Lynskey Cooper Review

A very nice review on the Lynskey Cooper. An XL frame built up for Mike with SRAM Rival and a Quarq. Mike was excited for a new bike, like any real cyclist, but was nervous about the stiffness. Debating between a Felt F4 and Cooper, Mike wasn't sure the Cooper would have the performance he was looking for.

I've added a few shots during the build and of the initial fit. Mike has since lowered the stem 2+cm as well as flipped the stem down and even added 10mm to it. The fit has gotten much lower and longer with the added riding, flexibility, and comfort this bike has given Mike.


Read on for his impressions:

I wouldn’t call myself a bike expert, but I have ridden a variety of bikes, from aluminum, carbon fiber and steel frames, with varying degrees of enjoyment. I have never ridden a titanium bike and was a bit skeptical when Brandon and others on the team suggested that I would love riding the Lynskey Cooper. I was planning to get another carbon bike but didn’t want a bike that beat the hell out of me on longer rides (I’m not a crit racer), so I took the leap and got the Lynskey Cooper. I have had a chance to ride it long (75+ miles), during crazy group rides (yes, Judson can be crazy), during crits and one muddy road/gravel road race and I’m surprised how happy I am about the bike.


I have not been on a ride yet that I want to get off the bike. The ride feel is amazing. I have had other properly fitted bikes that I want to get off because I felt beat up, not because my legs are tired. It’s great to feel like I could ride my bike forever… or at least longer than I would ever consider riding it.

The other piece to the ride quality is the responsiveness; it's awesome. I’m not sure if it’s the stiffness, tube construction or geometry or some combination (like I said, I’m not an expert) but when I want to stand up and sprint, the bike is ready. I feel like I have another gear when I’m pushing it or sprinting. I’m a tall guy, but I don’t feel any flex in the frame. I doubt the bike is the stiffest bike in the world, but I couldn't care less because I feel confident with it when I’m sprinting. Related to being confident, I also feel like I have a lot of control. The bike takes corners nicely and handles great, a huge positive when you are riding with others.

I have also taken this bike through hell. I rode the bike during the Leland road race that was a total mud/gravel-fest. And the bike was awesome. It handled the gravel and mud perfectly. I didn’t worry about taking it through any line, no matter how rough or muddy. The other great benefit to the bike is that titanium is super easy to clean. The industrial mill finish cleans up nice… and quick. This has come in handy in the early spring and especially after Leland.

The other great thing about the bike is that it’s unique. Brandon did awesome job of building a one of a kind ride, great orange accents that look great with titanium. I like owning it.

The bike is outfitted with SRAM Rival components, which feel very similar to my SRAM Red on my cross bike. There is a small difference, but I think the biggest difference is in weight not shifting feel or quality.

I have also put on a Quarq, which I love so far and think that it’s better than my Powertap because I can put any wheels on the bike. I look forward to using the Quarq during cross season.

Now, the Cooper isn’t the lightest bike in the world (I don’t have the lightest wheels currently either, Brandon when are you getting me those Firecrest Zipp wheels?) but I could lose 1-2 pounds (or work harder) to make up the difference, plus we don’t have hills in Chicago were it matters most.

I’d recommend the bike to almost anyone. Since I have gotten the Cooper, I haven’t ridden my ‘cross bike or my TT bike. I don’t want too, I like riding the Cooper too much. My experience with the Cooper has me considering getting the cyclocross version for cross season.

This is what happens when someone puts their trust in us to help. It's a huge leap to spend thousands of dollars without riding a bike first, but there's a reason we ride everything we can get our hands on. Yes, it's a "tough" job, but we really do ride all of these bikes to help you.

Mike, we're as happy about your bike as you are, enjoy logging the miles!

What was old is new again

Received this from a good friend of the shop. It's a great point, where some people look for a new bike, with a little TLC your current bike can really bring back memories and last a long time.

This rider's tune-up would be about $290 which includes new cables and housing and good cleaning, new brakes, and a new bottom bracket. Much less than the cost of a new carbon road bike, like his current ride is.

The bike industry is a well oiled marketing machine, with new innovations always being introduced that trigger our urge to consume. This write-up isn’t about a new super product, but rather the performance improvement and satisfaction I received through an overhaul of my well used older bike.

I purchased my first road bike with minimal maintenance knowledge. Over the years I’ve learned quite a bit about service, but there are still several jobs that require a mechanic’s knowledge and a shop’s tools. My bike’s shifting had become sluggish, the wheels were slightly out of true and it just wasn’t the same machine I excitedly purchased 5 years ago.

I took her in for re-cabling and any other service needed that Iron Cycles found when looking it over. Brandon and Ben went the whole nine yards inspecting and fixing what was wrong. New cables, re-greasing the hubs, new bottom bracket (an inexpensive replacement for big performance benefit), wheel truing, and replacing the badly rusting brakes. They even did some maintenance on the shifter when they noticed that the rear shifter wasn’t quite as “snappy” as it should be. Something I hadn’t noticed and would not know how to fix at my home “shop”/dining room.

The result? The performance of a brand new bike at a fraction of the cost. I took her out the following morning for a group ride. The crisp shifting, smooth and silent crank and true wheels brought a smile to my face. It brought back memories of when I first bought it and the countless hours and experiences over the years. I’m looking forward to many more years and miles to come thanks to the help of the guys at Iron Cycles.

A little love goes a long way on your bike.

Niner first Impressions

Love love LOVE my Niner Air9. I spent the winter painstakingly selecting my build group for my Niner, and now I'm getting to enjoy the payoff. I haven't even gotten to ride any real single track and already it's exceded my expectations.

The build: Large Niner Air9, Niner rigid carbon fork, King headset; Thomson cockpit with Fizik Tundra saddle, Edge (Envy) Composites carbon riser bar, and Ergon GX2 Leichtbau Carbon grips; Sram X9 2x10 group with Elixer CR hydro brakes; Stans No-Tubes Crest rims laced to King ISO Disk hubs with DT Swiss Revolution spokes rolling on Kenda rubber; Crank Brothers Eggbeater 2's help me put the power to the ground.

A couple weeks ago I swapped out the big Kendas for some skinny 1.75 Bontragers and went across the pond to race the Barry-Roubaix in Barry County, Michigan. For my money, this was the PERFECT bike for the job. While I wasn't contending for the podium, the extra air volume made for a very comfy ride, but the real gem was the 2x10 Sram drivetrain. With the rolling terrain this rain threw at us, I was never at a loss for the right gear to keep me rolling along. I'm sure that's what helped keep me fresh enough for the final sprint to finish 16th out of 70+ in the 35 mile race!

This weekend I took one step closer to single track by hitting up the Des Plains River Trail for a good 25 miles of trails. I was amazed at how this thing carves up the trail. I hit a couple twisty single track sections, and found the Niner is a real point-and-shoot beast. More amazing was how easy it is to get the wheels off the gournd when hopping logs or jumping log piles.

I can't wait to hit up Palos and Kettle Morain in the coming weeks, and I'll be sure to share!

Soupy

My Barry-Roubaix bike

I've given my recap, my kegs have started to recover. Now it's time to cover my Barry-Roubaix winning* bike.

Before I decided on what I was going to ride, I consulted in others. After speaking with a number of previous racers, something was recurring. Titanium. A rough road race, titanium is the perfect material to tone down choppy roads and leave me not having to worry about damage from rocks jumping up.


The bike came from Guru, master custom builders from Canada. Guru has built their name around custom carbon, especially time trial and triathlon bikes. But Guru has an almost secret metal program which is really quite great.


Guru built this bike with thin seat stays for added comfort but with an oversized head and down tube to increase stiffness. A standard English threaded bottom bracket, integrated headset, and bead blasted finish round out the frame.The gruppo came from SRAM, Red has made it's way onto all of my bikes. This particular group was on my road bike last year, migrated to a Focus Mares carbon cross bike for the entire season, then was plucked from there and installed on this Guru. Shifting is still perfect as expected, nary a hiccup. The brakes are from TRP, the new CX-9's are a great brake for everything but the muddiest conditions.


Power goes into the Rotor 3d crankset with a Quarq powermeter running 46/36 FSA chainrings. I've had great luck running Quarq and find their accuracy to be as good if not better than anything out there. The only down side is calibration, but their method for calibration only takes a few seconds.


The Guru cockpit is from Zipp, SLC2 bars, Service Course stem. A Thomson Masterpiece seat post, Fizik Aliante saddle, Crank Brothers Candy pedals, and Lizard Skinz bar tape round out the contact points on the bike.


Last, and certainly not least, was the wheel choice. Barry-Roubaix has a lot of climbing for a race in the Midwest, so I knew I wanted something light. Since the race wasn't going to be blisteringly fast, I didn't feel the need for deep aerodynamic wheels. The Zipp 202 seemed to be the perfect choice with their feathery weight. Maybe more importantly were the tires, and I chose Challenge Griffo XS 32c tubular tires. Fast rolling and still offering a little grip in the gravel corners. Also important was tire pressure choices since the course offers a lot of variation in riding surfaces. Upon polling past racers, I decided on 63psi rear, 60psi front.

Looking back on my choices, I have to say I think I nailed it. Many of the decisions were no brainers to me, and the real variables I received guidance from past racers. If you're looking into doing Barry-Roubaix, I suggest titanium, carbon tubulars, and SRAM Red. Duh.

*I don't want to talk about it. Age Group winner, "wave" winner, and I THOUGHT overall winner. Apparently only one ROAD race on the day wasn't determined the same way EVERY road race is determined. Whatever.

Barry-Roubaix Race Report #2

From Brandon Elliott:

I got to the park a little late, not from sleeping in or anything like that, just moseying over. The park was backed up big time, so the 90 minutes or so I thought I would have was cut to about 45 minutes to warm up. No big deal, plenty of time.

Lining up was a little crazy with 400+ racers in wave 2 with me, but I found my way to roughly the 4th row. We were sent off with a shout from the announcer and I made my way up to the motorcycle for the roll out.

A few miles tick by with people sharing pulls until I know we're coming close to the first deciding climb on Sager Rd. It's a double-track section of Jeep trail that's rocky and a little rough. When I saw the turn to the climb I made a move to about 5th wheel behind Ed Bagley. We made the turn together and Ed pulled off! I thought he dropped his chain or something but no time to check on him, 2 guys made a break for it! Try as I might I couldn't close those two, but I did find a wheel of a guy on a fixed gear bike absolutely killing this rocky hill.

The fixie rider and I knocked out about 15 miles together chasing the two man break, but we couldn't get there. At about mile 20 a pack of 20 or so guys swallowed us up. We all hammered some hills together, and at roughly mile 25 we picked up the two guys who rode off at the beginning!

Now as a big packed we rushed through the last few hills, and the final 3-4 miles of pavement, which were primarily down hill.

The pace picked up with 2 miles to go. Small attack after small attack are closed, then we make a fast sweeping left into the park.

We're down to about 1500 yards. An attack comes from the left and 4 of us run him down.
1000 yards. Soft attack from the left again, no big deal.

500 yards, hard attack from the right and I get on his wheel.

200 yards to go and 3 of us are away.

100 yards and a sharp chicane to the left, I sit second wheel. The guy in front swings a little wide and I gun it. I hear third wheel cut the chicane short and hop a curb, he's coming.

50 yards, one guy is closing. I grab another gear and eye the finish. 25 yards, one more gear, and I'm there!

I look around and realize I won the sprint! A quick cool-down and I chat with some of the guys in the break. We chat about moves, cramps, and wins.

Finally I make my way over to the results and see....wait. I won my division but got 4th overall? Where were the other three guys? I rode right behind the motorcycle until we broke off, and never had anyone get by my group.

Curious.

Oh well, first division win of the year, 4th overall in the 35-mile race. Ed finished 3rd in his division. 2 podiums for Iron Cycles today.

Barry-Roubaix Race Report #1

From Liz Markel, member of Team Iron Cycles:

Race report from the Markels: I did 23 miles, and did not finish last! :-D The uphills were killer on my knees (thank you to whichever IC guy asked if I was OK while walking an uphill!). My little victory was pushing the pace good on the downhills and the technical sections and feeling confident with the speed and my bike handling. Jon did the 35 mile and went over the handlebars on the 2-track section after another guy crashed and fell in front of him (both are fine), but did finish. We both agree it was fun, freezing, and VERY hilly...and that we'll try to race it again next year! Most importantly, though......CONGRATS B! Woohoo!

Zipp 404 Firecrest Carbon Clincher early review

A couple months back Iron Cycles was lucky enough to be invited to visit the Zipp factory in Indianapolis. Zipp was based in Speedway, Indiana for years, but a move to Indianapolis came along when the need arose for a much larger space.

The headquarters houses design, production, and distribution for Zipp products as well as distribution of many SRAM products. The facility is clean, well thought out, and state of the art.

After the tour we had a presentation from some of the designers and while listening to their wind tunnel data, enthusiasm, and thoroughness of their designs I "drank the Zipp Kool-Aid". I was so impressed with what they were doing I had to give their newest line of products a try.

We all know the tubular 303 is the bee's knees in cyclocross. I had a few sets that I raced on all season with nary an issue.

But what of this new Carbon Clincher model and the Firecrest shape?


First, Zipp was late to the party with a full carbon clincher, but seems to be that way for good reason. Zipp wanted to be absolutely certain their braking surface could handle the high-heat of long descents as well as provide the smooth stopping power we all want. I can say that in my experience Zipp hit a home run on those points.

More important to me though is how fast a wheel is. Who wants to spend nearly $3000 on bicycle wheels if they aren't fast?! I won't say that I feel night and day faster on them, but I can't easily compare them to 32-hole box-section rims since I rarely ride them. Zipp's wind tunnel data shows that the Firecrest shape is not only faster than just about everything on the market (including their previous generation 808...think about that for a minute) in low-wind conditions, but a lot faster in high-yaw conditions. Fast wheels in the wind? Now who would want something like that in Chicago?!

Now let's talk about the first 500 or so miles I have on these wheels. Riding solo does feel fast, but so did the previous 404's. If I am saving a few watts I can't tell because I don't have an accurate enough way to test. They certainly do feel like they are holding speed a lot easier than a set of HED Bastognes or the Zipp 101s.

Braking does feel solid and smooth, though I did notice some "whistling" coming from my rear wheel under heavy braking on my last ride. First time I've heard that, and maybe just a brake pad adjustment away from being fixed, but worth noting.

If there is one thing that I can walk away from initial testing on these wheels preaching is the way they handle cross winds. If you've ridden deep-section carbon wheels you've almost undoubtedly felt cross winds pushing you around. The new 404 Firecrest shape has NONE of that. It's really shocking to say, and more shocking to (not) feel, but these wheels are incredibly stable all the time.

For a 200+ lb rider, that might not be a deal breaker. Bigger riders won't feel the effects of cross winds on their wheels as much as lighter riders. But let's say you're 150 lbs, or even 110 lbs. This new shape allows you to run a deeper and faster wheel in much more gusty conditions without feeling unsafe or having the fear of being blown off of the road.

Triathletes and time trialists rejoice. This new shape called Firecrest is your ticket. So far a 404 and 808 version is available, I wouldn't be shocked to see a 1080 as well. The full-carbon clincher 404 and 808 are available as well as a tubular variant. My guess is a 303 version of the carbon clincher will be out before we know it, as well as disc wheels (I hope!).

I highly recommend checking these wheels out. If you're looking for an all-out race wheel, the tubular version might be for you. Save some weight and get the aerodynamic benefits. If you're training on them as well like I do, grab the carbon clincher model. You can't go wrong with either. They aren't cheap, but they sure are nice.