Originally Posted by
lazyeye
Thanks for the reminder. The front shifting isn't as much of a big deal as long as I have the rear in the appropriate gear first. The bike climbs well. I'm still finding where the seat height/forward-backward position is.
With a proper seat I didn't start to get miserable between my legs until about 35 miles.
I have mine set up with a gel seat, spd dual sided pedals, and wire bottle cages and mine weighs about 23#. The intermediate tires on it aren't great but they aren't terrible. Since I ride more on bad paved roads than I do on gravel I might switch to a smoother profile for less resistance.
Thanks for the follow-up. I went back to my LBS tonight since they have an end of year sale on and the last of the Anyroad 2's were probably not long for the world. That said, I had the same shifting problem with both the Anyroad 2 and CoMax versions I had on previous test runs and the guy at the LBS tried to teach me how to sync up the shifting "like you have to do with a Giant"....but by then....
I had also tested the Salsa Vaya (Claris version) for the third time and it's just a magic carpet ride of a bike. I'm not wild about the group set, but it shifted flawlessly and the ride was composed and comfortable on asphalt or the trail. The Giant is a great bike, weighs less, has better components and it would probably kill the Vaya in a race. But since I already have a bike that's built for speed, with both at 20% off the Vaya was the one that got my credit card out of my wallet.
Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to own an Anyroad and I hope all of you that own one and/or have been generous with your opinions continue to have good times with yours...