very very nice
can you let me know how she ride's ? im tempted to upgrade and was looking at the attempt the end of last year but now they've changed it to the peloton race..
I took it for a windy 10 miles yesterday. The first 5 miles was uphill into a headwind and the last thing I rode on the road was my Boardman Hybrid pro, which I had set up with the bars low, as sporty as it gets with flat bars. That was a nice light quick bike (still is, watch
ebay in the next month or so........) and so there wasn't a massive step-change onto the Peloton.
I can describe the Peloton as very similar in geometry to the Boardman. I felt well stretched out on the hoods, and a bit hunched on the drops, but once my Christmas gut diminishes I think it'll feel a bit comfier
.
I was a wee bit apprehensive about the gear shifters, only ever having used downtube levers or trigger shifters up to press, but I needn't have worried. Within ten minutes or so I had completely got the hang of them and they felt intuitive. I was also expecting the bike to be a bit twitchy, but the slack head angle makes it far stabler than I expected. I unclipped to make my first U-turn, afraid it would snap round, but there was no need. I bought this because the reviews and geometry suggest day-long comfort before outright speed, and initial impressions are that I could ride good long distances on this.
The hill and headwinds of the A640 were as good a test for the triple as I could have asked for, and at one point I realised I had used all the gears on the way up to Buckstones. I must state that shifting was ultra-precise, very slick, both front and rear, and a massive change in sweet shifting compared with the Hybrid's Compact over MTB cassette. Very civilised, very smooth.
Brakes were intially a bit of an eye-opener after the effortless stopping power of discs, but a good handful meant the bike came under control well enough. I can't see me repeating the 50 mph plunge down Round Ings every morning until the weather improves! They felt particularly competent once I got a head of steam up on the way back down from Buckstones, and once I had got the measure of them.
The climb was a bit of a grind, with the strong wind and drizzle stopping me concentrating on the newness of the bike, and perhaps that is accolade enough.... I didn't need to spend the whole ride thinking about the bike, it let me get on with it.
A few minutes at the car park in the wet low cloud was enough. I needed to get home and warm up, so I turned it downhill and set off. F*ck me it's quick! The tailwind and the downhill combined to get me tot he other end of the gearing within about 200 metres. If anything it could do with a bigger front chainring in conditions like yesterday. I fretted about braking, but eventually relaxed and gave it its head. I pedalled out of the gears pretty quickly, so estimate 45 mph on the longest stretch. Once I got below the clouds and could see the road ahead was clear I was able to experiment with different hand positions. I was stretched rather than tucked on the hoods, but very comfortable.
At one point I managed to get a bit of a wobble on, but soon got it back in line. The final climb back up to my house has been a bit of a grind on the Boardman, and a middle grind on the MTB or even a granny grind if I'm knackered, so the fact that the Cube shot up like a gazelle says it all.
I found it fast and responsive without being too twitchy, and couldn't be more pleased with my choice.
