A new bike!
I intimated a while back that I was going to purchase a new bike. A
machine for fast comfy longer distances, audax/etape like rides. A
Bentley Continental of a bike. Well it didn't quite turn out that way.
Today I purchased something a little sportier.
Measurements from BikeFit revealed me to be Dr Average, 55.5cm top tube
but wider shoulders (1" wider than the norm). Having test ridden some
carbon bikes I was being drawn to titanium frames (more robust), also
wanted campy not Shimano as I have small hands and find the hoods more
comfortable. I also like the trimming and shifting.
So I took a 150 mile detour from work this afternoon to test ride some
very special bikes. unless you live in Norfolk, Hunstanton is a long
way from almost anywhere. 100 miles from Harlow (today's workplace),
and I arrived at 5pm just before closing time.
Fat Birds Don't Fly <\url: http://www.fatbirds.co.uk>. What can I say,
lovely people, helpful on the phone, more so in person. After a cup of
tea and a complementary pair of test-ride shorts, I test rode a
Litespeed Tuscany (a touch too big), Solano (much too small) an
Airborne Valkyrie (Shimano, pretty neutral really) and a Merlin Cyrene.
Several rides on the Cyrene and Tuscany decided it. I chose the Merlin.
Some pictures here <\url:
http://www.merlinbike.com/bikes/2005/cyrene_dtls.aspx>. It looks even
better in the flesh. Of course mine has dark grey centaur to match the
frame, a standard B17 saddle (may get the honey TI) and a Nelson
Longflap saddlebag. Added some essentials, Look KEO pedals (first for
this SPD man), new shoes (I have Shimano-narrow feet), Bike bag and a
wireless computer (my first wireless).
How to describe the bike. Fit is perfect, the bike feels like part of
me. Steering is faster than orginally desired (73.5 not 72.5 deg head
angle) but sooooooo instinctive. I'm still grinning from a ride up and
down the road. I don't think that feeling will ever go. The marketing
blurb on the web site is of course rubbish, but I can sort of see what
they are hinting at (and I'm a cool quantitative scientist)...
So if you see an average-proportioned red-haired whippet (build but
sadly not yet speed) riding a Merlin with Nelson Longflap, please say
Hi. Of course I may be in disguise on my stealth fold-unfold... (no
Brompton sticker), the yellow kiddyback tandem or even the KMX-K class
stolen from the boys (You'd have to be very local to OX13 to see that).
The Dark side will have to wait a while longer. If you rode it you'd
understand why :-)
kind regards
daren
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