One Bike, One Ride....

On Friday after work, went to the Spin Cycle (thespincycle.com) to pick up a bike for a test. Kevin let me have the bike for the weekend so I can give it a test while going out for my normal Saturday ride with my NRRG (North Raleigh Ride Group). 42 miles along the "Flat Rock" route (also known as the "Bueller" route) provided a good test. I must admit it was a bit handling all the changes in one ride. First I was one of only 2 people on the ride that had done this ride as thus had to "keep my head in the game" in order to give directions to the group as the where and when to turn. Second this was a whole new bike and bike material to me. I had never ridden a "carbon fiber" bike before so the feel was VERY different than my aluminum bike. Second this bike had a "compact crank" so the feel shifting was quite different as well. My current bike has a front "triple" chain ring and this newer bike has just two chain rings. I guess that it would be helpful to reiterate what it was that I got for a loaner for the weekend: It is a Specialized Rouibaix  with Shimano Ultega SL group components. This bike not only made up of a different material, Carbon Fiber, but is  what is called "Compact Geometry" as well. Yes, there have been many many changes since I last purchased a bike. Impressions....the thing sure accelerates well! When you really put a lot of "umph" into a pedal stroke on a flat it really is translated into forward motion quite quickly. The compact crank and different shifting I would really have to get used to. It does, however, seem quite responsive. I really want to save my final opinion until I have ridden all the bikes that I am going to test, so as to make a fair judgement and assessment. 42 mile ride with some good hills and a bit of a headwind going on the outward portion and a nice tailwind on the return with a final average speed right around 18 miles per hour. Like the title of the post says....one ride, one bike....more to come...we shall see...time will tell!