Sunday, May 6, 2012

FrankenBianchi shakedown, longish ride, first in a while

Today, my wife and I joined a large group and did a covered bridge ride with the Green Mountain Bicycle Club. It was an awesome day to ride and we took advantage of it. We got in 30 miles of very punchy terrain. It was nice to be riding and putting the new set up of the San Jose to the test.


Let's start with the build. The woodchipper bars are absolutely lovely. I like the flare on them. It allows for a more natural and comfortable position of the wrists when you are in the drops. They are the narrow ones and they work perfect for a road bike. The fork is nice. It had the good feel I like of a steel fork and the rake and trail make for a very stable ride. I feel (or at least want to) an improvement over the old fork. The disc up front is a very nice added feature. It seems a bit underpowered when I first took it for a small spin. After my ride today, I feel that it has worked it self in real nice. I would prefer hydros over mechanical but that is a different time with a different bike. The dynamo hub is yet to be tested. I don't have a light yet. I am sure that it will be just fine. The only other thing that I did on the bike is put a new canti on the rear. I went with Avid Shorty Ultimate. It is a sweet brake that sets up real nice. I love the engineering that went into it. It is powerful and smooth.


Other than that, the bike is still the same bike (aside the fact that I put a King headset on it) and it is a blast to ride. I think that this bike has the potential of being so many things. I has been a platform for thoughts and I had a really nice bike in mind in the future.

I felt pretty good today on the bike. My fitness level has dropped quite a bit. I have this week coming to ride a bit before my 200k this coming weekend. Should be interesting. I look forward to the butt window. I have a bigger picture here and I need to step it up!

For the meantime, I have to focus on something real important to me:


2 comments:

Apertome said...

That's quite a transformation for the Bianchi. What a versatile, useful frame. Seems like you will go far in this configuration. Also, I'm glad you got out for a good ride!

Unknown said...

Hi Wil.

Glad you got out too. Did you guys have the same endless headwind? It was a beautiful day.