Ok girls. I took my new baby for her first real ride today. Here are my observations...
First a little background. Been doing tri's for 4 years now, used a road bike w/ clip on aerobars from the start. I've noticed as I've gone to longer distances that I wasn't as comfortable on the road geometry and felt like I wanted a bit more aggresive position- to be dumped down in the aerobars more. This is my first go 'round w/ a tri bike.
First, It's a totally different animal. The tri bike is VERY squirrely. I actually swerved a couple of times? It was weird. I instantly realized why tri bikes are frowned upon in pelotons or club rides. Handling is an issue.
Second, my neck is really going to have to get used to being so low in the aerobars. W/the 650 wheels and the low profile a-bars I'm really down close to the ground. I really had to stretch my neck upwards to get a good view of the road ahead. I like to look pretty far beyond me so I really had to stretch my neck upwards.
Third. Not sure of the arione saddle. I love the side rails, no side chafing at all, but my middle bits were squished- bad. I was in tri shorts so I'm hoping it will be better in shorts w/ some real padding.
Fourth: very fast and very easy to get up to 20 mph on the flats. And going downhill I was FLYING!
Fifth: I can see where she is not a climber. I did fine on the rollers, but the steep hill was not so fun. If I were to do a hilly course I'd prolly pull out the road rig
Sixth: Carbon fiber ROCKS! I could feel the bumps, but they didn't bother me at all. No jarring. It was smooth as a Caddy..
And finally, the bar end shifters. Shifted pretty smoothly, but hard to get used to. I actually over clicked a couple of times and had to back track. The lever for the front cogs is nice though because it's easier to trim it out if the der. is rubbing (chain cross).
All in all I'm happy with her. But like I said it's a whole new animal. I think she's going to serve me well in the race, but I have to get used to that agressive position in the aerobars. And the saddle.. I may have to swap it out for my other one. We'll see.
She sure is a beauty though, and I even got a compliment from a mtn biker.. Of course it was my neighbor and he yelled "sweet ride, but go park her and pull out the nobbies. Lets hit the trails"...