Modern bike

Some posts ago I mentioned that I bought a new bike last year and that I was going to write about it.  Here is that post.

I bought a NEW bike.  It was so new that it was from the future:  a 2020 model that was already available in 2019.

I had fun buying the bike.  I went to my favorite local bike shop, Champaign Cycle, one day last fall to check out the selection of new Trek bikes.  I took 3 test rides:  2 on a slightly too small Domane and one on a slightly too small Emonda.  The Domane felt interesting, but odd.  Neutral handling with big tires but sort of fast feeling.  The Emonda felt like any/all of my previous road race bikes (e.g. my departed Look KG 381).  I ordered a red Domane in my size, and picked it up a week later (after a business trip to Denver).

Here is how you know that you're buying a fancy bike:  it doesn't come with pedals.  I had the shop install my trusty, 15 year old Ultegra road pedals.  At home, I replace the saddle with the racier saddle that was on my old Trek previously.  Tires were changed from the stock 32 mm to my super duper fancy Compass (now Rene Herse) 35 mm tires.  A few weeks later, I replaced the -6 degree 11 cm stem with a -17 degree 13 cm stem (I still need to cut the steerer tube).  The rest was left alone.

This is my first bike with:

• disk brakes (hydraulic!)
• through axles
•  integrated bb spindle cranks
• 11 speed cassette ( I did have 10 speed at one point before dropping back to 8)
• tubeless compatible rims (I'm using tubes)
• aero shaped frame (frame tubes are HUGE compared to 531 steel tubes)

My Wild Card friends didn't recognize me on the first group ride with this (granted, I don't ride enough with them in recent years).  Instead of being on my 1982 skinny tubed steel classic, I was on a super modern looking brand new bike.  People congratulated me.  I was special, the guy with the new bike.

Mercifully, we have had a few nice weekend days this winter.  Off in the horizon you can see the forbidding Mt Block, possibly the biggest climb within 50 miles of my house.  Also observe that I moved my fat thumb away from the lens!

 This is what I see when I look down.  Clean!

Very modern, no?  The frame has some micro-suspension elements at the seat tube and headset area.  I'm not sure that I can tell how much difference they make.  I like that carbon fiber enables engineers to design features like this.  The frame is lively in a sort of stiff feeling way.  Why?  How?  I don't know, but it rides so, so well.  5 stars!  Both thumbs up.

I picked up the bike a few days before the IL Kanza gravel race last fall.  It had rained a few days before, and I wasn't ready to sully the brand new bike.  So I rode the old Trek.  Guess what?  That bike is still really great.

I placed okay in the race.  Perhaps I could have done better if I had taken off my windbreaker before the race (pretty chilly morning that warmed up quickly).  Below you can see that I got it half-way off.  I roasted very quickly and dropped off the lead group (below photo taken by Der Kaiser).

Should you buy a bike like this? 

• Yes, if you ride lots and have a good job.
• No, if you don't ride much or would rather spend your money on vacations or medical bills.