TMoney

RIP wallet. Ended up buying a Cannondale Synapse. I had about 7-8 people who helped advise on this (thanks, Brent, Al, Nate) and at the end of the day I decided to give an endurance road bike a try. There is so much good content on YouTube as well. I really liked the GCN videos to get me up to speed on everything. The single most important factor in my choice ended up being doing the demo weekend on the Specialized Diverge. I learned: I want something that feels faster than Diverge did on road I wanted a nicer group set than whatever came on the Diverge Carbon Comp I don’t particularly enjoy riding on dirt roads (at least so far) 54 was probably the right size to get for me That I wanted carbon That I didn’t like a 1x That I didn’t want suspension Putting all that feedback together, I focused in on endurance road bikes. A bike that is not the fastest but easy to control and comfortable for long distances on road sounded like just the ticket. The Synapse seems to be a well loved bike throughout the years and now comes with a slick tech integration where the shifting, light and radar all run off a single battery. I had no light and radar to bring to the table so getting them as part of the package seemed like a good idea. People hated the v1 of the tech stuff but they just refreshed with a v2 setup that seems quite a bit better thought out. The massive down tube storage also means I can fit all the tools in there and don’t need a saddle bag. I struggled with the e-bike vs. regular bike debate. I really wanted to demo a fancier e-bike for the weekend but after calling around for hours the only e-bikes available to demo were either eMTB or motorized beach cruisers. Neither would be a good test. A co-worker also said this, which has stuck with me: “If you are buying a bike for fitness, why the heck would you buy an e-bike.” Yes, that besmirches what modern e-road bikes are, but they also are not entirely wrong. I will be giving up a lot of rides until my fitness level improves, but that was a trade off I was comfortable making. I think if I still lived in Marin it would have been e-bike all the way, but climbing is optional in the Sacramento River Valley. I’m super excited to go out and log some miles! Already failed to clip out at a stop and “pulled a Brent,” so we at least have that out of the way. The shop helped me relax the pedal tensioner so now it is a little more forgiving. Finally, celebrated the first ride with an appropriate cake. 😉

Because I am impatient, I installed the iOS/ipad release candidates. After spending a day with them, I think two things: 1) Apple’s decision to re-write the entire design language is going to make this their most polarizing in a long time, 2) I think they nailed it. I was hesitant, but after a day I can't see ever wanting to go back.

You guys are probably right. You are definitely right that looping around the parking lot is maybe the most useless test case. The MY25 bikes are out of stock for new orders and the MY26s should be incoming soon. I have a little time to make up my mind. I’m gonna try and see if I can demo a nice road bike just to be sure.

Happy birthday!

Argh, every time I’m back the bike I think “I don’t need the assist.” The point is to suffer, right? I tried the Creo and it was honestly a little overwhelming with the assist. I think i need to try some other stuff before making up my mind. A more dedicated road bike, for starters. Like giant defy/trek domane/cannondale synapse

E-bike is gonna be it for me. Who am I kidding? I’m like the bare minimum of cardio fitness to do these rides and these are the easiest 25 miles will ever be because flat farm roads. I did 50+ miles on the Diverge and I feel confident this is the right choice. I will say, I am not sure people are on about with these 1x front chain rings. Nice to have a bunch of climbing gears but I never felt like I had exactly the gear I wanted for the public roads. I'm certainly fit enough to ride a road bike around on these farm roads but I get the feel that if I go back to Marin the constant up-and-down will end me. Going faster than my power output would otherwise allow also has some appeal.

I had some fun on my first longer ride (22mi) but I haven’t felt so exposed cardio-wise in a long time. I think I’m on a bike one size too big so I’m going to try and see if the shop can swap me for a smaller one for tomorrow. My hands and shoulders are a little sore from having to stretch a little further than is comfortable to reach the hoods and drops. Very much leaning towards an e-bike so the assist will be there if i want it, but I’m going to try another 20-ish mile ride tomorrow and see how I feel. https://strava.app.link/G4g98I3TrWb

Godspeed!

If you could only pick one of your Cervelo and your Roubaix to do 75% road, 25% fire road, which one would it be?

I think gravel is the way to preserve the option of putting wider tires on. With road tires it seems like they are slightly less efficient than road bikes. Agreed on the e-assist. I'm circling the Creo and this is the most similar to it, geometry wise.

Demo’ing a Diverge Comp Carbon this weekend. I’ll take her out on some farm roads and see how she feels. Brent thinks I got the sizing all wrong (58 even though I’m 5’11”) but Brent’s bike also has been ridden maybe 2-3 times in the last year so we take his advice in proper proportion.

This Alien show rocks. Show of the year for me so far. Easily.

Drive to Survive but for Tour de France. I’m quite enjoying this. Helps that some of these stages are run on absolutely spectacular roads.

Thankfully I live out amongst the farms now. Davis is essentially an island surrounded by a sea of farmland. There are seldom used roads going in basically every direction.

Makes sense. If anything, I think my Motorsport experience helps quite a bit with awareness of other road users. I also plan on joining the local bike club and doing group rides with them as soon as I’m sure I can handle the pace and distance and have the bike control to not ram into the person in front of me 🙃