Mind made up.

After trying really hard with the double cross, I'm terminating the relationship. I'm just not happy on that sluggish thing . Not to say that the DC is sluggish - I bet that thing would rip up trails like mad. But it isn't road.

Did I mention I actually wanted the ES when I bought my bike? LBS guy convinced me to get the DC instead. SO bitter about this, but I'm thinking smoothie would be a better bike to grow with. I need speed, thanks to the fact that I bike with a bunch of guys who are mostly faster than me. The smoothie looks like it can do light cc touring, or the odd daily commute.

smoothie review:
http://lovelybike.blogspot.ca/2012/0...essionism.html

I like that I can put a rack and fenders on it. If it weren't for my love of brifters and need for a rack I'd be getting this bike in a heartbeat. LBS guy is giving me a deal on the parts switch-over, but I need time to come up with the money.

Last time my DC was in his bike shop, he had it for a month. When I got it back it was even more sluggish than normal....oh hey, they didn't put air in the tires. 20pis, thanks jerks. Time before that they screwed up the front fender so bad I had to throw it out. SO MUCH HATE. It's still in the shop now, getting a longer stem. Hand reach on my comfortable apollo is 10cm longer than the soma. Sigh.

In other news, today I came the closest I've been to death on the roads, in the form of a giant truck nearly running off the road. I don't even get mad about stuff like that anymore. My bank called yesterday with an offer for some free life insurance, I was like, YUP.

Out of curiosity, what feels sluggish about the Double Cross? The handling? The tires? The overall weight of the bike? I'm just trying to get a feel for what bothers you about the bike.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Antaresia

After trying really hard with the double cross, I'm terminating the relationship.

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I really really thought this was going to turn into one of the more juicy relationship threads :D That's what I get for not paying attention on what's going on around here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Out of curiosity, what feels sluggish about the Double Cross? The handling? The tires? The overall weight of the bike? I'm just trying to get a feel for what bothers you about the bike.

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New tires might help, I'm actually going to switch tires (wheel sets?) before I go through with the frame switch. The smoothie can't take 32's and fenders anyway. I think the DC is going to look silly with 23's, but whatever, it looks silly now anyway with only one fender. I know it isn't a weight issue. My apollo weights more than the soma and has 32mm tires as well, but it's got so much more "go" to it. I can't explain it.

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Originally Posted by lph

I really really thought this was going to turn into one of the more juicy relationship threads :D

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to be fair, I probably care more about my bicycles than anyone I've dated lately.
: /

Interesting. A few other things that come to mind that might contribute to its slugglishness is the rotatoing weight of the wheels and tires, the DC's wheelbase, and the fork's rake and the bike's trail. Rake and trail (trail is a function of the HTA, wheelbase and rake) affect how a bike handles, from really stable (some would say sluggish) to really responsive (some would say twitchy). Although I wouldn't expect a cyclocross bike to be overly stable in its handling, it depends on what fork they used with the frame.

In any event, I'm sorry the bike's not working out for you. It's such a shame.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by indysteel

Interesting. A few other things that come to mind that might contribute to its slugglishness is the rotatoing weight of the wheels and tires, the DC's wheelbase, and the fork's rake and the bike's trail. Rake and trail (trail is a function of the HTA, wheelbase and rake) affect how a bike handles, from really stable (some would say sluggish) to really responsive (some would say twitchy). Although I wouldn't expect a cyclocross bike to be overly stable in its handling, it depends on what fork they used with the frame.

In any event, I'm sorry the bike's not working out for you. It's such a shame.

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I wish I knew more about numbers. The DC is the 52cm frame, no idea how the apollo would compare. I would say the DC is more stable though, comparatively. I went to party on the weekend on the apollo, since my friend didn't have paniers yet I loaded all our beer/snacks into the milk crate. I had to stand up to climb a hill and almost dumped my bike XD

anyway, we'll see how the longer stem works for me. 10cm difference is a lot of cm...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Antaresia

I wish I knew more about numbers. The DC is the 52cm frame, no idea how the apollo would compare. I would say the DC is more stable though, comparatively. I went to party on the weekend on the apollo, since my friend didn't have paniers yet I loaded all our beer/snacks into the milk crate. I had to stand up to climb a hill and almost dumped my bike XD

anyway, we'll see how the longer stem works for me. 10cm difference is a lot of cm...

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Are you sure it's 10 cm and not 10 mm? Most stems are measured in millimeters and it's common to go from, say a 90 mm stem to a 100 mm stem.

oh, I'm positive it's 10cm. He wasn't measuring the stem, he was measuring from saddle to drop bars. The apollo was never fitted, but if it has too much of a reach I don't feel it. I had an 80km day on it and the only problem was that my elbows were a little stiff, but I don't change hand position all that much and we did do a fair bit of gravel riding.

I have no idea what to think anymore.

Ou I just special ordered To have one built yesterday. It will be my all-rounder and we used my IF which was professionally fitted to order the best frame based on its measurements. My If fits and rides like a dream but i was looking for something for light loads and rail trail rides. I hope I'll like my DC b/c it isn't cheap!