I took another longish ride today and I am loving the bike. The feel is unlike any other frame I have ridden. It's luxury car smooth and sports car planted. The Bicycle Wheel Warehouse DT Swiss XR 331 wheels with the Conti GP4000 S2 tires at 90 PSI feel fantastic. I am going to push pressure up to 100 for my next ride just to see how it feels, but I have a hunch I'll end up back at 90. 90 is is a pretty big improvement over 80. The TRP brakes must be starting to bed pretty well. They are much improved, but still fairly ho-hum. The front one emits a squeak every now and then. The VP platform pedals are great. They aren't too heavy for a large pedal. They are very supportive. My previous all-purpose bike was a Schwinn Super Sport GS. It has a fairly high bottom bracket and I am accustomed to pedaling through corners. The drop on the Backroad is such that I now have a character mark on my new VP pedals!

I am 5'11" with fairly longish legs and bad knees. I am finding that 175 cranks stress my knees more than 170 or even 172.5. It's hard to believe that with my 33" inseam less than 1/4 inch can make a difference, but it does. It will be a while before I tour on it, but I have no doubt it'll do that job with aplomb.