A nice easy training ride with one Strava KOM (42 mph) chasing down a very fit triathlete on a high end time trial bike.
Setup and Adjustments
Last night and this morning I spent a few hours adjusting the Quest for my x-seam and body height.
I must have had to push the peddles out at least 6 inches. The prior owner must have been very short.
I’m 6’ 1" and the fit is currently very tight. I sure if I were to lose some weight off my butt my x-seam will decrease by at least 3 inches. As it is my shoulders fit just below the rim of the Quest by about 1/2 inch - so I cannot raise the seat anymore to try and get my feet further away from the front. I cannot wear my Keen SPD sandals because at my current x-seam length the Keens are too wide and when peddling the outsides of the Keens scrap against where the top and bottom shells join. Fortunately, I had another pair of skinny SPD shoes that worked ok after adjusting the clips on the bottom. I had to adjust the clips on the bottom of the shoes as far to the outside as possible so that the outside of my foot would be as close to the bottom bracket as possible. This made the outside of my shoes be as narrow as possible allow the shoes to clear the joint where the top and bottom shells meet.
When riding every now and then the heel of a shoe will contact the front of the foot opening. Also, every now and then a knee will graze the top of the shell. Each is kind of a surprise each time it happens but not really all that disrupted to my peddling.
I did not have any additional chain so I was very careful to only shift out of the small front chain ring when I was in the little gear in the back. Needless to say this affected my average speed greatly. Today I’ll have to go get a couple of feet of chain and add it to the existing length.
When peddling at slow speeds there is a creak, creak sound every time I peddle. I’m guessing the struts need some oil - after all the Quest has been sitting in garage for the last 4 years.
Also, there is a ting, ting sound from the rear. I’ll have to check the rear spokes. One is either broken or loose.
Gearing
The high end of the gearing is not high enough. I spin out around 30 miles per hour. I don’t yet have the cadence sensor on the Quest but I’m guessing my cadence was ~90 rpm for just over 30 mph. The F-40 has a 60 tooth big chain ring and I don’t spin out until around 40 mph.
Ride Impressions
At speed (30+ mph) the wind noise is extreme - just like the F-40 before I put the windshield on it.
Getting up to 18 mph is hard. 18 mph to 30 mph is very easy compared to the F-40.
The Quest is very fast. Riding the F-40 for a year really helped me be very comfortable with the Quest handling at speed.
I’m going to need a lot more experience cornering.
The Quest easily accelerates through 30 mph on any slight downhill.
You cannot turn it around on a two lane country road without doing a 3 point turn. (3 being very optimistic at my current experience level)
Ride Strategy
Ride strategy is like the F-40 only more extreme. On any downhill accelerate as much as possible to try and turn the next uphill into a roller. The Quest is able to ‘rollerize’ more hills than the F-40.
This Morning’s Ride
It took me 40 minutes to get out of the driveway. My shoes kept hitting the front inside of the Quest.
Fortunately you can reach the ground over the side of the quest. Take my helmet and sunglasses off and set them on the ground. Take the Garmin Edge 800 off the tiller and put it in the helmet also. I need to take the Garmin off so that the tiller will fit under the lip of the opening to get the tiller out of the way so that I can push myself up and out of the Quest. I really need to work on my upper body strength with exercises like doing dips at the gym. I can see myself finishing a really hard ride and then not having enough energy left to lift my overweight body out of the stupid thing.
Eventually, I got the shoe situation sorted out and I was on my way.
The deer in the neighborhood go crazy at the sight of the Quest. The F-40 did not bother them - the Quest put them into a frenzy.
It is slow getting out of the neighborhood but after about a mile I’m on a pretty good road with wide smooth shoulders. The downhill to the bottom of the dam is an eye opener. Accelerating (and I use the term accelerate loosely) to 16 mph with the Quest takes some effort. But 16 mph to 30 mph is very impressive - way faster than the F-40.
I try to carry as much speed as possible up the next climb but I’m not used to the gears and I’m being cautious because I know my chain length is very short.
Heading out of town it seems like it is a good strategy to get the Quest up to 18+ mph and then rest while holding it there. Once at speed it doesn’t take much effort to keep it there.
At about the 10 mile mark I’m considering turning around but I’ve just turned onto a road where there are lots of roadies and the Quest is eating up the pavement.
I end up going another 6 miles passing many roadies doing at least 30+ mph in the Quest.
Right after I turn around to head back I see Brian and Suzie Buckmaster heading the other way on there upright bikes. So i turn around again and head back out to ride with them for a little bit. I’m coasting and ridding the brakes at 18 mph and they are peddling some while we are talking. After a little ways I decided I really should head back. I want to make sure I have enough energy to be able to lift myself out of this thing.
After I turn south on Williams Drive (about 9 miles left to go to my house) I notice a rider about 1/2 mile ahead. It takes me a good 5 miles to catch him and I’m easily averaging 29 to 30 mph. Neither one of us can talk or say hi as I pass - it is all we can do to try and keep up with the other. We trade places a couple of times. At stop lights and corners he zooms ahead, eventually on the long straights I catch and pass him. I get my one Strava KOM on a segment because we had just rounded a corner and he accelerate way ahead of me - I got the Quest up to 45.3 mph on the downhill and completed the segment with a 42.0 mph average.
After that I was only a couple of miles from home and my legs were toast. Time to just spin easy and try to make it home.
Time to soak the legs, have a beer with lunch and then do some maintenance on the bike.
By the Number
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/555201362
