March 24, 2013

Now I Have One

We all know that when Chuck wants new equipment, he searches Craigslist and ebay to find all the parts, then he builds what he wants. 

I'm just the opposite, when I want new equipment, I check my bank account and then shop accordingly. 

Well Chuck just finished the build of his adventure bike, and you know I can't let Chuck go out and have fun without me, so I needed a adventure bike too.  Chuck tried to convince me that I should build my own adventure bike, but anyone who knows me, knows that I am not mechanically inclined.  Next I had Chuck on the hunt to find a used bike, but the problem was everything he could find was too big for me.

So then I started searching for the perfect bike.  I looked at Felt, Specialized, Giant, Trek and Cannondale.  When it came down to it, I was torn between the Trek and the Cannondale.  I really liked that the Trek had tubeless ready wheels, but the Cannondale have Ultegra components verses 105 on the Trek. 

One minute I was sure that I was going with the Trek, and the next minute, I was back to thinking Cannondale.  When it came down to the line though, the Cannondale SuperX won.  I chose the SuperX because it came a 44 which was the size I needed.  The smallest Trek they make is a 50, so it was going to be too big. 

So the Adventure bike is the first Cannondale I have ever owned, I will be putting it to the test, gravel racing and cyclocross racing on it.

I ordered the bike and it was going to take a week to arrive, it did, but it arrived with missing brake parts, so it took another week to get the brake parts in. Once they arrived, Matt at the Cyclery got it put together and fitted for me.

Matt putting on the final touches

This is my new baby

The brake parts finally came in
 
The reflectors came off, I'm not getting caught racing with those on



So I took the adventure bike out on it's maiden voyage and I loved it, well everything except for the seat, I will be getting a new seat.  My butt needs more surface area than that seat has.
 
My first ride
After putting the SuperX to some real tests, I will be back to give you a full review.  Thanks to Matt for getting me setup and on the road, and to Andy for helping me pick the right bike for me and last but not least, to Allan for working his magic and making the bike fit my budget.

March 11, 2013

Great Graveyard Gravel Grind

Video from the Graveyard Gravel Grind on 3/10/13.  3/10 was the changeover to Daylight Savings Time.  The quasi-holiday was good enough reason for us to set up a mini-adventure day.



Checkout Superkate's great report of our adventure day here.

And Patrick's awesome video here.