Bob Stocks' Group - Full for now! (Page 25)

You could have used the pee to defrost your water bottle and gel... just a thought for your next sub-zero run.

Stuart-nice article

Had a nice little 4 miler this evening along the beach.  Windy but nice.  Ran with a guy from the tri club I joined.  ALways good to have some company to get you outside.

2nd page??????

i hope it's because everyone is outside in the fresh air!

63 here in sunny new haven.  Went for a long walk around the neighborhod with the family after a long swim session and short run.  Running a 5K with my father tomorrow.  Planning on running the 5 miles from my house to the race and then running with my father (he runs 20+ miles a week but basically all on the treadmil land gets nervous running outside... he did 10 miles on the mill last week, the thought of that makes me want to shoot myself). 

Anyone else racing tomorrow?

No races for me for a while.  I'm thinking of running the Broad Street Run (10 miler) at the beginning of May, but I lost quite a bit of run fitness, so I am going to put off registering for now and hope I am running regularly soon.

I got a run in this morning.  I ran for 1:10 straight and then my knee started hurting a little bit, so I walked for :20 to cool down.  I'm very pleased with the 1:10 straight, even though it was very slow.  It was a nice run to boost my confidence that I will get back in run shape.

I hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather!

Hello everyone.  Hope you all had a good weekend.  This little taste of spring was pretty nice.  Did some skiing on Saturday and was out after lunch in just an under armor shirt and fleece vest!  Sadly, with the warm temps and the rain that we had yesterday afternoon, last night and today, skiing is probably done for this year unless we get another big snow storm.  My skis are praying for snow but my bike is longing to come off the wall in the garage!

I am officially registered for my first two tri's.  I just found out on Friday that the Corning YMCA is hosting a Tri at the Y at the end of March.  It will be indoor and I signed up for the 20-20-20.  There is also a 30-30-30 but I thought I would take it easy for the first one.  I am also now registered for the Keuka Lake Sprint Tri on June 7th (originally, this was going to be my first tri).  That will make for a cold first OWS but I have heard good things about the race. 

Looking forward to putting all of this training to use!

Have a great week.

George

I just got a new set of tri shirt/tri shorts in the mail.  Since my stomach looks a little (well, more than a little) rolly in the new outfit, I really have to get serious about losing weight.  My hope is to lose 10 pounds by May 1st and 15 by Eagleman.  The first thing I am going to do is pack my lunch 2 days this week (2 was picked because 1 day is already gone and tomorrow we have a big banquet, so I can't pack then).

It's weird that I've lost 55 pounds so far, but I can't motivate myself to make the few changes I need to lose the last of the weight.  How frustrating!

Congrats on all that you have acheived Barb!! I'm working on a handful of prizes for round two of the weight loss challenge for a bit of motivation.

Keep up the good work everyone! I managed to get an hour in the pool and an hour on the dreadmill today. I felt lousy after the weekend going down the "toilet".

George, 

I don't know what dimensions you are or if you have a full wetsuit or not, but if you are interested i have just upgraded (don't tell Bob i am trying to buy some speed!) and have an extra one now..... as for keuka being your first OWS....... maybe we can get together before then and find some warm local water to get in some swims?  i also have my first tri that weekend.

You're welcome to my wetsuit for that weekend as well George. It's sleeveless but worked well for me last year at Keuka. I think it was 63 degrees. Bbbbrrrrrr.

As for Tim. What did you upgrade to? Keep spending the money!! I was planning on taking some air out of your tires when your wave goes off in 5 minutes ahead of mine. Just remember when you pass me on the run that you'll be ahead of me but you'll really be 5 minutes behind me.

Sorry for the lack of inspires, gang...I've been sick, sick, er, sick...I'm on Day 6 now, and don't have an end in sight.

I'll prop the group up the second I get a little energy back. Bleah.

Thanks for the wetsuit offers guys.   I have a sleeveless Xterra that I had my wife get me for my b-day in December when they were super cheap.  I do want to get an OWS in before the tri--not sure we will find any warm water before then though!

I did something to my neck/shoulder skiing on Saturday.  Oddly enough, it wasn't from a fall but I tweaked something getting some air--I guess I am too old to be going through the terrain park with the kids!  It wasn't feeling too bad yesterday so I decided to do my usual short swim at lunch and that just killed it.  So I am out of swimming for at least a week to rest it.  Hopefully that is enough!  Too bad as I have been starting to see some good progress lately--broke 2 mins/100 for a 1000 yard swim yesterday for the first time (1:58/100).  After I heal, Bob needs to come to Horseheads for a swim clinic to help me shave another 5-10 seconds!!!

Here is a bike question for anyone who wants to input:

Originally, my plan was to do my tris this year on my old, cheap MTN bike.  As I have gotten more into the training, I am not sure that I want to do that.  I have been thinking about either getting a new entry level road bike (which would probably move me from cheap mtn bike to a cheap road bike!) or getting a used road or tri bike off of e-bay.  Any recommendations on what I should be looking for on the used side?  I haven't talked to the boss yet but I am guessing that my budget is under $600.

Also, when looking around ebay I have seen a few bikes with 650 cc wheels instead of the 700 that is more prevelent.  Any advantages or disadvantages to the smaller wheels.  If I went with one of those, could I eventually change to the 700's on the same bike?

Finally, are there any component types that I should just stay away from?  There are a lot of different types out there and I am not sure what the rank order is from worst to best.

Thanks in advance for anything that you are willing to share!

George

Thanks Jeff.  And thanks for the tip on how to entice Bob!

Either will work, methinks!  From a used perspective, you'd want the following criteria:

1. It fits. Get the right size.
2. No dings in the frame. If it's been wrecked, chase a different bike.  
3. Shimano 105 components or better (see listing below)
4. Something less than 5 years old. Beyond 5 years old the components could be shot, and a newer entry level bike will be just as good / better than an older higher-spec bike. You might also get older components, like shimano 9-speed or 8-speed... 

Beyond those 4 criteria, they should all pretty much be similar - at the $650 price point, you won't have to choose between too many goodies, just double or triple. Remember you'll need shoes and pedals too, if you choose to go clipless, which you should budget for. I found one example and another example.   

When considering new, there are a bunch of bikes that are in your price range that folks have had good luck with...Motobecane, Fuji, Windsor, Schwinn, and Novara (REI's brand).  Two popular choices are this one and this one. My personal leaning is toward the Fuji or Motobecane.

The differences between 650 and 700's are negligible, for our purposes here. 700's are more readily available and are probably 80%? of the market....650's and 700's are NOT interchangeable; once you buy a bike with one size or the other, that's it...

There are three MAJOR makers of components - Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM. Any other brands of components are a very small minority, and you'll most likely be mailing away for parts...so we'll only deal with these 3.

For Shimano (the vast majority of bikes), their component lineup looks like (from best to worst):

DI2 
Dura Ace 7900
Ultegra SL
Ultegra
105
Tiagra
Sora
2200

Generally, tiagra, sora, and 2200 are heavy, less expensive groups that compromise a little on weight, wear, durability. Some folks have had luck with Tiagra if it's maintained well, but very few on Sora. 2200 usually comes on the wal-mart bikes. If you have a choice, stick with 105 or up.

For Campagnolo - usually found in more European bikes - the lineup goes (from best to worst, with the Shimano equivalent posted next to it):

Super Record (DA)
Record (Ultegra SL/DA)
Chorus (Ultegra)
Centaur (105)
Veloce (Tiagra/Sora)

Again, I'd stay away from Veloce if you get a choice, but it's still not sooper bad gear. Lastly, SRAM is relatively new to the scene, has the following Lineup:

SRAM Red (DA7900)
SRAM Force (Ultegra)
SRAM Rival (105/Ultegra)

Everyone who'd ridden SRAM has raved about the groupsets, but it comes at a slight price premium....so I'd have no reservations about any of these groupsets.

What HE (Rick) said.

I like the used route myself. I got a great deal on my bike off ebay and it has served me well. (Paid about $600) I like the Giant frames because the sizing is S-M-L and there seems to be a little more leeway for size.

There's nothing wrong with stopping by the LBS, getting fit and searching for a used bike online. I would be sure to thank the owner by purchasing your supplies from him and using him for service of course.

On a used bike I would stick with Ultegra components and above. I do notice a difference in 105 to Ultegra and a HUGE difference between Tiagra and 105. 

Thanks to all for your bike input.  Stopped by one LBS yesterday just to get a feel for what he has in something new.  He carries mostly Trek and Giant and the entry level bikes were around $775 so that's not really an option now.  He said he doesn't get many used road bikes.  There are two others here locally and some others up in Ithaca that I can check out.  For now, I am watching some on e-bay.  Thanks too for the components lesson Rick!

Nice weather in my part of the world yesterday and today.  Got in a nice run yesterday afternoon and plan to get a bike ride in this afternoon--first outside ride in a long time!

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

What size are you looking for George? I'll keep an eye out as well.

Mike Timofeeff is planning an easy ride this afternoon out Maple to Chemung if you're interested. His # is 215-1412, give him a call.

Thanks Bob!  I am 5'7" so I am thinking that I will likely need a 52cm, 54cm, or a small depending on the bike.  I haven't been fitted yet, just going on some different things that I have read.

Didn't see the note from you about Mike's ride until last night (he also sent one) so I missed out on that.  Did get a solo ride in yesterday though which was great.  Looks like we have a couple more beautiful days before winter comes back!