Pro Bike: Dialing in Jeremy Powers’ Focus Mares disc

National champion Jeremy Powers, mechanic Tom Hopper and PR man Jake Sisson dialed in his bikes to precision by running through rapid rounds of bike changes in the parking lot across from the venue. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

Every 30 seconds or so, Powers handed one bike off and took the other, feeling for differences in setup and ride feel between the two. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

Sisson and Hopper measure the bar placement between the two bikes after Powers felt a difference on the first ride. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

After announcing to the mechanics that “this bike's bars feel a little more up,” Powers pulled a multi-tool out of his pocket and shifted them to his preference. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

As Powers rolled back, he alerted the mechanics that he had positioned the bars where he wanted them, clarifying that “these bars are loose, so...” implying the mechanics should tighten them to his specifications during the next bike change, moments before the bar slipped completely to vertical in the stem and he was launched forward. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

Sisson and Hopper heckled that they should start putting securities on every mechanical part of the bike so they could tell whether Powers had fiddled with it since the last time a mechanic touched it should disaster strike — say, in fthe form of a handlebar slipping in the middle of a race. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

Powers also accurately recognized a saddle-height discrepancy between the two bikes. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com

The three kept working on perfecting minute details for dozens of laps of bike changes. Photo: Emily Zinn | VeloNews.com