New Bike!

Okay, this post is so old and crusty, but that's just a measure of how busy I have been. That's a lie. I am a horrible procrastinator. But I am working again and it is really amazing how much one can get done when there is a lot of stuff to be done and not nearly as much time. I was going back through the half-written posts and found this one languishing. Since this a leadup to other posts, I figure that this one should see the light of day.

I have a new bike. A brand new 2008 Kona Sutra.
This bike was the result of much agonizing and contemplation, and a whole bunch of hunting around.

Some basics: I test rode the 54C frame, which is Kona's odd size naming scheme for this frame. With very little adjustment, this frame fit me quite well. Stock, it has a lot of what I was looking for in a bike: Avid BB7 Road disc brakes, steel frame, bar-con shifters, and a full complement of mounts. Some added bonuses were three bottle mounts, outboard bearing crankset, Deore XT Shadow rear derailleur, front and rear racks, and 36h wheels on ISO Deore hubs. As such, there was little that I would want to change upon getting my bike home.

But there were still things that needed changing. The brake levers were definitely not my favorite as they did not fit my hands well. I am not a big fan of panniers, so the racks had to go (but I like having options). Narrow saddles don't fit my wide hips too well, so the really nice saddle got replaced by my Brooks B17.

Because I would be logging serious miles on this bike, I figured I should spring for the full fitting. I had the cockpit fitted to me with a wider set of Salsa Short & Shallow 44cm wide bars, Tektro R200 levers (my favorite!)(and an incredible value!), and a slightly shorter stem.

Among the other changes are higher Q-factor on the left crank, cleat positioning, and saddle positioning. It's all a bunch of subtle little changes that add up to a really custom feel on the bicycle. I highly suggest a full fitting; save room in your bike budget if you think you can't afford it. The fitting can make a $1200 bike feel like a $3000 bike.

And then there's my ongoing bag fixation.

The bag fixation continues. Stay tuned.

Now that I have been logging miles, I am actually not such a big fan of the B17. That is going to get replaced with a Selle Anatomica this week. There are three kinds of people when it comes to Brooks Saddles: those that love them, those that hate them, and those that haven't tried them. I am now a few thousand miles into this saddle and it's just not for me.

This bike is going to be my weapon of choice for my upcoming adventure. Stay tuned for more on that...