My New Hero: The Colorado Multisport Experience

First let me get this important piece of news out of the way. The GEEKGRL and I got to meet Duane and have a nice dinner together. Duane’s blog is a pale reflection of the man in person…what a guy! We had a great time. He came down to Colorado Multisport and we got in some introductory chatting amidst the bike dealing and were able to hit it off right away. He has a calm presence, and easy smile and a hearty laugh. He is a good listener too, which, unfortunately, means that between the GEEKGRL and I he is probably at home right now trying to cool off his ears with ice packs because we gave those things a workout. He also bought us dinner at BD’s Mongolian Grill though he did promise as part of that deal that he would dutifully come to New Mexico where I could spring for his dinner.

Now onto the juicy news. New Mexico has many many redeeming qualities, not the least of which is that it is full of Outlaws. However, we are destitute when it comes to Tri shops. We either have to slog over to Austin Texas, Tucson or Tempe Arizona or head north of the border to Colorado. Being a member of RaceAthelte.com I chose to check out Colorado Multisport and what I saw on their website convinced me to head to Boulder.

The GEEKGRL and I spent the day with shop owner Tim Troha. Now, when I say day I don’t mean two or three hours, I mean from 10 am to 5 pm we had the store owner’s full attention. The usual top-o-the line bike fit at CO Multisport takes about 3 hour per person and it is all time well spent. I said this in an e-mail to a friend and I’ll say it here…this was the single best experience I have ever had as a consumer.

Now I am no big time triathlete and if I ever make it to Kona it will either be as a volunteer or as the worlds oldest guy who can still move (fingers crossed) but Tim took us seriously, listened intently, responded thoughtfully and was easy to talk to and full of good humor. Heck, he never even spat on me and I didn’t have to wax his bike to get him to treat us this famously…he just did it. So, despite the fact that this is truly a high end tri boutique it is completely sans the arrogance and sneering you may find at other shops.

There were a few issues that Tim cleared right up for me during the fit. First off he set me up on the Computrainer Spin Doctor (or whatever he called it) and saw that my pedal stroke was nice and efficient through the stroke but that it was a little lopsided. He evened this out by changing my cleat position on one shoe and increasing the stack height on the other. He also recommended some bodywork, like massage, that I could get done that may also help with the overall flexibility of my hip region.

The other issues I was dealing with was a back that was a little hunched, shoulders that were rotated inward a little too much and some pressure in my wrists when in the areobars. Those were what he fixed…the problems I was noticing was that sometimes my right shoulder would go numb during a race, I felt like I had some difficulty getting enough oxygen during full out efforts and once I passed mile 50 or 60 it becomes harder for me to spend more than 80% of my time in the bars.

After the fit…my back is flat as a board, my chest cavity is fully expanded and shoulders are square and my wrist and hand position are completely neutral. I believe these simple changes will make it totally unfair to my closest competitors when I next hop astride my trusty steed but that’s only part of the story…there is still the bike.

My new race steed…a Quintana Roo Lucero. To backtrack, at the beginning of the interview Tim asked me which race I was training for and I smiled and told him “I have IMAZ next weekend” and he just went blank and sort of blinked his eyes a couple times and then stared at me saying nothing. I immediately reassured him…”Oh, don’t worry, I’m not planning on getting a new bike the week before Ironman so I can race on it.” He breathed a deep sigh of relief and said “Oh, good.”

So the Lucero…here is the deal…it’s not a stock Lucero it’s the frame really. We’re bagging the Flash Point wheels since I already have a set of race wheels I love, HED3Cs. We are going with full Dura Ace…literally FULL Dura Ace. Tim was telling me about various stock bikes that come with “Dura Ace kits” and how they will usually include a DA component or two…most often the rear derailleur and the brake levers or something and the rest is a mixture of other stuff…except Tim didn’t say “or something” and “other stuff” he rattled off examples of various different brands of bikes and exactly what all their DA kits included. No kit for me, no siree…this baby will be DA from head to tail.

The base bar is going to be a full carbon Profile Design Cobra Wing, the areo bars will be Vision Tech Carbon Pro and the saddle will be a Selle San Marco Azoto Triathgel.

This is going to be one sweat ride! Light, nimble and FAST. Friend and fellow Outlaw Stuart usually says to me at races, “While you are out there busy crushing people on the bike…” I am pretty sure I’ll be looking for some new folks to “crush” once I straddle this rocket.

I can’t wait!

In more mundane news, because he ships it to New Mexico I pay no sales tax. Between the GEEKGRL and me that is a savings of over $1000. Because I plunked down full payment in advance he pays the shipping, which chips off another $100 or so.

Even considering I drove the 500 miles from Albuquerque to Boulder, even considering that I drove through a freakin’ ice storm for 250 of those miles…I consider this time and money well spent. I can not think of any natural disaster that would make me think, “Ok, well I wouldn’t drive through THAT to get a bike setup from Colorado Multisport”

Yet another reason to envy/hate Boulder Colorado as the Triathlon capital of the world.