Righty -we're 100 miles of road in, and initial report on the bike...
Love it.
It's the tourer that I was always after.
-Takes a bit to realise you're not on ally/carbon -so the feel is slightly flexy, possibly fragile? Once you get used to that, it soaks up the road chatter really nicely over distance. A bit heavy, but you notice the slightly bigger wheels doing their thing, low rolling resistance makes up for that too. It got some 'Nold' mudguards too - 50's/60's Bluemels lightweight's...Now on Conti RideTours 32mm -they're really good for mixed surfaces, I'm impressed how they behave on the road. like road tyres -don't notice the tread at all, handle rough well too.
General observation, because of the straight top tube maybe, big 27 x 1 1/4" wheels, 32 rubber, the thing looks like a horse dwarfing a modern race/road bike, should possibly be measured in 'hands' rather than cm's or inches for accurate sizing.
Stem might be too short also adding to height and way it looks, pushing me back in the seat at times onto rivets -do with another 10-20mm, do have the longer GB Spearpoint it came with, it's a faf, so may change gear cable outers at the same time. Gear changes are still lovely, but if they can be made even cleaner worth doing.
Gearing is the biggy....
It's not too bad, 3 cogs front, but rear ratio, deal with small hills ok.. but am dreading the first mountain road I'll have to face, good few gradients in Wales.
Q? Is there something like a 13 -32, or more? 36/38 large rear cog setup for a 5 Speed Cassette available? Suntour? Shim/Campy? Pretty sure the long arm LX will deal with that -have the chain length.
Is there a pick and mix option for a screw on cassette?
Alternatively, can I cut a cassette, and weld on the larger cogs, is that a done thang?
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