CONCEPT VALIDATION

After much research on new bikes, we decided to see what we could do with the humble old slice.

Pros:

• We've got one
• Size and fit is good
• Its 650c which are hard to find now
• Stack can go lower with a 17 degree (flat) stem and removing stem spacers
• Internal cable routing for rear brake
• A quick look suggests Di2 wiring can go internal with a decent cavity in bottom bracket
• Okay 30mm deep aero training wheelset

Cons

• Cheap Tektro brakes, bad aero and ugly
• Ugly alloy basebar and cables everywhere
• Mechanical shift and no shifters at the brake lever

Looking at the "cons", there was not a lot we couldn't fix!

First thing's first though, before we strip it down and start changing parts, let's play around with the bike fit to make sure we can get a more aero position.

A quick look shows that there was a 6 degree stem and 30mm of spacers and the arm pads were resting on top of the aero bars.

We flipped the aerobar bracket and got the arm pads hard on top of the base bar which got the pad stack down to at 520mm.

6 Degree stem spaced up

Stem slammed

We still have the 17 degree flat stem option available for a further 15mm drop.

The base bar horns were now quite low as they were a 35mm drop.  A quick search confirmed plenty of flat base bars available to bring that back up where it was before the stem changes while still keeping the low TT position.

My theory is the base bar horns should be reasonably comfortable as they are mostly needed for training rides and racing should be almost always on the TT bars.

It all looks very promising, we can see a lot of potential for the Slice.

From here Nat can test it out for a few weeks during her wind trainers sessions while we progress with ordering parts for the upgrade.