Distractions Distractions....

I was given some money for a gift the other day.  I already had a list of things I needed/wanted when funds became available, so it was time to pull the trigger on a new bike.

Motobecane Turino Elite with disc brakes

My workhorse of a race bike, a now ancient Palo Alto Bikes frame with various components is in dire need of updating and anyone who knows about bikes and parts, it is way cheaper to just buy a bike than to try getting a gruppo and building up a frame ( or an old frame ).  This way, I can ride the new bike while I slowly overhaul the old one.

I am no longer racing, nor even team riding, I just want to get out, see new territory and maintain some workable level of fitness.  Thus the inexpensive Motobecane seemed the ticket.  After its arrival I gave it a quick once over, readjusting the hubs ( they were too tight ), headset ( too loose ), the shifting ( just not right ) and put on the 700 x 40c cross tires I bought for it.  Installed a set of spd pedals from an old mountain bike which work with my off road shoes and was ready for the first ride.  With two big water bottles and the larger tires, this thing is a pig in the weight department.  Weighs the same as a mid grade mountain bike, maybe 30+ pounds (If I move to lighten it, the wheels will be the first to go, heavy rims, I mean come on).  I have to weigh it to confirm.  Thank goodness for the granny gear!  

First ride... El Sereno trail in Los Gatos linked to the reservoir trail, a paltry 14 miles with some brutal climbing and a fun paved decent.  My impression is that most people do the off road section the other way around (judging from the bike tracks ), didn't see a lot of evidence of people doing it the way I did ( go figure ).

sorry, not an interactive map 

2 hours, 14.7 miles, 2300 feet of climbing.  Essentially up and then down.  Still some nice vistas looking out toward the south bay and then, as you get on top of the ridge, looking down on Lexington Reservoir.  I found the trail on this site along with a lot of other interesting ones:  http://bayarearides.com/rides/elsereno/

As for impressions, other than the weight , it is a nice bike.  The geometry is decent and is comfortable for an old road rider like me.  Not too flat, I won't have to get a new stem for a more relaxed riding position, it is fine as it is.  The hooks provide enough of a down position for descending and after fiddling with the bar position I was able to strike a good compromise for climbing  out of the saddle and the drop  for descending.  I wanted the orange frame, but it was out of stock, so went with the matt black.  It's not ugly, that's about all I can say.  It basically says," nothing to see here, move along, move along ".

After the extreme descent, the front Tektron Lyra brake was horning away.  I had to do further adjustment after reading up when I got back.  They provide descent braking power, not any more than a good set of dual pivot road brakes provide though.  I am a bit of a traditionalist and was thinking disks were a waste of time and am in no mood to change my opinion after riding this.  The thing that got me was vanity ( maybe aesthetics is a better word ), I just like not having all that stuff clamped to the frame, picking up leaves etc on off road rides.  Since this isn't for extreme mountain biking ( I am kind of done with mtn biking after myself and my friends breaking various bones ) I just figured I'd try it for a while and not take any of it too seriously.