Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend…
Big weekend for cycling, even if I didn’t do any long rides as such…
First, Saturday night was a party for all the Quad Cycles riders who participated in the Mass Red Ribbon Ride and the Pan-Mass Challenge. Graciously hosted by Jeff Ichikawa at his loft, it featured a barbecue and good conversation with Bobby Mac and a dozen or more riders. And we also got to see lots of photos taken during the two rides, some of which will appear shortly on my cycling photos page.
We also had a viewing of the three hundred photos that Joseph Santos took during a Quad Cycles training ride on August 19th. Joseph has a sweet Nikon D70 DSLR isn’t afraid of using it, and so the photos page will also be graced with one or two of his shots soon, as well. The updates are coming fast now!
The photo you see at right, however, came from the official Pan-Mass Challenge photographers. It’s the first close-up shot they’ve taken of me in my five years of participating in the event, but it was really worth the wait. You can click on the photo for bigness, or you can just head on over to my newly-revised cycling page, where it’s the featured element. Verra snazzay, I must say!
You can also get to my 2005 PMC ride report from there, although I didn’t tell you that! The writeup is complete, but I’m still adding and arranging the photos that go with it before I announce it to the public. So feel free to check it out, but come back again later to see the additional photos I’ll be adding!
But wait! There’s more!
I was in the bike shops this weekend, and one of the things I did was finally replace my five year old Shimano cycling sandals. They’ve served me very well-about 12,000 miles worth!-but they’re getting a bit stinky, rusty, and worn, so I picked up replacements, which I’ve actually been looking for since before the PMC. They’re almost identical to my old pair, but I’m having a bit of difficulty with the new cleats, which are being obstinate about clicking in and out. That’s okay, though; they’ll work their kinks out soon enough.
In addition, last week I thought about the list of big-ticket items I’ve been jonesing after since getting a steady income: a new laptop, digital camera, GPS, bike, iPod, cell phone, CD player, speakers… You get the picture. When I thought about it, something became obvious: I can buy any of those things during the winter except for the bike. Bikes you have to go test ride, and you can’t get a decent test ride in January, so…
This weekend I started out test riding the two bikes I’ve had my eyes on. I’ve long wanted a light, fast road bike that also had a more relaxed fit and more supple ride than a racing bike. Racing bikes are twitchy, skittish, rough, and not even remotely ergonomic. I found two bikes that made a good compromise between speed and smoothness, climbing ability and all-day comfort. And this weekend I tried them out.
I tried them both out at two different dealers. I did a 9-mile loop around the crater-strewn roads of Belmont that include Park Street hill via Spring Street on Saturday, and a 12-mile loop in town that included Summit Ave today. Both were good tests of the bikes’ ability to deal with flats, wind, climbing, insanely rough roads, urban traffic, descents, and so forth. I put each bike through about 21 miles and nearly two hours of riding.
Months ago, I was pretty sold on the Specialized Roubaix. It’s really the first bike of its kind, that intentionally tries to produce a softer ride and more relaxed position within a bike that still can cook. But in the weeks leading up to my test ride, I discovered the new Cannondale Synapse, which has received great write-ups that make it sound as compliant as the Roubaix. It also is a much prettier bike. But the more I rode them, the more I was sold on the Roubaix.
The Synapse Ultegra isn’t a bad bike, and I might well choose it in the absence of the Roubaix. It was definitely more responsive and faster off the line and in sprints than the Roubaix, but it also transmitted more road noise to the rider. As I say, it’s a beautiful looking bike, but ultimately looks are secondary to comfort and fit, and neither shop I went to could provide me with a test bike any larger than a 56cm frame, which is kinda like putting me on one of those tiny bicycles you see clowns perform on. The final negative is that the wheelbase was so short that in a turn the front tire could hit my toes as I pedal, which is something I really want to avoid.
The Roubaix Comp Double, on the other hand, rode a bit like an Oldsmobile. It was plush and absorbed road shock, almost to the point of having a bit of boaty bounce as you ride along a straight, smooth road. It sure didn’t want to sprint or shoot off the line, but once it was spun up, it felt like it just wanted to keep going. The seat was far superior, but the clearcoat carbon finish is a bit ugly. The position is much more upright, and I tested the 58cm model. There was plenty of clearance between my toes and the front wheel when cornering, and the Roubaix had a little display of what gear you’re in on the shifter-cable, a nice design feature that the Synapse lacked.
So I’m very much leaning toward the Roubaix right now. Of course, I have to let Rustem at Quad Cycles have a crack at me, but I really don’t think he carries a bike that’ll knock the Roubaix off the top of my list. And I’m out of town next weekend (on a trip you’ll no doubt hear more about), so it’ll be a couple weeks before I jump, anyways. I might also wait a few weeks to see what Specialized says about the Roubaix for 2006.
But even if I can’t jump just yet, it’s nice to have some time to think the decision over, and it definitely was a blast trying out some new, happy wheels.