Scooped it midday Thursday. It was my first time with drop bars & didn't realize that holding onto the hoods was an option. I tried riding like I did w/ my hybrid but couldn't reach the brakes, so I rode the drops the entire way lol. It definitely is a new experience feeling so close to the ground and traffic. Riding in the drops greatly reduces drivers' ability to see me I'm guessing, so I'm glad I figured out how to use the hoods.
Also, it has downtube shifters. Had no idea how to use them initially, so I rode ~10 miles to get home in the same gear
I did notice some issues when I was trying to pick up initial momentum at stop signs where the gears felt like it dropped or quickly shifted up/down temporarily... There was like a slack in the pedaling and then a return to the expected resistance given the gear. It stopped occurring once I switched from accelerating out of a dead stop to build momentum and gradually increasing my speed. My guess is that the issue is likely due to being in a poor gear for pedaling out of a complete stop, and that it will resolve itself once I get used to downtube shifting.
It's been snowy over here but the weather is scheduled to clear up midweek and so I'll be out there getting a better feel for gear shifting and using the hoods. The front brakes didn't feel quite right, so I'll probably whip out the Allen keys and make make some adjustments after the ride. I've got 30 days under warranty so I might take the bike back to the dealer to get it touched up if the gears/brakes issues aren't worked out in my next few rides. In general though, I've already noticed the improved takeoff speed when starting at a complete stop, and how the bike just ranges/glides better than my hybrid. Also, I live on the top floor of my apartment and the bike is at least +5 lbs lighter. Happy w/ my purchase and ideally I just have to put in a few rides to tweak the feel a bit.
