We assembled the new bike (with a bit of immoderate language) and I
went for a ride with Pete to test it out. I was amazed that the gears
were in perfect adjustment even though the frame is not of a fixed
length; the cables have joiners and the outers terminate at each end
of the tube between the bottom brackets. Felicity pointed out to me
that, since it would have been set up with the timing chain on, unless
the timing chain had stretched in the box this was inevitable. D'oh!
So, the bike fitted together OK apart from a problem getting the front
seat tube in. There were four disagreeable surprises: no saddles (and
none even as an option in the quote, we had no idea they were not
included); a charge of £85 for yellow paint which we had not been told
about at the time of ordering; no bottle cages; and the problem with
the front seat tube. The rear mudguard also needed a bit of gentle
persuasion to sit clear of the tyre.
Phoned AVC: Saddles and cages are being sent, as is a new seat tube
(althoguh we've now, following our chat, managed to get the other one
to work), the paint upgrade is non-negotiable :-( Never mind, Pete
likes yellow.
That said, the bike is now assembled, a Pletscher double-leg stand
bolted to the stand bracket (why doesn't every bike have a stand
bracket?), and it was rideable pretty much straight out of the box,
gears and brakes all fine. I like the Sram dual-drive although I am
still not keen on the twist-grip shifter they supply. Can it be used
with a thumb-shift, anyone? Felicity is a bit suspicious about
32-spoke wheels, having had 48-spoke on the triplet. We'll see. I
suspect they will be fine.
Two Thorn references: the rear rack is nowhere near as good as the
Thorn one on our triplet, although I suppose it should be adequate.
You could park a truck on the Thorn one. The double-drilled Thorn
cranks are also just right.
The bike is, as with all bikes, especially bright yellow ones with
6ft. riders, invisible. Tanking down the road at 30mph, Mr Big Fat
Stupid Fatty Stupid O'Cretin in his Jaguar pulls out from a parking
space in front of us - and immediately stops because there is a parked
car and a car coming the other way (plenty of room for us to get
through if he had not been in front of us, of course).
We'll probably try our first utility journey on it tomorrow, which
will test the rack for panniers.
One other thing: swivelling the stoker bars around the stem and
splitting the handlebars means the bike takes up very little space in
the hall or bike shed. Very practical!
Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken