Shakedown ride today. Everything is pretty good. I have a bit of fiddling to do but not much.


I didn’t know what shoes to wear. I have Fiziks that I never settled into with my Look pedals so I pulled the cleats off and used them. I think they’ll work but the soles are very slick. I either need to glue something to the soles to provide friction or maybe I’ll mount some slotted cleats. I’m more inclined to do that. Even though I switched from clips and straps decades ago I seem to have solid muscle memory for flipping pedals and tightening/loosening straps. I may need to add nuts or washers to push the clips out a bit to accommodate my size 46 feet.


Saddle needs to be leveled, I keep sliding back. I didn’t bring an appropriate wrench.


“Chef’s kiss” for the branded straps. I have a set of red strap pulls for the ends.


Overall it rode very nicely. For a fork with suck minimal rake, it felt like it had strong self-centering. So much so that I wonder if the Michelins on it have particularly sticky rubber compound. It felt light, and tracked well. On sharp cornering it felt like it followed the line on the road surface compared to the Raleigh Pro Mk. I which feels like it digs in. Neither is necessarily better, but I do feel greater assurance on Pro. Time will tell.


The ride was a bit shy of 20 miles, paved for the first 14+ around the eastern shore of the Ashokan and I hopped on the rail trail for the last 5 or so. Gravel and 23s…like I did so often in Vermont on sew ups and narrow clinchers. I passed someone on a flat bar disk brake gravel something or other and when I slowed for some walkers they went by me again, only to run out of steam within a mile. When I passed again they tried holding my wheel with some success. Friendly enough exchange, and further validation of the t-shirt I was give for my last birthday which reads, “never underestimate an old guy on a bike”. I’d edit that to “vintage bike” but it probably doesn’t matter.