Progress: Installation

Slowly, the new Ridley Damocles is starting to take shape. I stripped the stem and brake calipers off my wrecked Fausto Coppi and installed them on the new Ridley. Current stem is a 10cm Easton EA90, but it might be too short.

The most striking aspect of this Ridley frame is the shape of the tubes. This is a monocoque construction, and the tubes are nowhere near round. The top tube is triangular where it meets the head tube, and square-ish where is meets the seat tube.

The head tube is round enough, but mushrooms dramatically like many of today's carbon frames to house a massive bearing surface for the fork. Pictured as well are the Mavic SSC brake calipers that I have learned to love. I'll create a review of those calipers a little later.

The downtube on the Damocles has a beautiful shape as well and cuts a very nice angle down to the bottom bracket where it flares and surrounds the BB with a nice carbon nest. Not visible, but to be photographed later, are the monster chain stays employed by Ridley to make certain this frame will accelerate and climb well.

Making the switch from aluminum to steel when I built up the Fausto Coppi was a real moment for me. I was making a change to a bike that wasn't lighter weight or higher technology, but I was willing to sacrifice a little to realize a ride that could see me in the saddle for hours at a time. I made the switch to steel (Columbus Neuron) and after the build was thankful I had done so, the ride was incredible.

Then the wreck happened, and I was back to square one. Moving on, I was faced once again with what seemed like an endless list (see previous post) of frame sets that could fit the bill. Aluminum was considered, steel and of course carbon. In the end my desire to try a lighter bicycle and carbon won out over all other senility. Over the coming weeks I'll do all that I can to chronicle the build, shakedown and mileage on the new frame. An added dimension: I also picked up a Garmin 305.

Part 3: Sella Italia

Arrival: Ridley

The List

During a full month of waiting to settle things with the driver's insurance company I embarked on a massive research project. The goal: select the replacement frame. Easy as this might sound, I had decided (then undecided, redecided, undecided, etc) to go with a full carbon frame and fork. Seeing as how I don't like to do anything normally, my list -at one point- looked like this:

• Look 585
• Ridley Damocles
• Giant TCR Advance Team ('06)
• Colnago CT2
  
• Cinelli Estrada
• Velo Vie V300
• BMC Team
• Cervelo R3
• Canyon CF Pro
• Wilier Izoard
• Ciocc EOM 16.5 w/carbon rear triangle
• Pegoretti Marcelo
• Mondonico Super Leggera
• Torelli Selvino

The list is mostly carbon frames, but I still included high end steel as possible options. I love the idea of a Pegoretti because it is hand built, just like the Mondonico, but cost and wait time are huge issues. Wait time also eliminated a number of custom frame ideas I had from Strong, Yamaguchi, Don Walker and others. I just wasn't prepared to wait 3 months for delivery.

Decisions, Decisions
I managed to weed a few things out of the list by way of eliminating small manufacturers that I feared either would 1) not be around in a few years, 2) might not be producing a quality product or 3) may not be under factory warranty. This eliminated the Cinelli, Velo Vie, Canyon, Torelli and Ciocc. Although I reconsidered the Ciocc again later, mainly because it is a steel/carbon hybrid that fascinates me, the paint quality is poor and the frame is a New Old Stock from perhaps '03 or '04. The Torelli is a beautiful frame but I couldn't find any reviews online and never knew much about it. I was assured it was quality, but at 950 grams for the whole frameset I was worried that it might flex or twist badly.



After a conversation with Sgt. D I found that I needed to keep my budget in check and be sure to be putting a little money back in the bank. No sense in blowing things out completely. This eliminated the Pegoretti and BMC Team, as well as the Cervelo. Truly though, the Cervelo would have been too "normal" for me as I see at least 3 of them every weekend during group rides. As always, I wanted something a little more unique.

My next eliminate was fit, based on research I'd done into the geometry of each bike. Based on what I had ridden and know I like in handling, I narrowed it down to the Look, Wilier and Ridley with the Giant TCR an outside possibility. Access to the Wilier was extremely limited so that took care of itself, and in the end it came down to the Look & Ridley, and a single question.

The Question
I called Will.
"Is 1 pound worth $500?"
Will: "Uhm... I don't know. Is it worth $500 to not carry a full water bottle?"
"Good point."
"Its not like we spend hours climbing mountains around here. Which one looks better?"



So, that pretty much settled it. That night I began the ordering process. It didn't take long to order the frame online. I had thought about going locally but no one had access to the Damocles. Apparently, neither did the seller from which I was buying.

Delays, Delays
Competitive Cyclist has a slick web site and simple ordering process that provides you with plenty of information about each of the frame sets they carry. I commend them for the detail to which the go in their descriptions of each frame, its intended use and level of quality. What they failed to do was indicate that the frame I was selecting was not actually readily available. The delivery date was moved back three times, and it eventually took two phone calls and two emails to straighten things out and get a frame delivered without moving the date again.

Ridley Damocles


Eventually, it turned out they had a frame in my size and color in stock, only it had been built as a Demo bike. I agreed to take the "used" frame and was offered an additional 15% discount. Honestly, its a great deal and the frame is in perfect condition.

Now I have to wait a full week (or more) for my build kit to arrive... and I still haven't picked a set of wheels. Will has a nice set of tubulars up for grabs as long as we can find a Campy compatible freehub body. In the mail I have a mixed Campy group with an Easton cockpit on order.

Part 2: Progress