WEK

Some of you may remember my post a while back about the KHS Flite 747 (XXXL, i.e., 67cm) I decided to purchase as my first road bike. Well, she's here! Scheduled for pickup and fitting tomorrow morning. LBS was kind enough to send a photo. Shop put her on display until my pickup because, as they put it, "Holy hell! This thing is huge. People have to see this."

2 wheeler

Good for you! New bikes are a lot of fun.

The LBS is right, it IS HUGE!!

LongT

I thought that my head tube was long!! Looks good ENJOY IT!!!

Bill

jsigone

looks awesome!! enjoy the new wheels!!!

Dunbar

Wow, it looks like a mini velo bike but it has 700c wheels.

chaadster

More like this one:



But yeah, that KHS is cool, and must be something of a godsend, since I imagine finding bikes in that size is quite difficult. Enjoy it!

chaadster

Oh god, I just noticed the 747 is shod with Maxxis Detonators, my most despised tire of all time!

The ride quality of those things is abysmal, and you should get rid of them as soon as possible, and you'll improve your ride a lot. They're like 27tpi or something dreadfully low like that; all I know is that I'd never really paid attention to tpi before I tried those tires, I guess because I'd always bought nicer ones. I had blue ones, and they did look cool, though.

WEK

Mind explaining tpi, what it means, and why it matters? I thought I had most of the cycling acronyms figured out, but that's a new one for me.

WEK

Took it out for the maiden voyage yesterday afternoon. Did 20.1 miles and only almost crashed it 5 times. Having never ridden a road bike, it's going to take some time for me to get comfortable looking down at those skinny little tires.

As for the 200mm cranks...it's not a myth. If you actually have the size to justify them, they're amazing. You just hammer out these huge powerful circles--it's great. Makes my previous cranks feel like a tricycle.

ChargerDawg

My guess is that 800 cm wheels would be more appropriate... that is just disproportionate.

WEK

Maybe. But I have to work with what I have. And the bike looks much less disproportionate when draped in my enormity. I was getting compliments on it left and right yesterday, including from members of the slammed stem crowd.

chaadster

TPI is Threads Per Inch, and refers to the tire casing. It matters because higher TPI casings are more supple, which allows for a lighter tire that feels better (i.e. smoother) and rolls more efficiently, the reason being that the more supple, flexible, casing deforms around road irregularities more readily, both maintaining more forward momentum rather than being bounced off on another vector and being transmitted into the wheel, and ultimately, into you. I also think higher TPI allows for higher PSI, which for heavier riders especially, can be crucial.

On the flip side, lower TPI tires, because they're heavier, tend to be more durable and cut resistant (esp. at the sidewalls), and are probably a little better suited to running at lower PSI for those reasons.

Practically, however, the "feel" issue is huge for me, and I think that no serious roadie concerned with performance could go from, say, a 127tpi tire back to a 27tpi one without feeling really cheated. Quality tires are well worth it, IMO.

WEK

You are a font of useful information. Thank you!

Kobe 

Is the first picture of how it was set up for you? I am surprised by the amount of seat post showing on a XXXL frame.

PolarBear007

That is a sweet looking cycle!!!! And as others have mentioned, the head tube is just crazy-long!!! I understand the reasoning behind it and I'm sure its super strong. Given the rake, I hope you find the steering isn't too twitchy.

I don't think the wheels look terribly disproportionate, but the seat tube looks way too high (admittedly, the only lens I view bicycles through is Touring so my vision is singularly flawed!).

Again, congrats on the SAAA - WEET bike!

expatbrit

Holy hell, that thing is huge! And I'm 6'7.

WEK

Believe it or not, we actually had to raise the seat post another half inch to get the fit right.

WEK

"Twitchy" is an understatement. Granted, that may just be because I've never ridden a road bike before. But it feels like I blink and this thing turns. The first time I stood up to climb...I nearly dumped it. The first time I road in the drops, I nearly dumped it. The first time I steered around a toddler on the bike path, I nearly over-steered into the river.

It took about ten miles to get used to it. Once I did, I LOVED it. To call it responsive would be to undersell it in the extreme.

Kobe 

It looks to be a fantastic bike, especially for the list price. It is great not to have to go custom. I am 6'6" and feel like I hover at the edge of most off the rack bikes, at your size it is truly amazing to be able to get one that fits.

jsigone

sounds about normal going from fat wheels to 1st time skinny road tires. The more you ride it, the more you can control the bike with your reflexes. You'll find it doesn't take much steering input on these leans, more leaning then anything at moving speeds.

But we need more pics out in the wild

WEK

It's a cycling blessing hitherto unknown. I knew my other bike didn't fit quite right, obviously, but I didn't have a full appreciation for how much better this one would be until I was on it. I'm not as skilled at handling it yet, obviously, but that will come with time. Interestingly enough, because my body had adapted to the poorer fit of the smaller cycle, I'm dealing with new soreness in new areas as my body re-adapts to a bike that fits properly. But it's a somewhat different soreness than it used to be--more muscle strain than uncomfortable pain. Except for my arse. My arse hurt on Sunday. A lot.

chaadster

Yeah, I don't think that's a particularly quick handling bike. I mean, it's got a fairly slack 72° head tube angle, so while I don't see any published rake numbers, it certainly doesn't look to be particularly high, so I'd guess it's in the typical range, which should yield a nice, stable, predictable ride. That is, once you get used to it!

WEK

The second ten miles of my first ride felt far better than the first ten, and the final five was particularly good--things started to feel second nature already.

chaadster

I certainly hope you have a blast riding it! It's a great looking bike, and right on time for the season!

kc0bbq

I'm 6'2" and I ride a slightly undersized frame (56cm Madone). It's kind of like that. All I can say is practice looking over your shoulder and keeping your line. At first every time I looked over my shoulder for a car I'd cross the road and the ditch on the other side on it and would have to pull cornstalks out of my spokes and helmet vents.

There's nothing like a road bike, though. Especially a twitchy one. I've started working on cornering at speed, and that's a whole 'nother adrenaline rush.