We are lucky to continue on with our relationship with Ridley Bicycles into the road season. The Damocles is not our official team bike. Rather, we have special editions of the Ridley Helium coming to us in a few weeks. Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, a couple riders on the team have decided to pick up some other Ridley models in anticipation of the coming season: Dedicated training bikes, TT bikes, etc. I grabbed myself a Damocles, which Kyle aptly describes as “the ultimate Joe Racer bike” due to its relatively low cost but incredibly impressive performance and international race resume. This bike has the same geometry as the helium, which means once I get the team-issue bike I’ll be able to seamlessly switch back and forth without an adjustment period.
The Damocles appealed to me because it’s the rough-and-tumble bike from the Ridley line-up and seemed like a perfect bike to handle many training miles on the rough New England roads and would be a good option for traveling as well, given its traditional seatpost design. This is the workhorse of the Ridley line. Think of it as the road-going version of the X-Fire cross bike, meaning it isn’t the lightest bike, and doesn’t have a ton of flashy marketing features, rather it’s just extremely functional, rides well and will take a ton of abuse.
This bike will bear most of my mileage this year. I built it with a SRAM Force group, Bontrager Race Lite wheels, 3T Rotundo Pro bar and Arx Pro stem, Bontrager Race X Lite seatpost, Maxxis Detonator clincher tires and Fizik Aliante Gamma saddle with matching Fizik perforated bar tape.
The elite amateur team sponsored by Embrocation Cycling Journal, International Bicycle Center and Mad Alchemy Embrocations. With contingents of racers in New England and the Pacific Northwest, Team Embrocation races road, cross and mountain throughout the US and a little bit beyond sometimes. Now entering their second season, the team features a deep and diverse roster.
