OP
OP
PedallingNowhereSlowly
Senior Member
Had another fettling session last night and got the indexing absolutely spot on.
Took the bike out for a Tri Club ride this morning. I was planning to go out with the development (slow) group as I figured keeping up with the fast group would be a bit of a challenge too far.
Anyway, there was no development group ride this morning. I offered to ride on my own, but I was encouraged to join the small group of faster riders - one of whom wanted to be back as soon as possible due to another commitment.
Anyway, for the most part of the ride I was able to keep up, which was great. I never though I'd be cruising along at 36 or 37 km/hour on the flat (of course, having a wheel in front helps). I did get dropped on the last leg back to the cafe stop - which is pretty normal as the other riders go full gas anyway. But at the point I lost contact, I was doing 42 km/hour.
Also, surprisingly, I was fastest up the two most significant climbs on the route, by some margin. And reviewing the Strava segments, I was in the top 12% of all time riders on one of them and top 14% on the other. Seriously impressive on a bike that weighs 14.5 kg. The bike does climb very well.
I also set my second fastest 30, 40 and 50 km records. And that was despite 21.6 km/h wind that felt like it was working against us most of the ride.
Sadly, on the last leg of the ride the rear shifter became less than optimal - I'm hoping that's just down to cable stretch. So the bike needs to go back in the stand for that to be investigated. I think I'm going to have to change that outer cable and put a larger radius on it so the barrel adjuster is less of a fiddle.
All in all, bang for buck, an £1150 bike giving riders on posh Colnago and Trek road bikes a run for their money ... seems like a great result to me. And I'm nowhere near the fastest rider in the world - I've only been back cycling a year on Tuesday and still feel I've a lot of improvement to do.
Took the bike out for a Tri Club ride this morning. I was planning to go out with the development (slow) group as I figured keeping up with the fast group would be a bit of a challenge too far.
Anyway, there was no development group ride this morning. I offered to ride on my own, but I was encouraged to join the small group of faster riders - one of whom wanted to be back as soon as possible due to another commitment.
Anyway, for the most part of the ride I was able to keep up, which was great. I never though I'd be cruising along at 36 or 37 km/hour on the flat (of course, having a wheel in front helps). I did get dropped on the last leg back to the cafe stop - which is pretty normal as the other riders go full gas anyway. But at the point I lost contact, I was doing 42 km/hour.
Also, surprisingly, I was fastest up the two most significant climbs on the route, by some margin. And reviewing the Strava segments, I was in the top 12% of all time riders on one of them and top 14% on the other. Seriously impressive on a bike that weighs 14.5 kg. The bike does climb very well.
I also set my second fastest 30, 40 and 50 km records. And that was despite 21.6 km/h wind that felt like it was working against us most of the ride.
Sadly, on the last leg of the ride the rear shifter became less than optimal - I'm hoping that's just down to cable stretch. So the bike needs to go back in the stand for that to be investigated. I think I'm going to have to change that outer cable and put a larger radius on it so the barrel adjuster is less of a fiddle.
All in all, bang for buck, an £1150 bike giving riders on posh Colnago and Trek road bikes a run for their money ... seems like a great result to me. And I'm nowhere near the fastest rider in the world - I've only been back cycling a year on Tuesday and still feel I've a lot of improvement to do.
