I'm selling a Large 2008 Specialized S-Works Epic. I built this up from a frame set for racing last year with only the best bits used. (Anyone who knows me knows what I'm like)
I used the bike as my race (not for training apart from special occasions) bike for 2008 and it lay dormant in my bike room from October.
The bike is built up very light with SRAM X0 grip shift, Hope MonoMini Pro brakes, XTR chainset/cassette, KCNC seatpost & Syntace components and KMC 9SL chain. Total bike weight (without pedals) is 9.5kg.
The rear shock is brand new, and the front Pace RC39 fork was serviced 20 hours ago (It's actually Factory Team lightened version 1.3kg). The Roval wheels (not the Stans wheels in the photos) are in perfect condition – actually the whole bike is in perfect condition.
For many years there has been an off-road hill climb race up Kilmashogue as part of early and late season training. At the start of the year it's a trial to see where you are at, and at the end, see if you have improved. This year, like the last few years, Team Worc had it as part of their club race.
This year the course has changed a little from when I set the unofficial record (I guess to make it official it has to be in a race) up the climb in 2007. It is pretty much the same with the same start and end points but a slightly more direct run in the middle of the fireroad section meaning that it is about 70 meters shorter. Personally, I preferred the old route – but you gotta work with what you got.
It had been a while since I had used the Schwalbe Furious Fred tires and as the climb is not technical, they were the perfect choice to get a bit of extra speed up the hill. At an astonishing 300 grams each they dropped the weight of my S-Works Epic down to 9kg. The Epic really did feel like my road bike with the setup.
My warmup to the race was not exactly conducive to giving me a fast time. The Shay Elliot Memorial road race on Sunday, a 3.5 hour endurance/tempo MTB ride on Monday and some tired legs when I rolled up to the start line on Tuesday. I didn't feel too bad warming up and the evening was nice (no strong winds) so I thought a fast time was still possible.
The climb profile
Despite being a mass start climb, my strategy was no different than it would have been if it was an individual TT – start easier than you think you should, push hard on the flatter sections (because it is so easy to ease off the power when you are not climbing), and pin it for the last few minutes.
As we started off, I went to the front and for the first minute or two heard a few bikes behind me. As I turned off the tarred road onto the fireroad a few minutes in, I only had Robin Seymour for company. We stayed together for the next minute or two until I increased my tempo on the flatter section – from there on out I just pushed hard to the finish line rolling over in lots of oxygen dept.
At 11:47, I set a pretty good time up the climb that will be pretty tough to beat. When the new section up the climb beds in a little more it should get a little faster and at the end of the season I might just turn up fresh :)
Thanks Team Worc for inviting me along and running the race.
Results are below and there was a report about the race on the Team Worc website.
1 Ryan 11:47 2 Robin 12:37 3 Evan 13:34 4 Joe 14:15 5 Dave 14:34 6 Robert 14:42 7 Ian 14:58 8 Paddy 15:10 9 Andy 15:12 10 Stu 15:20 11 Paddy M 15:37 12 Gordon 15:40 13 Vinnie 16:24 14 Mark 16:39 15 Ray 17:37 16 Rachel 17:55 16 John 17:55 18 Paul H 19:24 19 Owen 19:45
I have been meaning to put a post together for some of the hill climbs I took part in for a long time. Although one of the most suffering intense cycling pursuits, I have a certain love for hill climbs. You versus gravity with little tactics... Being a mountain biker, much of my time is spent riding up and down hills so in training I get lots of practice and like putting that into good use in a race. At about 73kg, I'm not the lightest climber in the world but I think it is one of the things I'm pretty good at on a bike.
Well, this year started off with a very low key climb. Kippure mountain is the highest point in the Wicklow Mountains with a paved road and there is always much discussion on various forums about climbing the final section. It's pretty short and not too steep but weather conditions (it is almost always windy) make it a tricky enough ascent.
A group of mostly road cyclists that congregate on boards.ie (click here for the thread about the climb) formed the attendance on an almost perfect evening with blue skies and amazing visibility.
My profile - power is smoothed
My climb went okay – I was experimenting a little with pacing (easier on the flat sections) and left a little too much in the tank at the end but like everyone who was out, I enjoyed the evening.
The vital statistics Time: 9:26 (gate to gate) Distance: 3.3km Climb: 225m Average Grade: 6.6
I'm not in the country for it (more on that later) but my club are holding the 7th round of the Irish XC NPS series on the 13th of June. The course is around my usual MTB training grounds and promises to give tight, technical and fun racing covering some of MADs best known trails.
