I picked up a 2009 Salsa Casseroll on September 13
As this is my first foray into the world of road biking, a little background might be in order. In March of 2006 m'lady and I decided to take up bicycling as a form of exercise. I purchased a big-box Schwinn Ranger and a fat, overstuffed saddle. We rode less than once a month on the local MUP rail/trail and put the bikes away in October. We pulled the bikes out in April 2007. On that first ride we rode for two hours and discovered that we had missed riding over the winter. We started going out every weekend (sometimes twice) and continued riding all winter long (although a good bit less frequently after Thanksgiving). This spring I upgraded to a Trek 7300 hybrid, which I put about 1500 miles on before I rode my first supported century in August. I enjoyed the distance ride so much that I started looking for a better long distance bike. I didn't want a touring bike, as my goal wasn't touring, but randonees and brevets, so I zeroed in on steel frame. I also have some financial restraints, so Waterfords and Rivendells are out of the equation.
Having said all that, here's what I discovered about the Salsa, and road bikes in general.
First: The frame is CroMoly and is TIG welded, not lugged. I thought that a steel frame would be heavier than the aluminum hybrid. I was mistaken. The Salsa is light enough to lift onto a car rack with one hand. The ride is not particularly harsh, but my only frame of reference is the fully suspended Trek.
Second: Even having significantly raised the handlebars (look at all the spacers), the riding position has taken a lot of getting used to.
Third: Doing stretching exercises and core exercises has eliminated lower back discomfort that I was worried about with the a road bike.
Fourth: Compared to the steering geometry on a hybrid, the Salsa was a twitchy handful at first, but I've gotten used to the faster steering.
Fifth: The Salsa is a factory build and came with full 105 group. Shifting with the integrated "brifters" is intuitive: big lever, bigger ring/cog...small lever, smaller ring/cog. No muss, no fuss, just clean shifts.
Sixth: The stock saddle, a WTB caused some chafing during a short ride after I'd put about two hundred miles on the bike.
I have replaced the WTB with a
Selle AnAtomica, but I haven't had the time to get it dialed in, and the AnAtomica is actually painful.
Unfortunately, real life has intruded: my son was in a serious car accident (surgery to fuse two vertebrae, a couple days in ICU - he's been discharged and seems to be fine; long term prognosis is excellent); I am in the process of moving (settlement to sell my house is scheduled for this Tuesday, and I still have to move most of my crap from my house to my apartment). This has forced me to skip two supported centuries that I had signed up for, and to suspend my saddle tuning.
My riding over the last two weeks has been limited to three or four rides of only about ten miles each, but once my move is completed this weekend, and assuming that my son's convalescence continues at a favorable pace, I plan to get in a LOT more saddle time...after all, I have another century scheduled on the 26th
