new bike! part 4: road test

I was going for solid, and I got solid. My impression after one week of riding is that this is a big boy bike. I'm very happy with it. The Cross-Check has the same forward zoom that the RB-1 had when stomping on the pedals. The bigger tires absorb all sorts of road noise, and despite all the crap I bolted to it, there's not a rattle or squeak in the whole lot.

The relatively slack front end will take some getting used to. The Cross-Check is a good replacement geometry-wise for the RB-1 everywhere except the head tube angle, which is 72 degrees to the RB-1's 74. Add to that a bit more fork rake, and you wind up with a bit of weird side-to-side behavior. The RB-1 handled perfectly, never too fast or too slow. In contrast, the first time I sprinted on the Cross-Check, I felt the bars go a little funny and wound up about three feet off my line. A bit alarming, but I think that's just a matter of getting the muscle memory to find my center of balance. And other than that one quirk, I love the ride. The bike tracks dead straight in all but that full-on sprint, and has a pleasing, springy ability to go a little faster with just the slightest effort. I paced next to a cab that desperately wanted to invade my bike lane this morning on 21st Street, and when he accelerated to get past me, I just tapped the pedals a bit harder, my speed jumped up to keep pace, and I shepherded him back to the car lanes.

It's not perfect-- yet. But pretty much everything I dislike about the ride is tweakable. The Brooks saddle is brand new, hard and slippery. It will eventually break in, but It's also extremely hard to get it in the right position; it seems like the minutest up-and-down adjustment requires a front-to-rear adjustment as well, and vice versa. I'm making tiny tweaks still. I also slide all over the slick saddle, changing my balance involuntarily.

The handlebars, as well, aren't yet as comfortable as I'd hoped. When riding with my hands on the brake hoods, the outside bend of the bars catches me in the heel of the hand. Some bar/lever positioning is in the cards. Also, the drops are a bit far down for me to remain in comfortably without a few more yoga sessions. I think I may need a stem with a few degrees more rise.

All in all, though, very happy. This is a bike I know I could ride out the front door on, and make it to Patagonia.