Have had a new Specialized Allex Elite (via CTW) for three weeks now but have not used it as the weather has been so crap, was still crap today but I thought sod it, cant keep it clean for ever and people being overly precious about their bikes gets on my nerves, if its dirty, clean it, if its broke fix it !
Kept it real in the commuter style with an Altura NightVision jacket, I did not don team replica Lycra and procure energy drinks and bars, nor did I get snigffy about other cyclists, I didnt see any but if I had I would be extra nice, I dont want to be considered the BMW driver of the cycling world !
So normally I have a Cannondale Bad Boy hybrid with rack and panniers but was on the Allez today, I cant see me going back to the Hybrid, the ride is lovely on the Allez, taut without being hard like the Cannondale, the Bottom Bracket being lower means for the same seat height you get your straighter and it feels more efficient.
I was expecting it to feel a bit more edgy and nervous but if anything it feels more reasurring, the tyres make a nice buzz on the tarmac and it feels grippier.
Saddle is rather skinny but seems to work better, I put a gel cover on the one on the Cannondale but I dont think they are really a good idea, a proper saddle that has your sit bones on the pads seems to work better, the gel cover tended to end up with a cleaving action rather than sitting on it.
Bar wise, I really missed drops (had a borrowed cheap road bike when I started) when I got the Hybrid but got used to it, still missed bieng able to shift postions as much but loved the Sram trigger shifters, really nice going back to drops though, shifters work pretty well but not as easy with winter gloves, still, wont be for long I hope.
I enjoed the refreshing jet of gritty water, It reminds me why I fitted guards, on the to do list now, part of commuting is getting a sexy lookin new bike and making it look all geeky and sensible
Speed wise, definitely is quicker, I suppose being lighter, 5 mm narrower tyres and me being in a better position, kept hitting 20 mph on the flat without that much effort, on average I would say its 1 - 2 mph faster. it may be that its a different computer but it felt faster, you get fairly tuned to speed on a bike I find and can usually guess your speed without looking at the speedo.
Brakes, it was always onto a loser her, Cannondale has the Hope Mono Mini's off my old MTB so stops really well, the Allez, well, doesnt, certainly not on a drizzly morning and having to go onto the drops to get some decent retardation takes some getting used to again, not fair to compare on a wet morning on brand new brakes but I think it will require me to rely less on braking power and anticipate better.
Luggage, panniers are great, it was weird to have a rucksack on again but didnt notice after a little while.
Noticed I was working a bit harder this morning, dont know if it was just me or the extra speed is that the set up of the bike is just it allows you to easily expend more energy wheras with the hybrid the law of diminishing returns kicks in earlier, might be psycholigical, might be me having a lazy wekeend with booze, curry and Oreo biscuits ?
All in all, thrilled with it and can see how roadies attain/maintain that extra speed, managed a 17.5 average best on the Hybrid over my commute, hoping to improve on that.
Kept it real in the commuter style with an Altura NightVision jacket, I did not don team replica Lycra and procure energy drinks and bars, nor did I get snigffy about other cyclists, I didnt see any but if I had I would be extra nice, I dont want to be considered the BMW driver of the cycling world !
So normally I have a Cannondale Bad Boy hybrid with rack and panniers but was on the Allez today, I cant see me going back to the Hybrid, the ride is lovely on the Allez, taut without being hard like the Cannondale, the Bottom Bracket being lower means for the same seat height you get your straighter and it feels more efficient.
I was expecting it to feel a bit more edgy and nervous but if anything it feels more reasurring, the tyres make a nice buzz on the tarmac and it feels grippier.
Saddle is rather skinny but seems to work better, I put a gel cover on the one on the Cannondale but I dont think they are really a good idea, a proper saddle that has your sit bones on the pads seems to work better, the gel cover tended to end up with a cleaving action rather than sitting on it.
Bar wise, I really missed drops (had a borrowed cheap road bike when I started) when I got the Hybrid but got used to it, still missed bieng able to shift postions as much but loved the Sram trigger shifters, really nice going back to drops though, shifters work pretty well but not as easy with winter gloves, still, wont be for long I hope.
I enjoed the refreshing jet of gritty water, It reminds me why I fitted guards, on the to do list now, part of commuting is getting a sexy lookin new bike and making it look all geeky and sensible
Speed wise, definitely is quicker, I suppose being lighter, 5 mm narrower tyres and me being in a better position, kept hitting 20 mph on the flat without that much effort, on average I would say its 1 - 2 mph faster. it may be that its a different computer but it felt faster, you get fairly tuned to speed on a bike I find and can usually guess your speed without looking at the speedo.
Brakes, it was always onto a loser her, Cannondale has the Hope Mono Mini's off my old MTB so stops really well, the Allez, well, doesnt, certainly not on a drizzly morning and having to go onto the drops to get some decent retardation takes some getting used to again, not fair to compare on a wet morning on brand new brakes but I think it will require me to rely less on braking power and anticipate better.
Luggage, panniers are great, it was weird to have a rucksack on again but didnt notice after a little while.
Noticed I was working a bit harder this morning, dont know if it was just me or the extra speed is that the set up of the bike is just it allows you to easily expend more energy wheras with the hybrid the law of diminishing returns kicks in earlier, might be psycholigical, might be me having a lazy wekeend with booze, curry and Oreo biscuits ?
All in all, thrilled with it and can see how roadies attain/maintain that extra speed, managed a 17.5 average best on the Hybrid over my commute, hoping to improve on that.
