Ok....the first shake down ride is over and time to post some first impressions. The new bike has a name and he will be called Emanuel 2 or "E2" for short. E2 is first of all QUIET! Geez I went on the first part of the ride (an out and back short 2o mileish ride) with out music on all I can say is that not a thing rattled. NOTHING. Quiet quiet quiet.  The "setup" seems to be ok but it is a bit early to tell. I will also try to post a picture of the new "steed". The new Sidi bike shoes are fantastic and the Look pedals are just what I was used to on the old bike but only much much more "refined." The bottle cages that I have installed need to be moved just a bit so that both bottles when in use fully fit in their cages. 

E2 has great acceleration. That is to say, when you apply a good deal of effort to pedaling the resulting power and acceleration is noticed much much more quickly and noticeably. 

I guess that the biggest impression that I got was that I am out of biking shape, not shape like cardio shape but biking shape. It's been a while since I had ridden and geez it really felt like it. My effort to do this ride of roughly 2o miles at a somewhat sluggish pace of about 15.7 mph was a lot more than I thought it would be. I DO, however, know the solution to that piece of the puzzle and that is: RIDE RIDE RIDE RIDE and when you think your done ride some more. 

I do also think that about 3 to 4 months into this process I will be able to MUCH better evaluate the whole overall feel and change in bikes.

More soon....