Its not all about the bike

But it sure does help.

From Bikes and bits

I managed to get a demo on a Merida Scultura evo 705 for the latest round of the Monikie summer series. I put my tri bars on and dropped the front end as low as possible.

From Drop Box

[me and John matched for pace almost all the way round]
With my Achillies and knee issues from the last round showing no signs of flairing up recently , largely due to my newly learnt stretches for hip flexors. I managed to improve on my run by just over 3 mins reducing my deficit to catch Paul up on the bike.I entered the bike section 2.5 mins behind paul having covered the 5kms in 22mins.

From Drop Box

[possibly the only time ill ever beat Jannette on the run!]

Once out on the bike i settled into the aero position , found the saddle a little uncomfortable but that may have been the lack of padding in my orca tri shorts. I picked off riders one by one all the way round till at last turning at michelin i had paul in my sights.

The course climbs all the way from the turn at michelin i made ground on him while climbing until he spotted me and tried to make a break on the flat to keep away from me. 50:12 at 120rpm gives a max speed of 38mph , but i wasnt catching him while he was turning 53:12.

Once we hit the newbiggin hill it was all over for Paul. I span past him and took the coveted third spot from him.

From Drop Box

[me lifting from aerotuck coming into the finish]
Run 22.03 and bike 35.18 - taking a minute off my bike time in what was windier conditions. That has to disprove the old theory that its ALL in the legs (although most of it is ;) )

From Drop Box

[Team Angus Bike Chain at the end]

Handing back the merida scultura tomorrow. It rides well although at 6 foot 2 i found the medium too short in the top tube despite it being longer than my current road bike (but i have a 130mm stem on as oppose the meridas 90) It doesn feel as "zingy" as the giant TCR advance i had out previous but it is lighter and seems to be comfier than the giant which was very harsh.My only real niggle with the bike was the compact ultegra chainset. as mentioned above i found my self spinning out on the flat or any downhill gradiant (all be it at 40mph but still annoying when your competitors have 53:12) It certainly matches colour of my MTB and we all know thats the important part ! Could do alot worse than this bike for £2499.99.