Eagle Leaves the Nest
I finally took it out for a real ride yesterday, to the supermarket to pick up a few groceries. I wimped out, riding it in single-speed mode rather than fixed, though I did take a risk in having only a front brake installed :-). It's a Tektro Mini-V brake connected to Tektro R200 brake levers (apparently clones of Campy's aero brake levers).
The Mini-V brake is intended to be used with road levers. It's got shorter arms so less cable pull is needed vs. full sized V brakes. It leaves very little clearance with the 38-559 tires though, and the levers do get quite close to the bars before giving strong braking power. I might eventually put a Travel Agent cable pull multiplier on there. I will certainly do that when I install a full sized V brake on the rear.
On this ~4 mile ride, I think the reach to the bars is too long for me, so I may need to get either a shorter stem (currently 90mm) or maybe mustache bars rather than the drop bars on there now.
I also did some extended, super slow speed riding in fixed mode just to get a feel for it and try out braking and coming to a stop. I found speed control to be pretty simple, but coming to a complete stop took several tries before I could feel remotely comfortable doing it, even on level ground. One time I tilted the bike too far to get a foot down and managed a low speed pedal strike. Ooops :-(
I also tried a few sprints--man, those are fun and the direct feel of the bike is amazing. Until my left foot slipped forward off the pedal. I ended up putting both feet up in the air and letting my speed drain going up a slight incline. Kinda scary!!! I hope never to do that again. Gotta get some clipless pedals on there.
One more annoying thing is that I can't seem to get the seat post tight enough. I had swapped the posts from a Kalloy 26.2mm two-piece post (a pain to adjust) to a Kalloy 26.2mm one-piece post, so they should be a perfect match. I think the QR seatpost binder may need replacing since I can turn it even when it's engaged as tight as I can get it.
The Mini-V brake is intended to be used with road levers. It's got shorter arms so less cable pull is needed vs. full sized V brakes. It leaves very little clearance with the 38-559 tires though, and the levers do get quite close to the bars before giving strong braking power. I might eventually put a Travel Agent cable pull multiplier on there. I will certainly do that when I install a full sized V brake on the rear.
On this ~4 mile ride, I think the reach to the bars is too long for me, so I may need to get either a shorter stem (currently 90mm) or maybe mustache bars rather than the drop bars on there now.
I also did some extended, super slow speed riding in fixed mode just to get a feel for it and try out braking and coming to a stop. I found speed control to be pretty simple, but coming to a complete stop took several tries before I could feel remotely comfortable doing it, even on level ground. One time I tilted the bike too far to get a foot down and managed a low speed pedal strike. Ooops :-(
I also tried a few sprints--man, those are fun and the direct feel of the bike is amazing. Until my left foot slipped forward off the pedal. I ended up putting both feet up in the air and letting my speed drain going up a slight incline. Kinda scary!!! I hope never to do that again. Gotta get some clipless pedals on there.
One more annoying thing is that I can't seem to get the seat post tight enough. I had swapped the posts from a Kalloy 26.2mm two-piece post (a pain to adjust) to a Kalloy 26.2mm one-piece post, so they should be a perfect match. I think the QR seatpost binder may need replacing since I can turn it even when it's engaged as tight as I can get it.
posted by Victor at 8:27 PM
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