Monday, March 3, 2014

A Pro's Ride: G Money's Fuji Norcom Straight

Following up on his preview of the Fuji Norcom Straight, professional triathlete and Triple Threat friend Guilherme Ferreira Campos (AKA "G") gave us a look at his own version of the new Fuji superbike. Thanks, G! 


G opted for the Norcom 2.1 blue frame, as blue is the color of choice of the Italian team. The frame has many differences compared to his previous Fuji D6 frame, with the most important ones all related to being more aerodynamic without losing comfort or room for a proper fitting.

Living in Colorado but racing a lot in Europe, G opted to continue riding an Ultegra mechanical group. He did this as a precaution, thinking that running an electronic DI2 could put him in trouble if anything stopped working and he couldn't find replacement parts while away from home. With the mechanical Ultegra 6700 10V he is good to go!




G rides a 53-39 crankset with a Quarq Elsa powermeter. He's recently been working on changing his position from the D6 to the Norcom, and noticed that using a shorter 1.65 crank arm helped incredibly to open the angle of his hips. This allows him to ride in a more forward, aggressive position.





The Norcom reduces drag on the front end by running the cables internally through the front fork. All other cables are also internal, trying to be as "clean" as possible.








The Norcom comes from the factory with its TRP aero brakes designed to be hidden behind the front fork and the chainstay, creating less drag and reinforcing better aerodynamics for the rider.


  




Guilherme rides the new Fizik Tritone saddle as a Fizik sponsored athlete. He says that besides the already well-known benefit of this kind of saddle (changing the points of contact for the rider), the Tritone also helps him to rotate his hips more forward and achieve a more aggressive position.






The front headset is integrated with the top tube, following the tendency of other new "super bikes." Again the main goal here is to reduce drag and reinforce aerodynamics.

On his last bike fit G also changed from an S Bend aerobar extension to the Profile T4 carbon, which is halfway between the S Bend and a Ski Bend. He approved the change, saying that he can now be more relaxed when reaching the aerobars.




The Fuji Norcom Straight is a great bike, 15-20% more stiff than the D6, responsive and very light going uphill. Guilherme puts "the cherry on top of the sundae" by riding a pair of Rolf Prima's Ares 6 for racing! On that note, here is G's advice on choosing a wheel set from a few months ago. 




In case you missed it, check out last year's interview with G on his pursuit of the dream!

Check out more on the G-Man at gui-campos.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and via Twitter handle @guitri_online.

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