jamesdak 

Took it out today for the first test ride. I've got to admit that for once I was "scared" to ride one of my bikes. This one is just so nice and beautiful.

Seatpost slipped on me during the ride. I always have the right wrench with me but this bike does not use a keyed binder bolt so with only one wrench I couldn't fix it. Felt good under me before it slipped and feels nice and light when I am out of the saddle. It also felt really good while in the drops before the seatpost slipped.

I'll need at least one more ride with this properly adjusted to judge on how it really rides.



Saddle was a good inch and a half lower than it should have been by the time I grabbed this quick shot.

Gary Fountain

Wow, it looks to be straight off the showroom floor. Such a pity the seatpost slipped on the maiden ride. I hope the seatpost wasn't marred. Such a well put together bike and I can imagine it will be a brilliant ride.

jamesdak 

Just an update now that I've gotten some rides in on it. Only 4 of them for a little over 115 miles but enough to tell a few things.

First off the bike will move out just fine. I just feel like the wheels I have on it are holding it back. It almost feels like I'm constantly trying to accelerate the bike instead of spinning and carrying speed. That said, I just did my 25 route this morning on it with legs dead from fighting stong winds yesterday. This morning I posted my second best average pace on that route for the year. This despite the headwinds kicking it with 11 miles to go and me boinking at 4 miles to go. I'm still losing weight so not really fueling for a ride like I normally would.

Anyway, the bike does feel pretty good under me but the rear has a skittish feel to it a lot of times on the rough chipseal roads I ride. Like it's jumping around a bit vs staying planted. I am running my usual Conti GP4000s II 700 x 25 setup on it like most of my bikes. It turns in well enough but not eagerly, I notice a tendancy to go wider in turns then a lot of my other bikes take me on the same route. It does feel light and sprightly when I stand up and climb a small hill with it.

It is very beautiful obviously but so far I wouldn't say it's got the same magical ride that I get on my Davidson, the Giordana XL Super, or Maillot Jaune. That may change with some decent wheels.

Anyway, despite not blowing me away yet with it's road feel it certainly is capable of being quite fast with the pace it gave me today and even yesterday when it was a hard fought battle with the winds.

I've got to sort out the wheel issue. I've got a couple of really good Shimano wheelsets on hand but nothing really Campagnolo except a set of relatively heavy tubular wheels.

That's all I've got for now. Ride must have kicked my butt as I feel like I want to doze off.

greg3rd48 

What a gorgeous bike. Well done in every respect.

jamesdak 

Well, I'm still trying to figure out the final wheel configuration for this. I'm also wondering if the ones on it really are holding it back. About a week ago Merlin was selling the old Campagnolo Zonda C15 wheels for $277. So, I ordered a set and they arrived today. Switched over the tire, tubes,and cassette and mounted them up. We'll see how this does tomorrow. It did drop 10 ozs off the weight of the bike.

The black wheels don't look all that bad.

sdn40

To my eye - the new wheelset seems to weigh down the frame a tad. Don't know if it's the amount of black or the deeper rims. She looked more light and nimble with the previous set. No disrespect, and what the hell do I know anyway. Still love it though

jamesdak 

I ultimately still want a shiny low profile silver set on it. But I also want it moving as fast as my old legs can make it.

Last ride 76 

Sweet!


Whoa, hold on, hate the waterbottles.
But still... Sweet

jamesdak 

Ok, I've a couple of rides with this and the new wheelset, certainly more to my liking in terms of feel and performance. Just got back from a 25 mile ride on it and almost bested my PR on this route. Did finish with a steller (for me) 20.2 mph avg. This despite 93 degree temps, headwinds from mile 11 to the end and my Asthma not playing nice. The bike just carries speed well and get's back up to speed fast when my concentrations lapse. It honestly seems fairly still yet it's not harsh on even the roughest chipseal sections. I'm digging it!!!