Gnarly 928
05-16-2008, 07:44 AM
I've been on my Noah for a few months now, an '08. Ridley sponsors my team, so I also have a Damocles. Both are fine bikes.
I was a bit skeptical when I was told you could 'convert' the Noah (and the Helium, I guess) to a TT set-up. Now, after a few TTs using the Noah, I "believe".
The Noah's seat 'mast' is symetrical, an elongated diamond shape. The back tire and rim/disc are 'let-into' the seat tube for good aerodynamics and the cables run through some tunnels through the headtube, but re-emerge and are routed conventionally beyond that.
The saddle-mounting "head unit", for want of a better term, is reversable. One bolt and you slip the whole seat and head-assembly right off as a unit. In the normal position, it has moderate set-back, but reversed, you can mount the saddle in a very good TT position. I have some Profile CRX tt bars that I leave all set up with stem, levers, cables and housings. Quick and easy to swap on. I have a spare saddle head mounting unit and saddle that I leave assembled, also. So comes TT-time, I swap on the 'pre-adjusted' TT components and I am good to go. The road set-up stays adjusted, also, so the swap process is quick and simple, either way..
When driving to races, I take both the bikes. I like having the Damocles along for the crits. I put that on my trainer for warm-up, too. I don't "have to" swap the Noah back from TT to road between races , though I like how the Noah sprints, so I usually do so. It's nice to have both along, too, in case of an inconvenient mechanical.
The Noah is very versatile and that TT option? 100% real..
Don Hanson
I was a bit skeptical when I was told you could 'convert' the Noah (and the Helium, I guess) to a TT set-up. Now, after a few TTs using the Noah, I "believe".
The Noah's seat 'mast' is symetrical, an elongated diamond shape. The back tire and rim/disc are 'let-into' the seat tube for good aerodynamics and the cables run through some tunnels through the headtube, but re-emerge and are routed conventionally beyond that.
The saddle-mounting "head unit", for want of a better term, is reversable. One bolt and you slip the whole seat and head-assembly right off as a unit. In the normal position, it has moderate set-back, but reversed, you can mount the saddle in a very good TT position. I have some Profile CRX tt bars that I leave all set up with stem, levers, cables and housings. Quick and easy to swap on. I have a spare saddle head mounting unit and saddle that I leave assembled, also. So comes TT-time, I swap on the 'pre-adjusted' TT components and I am good to go. The road set-up stays adjusted, also, so the swap process is quick and simple, either way..
When driving to races, I take both the bikes. I like having the Damocles along for the crits. I put that on my trainer for warm-up, too. I don't "have to" swap the Noah back from TT to road between races , though I like how the Noah sprints, so I usually do so. It's nice to have both along, too, in case of an inconvenient mechanical.
The Noah is very versatile and that TT option? 100% real..
Don Hanson