Andy Potts' Kestrel 4000 SL
The 2013 triathlon season is officially open for business. A few key races have already run, and one of North America's big season openers, Oceanside 70.3, goes off next Saturday, March 30. Andy Potts, first American in Kona last year, is the FOUR TIME champ at Oceanside, and is going back to defend his title. Potts is a friend of the site, and that friendship just got even better. Potts is going to be running the TriRig Omega this season, and I headed to his home in Colorado Springs to install the brake personally. Andy had a brand new Kestrel 4000 SL frame with Shimano Di2 9070. Potts is one of the first athletes in the world on the new 9070 TT group. Look at the Pro Tour teams doing early-season races in Europe; virtually NO ONE has the new group. But Potts does.
Yep, Potts is running the Omega brake. And I couldn't be more excited.
AND, of course, Potts also has his snazzy new TriRig brake. At the moment, he's not "officially" sponsored, and is running the brake because he thinks it's cool. The version he's running is our very first prototype Omega SV. It's designed to work specifically with the two-post TRP mount that's on his Kestrel. That same mount is also on the front and rear of the Specialized Shiv and Transition, as well as on a lot of rear brakes of other bikes (the new Felt B2, for example). A lot of athletes have been asking us for an Omega compatible with these bikes, and we aim to please. Again, to be clear, the Omega SV is ONLY for the special TRP two-post centerpull mount. It's not an upgrade, or even an option for customers with standard brake mounts. The brakes are mutually incompatible; anywhere you can use a standard Omega, you CAN'T use an SV, and vice-versa.
Now, with that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's talk about the rest of this mean machine. For me, the big news is the brand-spanking-new Di2 9070 group mentioned earlier. I'm a HUGE fan of Shimano's flagship component group, and the latest iteration has only gotten better. It's based on the E-tube platform launched with Ultegra Di2, and also picks up the 11th gear and superb system integration of the new mechanical Dura-Ace 9000. The group is lighter than its predecessor, and the total system weight (at least for the road groups) is claimed to be lighter for Di2. To say I'm jealous of Potts' mech would be a fair statement (hint, hint, Shimano).
Di2 9070 is just awesome.
The Shimano kit continues throughout the bike, including the wheels, pedals, and cockpit. Potts is running the PRO Missile EVO bar and stem. And he's got it set up quite a bit lower than last year. Seen here at Kona, you can see about 30mm of spacers below the stem. The new bike is actually one size smaller, and sheds all that extra stack. Potts is more aggressive. He looks leaner than I've seen him before, and looks ready to take some names in Oceanside. I certainly hope he is.
Stay tuned, we'll be in Oceanside covering the race and all the gear.
