Quote from Opus the Poet on Mar 22^nd, 2009, 4:33pm:

 
What IS your average speed?

I have a set of replacement pedals from the spare parts box, my average speed has been about 11 MPH during the cold weather. Lately my average speed has climbed to 12.5 when the winds are calm and as low as 10.5 when the winds are really blowing. I'm looking at the data and I'm thinking the problem is the way I have the bike set up with my torso upright and sitting directly over the seat. Set up like this I can lean back and pull on the handlebars and put a tremendous amount of power into the pedals when climbing hills but I think the aero for this position is poor?

Quote from Opus the Poet on Mar 23^rd, 2009, 5:17pm:

 
 
Yes, well, that's how the CF bikes are DESIGNED to be...  you're just missing the recline of your Stratus....

Quote from mleuck on Mar 23^rd, 2009, 5:39pm:

 
I suppose you have one to donate to the cause ?

Right the Fusion is much more upright compared to the Zen.I'm still trying to get the seat dialed in as all I had to work with was the plastic pan, pre-carbon fiber. No cushion or cover came with the bike. I have a 10mm pad that I cut up from a different bike to kinda sorta fit the pan, but when I did a 36 mile ride around the beginning of the month it felt like I had been sitting on a cheese grater. I had managed to build up some calluses over where my tailbone grew back crooked after I wrecked a toboggan when I was in college (long story, ask me about it when we're riding). When I got home the callus was gone and I had a spot or 2 of blood in my shorts . I need to get a better cushion and a real cover over it. I went to the upholstery department at Hobby Lobby up the street and the cushions they have are all way too soft. Their idea of "high density" is a joke...
 
One thing the Fusion will do is climb like there's no tomorrow. That seating position lets my put a ton of power into the pedals

Seat cushion is in, still waiting on the seat cover, that cushion doesn't look very durable with the kind of power I put out trying to move me back in the seat  The pedals were the original Stratus pedals that the bike left the factory with back in 1983, and the only thing they required to make them fully functional again was to pull them apart and remove the old grease and put in nice clean grease. How about that, 26 YO pedals that are still good? And rebuildable to boot. How many modern pedals can say that (rebuildable)?
 
I'm going to be leading a series of training rides on how to do a multi-day bike trip (3 days @ ~80 miles a day, long weekend, and then 3 days back) not a tour but riding bikes as transportation to the destination. OK technically it's touring as the trip is to a camp out, but if I can keep these guys focussed on just the fact that they are riding bikes for a few hours a day rather than riding 240 miles out and back I think they can do it.

The toe clip pedals were more than a figurative pain, they actually hurt my feet and were staring to tear up my shoes, so I retapped the threads in the alloy body pedals and bought new screws and bolted the damaged cages back on the pedals, after I straightened them out. I need to get some thread locker to prevent losing the new screws, but it looks like the modified pedals will work better. And I'm working on new platforms to bolt on in place of the cages that will let me use toe clips and not have to flip the pedal over. I'll just slide my foot forward when I start pedaling and catch the toe clip Won't that be cool?