2017-

Time to look back and see the ups and downs of this year. What to learn from the sad and what to remember as good.

The big things seems to start with Racemile Showdown in the end of January, this year not so cold but really icy as seen on the picture above. My Sequoia came to it’s perfect use with 42mm studded tires:)

A weekend with friends and a big Thank You to Hagen for arranging 😀

Then came a spring with a not so fast Sequoia which didn’t seem to give me any extra leg muscles. Instead it became a dropping time on Le Peloton with a too low handlebar and I felt slow…

It may have seen like many people on the picture here but my thoughts has been Le Peloton is loosing people to other things. Like Morningspins:

Without finding the speed on my roadbike I found it on my superlight Epic ht mtb and cut my PR at Långa Billingeracet with around 20min 🙂

The fastest bike I’ve ever had and super agile. Unfortunately it didn’t have an rear damper and I seem to have been older making my back hurt after like 40-50km Marathon racing. Felt fast uphill, it felt really good downhill singletracks but on on flat singletrack with roots and rocks it felt like I was standing still.

So I ate ice-cream instead:

And I tried to ride with fast people, SUMO style:

Manage to do a Randonneur with these great people in awesome pace 🙂

And according to Strava the one I was riding most with in 2017 is Emil who’s super fast:

A thing I didn’t think was I was going to do Vätternrundan once again. Riding around a boring lake on boring roads with stressed people. But Stefan convinced me to apply and what a team. Known and unknown people having fun going fast for almost 300km 😀

I never thought I would do it at 7h27min, and remembering it as fun. Riding with Henrik, getting to know Glenn, seeing how simple everything seems for Calle and Fredrik. Everything together with Jukka and Karl keeping things together. And the biggest effort by Erik for making it all possible and making us have a calm knowing everything is in control and skipping the stress so many people got for Vätternrundan. Skoda Cycling Team is not just a team effort, it’s like being a pro with everyone trusting you 🙂

The summer passed and the next big event came.

Race Across Skåne. Another friend like Hagen arranging a top notch event. Waking up in Malmö that day not feeling on top was a bit sad as I really longed for being in top shape that day. Got dropped sitting totally wrong in the crosswind pretty early, feeling like on a spring Le Peloton but at a 190km race instead of 40km training. Ending up with meeting my good friend Emil who saved the day. Cruised on this wheel feeling shit the rest of the route:

We had a crash in a group and it started raining. Everything felt just bad so at the last stop I got an ice-cream…

It’s always fun with an ice-cream, always 😀

The day after I felt worse, driving to my mum instead of doing an recovery spin with the rest. Got fever but manage to get good until our adventure trip. Me, Emil and Emile went to Norberg with gravelbikes and target to explore some new roads in the middle of nowhere. I felt slow after my illness but I love new roads and places. I found a straight fast road on a sunny day outside Norberg, or the road maybe found me…

The end of the summer after a stupid crash. But the start of knowing I got so many kind friends always there to help out. So thankful for everyone making my recovery easier. I missed Rapha 12 Hills and many many kilometers of sunny cycling but it could have been worse.

I got back on a bike outside 😀 Have been feeling slow all autumn but I’m riding and no matter of speed cycling is a beautiful sport. And with help from Specialized Nordic and Specialized Concept Store Stockholm I’m more motivated than ever. Got the dreambike which I’m hoping to ride everywhere, all the time and with a smile (when the salt is gone from the roads)

Travelled to Girona for some sun and met some cool people:

So 15437km later the year ends and I’m still not tired of cycling. The best way to explore our beautiful world and meet nice different people from all over the world.

For 2018 I want to go to new places, new countries. Want to enjoy every moment no matter if I ride in sunny Italy or just commuting to work a rainy grey day. Want to be a good friend. Want to watch some proper roadracing and maybe even meet Annemiek van Vleuten. Want to be an ambassador of our beautiful stylish sport without judging people. Because style is important 😀 

So welcome 2018 and good luck having more fun! Let’s enjoy every moment 🙂

Specialized S-Works Diverge a.ka. Divergett

2 years ago when I sold my Crux and got a Diverge Comp Carbon I felt like I found right. Last year I heard rumors they would come with a new Diverge and as it felt a bit boring to get the exact same bike 2 years in a row I changed to a Sequoia. Bigger tires was a lot of fun but I was missing the roadbike feel of a Diverge.

When they released the new Diverge I knew I had to have one. When I read about it I felt even more that I had to get it. And thanks to Specialized Nordics I got the only (?) S-Works frame in size 52 that is coming to Sweden. Thanks to Specialized Concept Store Stockholm it ended in a top of a line bike that felt awesome from the first pedal stroke:

Specialized S-Works Diverge size 52 frameset

Specialized S-Works SL seatpost

Specialized S-Works Toupe saddle

Specialized S-Works Shallow handlebar

Specialized Trigger 38mm tires

Specialized S-Wrap Cork bar tape (will be changed)

Sram Red Etap HRD levers/brakes with 140mm rotors

Sram Red Etap Wifli rear derailleur with a Wold Tooth Roadlink

Sram XG-1195 10-42 cassette

Sram Red Quarq 170mm BB386 crankset with Ceramic Speed bearings and a 44t Garbaruk chainring

Sram Red22 chain

Challenge latex tubes

Fizik Cyrano R1 110mm -20° stem

Roval CLX32 disc wheels with Enduro Zero Ceramic bearings

Time Xpresso 12 pedals

The Futureshock may look a bit odd but it feels really nice. And the bike in total feels really awesome! Will vary with wheels as I got a set of cheap tubulars too for road mostly. And will probably change for a 3T Bailout cassette when it is released. And am waiting for my Berk saddlecombo from the mtb to come back from repair to have the possibility to save even more weight.

But as it is now it feels really really good. Road it on gravel yesterday and it’s just what I wanted and dreamt about. Can really recommend it to everyone wanting a fast gravelbike suitable for every terrain (except terrain) 🙂

And as everyone asked, the totalt weight as on the picture but with the right cassette which I changed for today: 7,72kg

E-Diverge ready to roll

Got tired of waiting so finished my first 2018 Diverge today. Got my rotor adaptors back so fixed the brakes, shaved off some weight with a couple of bolts. And put on a bright bartape 😉  Thought of choosing a blue one first but already from the beginning I had a plan of a lot of color as it’s more fun and easier to see in the dark winter. Sram Supersuede on and it’s finished:

Or, probably getting a black saddle…

But anyway, 8,36kg and just waiting for the rider to be able to ride again 🙂

E-Diverge

Last week should have been the start of a new season for me. Back to work and back on gravel on my own bike. I got injured so no work and no riding. But Specialized still delivered a bike for me to ride until it dies.

I ordered a Specialized Diverge E5 Sport. It had 2×9 Shimano Sora with mechanical disc brakes. Cheapest Diverge on our market but it got the Open Road Geometry, it got 12mm thru axles and flat mount brakemounts. A modern frame with cheap parts.

I will use the Sora gears and the Tektro mechanical brakes as I got it to be cheap and to be able ride long in salty slushy weather all winter or just commute to work. It will get fenders and studded tires too.

But I wanted to change a couple of things making it fit me better like a longer lower stem, a slimmer handlebar (40cm is my favorite) and I had a Sram Red22 crank laying around and a CG-R seatpost for some comfort.

As I don’t understand front derailleurs I mounted a Garbaruk 44t chainring I ordered last year for my Sequoia but never got use of it.

40cm handlebar is available in different types and shapes. I like the Specialized Shallow bend, or RHM as Deda calls it and Jimmie had a bar over:

With wheels it’s always nice to have a couple extra, can’t get enough of wheels. The original will be used with studded tires but my Roval SLX24 with Roubaix 30/32 tires isn’t used for my roadbike at the moment and they are a bit better than original.

Got a set of Time pedals from a colleague as my old ones broke in the crash. Now just waiting to get my rotoradaptors back and for a cool bar tape:

Me building a cheap bike ended like it used too. Saddle may be changed too. 8,1kg as on the picture so under 8,5kg finished. The weight will rise a bit then with fenders, orginal wheels and studded tires but without studs as long as possible. Pretty happy with my new winterbike 🙂 Now just rehab for my leg so I can use it, hopefully in a month…

E-Diverge like in E5 Diverge, no engine.

New Diverge!!!

People talked a while about a new Epic. People seen some pictures of the new Tarmac.

But the Diverge got 1st! 

A colleague asked us a couple of days ago which bike we should have if only could have one. My answer was Diverge and today it just got better 😀

The new Diverge got features like:

• Future Shock
• Road SWAT box
• Room for 42mm tires
• 12×100, 12×142 axles
• Flat mount
• S-Works

It got a bit longer chainstays (419mm)to fit the bigger tires but not as long as Crux or Sequoia. It got a bit higher stack (576 in size 52) for the Futureshock and big tires. It’s also got a little bit lower bottom bracket. And slacker head angle than before (71° in size 52).

Future Shock may look weird but it feels really good so a feature that works irl. Road SWAT is perfect to get your essentials packed without an ugly bag.

Room for bigger tires is the reason I went from Diverge to Sequoia, the old Diverge wasn’t awesome wintertime with thin studded tires and fenders ride with friends on cx-bikes.

Not sure about the Swedish price yet but here are the U.K.:

S-Works Diverge £8,500

S-Works Diverge Frameset £3,500

Diverge Comp £2,600

Diverge Sport £2,000

Diverge Comp E5 £1,500

Diverge E5 Sport £1,000

Diverge E5 £799

Women’s Diverge E5 Comp £1,500

Women’s Diverge E5 £799

More info from Bikerumor

Review by Cyclingtips

Both by Cyclist

And the official: Specialized

The video:

Bike of the week

Long time, and it’s a bit said but this bike is too good not to show:

Annika Langvad’s new Specialized S-Works Era with world champ colors and all the latest by Specialized. Silver flake and Dark Red showing the Danish colors, Cosmic black bottom which is a color that have to be seen irl to understand it. Sram XX1 Eagle with a Quarq crank as standard for the Sramsponsored pro’s. But the new Magura brakes is a bit more different. And all small blue tunings with Carbon-Ti started by Sauser for the S-Racing 🙂 Ceramic Speed bearings of course, danish speed.

The new Crux!

13 months ago I got a Specialized Crux Elite X1. Was a great cxbike but I gave up and went gravelgrinding with a Specialized Diverge Comp Carbon 3 months later.

This year my plan was Adventures, ride new roads and explore with Transferrides, Emileadventures and Basemilecamps. Wanted to follow the new hype. Specialized made the Sequoia which seemed perfect, who doesn’t want a cool fast steelbike made for everything? but it won’t arrive before the end of November…

So until that I got a Crux again 😉 Got a alu frameset, alu handlebar and a used Sram Red crankset with a Garbaruk Melon chainring. Borrowed a couple of awesome custom Roval wheels and got a pair of cheap Chinawheels which are waiting for tires and a cassette. Took the Force1 parts from my Tarmac, got a saddle and mounted it all together.

It may not be the flashiest Cyclocross in Stockholm but it’s really good for the money. After all the thing you’re after is the geometry and framestyle for the your riding and Specialized knows their cyclocross 😀

Thanks to Specialized Concept Store Stockholm and specially Patrik who let me borrow his wheels and gave me a saddle 🙂

And the weight then: 8,16kg, don’t think it will be so much lighter with the new wheels but maybe some as I’m changing QR and rotors too. Now I’m ready for autumn

C40

Pushing the industry and development forward is a key to success and to survive. Everyone knows a modern car is better than an old Ferrari F40 but the ones interested in cars would rather have an old F40 instead of an Audi R8.

Same with bikes. Specialized S-Works Tarmac Disc is the best race bike according to me. Stiff, comfortable, light, good brakes and so on. Or a BH G7 which is an aerobike with disc brakes, all the latest technology.

But my dream has always been an older handmade frame from Europe with thin tubes, traditional geometry and of course a straight fork. Built with Campagnolo Record with a low profile wheelset like Campagnolo Nucleon and a classic bent handlebar. Of course cotton sidewalls on the tires. A true classic.

After selling of my Allez I got this:

A Colnago C40 from 2004. It may not be the best according to 2016 but it got soul and like Alfa Romeo says ”without hearts we are only machines”. There is something about this that a modern bike can’t make you feel. Like it’s some people that attracts us more than others even though they may not be models or even close.

This is an longterm project for me that started with a bit stress as I had to get this frame before someone else did. I just have the frame and a handlebar yet. So I will ride my Tarmac as it should be the best bike I built this season and maybe for a longer time. The Colnago won’t be superlight as it starts like this.

Fork:

and frame with wrong headset and right bottom bracket cups:

This will be classy and it will get the worlds fastest tires 😀

THE bike: Project16

Like a child at Christmas everytime it happens. My new roadbike is almost finished, finished enough to be showed, finished enough to have been testridden and finished enough to make the wait for spring way too long…

Specialized S-Works Tarmac Disc

Specialized S-Works Shallow 400mm handlebar

Specialized S-Works Toupe 143 saddle

Specialized S-Works S-Works 172,5mm crankset

Specialized S-Works Rib Cage II bottle cage

Sram Force 1 hydraulic disc brakes

Sram Force 1 rear derailleur

Sram Force 1 50t chainring

Engage Revit 27,2x310mm seatpost

Engage Torque 90mm stem

Sram Red22 11-25 cassette

Sram Red22 chain

Cannondale Si expander/topcap

Fi’zi:k Superlight 2mm bartape

Mavic Ksyrium SLR pedals

Roval Rapide CLX 40 disc tubular wheelset

Sram HSX 140mm rotors

Tune Q20/DC17 Quickreleases

Vittoria Corsa CX/SC tubulars

Weight: 6,46kg (without tubular glue)

Not as much colour as last year, not as many gears, not as high wheels, not as light. But the target was a faster, cleaner, simpler but made to go further and be more comfortable than the Allez. I love the future with disc brakes and after many thoughts and non understanding it felt like 1×11 drivetrain was the way to go for me when I live here in flat Stockholm.

As usual every bit on the bike has a thought behind. So let’s spread the joy and wait for spring 😀

Bike of the week

Clean lines but still modern, a bike of my liking, Storck Aernario:

It’s a bike I could have been building for me with a few exceptions. Like the composition:

It’s so clean:

And with a weight of 5,85kg it’s good too 🙂

If you want to read and view more of this beauty you can do it here: Weightweenies