[bike] New
Apr. 9th, 2007 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmazeSince everyone else is getting one, and since I'm not buying a house this year, I actually got into Wheelworks' annual sale and came away with a bike. Shiny!
It is a 52cm Specialized Sequoia Elite, which I arrived at largely through the very scientific method of "tell the Wheelworks people the sort of thing I'm looking for and let them recommend something". The other recommendation, for "20-100-mile weekend rides without a lot of fear of Boston roads", was the Trek Pilot; I was unimpressed with the 1.0 (and particularly didn't like the Shimano Sora shifters), but the basic Sequoia felt like a much better fit. Belmont Wheelworks didn't have that in stock but Ace did; drive back to Somerville, try the bike, and take it!
Switching from a mountain bike to a road bike has been all weird. There are three different good positions to ride this bike in (the old bike had two). The gearing is really different. I can tell my front derailleur needs help, but the gears kind of in the middle of the bike are still a little faster than what I'm used to. The very bottom end of the gear range maybe isn't quite as low as what was on the old bike. It's a noticeable bit faster: the old bike I could get up to maybe 18 mph on flat ground pushing hard, this I can easily clear 20 without feeling like I'm trying too hard.
Downsides? Limited handlebar space; if you have lots of gizmos, there's not much space to put them. (Guess the GPS lives in the backpack now.) I haven't fully gotten comfortable with the "default" position; I can't figure out how to not "sit" on the space between my thumb and index finger, which just isn't a comfortable place to put weight. But once I finish adapting, and (*gasp*) plan on paper maps again, I think I'll be pretty happy with this.
It is a 52cm Specialized Sequoia Elite, which I arrived at largely through the very scientific method of "tell the Wheelworks people the sort of thing I'm looking for and let them recommend something". The other recommendation, for "20-100-mile weekend rides without a lot of fear of Boston roads", was the Trek Pilot; I was unimpressed with the 1.0 (and particularly didn't like the Shimano Sora shifters), but the basic Sequoia felt like a much better fit. Belmont Wheelworks didn't have that in stock but Ace did; drive back to Somerville, try the bike, and take it!
Switching from a mountain bike to a road bike has been all weird. There are three different good positions to ride this bike in (the old bike had two). The gearing is really different. I can tell my front derailleur needs help, but the gears kind of in the middle of the bike are still a little faster than what I'm used to. The very bottom end of the gear range maybe isn't quite as low as what was on the old bike. It's a noticeable bit faster: the old bike I could get up to maybe 18 mph on flat ground pushing hard, this I can easily clear 20 without feeling like I'm trying too hard.
Downsides? Limited handlebar space; if you have lots of gizmos, there's not much space to put them. (Guess the GPS lives in the backpack now.) I haven't fully gotten comfortable with the "default" position; I can't figure out how to not "sit" on the space between my thumb and index finger, which just isn't a comfortable place to put weight. But once I finish adapting, and (*gasp*) plan on paper maps again, I think I'll be pretty happy with this.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-04-15 11:04 pm (UTC)A 9-gear cassette is really broad, so I find myself not quite having a chainring shifting strategy yet. And the toughest shift seems to be the 12-11 tooth shift on the back (to the highest cog).