U23 rider pieces together a race-winning machine

Racing his 3rd season on the Elite/U23 squad of Team Mike’s Bikes p/b Equator, Travis Lyons was the only team member who preferred to build his team race bike himself. “There's some nostalgia and meditation that comes with bringing it together,” said Lyons. “Seeing it become a weapon of speed from just a frame and fork.”

In the previous season, Lyons preferred to ride the Tarmac SL4- a lighter, more climbing oriented bike from team sponsor Specialized. For 2014, the entire TMB/Equator squad will be rolling 2014 Specialized Venge Pro frames complete with full SRAM Red22 mechanical groupsets and Zipp Speed Weaponry Builds.

The Venge offers unbeatable wind-cheating performance with its tube shaping being heavily influenced by the world championship TT and TTT winning Specialized Shiv. The aero advantage is further increased with the use of Zipp’s 404 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers, wrapped in Specialized S-works Turbo 24c tires.

The team’s cockpit features the Zipp Service Course SL series in a stealth, beyond black color. Lyons’ preferred setup includes the Zipp SL88 traditional bend handlebar (42cm c-c) mounted to a slammed Zipp Service Course SL stem (120mm), giving the 1.80m (5’ 11”) rider an aggressive 105mm drop. The team’s bars will be wrapped in BikeSmart Skyline synthetic tape, offering good grip and vibration absorption, as well as great durability (available at your local Mike’s Bikes Shop).

A mostly stock SRAM Red22 drivetrain, Lyons has installed his Quarq Sram Red powermeter from 2013, which proves to be a useful tool when training and racing with accurate and consistent power readings. Also installed is a SRAM PG-1170 cassette (11-26t).

Like many of the TMB/Equator riders, Lyons prefers to use Look KEO Blade (16nm, CroMo) pedals for their wide platform and notable stiffness.

TMB/Equator has had great success with the lightweight BikeSmart Hydrocarbon 4 bidon cages in previous seasons, and continues to use them for their secure grip and easy retrieval of the OSMO bidons the team uses. Lyons also utilizes the revolutionary BarFly 2.0 mount from Tate Labs for Garmin headunits, which conveniently places the computer in front of the Zipp stem’s faceplate.

-Travis Lyons