Last week, as regular readers know, I finished up the Repurposed Bike. I now have a heavy commuter in the stable. I also have enough time on it to form some good solid impressions.
I took the beast out for an (unloaded) test-ride of a bit over 20 miles. Then I followed that up with a round trip commute. So far so good! So on Saturday, I rode the new bike in to work, used it to lead the regular Saturday morning recreational ride, and then rode it home. The commuting trips were pretty well loaded too.
First impressions: This bike is not as light as I had envisioned, but it is a bit lighter than my tourist. So it qualifies for the “light-weight” part of the intention. It’s fun to ride, and that’s all to the good. The dropVee levers, coupled with the Shimano V-Brakes are amazing! The gearing is good. (Good and low!) The fenders still need a bit of tweaking. I’m less than thrilled with the wheel bearings, but I’ll rebuild those and set that right.
The high volume Giant 700 X 28 tires are nice and cushy. They roll quite nicely, and take the rough stuff in stride. That helps to smooth out the jolt from hitting the rough stuff with a heavily loaded bike. The ancient Brooks Professional saddle is going to take some breaking in, but so far, I like it.
One interesting impression: It takes a bit to get this rig going, especially when loaded up for a Fall/Winter commute, but once moving, it has a sort of “steam-roller effect.” It rolls right along, and feels like it will keep doing so forever. Hills are a bit of a challenge, but the gearing is right for pushing a big load over them. It’s work, but not unpleasant work.
With fenders, rain cap, and such, I can hardly wait for the right conditions. I know it sounds ludicrous, but I’m looking forward to riding this rig in on a chilly, rainy morning.
Glad to hear the drop vee levers and linear pull brakes are working out. I converted a Cannondale hybrid to a light tourer this Fall. I took it on common knowledge that drop bar levers didn't exist for these brakes and converted over to canti's. Would have been much less expensive had I found Cane Creek linear pull drop levers first. Seems you like fenders as much as I do. But they do take tuning and maintenance to keep from sqeaking and rubbing tires. I've noticed that my bottom tube stays clean now that I'm running fenders on 3 of my 4 bikes.
ReplyDeleteRe-cycler,
ReplyDeleteYup. Fenders beat wet and cold. Sure, it looks odd when we ride odd looking bikes. But please note, we're RIDING them.