Friday, July 27, 2012
Why doesn't it climb so good ?
Friday, May 25, 2012
Another holiday
Is it big ? Yes, it is. I guess you don't need a gps-device this size just for riding your bicycle only. But since I use the MONTANA both for cycling and motorcycling, you get the best of both worlds (long battery life and a big enough/bright screen).
Compared to where I live, it is very hilly over there. I needed all of my gears most of the time. The 700X handled everything just fine, I only found out that a couple of times my gear was not low enough (or I just can't ride up hill at all). I might consider getting a bigger cog on my rear hub to overcome that problem.
Summer really was late this year, only this last week temperatures finally got up and evenings were mild enough to be spent outside. I spent at least 3 hours a day on the bike with no real discomfort at all. The city of Aachen was really close, so we visitied this wonderfull city several times by bike. Another nice holiday spent close to home.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thoughts on riding the Alterra ....
The last couple of weeks the towing path besides the canal was closed due to work in progress : the old layer of asphalt is being replaced with a new layer. Most parts have been finished, so the potholes and most other irregularities have are now covered with a new layer. The weather has been very mild lately, which made it possible to still ride my bike with shorts and short sleeved jersey, nice ! But as you can see on the picture : autumn really has begun. Not bad, since I like the change of colors along the route ....
So, what are my thoughts so far on the Alterra Road ? I do not experience a lot of difference between the road bike's geometries, although it's obvious in some ways : there's no front wheel touch with your feet with the Alterra and it is much easier to ride the bike standing up. The biggest difference are the drop bars on the Alterra. Although these bars offer more hand positions than the straight handlebar I had on the Z Pro, I really have to wear padded gloves to prevent my hands from getting numb on some positions. It takes a while, sometimes half an hour or more, but than my fingers start to tingle so I know that it's time to change my hand position. I also notice that there's more weight on my shoulders, arms and hands with the drop bars, meaning that I'm leaning more forward on the Alterra than on the Z Pro. Is all this a problem ? Not yet. At least not such a problem yet that I'm considering installing the straight bars again. I really like the looks of the drop bars on the bike and I feel a little more on a "real" road bike when riding it. But for now, I'm still hanging on to my Alterra the way it is. Only future will tell ....
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Another cycling holiday
Although I hade one pair of bib shorts with me just in case, I never needed it. There were days that I rode my bike for 60 + miles without any discomfort, in total I had a little over 300 miles on my bike computer from last week. Pictures I took during my bike trips can be found here
Friday, September 02, 2011
Changing the seat
Useless piece of metal for the Alterra seat pan
First thing I noticed when sitting on the Alterra seat is the upward curve of the seat pan, which is more distinctive than the one on the Zenetik seat. I compared both seats before putting the Alterra pan on my bike, but both seat pans seem to have the same curving line at the back. Maybe it's because of the material that the Alterra seat pan feels different? I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm curious how the Alterra seat'll do in practice, I'm about to find out !Friday, July 01, 2011
New bike in town ....
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.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
And another holiday ....
It seems that summer already arrived early last week, sunshine all day and temperatures over 25°C. On my first ride on Friday, I reached the top of a local route. When I took the picture that is shown here, I suddenly realised that there was total silence in the midst of the forrest ! No cars, no motors, no airoplanes to be heard, just the birds singing in the trees and the wind touching the leaves. Amazing, these places are hard to find these days !
Although there are many mountain bike routes in La Roche, I stayed mainly on the roads. The 700X was no real mach for the rough MB-routes through the forests, especially not when going down. The routes were so rough with lots of big rocks and ruts from the trees that I only managed to ride downhill while braking most of the time. With lots of up -and downhills, I got more than my share of work out on the roads. Unfortunately, most of the roads were in no good condition, but that did not stop me from riding my bike.
When arriving in Biersdorf-Am-See, one could tell that you were in Germany only by the state of the roads. As usual, most of the roads were in excellent condition and showing only little damage of the past winter. I rode a new part of the Prümtalradweg around Bittburg and some parts of the Kylltalradweg and the Nimstalradweg. The Dorint hotel we spent are nights was located near a lake and with summer temperatures but no summer crowds, the location was as heavenly as in tourists brochures.
Not all was rosy though. In comparison with earlier holidays with the 700X I did not suffer from my butt. It did get very sweaty with these temperatures, but it never got uncomfortable. The only thing I noticed was my lower back. I never had issues with my back before, but lately when riding either my Z Pro or the 700X I noticed that my lower back started to hurt after a while. Especially when riding uphill. It might be that the forward reach is just a little too much for my back (and my age isn't probably helping either). It is true that I do not ride my CF-bikes as much as my recumbents, but the main idea is to ride a bike that is more comfortable than a regular bike. I'm considering ordering an Alterra Road frame and swap the components from the Z Pro. The Alterra has a different frame geometry, which might do the trick. Stay tuned to find out.