Bike: Road
Miles: 15.8
Start Time 3:43
Moving Time: 1:28:26
Elevation: 642
Avg Spd: 10.7
Max Spd: 30.0
Temp Out: 62
Temp In: 60
The bike arrived about 12:30 this afternoon. The first thing I noticed was how light the box was. A good sign! I got it in the house and opened the box. Since the frame is carbon fiber and potentially fragile I was concerned about it arriving intact especially after reading some reviews by people who had received damaged specimens. I was impressed with the packing job and everything was in good shape. All the frame tubes were wrapped in bubble wrap then foam and items like the front wheel, crank arms and handlebars were zip tied to the main bike tubes to prevent any movement.
Sadly I had most of the packing material off and the handlebars and front wheel in place before I thought to take any pictures:
After finishing the assembly and adding pedals, a few items from the old bike and air to the tires I took it outside and rode a few hundred yards. It was obvious that the handlebars were too low. Other than that everything seemed fine, the shifting and brakes were good. I came home and flipped the steering stem over, making it point up instead of down and added the remaining items from the old bike to the new one: computer, phone mount, pump and mirror. My intention was to use my old wheelset on this bike as it is of better quality than the wheels on the new bike. I switched the fronts with no problem. After removing the cassettes from the back wheels I discovered that the 11 speed cassette from the new bike will not fit on the old 9 speed wheel freehub by just a fraction of an inch. After messing with it awhile I gave up and put everything back the way it was. I may find way to make the swap work. If not I will just live with the new wheels.
By the time I had everything together it was about 3:30. I decided to suit up and try the thing out. There was a pretty healthy North wind blowing so I had a nice wind assisted ride to Luckie Park. Since the new bike has a double crank instead of the triple of my old rig I have been having some apprehension about climbing on the new machine as it is missing the two lowest gear combination I have available on the old bike. I wanted to see how it would go so I turned west on Joe Davis Road on the south side of Luckie Park and climbed the 1/2 mile up to Desert Knoll Avenue. It is a nice 4-5% climb with a short 9% section at the end. It went well. I next went up to the JTNP HQ where I stopped to take a few pictures then did another 1/2 mile of 4% up to Baseline Road. I had been considering various routes to get home. I decided to go up Ocotillo which parallels Adobe Road to Two Mile Road and then to Luckie Park where I would use the rest room and put the sleeves on my vest (the wind chill was getting intense) and finally climb back up the 2-4% grade to Two Mile, cross Adobe Road and continue on to Mesquite Springs Road where I would turn North and ride downhill to Raymond and hence back to Adobe and home via Amboy Road.
The bottom line is that I will not be as comfortable on the steepest grades with this bike but I will be able to make most of them. So far I am very pleased with the bike, it is definitely a step (or two) up from my old unit. It has at least one difference that I am trying to adapt to. The 105 shifters have an upshift lever that is placed the same as and is sized and feels the same as the downshift lever on the old bike which means that several times on climbs I shifted to a higher gear when I thought I was going to get a lower one. It is not a huge problem and I am sure I will adjust to the new layout in a few rides. The new bike is 5 CM smaller in labeled size than the old bike which is slightly too big for me. After an online chat with a Nashbar rep and measuring a few tubes on my old bike and comparing the length to the size chart for the new bike I gambled on the smaller size (the option was a 59 CM). It seems to have worked out. I can hardly tell the difference in size or seating position between the two. The most notable difference is the weight which is a good thing! There is nothing to do now but ride the bike and see how it does over time.
Bike: Road
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