I'm a bit over 100 miles into my new bike. I've been commuting almost daily (save work from home days). My commute is 4-5 miles depending on what route I take. Part of the route is on a terrible bicycle boulevard that might as well be gravel. The rest is either a bike lane or a normal road bicycle boulevard. No protected lanes on my obvious commute route. A kinda big detour puts me on an MUP - but it is only for around 2 miles and is a mile out of the way. So that would be the scenic route. My rides have basically been my commutes. And an errand or two. It has been a busy few weeks, so I haven't yet gone for a non-practical spin.
The verdict? So far I am really happy with the bulk of my component choices. I've made some small tweaks to the positioning: adjusting the handlebar angle and the seat angle. All normal stuff of course.
There's no love on the internet for the Rivet Loveland, so I'll share a mini review here. I was really indecisive about what saddle to get. I didn't want springs, I was unsure if I should go wider or narrower. And I wasn't sure if I wanted a Brooks b17s. I have one of those on one bike, and it generally feels good, but also sometimes a little off. Not exactly sure why. But not off enough to change it. I have moved it over to 2 bikes now. The B67s on my old bike was generally fine, but the springs were kinda noisy sometimes. The width seemed mostly OK with my positioning.
And when I was researching leather saddles, Rivet came up. And they have a one year exchange policy. And I noticed the Loveland was a great price. So I decided to give it a go. They have water resistant saddles - but I picked the wrong color.
First day I rode maybe 8 miles, and the saddle felt fine. The next day I felt a smidge of soreness, but I had barely ridden over the previous weeks. After a week, I felt fine. Few issues, and the break-in seems less hard than the Brooks saddles I have used. I am still of course on the fence about riding in jeans, but all in all things feel pretty good in my plain clothes rides. I think it will break in quite nicely. Definitely a great alternative to the B67/B67s. Rivets also come with a nylon rain cover too. Great deal Look forward to many more miles on this saddle.
What's surprising so far:
- This bike is so much zippier than my Soma was! I feel so speedy with less effort. The Soma Buena Vista isn't really slow either as an urban bike, so I am shocked at the difference. I'm definitely getting places faster with the same level of effort.
- Paul Racers have good stopping power. Definitely like them.
- So the Porteur bars. I thought I'd mainly use them at the ends. But not at all. I am mostly riding just below the bends, and sometimes at the tops. Nice control and handling. Also the leather tape (with one layer of padding) is enough. But we will see what happens over a longer ride. So far so good. The first ride or 2 I thought I might want more padding, but now it feels comfy. These bars seem to make it easy to add a bit of power compared to the Soma Oxfords I had before.
- I was actually able to push the bike straight with the saddle. I thought this was some impossible dream if you had a front rack, but I have been able to do it easily. Was not possible at all on the Soma. Not sure why, but this helps navigation of my narrow hallway.
What may get changed:
- Chain - I had no idea you could get gold bike chains. Definitely getting that when this chain wears out. That seems like a really fun bit of bling.
- Dia-Compe Inverse levers - I love the position, but the finish on these seem kinda sucky. I have a few little scratches/scuffs already. And who knows how haven't dropped it or anything, so I am thinking from my keys. That seems pretty weird to me. At some point I worry about rust and stuff, so we will see if there is something with a better finish.
- Front light - I am on the fence about my Edelux. It feels less bright than I remember. Well maybe it is not the brightness, but the beam pattern is feeling a little shallower than I remember. I haven't really taken a proper night ride, this is just an observation from riding at dusk. We will see what happens when I ride at night. If I switch, I am thinking Sinewave...but not sure yet.
- Locking strategy - I got the NY Lock from Kryptonite. This thing is sooo heavy. Too heavy to balance on my rack's u-lock holder. And annoyingly heavy to leave in my backpack/bag. I may switch to a chain lock I have, or get a saddle bag. Still debating. I will likely get / repurpose another lock as a secondary one. Or maybe get the Tilock. I just figured out locking it to my rear rack may work too. I did that on a short ride home, and will try it on my commute next - where the road gets bumpy, and see how it feels
- Bag strategy - I have a couple of panniers. They all fit fine on my bike. I even got a new one to use. I tried it 2x so far, and I realize it kinda sucks. Previously, when I stored my bike outside, the pannier was easy enough to deal with on the way in. And I could lock easily. But since I am storing in my apartment, and my hallway is pretty narrow (I live in a studio, the hallway wall has sliding/folding closet doors along the whole length I permanently leave open out of laziness. Once is kinda broken and needs new tracking so doesn't actually shut properly). So the hallway is just wide enough to get my bike through, but not wide enough for me to walk next to the bike at the same time with out a bit of limbo around the doors. So I end up just pushing it in, and then get to my parking spot, aka underneath my bar counter. So the narrow hallway would be basically impossible with a pannier. And taking the panniers on an off just for transporting would be annoying. I've gotten in the habit of putting all my stuff on my bike nightly. So I am thinking maybe I should get a saddle bag, that holds my lock and my other things I like to leave on the bike - sunglasses, gloves, reusable bag. Haven't seen a perfect big/not too big saddle bag yet that works with smaller frames.
- Shifter - this Jtek shifter is huge and ugly! Seems to work fine, but the shifter handle is just huge. If there is ever another aftermarket option, I will probably jump on it.
Those are my thoughts so far! Here is to many more miles to come.