Very nice, NWG!
Good to hear from you, Rebecca. Best wishes to you and Alex on that different road!
I led a ride on Sunday in northern Maryland, 58 miles. It was summer in October, and most of us were less acclimated than we thought we'd be to sunshine, humidity and temps in the 80s. We ended up adding an extra rest stop for water and few minutes in air conditioning. Overall it was a great ride, very scenic with farmland, creeks and rivers. One person thought the route was too zig-zaggy but when I plan a route I go for narrow back roads over direct routes with traffic any day. Another person made a wrong turn and got pretty lost, but fortunately he passed a cyclist who was out riding alone and who helped get him back on track.
The new bike has been ordered, along with a new saddle and pedals. The free-gift bike to be traded in is also on order.
I have a Rivet Independence on my Madone and generally like it. It solved a lot of saddle problems for me. The only thing I would like to change on it is that it somewhat dome-shaped in back. I decided to order a Rivet Pearl to try on the new bike. It has a flatter profile. It's also 1 cm wider. The Indy is just barely wide enough for me, so I'm hoping that extra cm on the Pearl won't be too much.
It will probably be sometime next week before I am able to get fitted on the new bike. They didn't have one in my size to test when I went to the LBS the other day, but there was one that had been sold but not picked up yet that I was able to sit on quickly to check the reach. After comparing the geometry to my 54cm Madone, we had thought the 52 Checkpoint frame would probably work for me, but the fitter at the LBS thought I should try the 54. He measured my arm/shoulder angle on it and said I was right at the upper limit, so we will probably put a slightly shorter stem on it.
I have asked several friends for input re: tires for the bike. I will start out with the stock gravel tires which are 700x35, but I expect I will want something smoother and a bit narrower when I use it on mostly paved rides. I am finding that everyone has different and very strong opinions. So I'm still not sure if I'll want 32 or 28 for road rides. It looks like I will need to experiment with tire pressure, regardless of which one I go with. Also everyone wants me to give up on Gatorskins in favor of something with a smoother ride, no matter how much I tell them that I really really really do not want to be on a dark road at 10 pm wasting the last bit of headlight battery as I try to find the glass that caused a flat. Nor do I want to freeze my fingers off dealing with flats on a winter daytime ride. I'm already content with Gatorskins, I just am not sure which width to go with.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles