We traveled up to Whangaui in the Falcon.  The traffic at this time of the morning was non-existent and Friday’s rain and wind had given way to clear blue skies and views of the snow-capped Tauruas.

A few hours later we passed through Whanganui and arrived at the race course to find a very technical descent (with a railway crossing in the middle) followed by a punchy 1km climb about 2km before the finish line.  The technical descent added to my apprehension but I liked the idea of a half-descent climb within a stones throw of the finish and I made a mental note to get to the front of the bunch for the descent.

We registered and were issued the most amazing race numbers: they were thick, heavy material with hand-written numbers and were so wide that they wrapped around to the front of the jersey!  No digital timing tags here.

We had plenty of time so we jumped back in the car and drove the course: A flat start, fast downhill, then a bit lumpy before heading back on State Highway 3 with two decent climbs before turning off the main road into the technical descent, 1km climb, and flat to the finishline.  In B grade I’d have to do 4 laps of this course for a total of 90km, Mike and Andy in A grade would have to do 5 laps for a total of 112km.

I was riding the wide Velocity A23 wheels with DT Swiss hubs – these aren’t as fast as carbon race wheels but the road-holding and amazing feel of these wheels has made them my favorites to ride.

I found the pace from the start to be comfortable so I stayed near the front and lapped out in the thought that a break would form.  One guy made repeated attacks off the front but wasn’t able to make anything stick and no one wanted to go with him.

I had no problems on the two climbs on SH3 and each lap I made sure to be near the front of the group for the descents.  The descent over the train tracks was a lot of fun with great traction in the corners and I found myself really looking forward to this descent on each lap, plus it put me in a good position for the 1km climb which followed.  The climb was steep enough to suit my strengths and was too long for the powerful riders to take advantage.

Any New Zealand race isn’t complete without interference from the local livestock and on lap 3 we were stopped by the cows crossing the road on their way to milking.  A couple of lucky guys who had been dropped on the climb managed to get back on and no one seems to complain about having a rest for a couple of minutes.

On the final lap Kerry jumped clear on the first climb.  I let him go and expected the bunch to work together to bring him back, but this wasn’t the case and he quickly left us behind.  On the second climb I upped the pace hoping to split the bunch or have someone go with me, but near the top I glanced back to see I was 50 meters off the front of the bunch and alone.  Figuring I’d get caught on the flat section I sat up and went back to the bunch.

The pace was reasonably quick along the flat section into the descent and I entered it in first wheel.  This put me in a good position at the base of the final climb and a group of three of us broke clear of the group.  We worked well together over the top of the climb and managed to catch Kerry with about 600m to go.  Going into the final straight I was in last wheel which was the perfect position.  It was a head wind combined with a slightly uphill finishline and I knew I had to wait and go late.  Two of the guys infront bumped together quite hard and I didn’t want to crash so when they bumped together for a second time I jumped to the right side of the road and went early for the sprint.  I went too early though and could only muster 3rd.

In the A grade Joe Cooper solo’d off the front and finished with about 1 min over the remnants of the bunch.

Andy had a stunning sprint through the bunch which was reminiscent of Robbie McEwen’s darting and diving and managed to finish 4th for the sprint and 5th overall – an awesome job considering the quality of the field. Mike rolled in a minute behind the front bunch for 11th place of the 25 strong field.

We loaded up the car and after prize giving headed for a kebab at Jabies in Bulls to spend the prize money.  We talked trash the whole drive home and by the time I’d dropped the boys off, unloaded the car and jumped in the shower it was 9:45pm – certainly a long day!

This was the first time any of us had done the Whanganui GP and it was a really well organized event with great marshals – many thanks to Wanganui Cycling for putting on such a great day!

An amazing photo – best of luck at Eurobike, Tim!

I treat damages and rebuilds as a great way to learn about the original build of the wheel, especially when it’s one of my own. It’s a great chance to see what condition the spoke nipples are in – especially whether they have seized to the spokes. With alloy nipples this is one of the primary concerns yet it can be quite easily prevented with correct building.

For a rebuilt I start by taping the new rim next to the old one. Since the spokes are happy in their position on the hub they can be re-used and don’t need to be disturbed too much.  Spokes are stretchy steel and it takes a lot to damage them.  I won’t re-use spoke nipples, especially aluminium ones so these will be replaced.

I then loosen each spoke nipple. I do this in small amounts by going around the wheel a few times and loosening only one turn at a time while the wheel is at tension. This prevents the tension from one spoke being transferred to others if it was completely loosened.

The new spoke nipples are prepared by shooting grease into each one of them. The blue tray is something I made as a prototype 4 years ago but it works so well I’ve never had to modify it.

Once the spokes are loose I go around the wheel and move each spoke from the old rim to the new one. The old nipple is discarded and the spoke thread is wiped clean. The new nipple has grease inside the thread and I roll the head in grease before it goes into the rim so that it rotates easily inside the rim.

Once each spoke is moved to the new rim the tape can be cut. From here it’s business as usual to finish building the wheel.

Some pics of the damaged rim. Cameron isn’t sure what he hit – they were riding single-file at pace and it wasn’t pointed out. The tube was pinch-flatted and the tyre slightly damaged so it was a reasonable hit!

And a few pics of the finished rebuild:

There is also a new header image to accommodate the new width.

There is a new workshop page showing off the awesome new workshop space in Lyall Bay.  If you haven’t been out to have a look stop by and check it out.

Serge stayed the night in Wellington and we did a nice hilly ride on Saturday and after puncturing and missing the bunch ended up doing a nice easy 90km on Sunday.

Mat originally wanted to use a pair of carbon rims but I explained that I didn’t think the cost / benefit was right and that the much cheaper, just as light Stan’s Race rims would be a great option.

I laced the sub-300 gram Race rims to Tune King and Kong hubs. These are one of the lighter mountain bike hubsets out there and with large bearings and aluminium axles they offer good durability and performance.

I used DT Swiss Aerolite bladed spokes to keep weight and aerodynamic drag down. The front wheel and non-driveside rear are laced 3-cross, and the driveside rear is laced 2x to increase the non-driveside spoke tension. This is important on the very light Race rims.

Gold nipples and custom gold decals – Mat’s aiming for gold at the World Cup.

The wheels came in at a stunning 1244 grams for the pair and they look a million-bucks.

The car ride home from the race was spent with discussing pros and cons with tech-heads Cameron and Stu with the general consensus that the idea makes sense in theory. But we don’t ride our bikes in theory. I’ve always ridden 175mm cranks but often wondered what longer cranks would be like and while having a natter to DB he mentioned a pair of Record 180mm cranks collecting were dust on his workbench and offered to lend them to me.

These cranks are from the early 2000′s. Campagnolo had produced their first carbon crank a few years earlier and although they’re one of the nicest looking cranks ever made they had some issues with the pedal area falling out. The next generation of carbon cranks (what I was using) were much more reliable but only offered up to 175mm and as a result Belgian hardmen like Boonen refused to use the newer carbon cranks and instead opted for aluminium cranks similar to what arrived in DB’s courier bag.

The 5mm longer cranks mean that I can lower my seat 5mm and move it forward 5mm which should get my weight towards the center of the bike more. The weight gain of aluminium cranks from carbon was 105 grams.

I’m looking forward to riding these cranks over the weekend and seeing if they have any effect on my riding. I need all the help I can get :-)

Wes wanted a pair of daily-use wheels which are fast enough for Sunday group rides and durable enough for mid-week riding and commuting.

This pair uses the White Industries H2 front hub and H3 rear hub. The front wheel is laced with 24 DT Swiss Revolution spokes and the rear with 28 spokes – DT Swiss Competition on the driveside and the lighter Revolution on the non-driveside.

1511 grams is lighter than a pair of Ksyrium SL’s (or similar) yet these wheels will have excellent durability and ride quality.

Frame; Yeti AS-R, medium

Fork; Rockshox Revelation Race 140mm

Wheels; Stan’s Crest laced to Stan’s hubs

Tyres; Schwalbe Fat Albert

Groupset: Shimano SLX

PRO bar, stem and seatpost (Deda Newton stem in the photos)

WTB saddle (old Specialized in the photos)

Gary’s done a few rides on the new bike and did his first skills course at Makura Peak over the weekend. He loves it.