Rotorized

I accidentally got to put the Rotor Agilis Crankset on today. I really had called Nick at the shop to ask him if I could come by and have him make sure my new wheels were ok. After about 100 miles of single-track on new wheels I thought it was a good idea to make sure that the rims were broken in and there were no problems. Plus, my cables were stretched and I wanted him to adjust it for me. Nick said, “I have your new chain and cassette, when are you bringing the new oval cranks so I can put it on and admire them? I said I’ll bring it today if I can get in and out because I’m going down to Oleta with Bob Mc. He only had one bike in the stand, so I went home to eat lunch, got loaded up, and headed over to the shop

I got really excited about the ride today because I could really get a chance to enjoy the ceramic bottom bracket, the hollowed out crankarms, and most of all, the 24-34-44 chainrings that I have been drooling over every night before I go to bed. If all went well, that would would improve my chance of getting on the box in the 6-hr solo at Santos this weekend.

Nick was at the bank, so I put the bike in the stand and took off the chain. That was it for me, as taking off the chain is about all I’m good for. Nick walks in and says, “Technical Foul, illegal motion, Brian Pace is touching a bike”. Nick hates it when I play mechanic, and with good reason. He enjoys making sure that my bike is working great, and I love the guy for that. He gives my bike a lot of love and attention.

First he looks at the crankarm, and says, “ Nice”, he then picks up the bottom bracket, and he says, NICCCEEE. When a mechanic is enjoying the CNC machined parts you have, then you know you have something good. Nick has some problems getting off the XTR cranks as they are really stuck in there, but he manages to get if off with a little GT45.


He first reads the direction and he asks me which point do I want to put the cranks at, and I tell him on the setting that has 3 dots. It does have another setting after that, but I’ll wait to see how it goes before I change it. He cleans out the bottom bracket area with some device that cleans the threads, and it looks like it did when I first bought.

He hands me the cranks and say enjoy how beautiful it is before you “Brian Pace “ it, and we both laugh. He puts everything on and it looks sweet. He then takes off my old XT cassette, and puts on the new 2008 XT cassette. When he puts the wheel back on, I notice that it has some drag now as my brake pads are rubbing on my disc. The wheel was not rolling smooth like it was when I first got them. He then tries to stick something in between the pads to open them up. While he was playing with it I went to pay for my powergels and a couple of powerbar one serving powders. Not going back to check on the status of the brake pads rubbing would later come to haunt me at the trail. Then he puts on the SRAM PC-991 chain that is hollow pin, and I have no idea what that means. It it is stronger, then that is what I need.

I can say that I only like 2 things that are oval, and that is eggs and rotorcranks.


I look at the crank from behind the cassette, and I ask if he should add another spacer, and he said the direction say to put in just 1 spacer. As soon as he starts to pedal I can see that the chain line if off compared to having the XTR crank I had on there before. It looks like I won’t have a granny gear, and I may go over the top of the big chainring. We both pick up the phone and call Rotor in Colorado, but there is not answer. I told him I would like to have it set up without being able to access the granny ring because I don’t use it anyway. But he is determined to get it right, because he is a mechanic. I sent Bob a text message and tell him to go ahead in the first lap, and I would be there for the 2nd lap, he said no problem. I told Nick I really wanted to ride today to get the rings ready for Santos, and to make it operational for the middle and top chainrings and he does so.

I’m off to Oleta, and in the car and multiple thoughts are going through my head. How does going from 33T to 34T affect my shifting, my legs, and my perceived effort? Bob calls to find out my ETA, and I tell him 10 minutes, and he says he will wait for me.



When I get there Richard Diaz is there with a couple other riders. Diaz must have told everyone about the crankset because they walked right over and starting admiring it. I quickly get the helmet on, ipod loaded, tires pumped, water bottle mounted, and we are off. One of a guys ask if he can ride behind Bob for the first couple of minutes to see his lines. Of course, I don’t mind. I don’t think the guy is going to get anything out of Bob walking away from him, and that is exactly what happens. After 5 minutes Bob is out of sight, and when the guy lets me pass him, and I bridge up to Bob and we take it from there. My heartrate is getting lower every week with the same perceived effort. I feel like we are going just as fast as last week, but my legs seemed drained. We hit it pretty hard on the road yesterday, but not enough to have me feeling this way. At the 30 minute mark Bob is officially walking away from me and that is when I know something is wrong. I think the rear brake is just rubbing, because it feels like I have a parachute on. I finish the last 17 minutes in pain, and skip Davie’s Trail to go back to the car to see if I can figure it out. Sure enough, I spin the tire and the rear brake is rubbing big time. I try to see if I can fix, but it is still rubbing when I spin it. When Bob comes back out I tell him my problem, and he spins the tire. He then goes to his truck, and come back with a screw driver. I go to change water bottle and by the time I come back, it’s spinning like new. He explains someone must have press the brake with my rear wheel off, and that brought the pads closer together and that they just need to be opened back up.

I tell him I need to go back in, because I have to get the shifting down, because the first lap was way below my expectation. As soon as we start going I can feel that it’s going to be a good lap. I can’t remember the last time that I went into a lap and I knew it was going to be one to remember. This lap did not disappoint at all. Not even 1 minute into the trail I could feel that the bike was faster, and having the 34 teeth chainring was a huge advantage. I didn’t even bother to look down at my heartrate, I just let the bike go. After about 2 miles of riding we go onto the fireroad loop around the cabin. I look back at Bob and say “ I love this thing”, and I continue to motor around the cabin and we chat about it. I know I’m riding just as fast as we have ever ridden at this course, and I continue to put pressure on the pedals. I’m flowing better and better, and I could care less what my heartrate is.

Bob has only ridden behind me like 3 times this year, and each time he has noticed a improvement in my riding. I was explaining to him back in January that I have no “ Riding Style that I’m aware of, and my goal for 2007 was to develop my concept for racing by becoming aware of my riding style. In February I did 1 training lap with Bob behind me, and he has not ridden behind me again until last Wednesday when we rode at Oleta. The next day after that ride he came to me and told me that I now have a riding style, and when attempted to explain it to me it went right over my head. I know I have a way that I see how to use the bike the most efficient way, and I have mastered that in my spring program. I'm not yet aware of how my style is different, and what kind of attitude is behind it, if it is such a thing. Back to the 2nd lap.

I’m going through sections and I can tell that more of my power is going into the cranks because I don’t feel them flexing at all. The XTR cranks I had on my Titus before were actually from 2004 race season, so I was long overdue for a new crankset, and these we performing way above my expectation. I was trying to figure out what was allowing me to ride this fast. Was it the cranks that were hollowed out where it needs to be, and strong were they needed to be? Was it because they were stiffer and more of my effort was going into the bike and not being lost? Was it the ceramic bottom bracket that was obviously allowing the pedaling to be effortless without any drag compared to my XTR. Was the 34T chainring allowing me to get more out of my pedaling without raising my heartrate? Or was it the conglomerate of factors working towards the new found speed? What I can say is, it was not inspiration, because Bob can knock that shit right off your legs the first lap. I never match his speed the 2nd lap, NEVER. I’m coming out of sections and the time is within seconds of what we normally do the first lap. We have almost always been off by .5mph on the 2nd lap, but it looks as if we are very close to the normal 11.9.mph. At Oleta that is rolling hard.

I can tell going through some sections that I’m gapping Bob, and he is surging back. I’m flowing nicely and I know he is hurting a little because it is taking him some time to get back to me. That happened several times, but not enough to say I even came close to dropping him, but I know I put him into the red for sure. The lap would be cut short by darkness coming. It started to get dark, and I was not able to judge corners correctly and when I had to slam on my brakes to prevent from running into a low branch, I took off my glasses that had orange lenses. I then had another problem, and that was protecting the eyes from the branches that were leaning right across the trail on both sides. A branch whipped back from off my shoulders and caught Bob directly on the “Eyeballs” as he put it, and called it a ride. We cut out of the trail at the 30 minute mark, and headed back to the car. Bob confirmed that I was riding good, and that I hurt him more than once. That made me feel better, because the first lap really sucked, and the pace was 11.7mph which is still really smoking.

I couldn’t wait to get home and download the workout, because I know I matched the first lap as far as mph is concerned, I just know it. Bob and I chat a little more and confirmed that we will meet at Sunrise and Pine Island to head up to the Road Race at Tradewinds Park. This is the last road race of this series, and there is $1000.00 on the first 3 spots by a VW dealership. I have a 2006 Jetta, so I think I better try to win back a car payment.
I get home and look at "Super Drivetrain" that I know have, and I'm very excited about this upcoming season.


I get in the house, kiss Mrs. P, and play with my little EPO user Lance (My yorkie), and I download my workout chart. Yeap, I did match the speed in the second lap. Right down to the inch. Since I only rode 30 minutes the 2nd lap, I compared up to that point. In 30 minutes his Avg speed was 12.2mph, and in my second lap of 30 minutes my avg speed was 12.1mph. I have never in my life been able to put out another effort like that on the 2nd lap. Kudos to the Rotor Agilis Cranket, with the Ceramic Bottom Bracket. Now I can’t wait to get to Santos this weekend.

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