XMas Eve Macgyver Project

24 Dec 10- Osan AB South Korea

Well XMas eve brought me an SRM in the mail that I had ordered about a month prior. I had mailed it to my buddy Eric who lives in Colorado near the SRM shop. I had the batteries replaced in both the computer and cranks. Thanks to Eric it saved me some time and headache of having them shipped here first then having to ship them back to the states.

Since it was my first SRM I had my buddy Zach come over and help me out so I didn't screw anything up. It took us about an hour and a half to get it all hooked up and ops checked. A little longer than expected but it worked and we didn't have any major problems. Being a triathlete for some reason I wanted to be a perfectionist and make sure all the wires were routed cleanly and that it looked clean.

I really didn't think about getting rid of my Garmin Forerunner 305, but hadn't really thought about where it was going to go on the tri bike. Once we had it all setup is when I started thinking about how I was going to get my "cockpit" all setup on the tri bike. With nothing better to do on Xmas eve the project began........

Step 1- Remove 305 quick release kit from the stem and figure a way to get it up in between the bars.
Step 2- Remove water bottle holder in between aero bars and reverse it to where the bottle ejects towards my body.
Step 3- Hook the SRM Computer (PCV) up with velcro on the back and put velcro on the aero bars.
Step 4- Had to undo all the bar tape on the aero extensions and jimmy rig up some zip ties to the aero extensions for the quick release bike mount.
Step 5- Re-wrap the extensions and make sure everything was in place and worked properly.

The whole process ended up taking about 45 minutes once I had figured out how I wanted it.

Below are some pictures of the before and after. When I re wrap the bars and re route cables before the beginning of the season I will take photos of each step.

The before setup. Garmin Forerunner 305 setup on the stem with the quick release kit. Bottle cage is just zip tied to the aero extensions

The new setup with the 305 at the top, then the PCV and then the water bottle now exiting towards the back.
The two red zip ties are where I had them on the old setup except they wrapped around the stem. Now they are just there and each zip tie on the aero extensions hold it in "air". It leans quite a ways forward and you have to pull it back towards you to mount the 305 in the quick release and then it sits fine in between the bars. My bars are a little narrower than the 305, and this might be why it works so well.
The bottom view of the zip ties.

The next project was to hook up the wiring harness to my road bike. The second harness I had did not have the nice mounting bracket that the first one had. The normal bracket is easily attached under the bottom bracket with the screw that is used to route your derailleur cables. I couldn't figure out what else to use so I came up with an initial plan of using zip ties.

I took two small zip ties and slid them through the two holes in the magnet pickup device. I then slid them under the bottom bracket mount that is already there for the cables to be routed. I then tightened down the screws and it held the sensor in place just fine. Once I put the cranks on zip tie heads rubbed on the cranks so that idea was out the window.

Next I walked around the room and thought about what else I could possibly use to make a mounting bracket. Well on Xmas eve you get some crazy ideas. I looked at my floss plastic case and figured if I cut it apart I could possibly make it into a bracket. Using limited tools of a cable cutter and knife I went to work. I cracked the first side I was going to use and ended up getting stuck with the back of the case as my only option.

I sculpted it out into what is similar to a field goal shape. At the end of the "posts" I made the end larger though so that it would keep the sensor in place and would not slip out. The bracket is kind of big but I didn't want to crack it and figured it could possibly work. Sure enough after a lot of cutting and sculpting I had a final product. I hooked it up and eye balled where I needed to put a whole so that the screw would hold it in place. I used the knife and put a whole in the "bracket" and screwed it in. Put the cranks on and luckily nothing rubbed and the sensor was picking up cadence and power once I got it on the trainer.

So if you have time on your hands and want a late night project take a floss case and a few tools and have at it. Beats spending $70 on a new wiring harness and new version of the bracket or maybe I just don't know where there is an accessory that makes the old harness work.

The floss case that I used:
Below are some pictures of the bracket:

The final project was done some time ago, but post keep popping up on Slowtwitch in regards to bottle setups for different races. I figured I would add my setup to this blog so that if people wanted a reference with pictures I could just post this link.

I have taken a cheap Profile Designs water bottle for my rear mount (Excel Sports has them for $5.95) This back bottle holds a multi tool, tube, pump, C02 cart, and C02 Adapter. I also have a spare tube under my ISM Adamo Saddle. I took 4 zip ties and hooked the cage up to the seat post. Two of which are hooked just on the bottle cage in a vertical manner. The other two go from the two on the bottle cage to the two holes in the seat post. Below are two pictures of the setup.

I then use the setup pictured above for my cockpit setup. In that water bottle I keep my electrolyte drink which is either Cytomax or Hammer Heed to start with. After that I use whatever they have on course.

I then have one bottle in the downtube which I use as a concentrated Perpetum or Sustatined Energy bottle. It holds all of my calories with 4 scoops and then 2 gel servings. Below is a picture of the overall setup, prior to my cockpit setup up front changing.

I use this setup for 70.3's/Half Ironmans and plan on using it for my first full IM in May. I will have an extra concentrated bottle for my downtube at special needs.

When I race Oly/Sprints I take the rear bottle off and move the tools to the downtube and just have a single bottle of Hammer Heed or Cytomax in the aero bars.

If you have any questions about any of the above setups feel free to email me and I can take more detailed photos or answer any questions.