New bike in town ....

After much consideration (and a lot of reading at the CF-forum) I decided to replace my Z Pro with an Alterra Road. I ordered a frame from Nanda Holz at Spincyclz.com and had my local bike shop transfer the parts from the Z Pros' frame to the Alterra. At least, that was the plan. I wanted a drop bar with STI shifters on the Alterra, but since that's not available in 9-speed anymore, I've had to have the 10-speed version installed, which also implied having a new set of cogs at the rear wheel and a new chain. Well, okay then. I took my Z Pro and the Alterra road frame to my bike shop last week and picked my Alterra up yesterday.

And .... wow ! Nice looking bike ! Just like the yellow of my Z Pro, the red of the Alterra looks kinda dull until the sun hits it, then the sparkling little things show up nicely :

First thing I checked was the space between the rear tire and the brake bridge. And yes : there is plenty of room ! Real nice !!!

I also had the original carbon seat transferred from the Z Pro, because there's no carbon seat pan (yet) for the Alterra line of bikes. I did order an Alterra seat with the Alterra frame but will stick to the Z Pros' seat for now, let's find out how it'll work out.

Riding home from the bike shop felt pretty weird, it has been more than 10 years since I last rode a bike with drop bars and it'll probably take some time to find a proper position on it. Riding the bike standing up is indeed much easier on the Alterra than it is on the Z Pro. I never rode my Z Pro standing up because it felt weird, on the Alterra it feels more natural so I think I'll be doing it whenever necessary.

I asked my local bike shop to double wrap the handlebars with tape for more comfort, since there seems to be more weight on my hands. I remember that when I used to put my Z Pro next to my 700X, both the handlebar and the seat were at same level. Not longer so : the Alterra Roads' seat is a bit higher and the handlebar a bit lower. I still can change the height of the seat, but not that of the handlebar, so I'm curious what it'll work out in time.

I had too many issues with my lower back on the Z Pro and that's what kept me from riding it. Let's hope that the Alterra geometry solves this issues, but since there's only one way to find out, I'm afraid I have to ride it. A lot .... Poor me, life's just too hard sometimes ;-)