My New Toy

"That only took 3 months........right?"

After spending WAYYYYYYY TOO MUCH TIME comparing/contrasting, researching blogs/ sites, shipping, store options.....I have finally purchased a bike from REI. That nutty looking touring bike with the butterfly trekking bars will be delivered to the Denver Flagship store for assembly sometime between the 10th-16th.

It's another one of those odd color combination that REI/Novara is (in)famous-for. A "Baby Shit" Brown with Olive and White acccents around the logos. It's gonna get even uglier when I add black fenders. I'll likely go with "flip flop" pedals eventually for touring, but I might keep the old-style clip/cage pedals on it for a while? I think it will be quite refreshing to forego those silly shoes for a bit.

So, as to tricking it out....along with the fenders, I want a better computer (cadence info would be good), I'll prolly wait on the pedal change, put a bell on it, maybe a light, maybe a mirror, a second bottle cage, and maybe a trunk bag (since it'll already have the rear rack). The one guy at the store said that the saddle that comes stock is a good one, and that swapping it out as junk would be a mistake. That surprised me, as it seems that saddles and racks are almost always ditched from stock tourers as trash right at purchase. I may hold-off on getting my Brooks and see how this thing feels for a few rides first. The rack should be good enough for small loads/commuting and since I'd think peremptorily trading-up for something better has no advantage to just buying later, I'll leave that thing alone for now as well.

I wavered between this thing and the Surly LHT, and just couldn't find the combination I needed: a store I like/trust to build it free, then fit it free, then support my purchase through killer warranty, tuneups and such. To get the Surly I was going outside the bounds of that dynamic that I felt was important, so I said no.......plus it's at least $250 more.

Now, about those funky handlebars.......I sure hope they're worth the extra weight and bulk. Hope I have comfortable, effective hand placements for all sorts of grades and winds, like I expect. Drop bars are what I know and love, and these are a radical departure from that style. It'd sure be bonus if I could lean on them like Aero bars, but that may be pure folly....?

Grip SRAM shifters? They're supposed to be decent, low maintenance, "intuitive" shifters. I hope so!....again, a big change.....along with horizontal break handles.

Brakes might also need an upgrade, but I'll wait to see how the real possibility of "pass-crossing, multi-day, self-supporting Colorado touring" develops.

Did I just spend a bunch of money foolishly?

We shall seeeeeeeeeeeeee.........

-r