ON THE RETURN DRIVE FROM ILLINOIS, somewhere on I-80 in central Pennsylvania, Bikini Kill played loudly over the speakers. My friend Rachel lowered the volume, glanced at me, and asked, "What would you have changed about your bike setup?" Rachel knew something was stirring in my head about the previous day's race.
"My big ring," I fired back without hesitation. That answer led to a 90-minute conversation on gearing, cadence, sprinting, and watts before our dinner stop.
A few days before leaving for my summer trip to Intelligentsia Cup-10 consecutive days of races held each July in Chicago-land-I swapped out the Shimano Ultegra drivetrain on my crit bike in favor of a SRAM Force group. And from the moment I crossed the finish line of my last race 30 hours prior, that decision gnawed at me.
This story is from the Fall 2023 edition of Bicycling US.
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This story is from the Fall 2023 edition of Bicycling US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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