Originally Posted by
noglider
Serotta, really? I'm impressed. The new model weighs only a little less than the old one, but it is so much better in so many ways. It feels lighter and nimbler, the rider position is improved in a way I can't figure out, the gearing is appropriately higher, the bike seems to bounce over bumps much more comfortably. The easies telltale sign for me is that the new model has one tail light on the fender, whereas the old model has two tail lights very low, one on each chain stay. Whenever I pick up a bike, I look for a new model since I like it so much. Oh, it also has Sturmey Archer hubs rather than Shimano hubs, and the braking effort from the hand is much lower. The brakes inspire a lot more confidence.
The new bikes do ride better, and I ride them when I have a choice. However, they don't seem as durable as the old ones. They haven't been on the road that long, but they seem to have more problems. One problem is the gears. I've run into a bunch that either skip, or they simply lose the third gear; witching from second to third does nothing. I've pressed pressed the wrench button on them a number of times (I debated doing it at first, since a bike stuck in second is not unridable, but after I started running into the problem regularly, I thought they really ought to be fixed, even if it takes them out of service for a while). I've also run in to a bunch that just rattle and squeak more than they ought to. The old bikes seem to be built like tanks, they've been on the road longer but have fewer mechanical problems, the new ones less so.