First Ride

I finished assembling my new touring bike on Monday night. I took it for a successful test ride this afternoon. Here’s what it looks like:

I have yet to install the handlebar grip tape, which is why the green electrical tape holding some cables in place is still visible on the handlebars. My impression is that wrapping bars is a bit of an esoteric art, so I wanted to make sure the cables and controls were well-positioned for riding before wrapping them.

Anyway, the bike rides great. I really like having secondary brake levers on the tops. I set the handlebar height relatively high compared to many road bikes; this results in a comfortable almost-upright posture when holding the tops, similar to my commuter. I figure I will appreciate this on long rides. Of course, with hands on the brake hoods or in the drops I’ll have new options for speedier cycling.

Here’s a close-up of the drivetrain. I selected a cassette with a pretty wide range (11 up to 34 teeth). The cogs with many teeth are the low gears, and I wanted to be able to climb and carry heavy loads with ease. The lowest available gear ratio is 1:1. On the other hand, the outer chainring has 50 teeth, which will drive those high gears to ludicrous speed (compared to my mountain bike-based experience, at least).

Posted on Wednesday, April 20th, 2011. Tags: bike.