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Fine tuning the new bike
By mike | April 24, 2007
Hey, it’s a new bike, right? Why not upgrade it. Last Friday, I bought a new Cannondale F29 Lefty and have spent the last few days getting used to it. The single left fork is pretty nifty, adding stability, strength and smoothness. Lots has been written about the benefits of the left suspension. But what has surprised me most is the responsiveness. I’ve enjoyed it so much my usual start-of-season sore butt has hardly been noticeable this year.
Then there’s the 29-inch wheels. This baby really rolls. Smoothly, too, even on a bumpy single track I tried this morning.
I did make some changes to my bike yesterday. We never could get the super deluxe Delphi wireless computer to work with the left fork. I opted instead for a $40 Cat Eye Astrale 8 Cylocomputer. It does cadence, speed, time, distance and laps and is wired. But it does just fine.
I applied the savings from the computer downgrade to some new pedals. The standard Cannondale pedals were pretty bare bones. I opted for a $100 set of
Time ATAC XS Pedal aluminum pedals. Much easier lock and fit, though I needed new cleats for my shoes. I like the feel of these so much I’m going to replace the Shimano pedals on my other bikes as well.
Finally, I swapped out the standard tires on my bike for a set of much more durable tires - the Kenda Karma 29 inchers.
That’s it now. I did 10 miles this morning with the upgraded parts along Paint Creek Trail. It feels just right., even if this morning’s 43 degrees was a bit too cold for the bike shorts I wore.
We’ve got rain and cold in the forecast for the rest of the week. Yuck.
Topics: bicycle |
May 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Mike,
I just picked up a F29 myself and have found the same thing to be true, this thing really eats up the bumps. My only upgrades are the saddle, seat post and handle bars. What do you think of the Kenda’s?