New track bike for 2011 season

Illness is still keeping me home bound and unable to train so I thought I would put up some pictures of my new track bike for this season.

I got the frame through Mark Turner of SIS for next to nothing for the quality of the frame and of course ITS ORANGE!!!!!!!!!!

When it turned up I was worried that it was going to be too small and as you can see from the picture I have a lot of seat post showing. The fact that the frame took about 6 month to arrive from when I ordered it, and the fact that it came all the way from Taiwan, increased to my worry about the size, but I used it at Newport a few weeks ago and it was fine. It felt a lot better than my track frame from last season - a slightly controversial pink Visp frame which brought lots of attention for all the wrong reasons, especially with me coming from Brighton.

I was meant to be racing the new frame for the first time at the Welsh Open Madison Champs in Newport tomorrow with team mate and fellow Brighton lad Jack Oliver-Blaney but illness on both sides has caused us to not go which is frustrating as we were both looking forward to our first track race of 2011.

2011 track bike, courtesy of just one of Sir Mark Turner's many many world wide contacts.

 I am planning on buying Deda Newton Shallow bars for my new frame as the ones which are currently on it I have been using for about 6 years and I've never really thought they were that comfortable.  The main reason for the decision of the Deda bars in particular is because I like the shallow profile of them.

2011 track bars-Deda Newton Shallow.

I am also planning on buying the Orange Lizard Skins bar tape for the new Deda Newtons as, lets face it, I will jump at any opportunity to add another piece of orange to go with my team kit. It was quite expensive as far as bar tape goes and knowing me I will probably crash and ruin it on its first outing in a couple of weekends time at the team's second Newport track session this winter. That is providing I have got over the man flu by then!

Orange Lizard Skins Bar Tape for 2011 track bike.