Originally Posted by
ThermionicScott
How do you like the "bad azz dropz" so far? Seems like you had some skepticism of drop bars and the people who use them in the past.
Interesting. They're actually quite badly designed for commuting. For example, it would be nice to throw some hoods and brakes on there to see how that would be. They're inexpensive and kinda low-quality but I do naturally find myself putting my hands where the hoods would be and on the top bar. I guess want I have currently is like an interrupter brake lever which is quite nice when riding in moving traffic.
In synopsis, they're interesting enough to get me to try a real drops setup at some point with hoods/brake levers and interrupter levers.
Also of interest is that difference in geometry compared to the MTB. I feel that more of my effort is put to the ground compared to the MTB.
Overall, it's been quite fun and I think the bikes will end up being split like this:
in UK, just the "BSO" FGSS
in Germany, keep the MTB there so we can shoot into the alps when visiting family/friends
in CPH, keep the city bike locked outside of the flat so the couple of trips there per month
in Hungary, keep the on city bikes at the lake house because no one will steal them
so, maybe i'll take the FGSS across the country (UK) when it warms up a little
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
So let's hear some narrative! How do you like the ride, how does it compare to commuting your other bikes? Have there been any challenges that you didn't anticipate? Any pleasant surprises?
I predict that you'll easily reach your target £/km (or whatever). It's a nice bike; shoot for a couple of years and halve that!
It's quite interesting as I've never had a road bike (if it's seen that way on BF is a different question) with drops and narrow wheels and tires. I've never had a FGSS bike before (besides a Haro freestyle bike in the 80s). So, it's been quite fun. It's a different riding experience, it's much more challenging but more relaxing as I don't have to think when riding at all, especially in traffic.
As stated above, the geometry is interesting as the power gets to the ground and I like the drops as they're something different. New country, new living standards, so why not a new bike at the same time?
I'm definitely out of shape after getting the bike (Sep 2013) compared to when I left Germany (Apr 2013) because I essentially travelled for the whole period in between and didn't really work out as I was either on holiday or sleeping on people's sofas/spare beds, which made me quite fat as everyone always wants to eats and drink a lot when they have guests.
It's been good for getting me into shape as it's quite uncomfortable to ride when going below a certain speed, so I really need to maintain the speed.
It will also be interesting to see how the components last as FFGS seems quite cheap, both in cost and quality. The surface of the freewheel is already rusting for example, as are the pedal threads into the crank arms.
However, I think it will be a fun experiment to see how much use I can get out of it
