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Second week on Brigadelle
May. 3rd, 2007 06:47 pmUm, this looks difficult.
Right, so that's like a week and a half riding the new bike. I like it, it's a good machine. And yes, I did decide to name it Brigadelle* -- what can I say, it matches the color and the feel.
Things:
Which brings us back to the note above; I've dropped ten bucks on some lovely white cork tape (it'll go well with the paint job) and am trying to figure out how to do this job proper-like. (Actually, it looks kind of fun.)
Above all, this bike wants to go fast. I do, too, so we get along great.
_____
* I'm sorry, I can't easily explain the significance; the story that's from lives almost entirely in my head right now, so I don't yet have any good reference points for people. It's the name of a special suit of armor with a long history.
** And then there's "clipless" pedals, which give you an even bigger power-up, and mostly eliminate the problems with not being able to extract your foot in time in a crash. The new tradeoff they add is that you need a: special shoes, which can be uncomfortable to walk in, and b: entirely different pedals, some of which can't be ridden at all without said shoes. Like any power-up, bike parts offer no free lunch.
Right, so that's like a week and a half riding the new bike. I like it, it's a good machine. And yes, I did decide to name it Brigadelle* -- what can I say, it matches the color and the feel.
Things:
- I'm having to re-learn how to ride toeclips. If you haven't used these before: they give you a huge power-up for pedaling force and speed (especially if you're using a singlespeed and can't shift), but there are tradeoffs. To wit: you can't start from a standstill as quickly (gotta get your feet back in), and if you crash, you will crash harder (can't extract your feet in time). Plus, if you lack the appropriate humility w/r/t your trackstanding and slowriding skills, you can wipe out in situations that would be harmless with flat pedals.** All of these get less bad with practice, but are a little freaky for the first week or two.
- Road geometry and drop-bars make everything more comfortable -- except lifting your neck to get a good look at the road. If I didn't have to watch so far ahead of me, I'd be happy as a clam. All told, though, it's much easier on my body than mountain geometry. (Lordy, the wrists alone.) And there's always alternate hand positions for when I need to spyhop.
- Huh, horizontal dropouts mean that putting the back wheel on requires some actual skill.
- It wasn't quite as ready-to-run as I initially thought, though there's nothing wrong with it that won't stay stable until I can deal with it. The list of problems: the front tube has a slow leak (already bought a new one), both tires are rather agéd and have some cracking in the sidewall (the ones I've got my eye on are $15 each, front one gets top priority), and the handlebar wrap had a former life as an old innertube. And it's started to come unwound on the right-hand side.
Which brings us back to the note above; I've dropped ten bucks on some lovely white cork tape (it'll go well with the paint job) and am trying to figure out how to do this job proper-like. (Actually, it looks kind of fun.)
Above all, this bike wants to go fast. I do, too, so we get along great.
_____
* I'm sorry, I can't easily explain the significance; the story that's from lives almost entirely in my head right now, so I don't yet have any good reference points for people. It's the name of a special suit of armor with a long history.
** And then there's "clipless" pedals, which give you an even bigger power-up, and mostly eliminate the problems with not being able to extract your foot in time in a crash. The new tradeoff they add is that you need a: special shoes, which can be uncomfortable to walk in, and b: entirely different pedals, some of which can't be ridden at all without said shoes. Like any power-up, bike parts offer no free lunch.