A new addition to the stable

Yep, I've done it, gone out and bought another bike. This was a bit of an impulse purchase, but when a good deal comes up, you just hope you have the cash to take advantage of it.

So, what did I buy? I bought a Tri bike. It's used, but it is in great condition and the frame is the right size. Bought it from a fellow Greenville Spinners Bike Club member. He posted it up on the club yahoo group last night, and as soon as I saw the frame size, I knew I needed to go look at it.

I first sat on it while on the trainer. As I'm not the most svelte guy, and the seller is, the handlebars are a little low. It was very obvious as I tried out the aero position on the trainer. He had it set up with carbon three spoke wheels so I rode it with those first.

A few things about the carbon wheels. He wanted an additional $200 for the carbons, they use tubular wheels, they were not quite true in the lateral direction (brakes felt a bit grabby) and a slight breeze nearly threw me off my line. I opted for the less expensive (and probably not as fast) spoked wheels.

As for the fit, and the bars, a flip of the stem will be tried first, but I may need to go for a new stem to get the bars up to the height I need.

So, what is this new ride? It's a Javelin Arcole. Here's a pretty detailed and complimentary write-up about it.


and here's some other photos posted by the guy I bought it from.

It looks great with only a few small scratches. The bars are nice aero bars (FSA Vision), the brake levers are like knife blades (also FSA Vision), the group is mostly Dura-Ace (standard crank, 11-23 cassette) with a Campy front derailler and brakes. One of the best parts, it comes with speedplay zero pedals which is exactly what I have on my road bike!

I need to work out some details of the fit, but overall, it should be easy to do. Mostly, I need to flip the stem (may have to buy a new one with a bigger angle) to raise the bars a little.

I'm looking forward to dialing in the fit and getting it out on the road.