Took delivery of my Via Nirone last night. A very exciting moment, as I have been pottering about on my Spesh Rockhopper (YOM 1995), which I thought was not too bad, but after my exploratory ride on the Bianchi last night, very quickly realised it's deffo a BSO now.
This is my first road bike since I was a teenager, and my God has the game moved on!
I had some apprehension about going clipless because EVERYONE I know has had a clipless moment at some (early) point in their acclimatisation phase. I reckon I got some kind of a record with mine though. After practicing for a few minutes while stationary, I reckoned it was pretty straightforward and took off on a little pootle down a quiet street around the back of my house. I got about a 100 yards in when at a narrow section, a very nice lady driveer came hammering down the lane the other way, overtaking parked cars and seemingly totally oblivious of my presence on the road aimed straight at me. My only way to avoid impact was to head for the pavement, pronto, but struggling as I was to unclip one foot, I also tried to brake at the same time - and lo and behold - the brakes on the Bianchi actually work, in rather stark contrast to my BSO - I only snatched at the front brake as the said car was approaching fast, with the same force that would have resulted in a small speed reduction on my BSO - and achieved a spectacular dismount over the handlebars, with the bike following behind me. Am not altogether sure what happened during my landing, but I ended up standing on my feet, with just the tiniest road rash on the palms of my hands, and no damage to my bare knees. Must have achieved pedal dismount in mid flight, as the bike was lying on the floor behind me, and some kind of a somersault, via my hands, and straight back onto my feet. As you can imagine I was horrified at the pottential damage to my beautiful bike, but upon inspection the only damage was a scrape to the handlebar tape. Miraculous. Kind lady made sure I was all right by driving off at full speed. I am actually not sure she even registered my presence.
The rest of my test ride went smoothly, I covered cca 15 miles in total, averaging about 16 mph. The bike is a total revelation, the acceleration, the smoothness, the manouvreability. Immense. I love the way this bike rides, and am really happy to have finally taken the plunge. Not to mention the fact that it is so very very beautiful. I knew I was onto a winner when I unloaded the bike and my GF exclaimed ''Sex on wheels!''
Big ride planned for tomorrow, 50 odd miles, and the Bianchi will become my primary commuter from next week, so it will be interesting how it shapes up against the BSO. I plan to revisit this thread with updates, and observations.
Clipless now holds no fears, all feels easy and smooth, and boy what a difference it makes to transition of power!
This is my first road bike since I was a teenager, and my God has the game moved on!
I had some apprehension about going clipless because EVERYONE I know has had a clipless moment at some (early) point in their acclimatisation phase. I reckon I got some kind of a record with mine though. After practicing for a few minutes while stationary, I reckoned it was pretty straightforward and took off on a little pootle down a quiet street around the back of my house. I got about a 100 yards in when at a narrow section, a very nice lady driveer came hammering down the lane the other way, overtaking parked cars and seemingly totally oblivious of my presence on the road aimed straight at me. My only way to avoid impact was to head for the pavement, pronto, but struggling as I was to unclip one foot, I also tried to brake at the same time - and lo and behold - the brakes on the Bianchi actually work, in rather stark contrast to my BSO - I only snatched at the front brake as the said car was approaching fast, with the same force that would have resulted in a small speed reduction on my BSO - and achieved a spectacular dismount over the handlebars, with the bike following behind me. Am not altogether sure what happened during my landing, but I ended up standing on my feet, with just the tiniest road rash on the palms of my hands, and no damage to my bare knees. Must have achieved pedal dismount in mid flight, as the bike was lying on the floor behind me, and some kind of a somersault, via my hands, and straight back onto my feet. As you can imagine I was horrified at the pottential damage to my beautiful bike, but upon inspection the only damage was a scrape to the handlebar tape. Miraculous. Kind lady made sure I was all right by driving off at full speed. I am actually not sure she even registered my presence.
The rest of my test ride went smoothly, I covered cca 15 miles in total, averaging about 16 mph. The bike is a total revelation, the acceleration, the smoothness, the manouvreability. Immense. I love the way this bike rides, and am really happy to have finally taken the plunge. Not to mention the fact that it is so very very beautiful. I knew I was onto a winner when I unloaded the bike and my GF exclaimed ''Sex on wheels!''
Big ride planned for tomorrow, 50 odd miles, and the Bianchi will become my primary commuter from next week, so it will be interesting how it shapes up against the BSO. I plan to revisit this thread with updates, and observations.
Clipless now holds no fears, all feels easy and smooth, and boy what a difference it makes to transition of power!
Which groupset did you get (Tiagra, Voloce etc.)?
As you said, most people have moments when they first go clipless. After using them for a while it will become second nature to unclip when you need to stop, and you'll barely need to think about doing it.
