH, pronounced 'cob' or short for cobblestone. Little longer head tube, slightly compact frame, more rake in the fork, and different geometry. Wasn't sure about this bike at first look, but I really like it and feel it has a place in the line for sure. Team Sky is my favorite of the three finishes, the other two are nice but the standard red, white and black...

A my way Dogma. Like the dark blue/light blue finish...

A few Dogmas awaiting paint...

Another 'My Way' Dogma. LOVED this one, BRIGHT orange for sure, kind of Tony the Tiger, but really, really cool...

The are still doing a lot of the same colors, but the graphics changed a bit and there is a bit less glitter, though it's still there. Since I love the bike so much I'm very happy they did not change the frame one bit, but again, since Pinarello is working so close with the British Cycling Federation, I expect something new for the top range maybe even as soon as next year. But it will be hard to improve on this platform, so we'll see...

The brand new Pinarello Paris. This is Fausto's personal bike with his trademark flo yellow...
Will have more on this in part II...