I replaced the saddle, and I can now sit in a more familiar position. I also removed the Ironman bag and the steer tube looks now really tall... of course, since the frame was made for a full pursuit bar. Anyway, if the position feels right, I can live with the less-than-ideal aesthetics.

With the first triathlon race at the end of this week, it was really time I finished the conversion of my Tri-Ti from 'time-trial' to 'road'.
After some wrenching and part replacement, there it was, ready for its maiden voyage. I tried to reproduce as much as possible the position I have (and like) on my Pegoretti, with the addition of a clip-on aerobar. Following the idea that less is better, I avoided arm-rests and used a flat-top dropbar plus some old Cinelli cushoning elements (originally made as a complement to 'Spinaci') instead. The set-up looked ok and off I went on my usual 'Due Sommarive' 40 km test loop.
Dura Ace (7800) proved immediately up to its fame in the gear and brake department, but I was bothered by the lack of room on my fancy Optima Selle Italia saddle, I couldn't slide back enough without hitting the bottle. A road saddle is surely better if looking for a road position.
Then, when I tried the aero position, I realised I was a full 2 km/h faster than in the drops, but there was no way I could stand that position for more than 10': I was too low, and my forearms were really uncomfortable on the bar.  Generally speaking, I was comfortable on descents but, even in the drops, I couldn't generate my usual power output when pedaling was needed.
At the end of the ride the numbers were clear: I had been 3' slower on the titanium/lightweight/aerodynamic Guru than on my steel/heavy/not aero Pegoretti, on an average day.
Clearly, it was my fault: I'll correct the position, replace the Optima (I'll put that on a shrine I made for exotic components I don't deserve) with an SLR, add arm-rests and try again. Oh, and I'll keep the 'Ironman' bag for triathlon races: without that and without the yellow bottle behind the saddle I could even look like a normal slow cyclist, not a clown between shows

Coming back from the 'Surf-on Tech Tour' in the US I found myself with a lot to do... to both finalize Caffélatex products AND prepare myself for the racing season.
Travelling and working the way we did, there was hardly any time to exercise (if I don't count the hours standing at the NAHBS..) and there was way too much food readily available. When I'm abroad I love to try local dishes, and in this case 'local' ment hamburgers, meat in general, huge breakfasts... with abundant seasoning and sauces.
When I arrived at home last week, I had a couple of kilos more and two weeks of training routine less: it was time to exercise.
I did a fair amount of swim (we're now training with fins and paddles, quite tough), of running (I'm not 'decent' yet) and on Sunday I had planned an easy spin with Icio. The easy spin became a more serious ride when we were joined by Massimo Moscone, Francesco Melissano, Davide 'Paguro' Fia (local triathlon stars) and Andrea Tibaldi (Alba Triathlon senator and cycling powerhouse). Nice rolling climbs became steep walls as the pace rose in the red HR zone for Icio and me, but all in all we had fun and the pace dropped sometimes, eventually.
I'm still riding the Pegoretti with wheels converted to road tubeless with (prototype) Caffélatex kit: they are so good that I basically forgot them. They also hold pressure like tube-type, it must be the sealant.
I'm planning to have a lighter wheelset converted to road tubeless and use it with the Guru Tri-Ti for the season opening in Fossano (sprint distance Tri).

The North America Handmade Bicycle Show is surely THE nicest bicycle tradeshow. At 'classic' bicycle shows (Eurobike, Interbike, Taipei) I normally have to walk a lot before I find something interesting, here the next impressive bicycle is just a booth apart. The density of beautiful frames in the exibition hall is impressive.
We are also very busy at Effetto Mariposa booth, it seems Caffélatex sealant is as a good show stopper as the Giustaforza torque wrench.

Stage two of our Surf on Tech Tour is a good but somewhat distant memory: it was held on tuesday 24th at the Elliott Bay Brewhouse in Burien, close to Seattle. There too one of the favourite activities for our visitors was the "shake shake shake" of Caffélatex bottle, to see what the impressive actifoam feature was capable of.
I also learned that Giustaforza torque wrench was the tool of choice of several shop mechanics who came by, which is very good.
Since then, there were more meetings and more airplanes: I'm currently in Indianapolis with the Cantitoeroad team to prepare our NAHBS booth. The city looks very quiet, I wonder if I'm just too used to European traffic or if Indianapolis is really an easy place to drive. I'll do a morning run tomorrow, to see how Indy looks like during the rush hour.

It might be difficult to work and explain products when you're badly jet-lagged, but the interest of shop owners and mechanics attending yesterday's stage of "Surf-on tech tour", plus the laid-back environment of HandleBar & Grill in Denver, made it easier than expected.
We arrived at the spot around 6 p.m. after having been running around for almost a full day. Infact, I had woken up at 3 a.m. in my hotel room in Fort Collins, done the usual random routine jet-lagged people do (work, watch tv, call home, organise the content of one's bags..), I had gone for my morining jogging at the university (nice, clean area), had a royal breakfast (something I really love here in the US). Then I had set-up a nice re-calibration machine at Cantitoeroad.com's facility, showed them the new products... sooner than expected, it was time to leave for our presentation, loaded with samples and displays. At HandlBar & Grill we did a record-breaking set-up and at 6 p.m. sharp we (Wippermans chains, Cole wheels, Axa-Basta lights and city accessories, and of course Effetto Mariposa) were ready to welcome our guests.
Speaking about EM, the Caffélatex tubeless conversion kit and accessories had enthusiastic comments from the 'technical audience', I really have high expectations for those products. Most of the shops coming were already using Giustaforza torque wrenches on a daily basis, I didn't have spend too many words on that.
Today we fly to Seattle, next stage!

It's almost official (well, now it is official!) that Effetto Mariposa will release a tubeless conversion kit called "Caffélatex". The elements of these kit will allow to turn standard mtb wheels into tubeless wheels. Similar products have already been on the market for a long time, but we think we added some interesting extra features to the sealant, the injector and the sealing tape.
The kit is actually so good that we're already testing it on some other tubeless conversions, more difficult than mountain-bike ones: that's it, road tubeless!
Follow me through this quick photo guide: believe me or not, it's really my first attempt to do a road tubeless conversion and this is its true story.

Coincidentally, I'm reading 'No Limits' (the book by Michael Phelps) and it's in the news these days the story of Phelps smoking marijuana, getting a 3 month suspension by the US Swimming Federation.
I agree he's an icon for millions of young athletes, an example to follow for many, and he's not allowed to be but perfect... too bad he's young, unexperienced and human.
That must be a tough life being at the same time a superstar athlete, with high media exposure, and a 'small town' boy, with not much experience of real life. Phelps hasn't done much in his life beside swimming (something he's incredibly good at) and, as a youngster, he didn't have the chance to make mistakes and be stupid like all of us, following the learning path that goes from kid to adult man.
Reading the book, he looks like a good, simple person, (obviously) obsessed by swimming performance, without anything else relevant in his life. It seems like he's now taking baby-steps out of the pool into 'real life': good luck to him, and let's hope he doesn't do too many stupid things in the time it takes him to realize he's not like everybody else.