Going Custom: Part Five, The "Wait" Bike

Carrying out the plan with the new bike has been a lot of thinking and planning. When I decided to get the custom Gaulzetti Interclub, it meant the Trek had to be gone. And shortly after starting the process, a used Gaulzetti Corsa frame appeared. I was so excited about the bike that I ordered that I bought the frame and built it up.

I chose SRAM 1x and really like the new clutch rear derailleur. It easily accommodates the 11-30 cassette in the back, and I can go up to at least 32 if I need to. The front ring is a 50 which is what I had on my CAADX, and it works just fine.

There are few north towns rides where I ever use the little ring, so I figured 1x would be perfect. It looks clean and works perfectly. Admittedly, there is something nice about being "on top of the gear" on the flats in a 52 or 53 tooth big ring, but every one of my normal training rides is just fine with this new set up.

Above shows the long and low "before" position

The Corsa tracks so well, and diving into corners is really controlled and it carries speed nicely through the turns. I am really impressed so far. I had to flip the stem and then go shorter, as the frameset came slammed and long with a 120mm stem. I dropped down to a 110 and flipped it, but I could probably even go down further to a 100 mm stem.

Above shows new stem and SRAM Rival 1x components

I rode it for 20 miles yesterday and it seemed really fast, but today I rode twice as far and it was super responsive and accelerated with ease. I was really impressed with how easily I maintained speed and how simple slipping back onto the back of the group was after a pull. It is going to be a fantastic race bike, and I am ready to pile more miles on this week.

So what to do with all these bikes? The Trek sits, quietly waiting to be stripped of its eTap and sold off. The All-City has been relegated to the trainer, and this will be a great use of it for rainy days and times when I need to train hard "off road." I've never had a bike just sitting in waiting in the trainer, and this will be great for a rainy day (it is rainy like crazy right now as I write this).

So far, I am really enjoying "new bike day," and I cannot wait for "new custom bike day" to happen.