As earlier reported, I got myself a Cannondale CAAD 10. Though I'm no expert, I wanted to write a little review. As I said earlier, this is my first road bike, so take my comments with appropriate measures of salt.
Coming from my commuter bike the three things which stand out are the weight, the posture, and the ride. This new bike weighs 1/2 of what my GT Tachyon does, I swear. I'll have to do some measurements to find out. The lighter weight gives an impression of floating, a bit. Which is great and liberating, but also a bit disconcerting, especially when navigating traffic. (Its gonna be interesting in a year when I start thinking the CAAD is too heavy!) But the weight difference really lets you push and levels out the hills. Its relatively easy to achieve speeds of 20+ MPH, though it looks like I can sustain a speed of about 18-19 on the flats if I push it.
The posture's going to take some getting used to. Because of the way the body is hunched, you have to put too much weight on the handlebars. This was leading to numbness in my fingers. I asked about this in the bike shop, and the salespeople all sort of shrugged and asked if I was varying my hand position (not very helpful). However, one sales person thought to suggest tilting the handlebars slightly to alter my hand position when on the hoods, and did so. The second half of the ride from the bike shop was far more pleasant. Numbness is clearly a fact of life for cyclists, and managing it is probably the best I can hope for.
As to comfort, the more upright posture on my commuter bike is definitely more comfy, but I feel plenty strong enough to support myself on the road bike, and don't think back/neck issues will be a problem. The salesman suggested that many aches and pains would go away as my "core strength" increased. That I believe, because I noticed that when I was hovering over the saddle and pumping hard, the pressure on my hands decreased, and since I was out of the saddle, the pressure on my butt decreased, too.
Which sort of leads to the ride. The combination of unique posture and really low weight makes the bike feel a bit jumpy compared to my commuter bike. Cornering is easier, as is riding really slowly (like when waiting for a light that's about to turn green, and not clipping out). Riding fast is clearly easier, too. What seems to be harder is steering a slow to moderate speeds. The front end turns more quickly, leading to a jumpy feeling. This I suspect will diminish over time as I become a more astute rider.
Well, all that and only two rides under my belt. The weather is fine here in Sacramento. I can't wait for Saturday!
I love riding my road bike to school. Last school year, I rode almost every day (and never once won the effing 'green' award). I don't recommend getting used to the numbness in your hands. Sounds like a recipe for injury.
ReplyDeleteI love my road bike so much now that it's hard to ride anything else. Have fun!