Today's session was a little bit different. I have been looking wistfully at my new bike (a Scott Addict, for those who are interested) since it arrived on Tuesday, along with the snow. Today was the first day I really felt I could take it out, not wanting it to get destroyed by grime and salt. There were some ominous looking clouds, though, so I held off and did a gym session instead. 40 mins at 355 watts, followed by 5 mins of big gear gear. The clouds looked as though they weren't going to do much though, so instead of carrying on with the gym session, I cut it short, headed home and took the new bike out for its maiden journey.
Things always go wrong on such trips. First up was the freewheel, which seemed a little stiff until I realised that there was still a packaging brace in there. Doh. Second up was the Sram gearing, which I am new to, being more used to Shimano Ultegra. Okay, eventually got that worked out and gradually got the hang of it. Third up was more of a problem: I hadn't taken a full set of hex keys with me, and it turned out that the bolts on the seat clamp weren't fully tightened. Cue a saddle that eventually had its nose pointing up by about 20% and refused to go back to the level; cue a certain amount of discomfort over the last few miles!
Problems aside, the bike is glorious: it's light (7.2 kilos, or around 16 pounds), seriously stiff and handles beautifully. It took me a little while to get used to the compact chainset. I normally use a standard 53-39 chainset, but this one came with a 50-34, which will be handy for the Bealach. (And if anyone wants to get snobby about compacts: even Contador et al use them on stages of the Giro d'Italia that match the gradient of the Bealach). Oh, and on that topic, I have posted a photo of that disconcerting roadsign at the foot of the Bealach climb, above.
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