Training Log Archive: cmorseIn the 1 days ending Sep 18, 2009:
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Friday Sep 18, 2009 #
Other ('bent test riding) 2:00:00 [3]
Spent a couple hours at the BicycleMan in Alfred test riding a variety of bikes in anticipation of trading up in the near future.
First bike they had me try was the RANS X-Stream - the bike that won the 4-man category at RAAM this year - beating all the upright 4-man teams. They had high-racers on the van if needed for climbing, but the X-Stream proved a good climber and fast elsewhere - 50-60mph on downhills. Bike definitely was nice, but I'm leaning toward a SWB this time around, so most of the others I tried were of that design.
Tried a couple of Volaes, Bachettas, P-38 - I liked the dual 26" Giro the best of the lot - good acceleration, disk brakes, nice low speed handling. Not the lightest of the bunch, but seems light enough for my riding.
Also tried a LWB with a BionX electric hub motor for kicks - pretty nice system - it adds an assist to your pedalling effort - 25% up to 200% - on high I would pedal a couple rotations, then the BionX would kick in and it felt like someone gave me a massive shove from behind - I found it pretty effortless to crank along in the low 20's on the flats - didn't try any hills - but it would be neat to build up a cheapo commuter with one of these systems - adds a ton of weight to the bike, so doubt I'd put it on a pleasure riding bike, because then I'd have to lug all that hardware and batteries around when the batteries died - they're only good for about a 20 mile range.
Would have riddne some more, but didn't want to trash my legs before the weekend...
First bike they had me try was the RANS X-Stream - the bike that won the 4-man category at RAAM this year - beating all the upright 4-man teams. They had high-racers on the van if needed for climbing, but the X-Stream proved a good climber and fast elsewhere - 50-60mph on downhills. Bike definitely was nice, but I'm leaning toward a SWB this time around, so most of the others I tried were of that design.
Tried a couple of Volaes, Bachettas, P-38 - I liked the dual 26" Giro the best of the lot - good acceleration, disk brakes, nice low speed handling. Not the lightest of the bunch, but seems light enough for my riding.
Also tried a LWB with a BionX electric hub motor for kicks - pretty nice system - it adds an assist to your pedalling effort - 25% up to 200% - on high I would pedal a couple rotations, then the BionX would kick in and it felt like someone gave me a massive shove from behind - I found it pretty effortless to crank along in the low 20's on the flats - didn't try any hills - but it would be neat to build up a cheapo commuter with one of these systems - adds a ton of weight to the bike, so doubt I'd put it on a pleasure riding bike, because then I'd have to lug all that hardware and batteries around when the batteries died - they're only good for about a 20 mile range.
Would have riddne some more, but didn't want to trash my legs before the weekend...