Sunday, January 15, 2017

2004 Porsche Bike X completed!

The 2004 Porsche Bike X transition from hybrid bike to road bike is complete! Only took about a month to make a list of everything needed (including the bike), order, receive and assemble. Now I'm looking forward to riding it!

The Bike X may not look much different in the photos below, but here's a list of what I did to the bike:

- Removed the treaded mountain bike-type tires and replaced with Continental Gatorskin 700cx28 for less weight and better rolling resistance.
- Replaced the brakes with fresh pads.
- Replaced the shock-style seat post with a Syntace P6 aluminum rigid seat post for less weight, better handling and better transmission of power through the bike to the road.
- Replaced the 2004 Italian rubber saddle with a lightweight and ergonomcially designed Ergon SMC4 saddle made in Germany.
- Added German-made Ergon GP5 handlebar grips and bar ends to the stock Syntace aluminum Ecolite handlebar.
- Replaced the mountain bike-type front shock fork with a German Quantec carbon fiber 700c rigid fork for weight savings and lowering the center of gravity.
- Added SKS Slidecage (two) for water bottle and SKS Cagebox accessories.
- And installed a genuine Porsche emblem to the front of the bike.

All included, I probably spent a little over $2,000 on this bike. Not bad considering a new Porsche road bike would cost 4-5 times this amount. I ordered all German parts to retain some of the original character of this 2004 German-made bike. I did look for deals on each part though. I'm a savvy US and German eBay shopper!

So now I have a road bike with great mountain climbing gearing. I am ready for a hard spring training and attempt the Death Ride in July.

AFTER
 BEFORE

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