A
Andrew F Martin
Guest
You didn't ask for it, but with as much bandwidth as the Portland took
up in pre-release anticipation, I thought I'd share some thoughts on
the bike.
1. Geometry - The geometry feels much more like a cross bike than my
Madone SL. The BB is higher than I would have thought looking at the
specs and feels a little slow. It's got a long wheelbase and a rather
raked fork. Not an issue for a rain bike, but duplicating the feel of
my Race bike will be tough.
2. Wheels - The wheels are a bit heavy, but they seem just fine. We'll
see if they serve me as well as my other BTrager wheels with paired
spokes. I ditched the 28mm heavy wire-bead tires for something more
practical and they feel lively-enough.
3. Trim - I was never keen of Trek's decision to swap to a triple, so I
put a 53/39 FSA Gossamer crank and Ultegra double Ft and Rear derrs on
there to make it more of a pure road bike. I kept the 12-27 because it
is my winter bike...and a 27 can't hurt (and I didn't want to plunk
down another $50 just yet). I put some carbon bars/post on there that
I had lying around to maybe soften the ride some since this is my first
Al frame.
4. Weight - it's not light ~21 lbs. I think a lot of the weight is in
the wheels. If I can at a later date, I'll get an extra wheelset built
up with lighter rims and good hubs to use for my faster days and keep
the Btragers setup with beefier tires for commuting.
5. Fenders - I haven't fendered it up yet, but this bike is going to be
SO EASY to fender. More clearance than I've ever seen and all sorts of
bolt points for fenders and/or racks. I'll just pick up some SKS
fenders and throw them on there without having to mod the heck out of
them like I have in the past.
6. Components - 105 10speed is great. The brakes take some getting
used to and I got some good squeal coming down a big hill last night.
I think that once I get it sorted I'll really like them.
Overall - I'm pretty sure it's going to be what I was looking for in a
rain bike. Once I can sort out some of the adjustments and fit I think
it'll be just right. It looks great and I'm really looking forward to
the disks for the wet.
Here's a pic of the current setup:
http://tinyurl.com/k5h2u
up in pre-release anticipation, I thought I'd share some thoughts on
the bike.
1. Geometry - The geometry feels much more like a cross bike than my
Madone SL. The BB is higher than I would have thought looking at the
specs and feels a little slow. It's got a long wheelbase and a rather
raked fork. Not an issue for a rain bike, but duplicating the feel of
my Race bike will be tough.
2. Wheels - The wheels are a bit heavy, but they seem just fine. We'll
see if they serve me as well as my other BTrager wheels with paired
spokes. I ditched the 28mm heavy wire-bead tires for something more
practical and they feel lively-enough.
3. Trim - I was never keen of Trek's decision to swap to a triple, so I
put a 53/39 FSA Gossamer crank and Ultegra double Ft and Rear derrs on
there to make it more of a pure road bike. I kept the 12-27 because it
is my winter bike...and a 27 can't hurt (and I didn't want to plunk
down another $50 just yet). I put some carbon bars/post on there that
I had lying around to maybe soften the ride some since this is my first
Al frame.
4. Weight - it's not light ~21 lbs. I think a lot of the weight is in
the wheels. If I can at a later date, I'll get an extra wheelset built
up with lighter rims and good hubs to use for my faster days and keep
the Btragers setup with beefier tires for commuting.
5. Fenders - I haven't fendered it up yet, but this bike is going to be
SO EASY to fender. More clearance than I've ever seen and all sorts of
bolt points for fenders and/or racks. I'll just pick up some SKS
fenders and throw them on there without having to mod the heck out of
them like I have in the past.
6. Components - 105 10speed is great. The brakes take some getting
used to and I got some good squeal coming down a big hill last night.
I think that once I get it sorted I'll really like them.
Overall - I'm pretty sure it's going to be what I was looking for in a
rain bike. Once I can sort out some of the adjustments and fit I think
it'll be just right. It looks great and I'm really looking forward to
the disks for the wet.
Here's a pic of the current setup:
http://tinyurl.com/k5h2u