test ride

I tested a Trek 520 yesterday. It is a touring bike and different from my mountain bike in a number of ways. The bike is lighter and faster, partially because of the thinner road wheels. Also, instead of my straight 26" wide mountain bike handlebars, it features a rams horn handlebar set that is maybe 20" across. Instead of the trigger gear shifters I've been using for the last 5 years, the gear shift is a pair of cranks at the bottom of the handlebar, which is another adjustment for me.

I rode the bike around lower manhattan with my friend Lisa. We went out to the east river path where I was able to speed up a little because of the lack of cars, but there were also a lot of people and the path surface is scheit. I then wanted to test it on a hill, so we went to the closest one around, the Williamsburgh bridge. I went over that bridge as part of my commute for nearly two years, so I'm very familiar with how my mountain bike takes it. The 520 was, of course, much faster. It took significantly less time for me to get to the top than I'm used to, then I turned around and raced most of the way down, getting from top to bottom in about 45 seconds. For those of you unfamiliar with the ramp, that's really fast.

So I think that's the bike I'm going to end up getting. I do want to test ride at least one other touring bike before I buy it, but I think I've found my new bike. My crazy plan is coming closer to fruition. I'm going to make an announcement about it in the next day or so, once I have a couple more details worked out.