And here she is ...

The new ride has arrived.  She’s a beauty and ready for action.  Upon first inspection, we are going to need to make a few upgrades before the bike is fully dialed in.  First off, the blue and white motif include a white seat and white bar tape.  Knowing my sloppiness – both mechanical and riding conditions – it will be a short time before the white tape looks like an Egyptian Mummy, not to mention the nastiness that comes out of my arse leaking out on that seat.  Of greater consequence, the bike came with a fancy new set of race wheels.  The Ultegra hubs are nice, but the 20-some spoke set-up will be shredded at the first sign of the Wheel Destroyer.  I'm going to put my old Velocity Deep V's on this bike and sell the new wheels.  God knows, the Deep V's, while seemingly bullet proof, are almost six months old.  They are destined to fall prey to WD shortly.  I will take the cash from the new wheels to buy a new set of Velocities.

I am psyched for the Ultegra group.  I will report back on that in an upcoming entry.  And the skinny steel tubes look like nothing compared to the thick carbon stuff.  I look forward to having a new bike to further understand the ‘feel’ of a bike.  This myth of stiffness versus flexibility should be highlighted with the steel frame.