SquareDaff
Über Member
- Location
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
After having my beloved Boardman Hybrid Pro stolen from the work compound last week, the money from the insurance company finally arrived enabling me to replace it with this wee beastie:
Today was it's 1st commute after I spent last night a) collecting it from Halfords and b) setting it up. Mr Halfords Harrogate did a good job fitting the mudguards and rack. Had to reposition the latter - but he couldn't have known that as he didn't have my panniers! Only niggle with the Halfords service was that although he checked the bars for tightness steering he hadn't checked for rotation. Almost ended up in disaster as the 1st sizeable bump caused them to rotate forwards and I was on the hoods.
Got to the railway station and corrected on the train - also checked every other single nut and bolt on the bike (I know, I know, I should have done this as a matter of course!). No problems with the ride at the other end of the commute - in fact I enjoyed it a lot.
Quick review of the bike - I like it.
. The cable disc brakes aren't as "instant" as the hydraulics of the Hybrid Pro and at the moment the SRAM Apex gear change isn't as slick as that of the Rival's (although as it'll be the weekend before I get time to look at this it could just be a setup issue - so I reserve judgement). However the riding position seems more comfortable and the wheels spin easier. The wider tyres take a lot of the sting out of the pot-holed roads but do add a slight feeling of instability to the ride that I'm still getting used to (I'm assuming it's the decrease in tyre pressure). Again this could just be me adjusting. Speed wise the CX is excellent. My top speed is about 1-2 mph lower than on my road bike (which I still have and will use in summer - this is my winter bike!) and is actually faster than that of the Hybrid. Plus the wider gear range of the CX makes climbing the country lane hills easier (or that could be the placebo effect of the new bike!).
So in summary - for me - in terms of where my riding style is now - the CX is a better bike. Having said that, had my Hybrid not been stolen I'd have still ridden that quite happily.
Today was it's 1st commute after I spent last night a) collecting it from Halfords and b) setting it up. Mr Halfords Harrogate did a good job fitting the mudguards and rack. Had to reposition the latter - but he couldn't have known that as he didn't have my panniers! Only niggle with the Halfords service was that although he checked the bars for tightness steering he hadn't checked for rotation. Almost ended up in disaster as the 1st sizeable bump caused them to rotate forwards and I was on the hoods.
Got to the railway station and corrected on the train - also checked every other single nut and bolt on the bike (I know, I know, I should have done this as a matter of course!). No problems with the ride at the other end of the commute - in fact I enjoyed it a lot.
Quick review of the bike - I like it.
. The cable disc brakes aren't as "instant" as the hydraulics of the Hybrid Pro and at the moment the SRAM Apex gear change isn't as slick as that of the Rival's (although as it'll be the weekend before I get time to look at this it could just be a setup issue - so I reserve judgement). However the riding position seems more comfortable and the wheels spin easier. The wider tyres take a lot of the sting out of the pot-holed roads but do add a slight feeling of instability to the ride that I'm still getting used to (I'm assuming it's the decrease in tyre pressure). Again this could just be me adjusting. Speed wise the CX is excellent. My top speed is about 1-2 mph lower than on my road bike (which I still have and will use in summer - this is my winter bike!) and is actually faster than that of the Hybrid. Plus the wider gear range of the CX makes climbing the country lane hills easier (or that could be the placebo effect of the new bike!).So in summary - for me - in terms of where my riding style is now - the CX is a better bike. Having said that, had my Hybrid not been stolen I'd have still ridden that quite happily.
