Well I finally picked up my mistress.. and for under $2K with all the different options !
Firstly designwise - I am a Melbourner so the bike had to be all black. I replaced a silver truvativ crank with shimano 105 in black <which makes sense too given the rear deraileur and gearing is 105> and the 2 sided pedals which looked tacky i replaced with bmx style black dmr v8 predals - plus carbon fiber composite bar ends from BBB, which really should be standard on flat bar bikes.
Ok enough of my aesthetical self indulgence... how did it ride ?
Well my first impression was it was very easy to get used to.. being a mountain biker, the gearing and handlebars/bar ends and general set-up was very similar.
Im glad that I got the v-brakes vs the more road bike set-up of felt and trek as it really adds to the flexibility/off road capability of the bike... it also made me think that these bikes (as per the specialized sirrus pro disk) would actually be suited to disc brakes, as the v-brakes even set-up to ultra tight are sometimes a bit spongy..
although as speed increases and braking is needed you dont want to end up doing too many somersaults ! (unfortunately cant get disc brakes on crx1 due to crank not setup to do so).. btw the carbon composite crank and seat posts on the crx 1 look great and absorb the ride vwell and keep it vlight.. although i forecast the seat will bruise my butt !
The actual first ride, which happened to be on beach road port melbourne (vic) was a suitable testing ground... the bike is definitely 20% faster than mountain bike but the ride alot stiffer, which suits me fine. Being a Saturday I also fitted in with the general 'urban' scene and i felt really sorry for the slow mountain bikers and wanted to challenge someone with drop bars (any time any place... just give me a head start)
48 hours later I am very impressed with the crx's ability to move from road to gravel to grass to road at high enough speeds, which is really important for me as i ride on unsealed roads and need to do a bit off road... a bit like a quasi 4WD !
Im going to test the bike soon in jumping off footpaths onto roads etc... but at the moment i am too in love with the bike to do so...
My cousin who was with me has a background in road bikes and at the start he found it hard to get used to... but over the weekend, he became increasingly addicted to it and kept asking for one more ride... although at top speeds there is some definite shake and drop bar devotees here will say 'I told you so'... the thing is, i only dreamed of these speeds on my mountain bike and im still going enough off road (ok not that far offroad but who does ?) and each ride i get more used to it.....
Re the Shimano r550 wheels tied to the Maxxis Detonator 700 X 28 tyres all I can say is bring it on.. they are ultra hard and fast... and importantly like all great speed transport you can point and squirt... you pick a point on road and it goes there immediately.. im still getting used to this dangerous combo... even the turning circle which is awesome and extremely responsive....
After 2 days, there are no noises, or unexpected problems, scratches, flats or embarrassing crashes... and i get a free service after 2 weeks (from Terry Hammond Cycles Bay Street, who will generally do 10% of CRX series, and let you change parts of spec which they give you $credit for - which really keeps prices down., if you ask Don nicely
>say hi from ben> I cant believe I kept the cost of the bike down to around $1600 not incl computer, pumps, etc
Finally the great thing is this bike is setup for everyday use (like a 911 or gallardo - i wish !) - I have a giant large u-lock (so they cant steal it or wheels) giant mini-pump and bigger BBB one at home to get 120 tightness.. a spare tube and levers behind the seat... and it doesnt look like one of those grandpa looking touring bikes or happy family hybrids with the ridiculous looking upward bars...
Overall these bikes achieve something drop bar road bikes or mountain bikes cant and to me the upper end of the specialized sirrus, giant crx and felt sr series are the bikes... (as well as the cannondale bad boy ultra which is the best of the mountain bike crossovers) and as per sports cars... ill always go black or silver..
Although if we are talking a Gallardo, F430, Murcielago... i might be open to a yellow or orange...
my final project is I bought apple's new mp3 player the ipod shuffle - its 22 grams and size of pack of gum and plays a couple hundred songs, on shuffle ! I am going to mount the player next to the wireless cateye 7 computer (which is working great and looks so uncluttered)... so when it is safe and wont be hit by cars... i can have a portable media player...
Ill try and post some photos soon...
Firstly designwise - I am a Melbourner so the bike had to be all black. I replaced a silver truvativ crank with shimano 105 in black <which makes sense too given the rear deraileur and gearing is 105> and the 2 sided pedals which looked tacky i replaced with bmx style black dmr v8 predals - plus carbon fiber composite bar ends from BBB, which really should be standard on flat bar bikes.
Ok enough of my aesthetical self indulgence... how did it ride ?
Well my first impression was it was very easy to get used to.. being a mountain biker, the gearing and handlebars/bar ends and general set-up was very similar.
Im glad that I got the v-brakes vs the more road bike set-up of felt and trek as it really adds to the flexibility/off road capability of the bike... it also made me think that these bikes (as per the specialized sirrus pro disk) would actually be suited to disc brakes, as the v-brakes even set-up to ultra tight are sometimes a bit spongy..
although as speed increases and braking is needed you dont want to end up doing too many somersaults ! (unfortunately cant get disc brakes on crx1 due to crank not setup to do so).. btw the carbon composite crank and seat posts on the crx 1 look great and absorb the ride vwell and keep it vlight.. although i forecast the seat will bruise my butt !
The actual first ride, which happened to be on beach road port melbourne (vic) was a suitable testing ground... the bike is definitely 20% faster than mountain bike but the ride alot stiffer, which suits me fine. Being a Saturday I also fitted in with the general 'urban' scene and i felt really sorry for the slow mountain bikers and wanted to challenge someone with drop bars (any time any place... just give me a head start)
48 hours later I am very impressed with the crx's ability to move from road to gravel to grass to road at high enough speeds, which is really important for me as i ride on unsealed roads and need to do a bit off road... a bit like a quasi 4WD !
Im going to test the bike soon in jumping off footpaths onto roads etc... but at the moment i am too in love with the bike to do so...
My cousin who was with me has a background in road bikes and at the start he found it hard to get used to... but over the weekend, he became increasingly addicted to it and kept asking for one more ride... although at top speeds there is some definite shake and drop bar devotees here will say 'I told you so'... the thing is, i only dreamed of these speeds on my mountain bike and im still going enough off road (ok not that far offroad but who does ?) and each ride i get more used to it.....
Re the Shimano r550 wheels tied to the Maxxis Detonator 700 X 28 tyres all I can say is bring it on.. they are ultra hard and fast... and importantly like all great speed transport you can point and squirt... you pick a point on road and it goes there immediately.. im still getting used to this dangerous combo... even the turning circle which is awesome and extremely responsive....
After 2 days, there are no noises, or unexpected problems, scratches, flats or embarrassing crashes... and i get a free service after 2 weeks (from Terry Hammond Cycles Bay Street, who will generally do 10% of CRX series, and let you change parts of spec which they give you $credit for - which really keeps prices down., if you ask Don nicely
>say hi from ben> I cant believe I kept the cost of the bike down to around $1600 not incl computer, pumps, etcFinally the great thing is this bike is setup for everyday use (like a 911 or gallardo - i wish !) - I have a giant large u-lock (so they cant steal it or wheels) giant mini-pump and bigger BBB one at home to get 120 tightness.. a spare tube and levers behind the seat... and it doesnt look like one of those grandpa looking touring bikes or happy family hybrids with the ridiculous looking upward bars...
Overall these bikes achieve something drop bar road bikes or mountain bikes cant and to me the upper end of the specialized sirrus, giant crx and felt sr series are the bikes... (as well as the cannondale bad boy ultra which is the best of the mountain bike crossovers) and as per sports cars... ill always go black or silver..
Although if we are talking a Gallardo, F430, Murcielago... i might be open to a yellow or orange...
my final project is I bought apple's new mp3 player the ipod shuffle - its 22 grams and size of pack of gum and plays a couple hundred songs, on shuffle ! I am going to mount the player next to the wireless cateye 7 computer (which is working great and looks so uncluttered)... so when it is safe and wont be hit by cars... i can have a portable media player...
Ill try and post some photos soon...
