I had the Palo Alto pretty much finished mid-week (I haven't taped the bars yet, as I'm still trying to find out if the stem is too long or not), but between work, weather, and family this Saturday was the first time I was able to take it out for a shakedown cruise. I'd been a round the block once or twice to check basic functionality, but Saturday I loaded up the seat pack and a water bottle and hit the street for a real ride.
The short story - 26 miles, 15.5mph average, 36mph top speed, and 1200' of climbing. I didn't want to wring it out too hard, but I needed to get an idea of how the bike ran.
It was an overcast day, and rain threatened throughout. I had a couple of drops hit me toward the end, but the skies didn't open up until I was safe at home for a couple of hours.
The long story - the bike rides nice. I had problems with the seat post slipping, but I got that addressed in short order. The Campy 10 speed is smooth and precise, even at the lowly Veloce level. It is a bit different than the familiar Shimano Ultegra, but the "up-shift all at once" is a real nice feature. Very handy. Climbing is still climbing - no real improvement there
, but the bike is quick and fairly lively. It corners well, and goes downhill with great stability and efficiently. It carries the flats smoothly and almost effortlessly, and even at just shy of 22lbs is easy to spin on for extended periods of time. It may be my imagination, but this bike seems to have a higher BB than usual. And the 130mm stem makes the steering feel a lot different than I'm used to - seems almost too responsive. After the ride I had a suggestion of lower back soreness, so I may swap out the 130mm for a 110mm before taping the bars. We'll see. The Chorus hub/DT Swiss R.1 wheel combo spins smooth and fast, and the high-pitched hum from the Chorus pawls during coasting time is a pleasant, almost musical sound.
Not great pics, but enough for you to get the idea. The bike is a dazzler in sunlight. The candy red metal flake makes your eyeballs ache it is so vivid, and all that shiny alloy is something to see.
