dave thompson
09-08-2009, 03:06 PM
642 miles. Since July 20th. That should be long enough to form an opinion on how things are. That's why I titled this a 'rode' report as opposed to a 'road' report or 'ride' report, the bike's been ridden long and hard
The Taylor. It's been on the road since July 20th and has done 642 miles. It's been my sole ride, other than one day and 35 miles on the Serotta, since I built it. A terrific bike! First it fits and second it's an all-day comfortable bike. I find myself riding more miles with more smiles on the Taylor than I have on any recent bike that I can remember. It goes fast, turns well, handles far better than I can push it and has inspired more confidence than other bikes I've had. It's been a willing partner no matter where/how/when I've ridden. Paul Taylor was a fun guy to work with and his bike is fun too. Plus it's white!
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5181/taylor4u.jpg
HED Bastogne wheels. Until these wheels arrived on my doorstep, I had never, ever spent this much money for a wheelset. Almost half the price of a custom frame fer cryin' out loud! C'mon now, get real. Well whatever they cost me, I think they are the real deal. These have the new C2, 23MM wide rims. I usually run 25MM tires and when they are mounted on the HED C2 rims, they measure an actual 28MM across when inflated. Because of the larger volume of the tires now, it is recommended to run lower pressures than you would when mounted to a 'conventional' rim, so I ran about 7~10 psi less than usual.
Because of the lower tire pressures, the ride is smoother, the sharp bumps and jolts are reduced, the road buzz from the chip seal is greatly muted, still there but not at all intrusive. Also the handling feels more precise, no tire squirm or deflection. The tire sidewall is almost even with the rim and the tire shape is more gentle and doesn't fall off the sides.
I've these wheels on the Taylor for 220 miles and they were a huge improvement over the previous wheelset, which I thought were very good until I tried the HEDs.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7288/hedh.jpg
Ultegra 6700 components. A new bike, new wheels, why not some new components? I bought a 6700 group and installed the shifters, deraillleurs and brakes. I put off using the 6700 crankset, cassette and chain because I was happy with the CarbonLord carbon crankset, IRD 11-30 cassette, a new KMC chain and I wanted to see if these components would play well with the new 6700 stuff and they do. The shifting of the 6700 is quite different than the 6600 and 7800 components that I've had. It's much easier, smoother and I'll call it 'softer'; no hard clicks or bangs. Move the shift paddles and everything else seems to glide into place. Up or down shifts, either on the front or back have the same ease of operation. Using non-6700 cranks, cassette and chain doesn't seem to be a detriment, it all works very well and smoother than with the 7800 components that I had replaced. The 6700 brakes are marvelous, very progressive with great feel and modulation and easy to use from the top of the hoods.
The 6700 shifters are shaped like the Dura Ace 7900 shifters, which is to say that they both more closely resemble Campy and SRAM shifters. Which I don't really care about, I just want something that accommodates me and works well. I use 7800 stuff on my Serotta and using the exact same bars the 6700 shifters increase the reach by about 15MM. Which it turns out, I like. It allows me to stretch out even further but when I'm on top of the bars I'm more upright.
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/503/67005.jpg
The width of the 6700 shifters is slightly wider where it transitions off the bars and slightly tapers all the way to the knob on top of the shifter. The overall height of the shifters is less so when you ride on top of the shifters you will be slightly lower.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7702/67003.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7527/67002.jpg
One clever thing Shimano has done is to have two different routings of the shifter cable possible; one routing has the shifter cable going on the forward portion of the handlebar and the second routing is to the rear of the bars. In the pic of the right shifter you can see that I ran my shifter cable in the forward position, just above the brake cable. The access for the rear routing is empty.
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4407/67001.jpg
With the Taylor, the Hed wheels and running 6700 components I think that I might have the best of all worlds. It's a bike that I really look forward to ride, I want to ride farther and faster, push my envelope and try to achieve new personal bests. The ride has become much more pleasurable and exciting, it makes me want to stretch my horizons.
The Taylor. It's been on the road since July 20th and has done 642 miles. It's been my sole ride, other than one day and 35 miles on the Serotta, since I built it. A terrific bike! First it fits and second it's an all-day comfortable bike. I find myself riding more miles with more smiles on the Taylor than I have on any recent bike that I can remember. It goes fast, turns well, handles far better than I can push it and has inspired more confidence than other bikes I've had. It's been a willing partner no matter where/how/when I've ridden. Paul Taylor was a fun guy to work with and his bike is fun too. Plus it's white!
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5181/taylor4u.jpg
HED Bastogne wheels. Until these wheels arrived on my doorstep, I had never, ever spent this much money for a wheelset. Almost half the price of a custom frame fer cryin' out loud! C'mon now, get real. Well whatever they cost me, I think they are the real deal. These have the new C2, 23MM wide rims. I usually run 25MM tires and when they are mounted on the HED C2 rims, they measure an actual 28MM across when inflated. Because of the larger volume of the tires now, it is recommended to run lower pressures than you would when mounted to a 'conventional' rim, so I ran about 7~10 psi less than usual.
Because of the lower tire pressures, the ride is smoother, the sharp bumps and jolts are reduced, the road buzz from the chip seal is greatly muted, still there but not at all intrusive. Also the handling feels more precise, no tire squirm or deflection. The tire sidewall is almost even with the rim and the tire shape is more gentle and doesn't fall off the sides.
I've these wheels on the Taylor for 220 miles and they were a huge improvement over the previous wheelset, which I thought were very good until I tried the HEDs.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7288/hedh.jpg
Ultegra 6700 components. A new bike, new wheels, why not some new components? I bought a 6700 group and installed the shifters, deraillleurs and brakes. I put off using the 6700 crankset, cassette and chain because I was happy with the CarbonLord carbon crankset, IRD 11-30 cassette, a new KMC chain and I wanted to see if these components would play well with the new 6700 stuff and they do. The shifting of the 6700 is quite different than the 6600 and 7800 components that I've had. It's much easier, smoother and I'll call it 'softer'; no hard clicks or bangs. Move the shift paddles and everything else seems to glide into place. Up or down shifts, either on the front or back have the same ease of operation. Using non-6700 cranks, cassette and chain doesn't seem to be a detriment, it all works very well and smoother than with the 7800 components that I had replaced. The 6700 brakes are marvelous, very progressive with great feel and modulation and easy to use from the top of the hoods.
The 6700 shifters are shaped like the Dura Ace 7900 shifters, which is to say that they both more closely resemble Campy and SRAM shifters. Which I don't really care about, I just want something that accommodates me and works well. I use 7800 stuff on my Serotta and using the exact same bars the 6700 shifters increase the reach by about 15MM. Which it turns out, I like. It allows me to stretch out even further but when I'm on top of the bars I'm more upright.
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/503/67005.jpg
The width of the 6700 shifters is slightly wider where it transitions off the bars and slightly tapers all the way to the knob on top of the shifter. The overall height of the shifters is less so when you ride on top of the shifters you will be slightly lower.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7702/67003.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7527/67002.jpg
One clever thing Shimano has done is to have two different routings of the shifter cable possible; one routing has the shifter cable going on the forward portion of the handlebar and the second routing is to the rear of the bars. In the pic of the right shifter you can see that I ran my shifter cable in the forward position, just above the brake cable. The access for the rear routing is empty.
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4407/67001.jpg
With the Taylor, the Hed wheels and running 6700 components I think that I might have the best of all worlds. It's a bike that I really look forward to ride, I want to ride farther and faster, push my envelope and try to achieve new personal bests. The ride has become much more pleasurable and exciting, it makes me want to stretch my horizons.