So, late Saturday, a reasonably priced, reasonably new bike popped up on Craigslist and it caught my eye. A 2011 jamis Coda Sport, a steel framed, 32mm tired flat bar roadish bike. I had decided to get off the hybrid, into something sportier, that I can ride further and be comfortable on. I've done 60 miles on the hybrid, but I'm looking for a little less in the vibration department. I've been having a hard time deciding if I want a big tired steel bike like the Surly Ogre, or a thinner tired carbon monster like the Specialized Roubaix. I told my wife Sunday that I might be "bringing home an interim bike", but she heard "bringing home an intern", so the bike was named before it was purchased.
Ride 1 Sunday. Quck test ride to determine if it would work out. Tires practically flat, rear derailer ratty, front brakes unusable. Perfect condition to sell a bike in. It rides bad, shifts bad, brakes bad. But people seem to love them, so I figure I can sell it for what I'm paying for it worst case scenario.
Ride 2 Monday. Air up the 28mm tires to 100PSI and pray. 5 minutes to adjust the rear derailler, another 5 minutes spent on the front brakes, and off we go. There is absolutely a different feel to steel. This bike is lighter than the aluminum hybrid, it doesn't resonate road noise, I can't tell you what size the pebbles are in the pavement. What a difference. These tires, however, suck, bad, like really bad. It may be that they are old, maybe they were abused when they were newer, I don't know what's wrong with them. They are a good tire, from a name brand manufacturer (not factory equipment for the bike), so I'm not going to toss them under the bus here without knowing the whole story. All I do know, is they aren't going to stay on this bike long. They are not round, but rather a shape resembling round, so that with every revolutionof the wheels, I get bounced up and down a few times, and the faster I go, the worse it gets. Stock saddle does not suck, factory bars and bar ends are pretty comfortable, but I'm pretty sure there is a Jones loop bar in this bikes future.
Ride 3 Tuesday. Pull off the defective 28s, transfer the 35mm Vittorias from the hybrid. The 16mm wheels are a little narrow for 35s, but it works. Frame clearance is tight with 35s, I don't think you could make 38s fit with the correct rims. And WOW, what a difference. Round tires are such an awesome thing. I actually was looking for some bad pavement sections to check the difference between what I am used to and the new bike. It really feels nice, I think a century (or two) are in order this winter.
Ladies and Gentlemen (Assuming I uploaded it correctly) I present The Intern.
It needs clipless pedals, and bottle cages, and a frame pump, and a mirror....