# My assessment of old vs. new



## jfd986 (Jul 17, 2011)

I took my new road bike on a 20-mile ride today. Averaged 12.5 mph, cadence 84 or 85 or something. Wanted to compare it to my old bike for anyone who may have the same questions I did:

My old bike was a 1983 Fuji Monterey. It was a ten-speed with friction shifters at the stem, Suntour Seven rear and Sutour Spirit (Sprit) in the front. 27" wheels, and it was all steel.

The *shifting* on my new bike is 8-speed microshift. I've heard many bad things, clunky, long throw, etc. I barely noticed any of these things. I've test-rode tiagra shifters and sora shifters, and I can comfortably say I'm happy with the functionality of microshift for the value. Maybe they'll break down, and maybe they have a reputation for breaking down, but for me that remains to be seen, will get angry and spit over that bridge when I come to it. Microshift separates the shifters from the brake lever and it allows me to do all my shifting in the drops, unlike Sora (small hands). Also, the larger lever on microshift actually allows me to shift two consecutive positions at once when it's pushed further (not sure if that's a feature or a flaw). To me, there's no functional difference between this and Tiagra/105 (I know it's faster and smoother with the shimano shifters, but for now I honestly can't tell the difference, I shift fast, and soon I will be shifting very fast. I'm confident my current setup will hold up)

The *comfort* of the bike is almost no different from that of my old bike. My old bike was heavier to carry, but other than that, I subbed out the seat for a $25 "racing" seat from Sports Authority, and I foam-taped my old bike's handlebars. The only better thing is the brake hoods, which I didn't have on my old bike. Amusingly enough, this bike doesn't quite fit as snugly as the old one did, so right now I can't spend an hour in the hoods. This is a separate issue with stem and fit that has been discussed at length elsewhere.

The *speed* of the bike, is unchanged. Aside from having to take less time and effort to change the gears, my average speed on this bike is really not that different. I still struggle on uphills, though they may be steeper and I am not in the shape I was a year ago, and on my old bike I would still fly down the downhills.

The *handling* of this bike, has truly not been tested enough yet. I have not put this bike through sufficient tight turns at high speeds to be able to say okay, this bike handles a LOT better than the old one. What I can say is that the bike tracks straight when I let go of the bars, just like my old bike, and I can pedal without hanging on, just like my old bike. Also *braking* is much more responsive on this bike, but that may be because the brakes were set up better on this bike than on my old one. I remember once on my old bike, I was coming to a stop sign that was downhill, and I started to squeeze the brake, but then the rear brake cable popped out of the lever and I went over the bike. Didn't have time to observe the principle of "Fall left, save the bike. Bones heal, bikes are expensive." At least that's what the guy who sold me the $40 speed machine told me.

So that incident brings me to my last point. *Peace of mind* No price can be placed on the understanding that 
1) The bike is new. Stuff isn't supposed to break down instantly.
2) Almost every connection point is a hex bolt. All maintenance can be done with very few tools.
3) All the cartridges are sealed.
4) Within the first year, if I need any tune-ups or adjustments, I can take it to a local bike store, and they can do it for me, for free, and I can learn so that one day I can do it myself without having to drop apparently $50-$70 in Toronto for a tune-up. Wouldn't know, previously always did it myself. They also said they would set up an appointment for fitting, and on Monday I'll be calling them. If you guys get that book ... uh .... velocanman sells it for $10 PM him for deets, that's how I fit my old Fuji and it rode quite well. I would do the same thing for this bike, but if the LBS is doing it for me then I'm just going to wait and see.


The last point and the first point made this bike worth buying. There's one other thing I wanted to mention, while trying as much as possible not to make myself seem lazy or spoiled. Many say that buying a good bike will make you want to get up in the morning and ride. I say this is true, not because I didn't ride early on my last bike, but because when I did take my last bike out early to ride, I would incur all sorts of problems (pedal arm fell out, tube deflated, rim needs changing, etc) and many advised me that I would not know how much more maintenance would be needed on the bike in the future. I have owned this bike for less than a week, and I've been out in sun, stars, cold, rain, whatever, I ride almost every day. As long as I'm organized about the rest of my time, and nothing horrible happens, I'm not going to stop riding.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

I think you have pretty well nailed it. The main difference(s) in new bikes vs old is comfort, weight & convenience. Bikes are neither fast nor slow. *YOU* are either fast or slow. Brakes, shifters, derailleurs & most components have improved over the years. IMO some of the greatest advances have come in tires. They're much more efficient & longer wearing than they used to be.

But I couldn't agree more that new bikes are a lot of fun, and there's nothing like that "new bike smell."


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## jfd986 (Jul 17, 2011)

Mr. Versatile said:


> I think you have pretty well nailed it. The main difference(s) in new bikes vs old is comfort, weight & convenience. Bikes are neither fast nor slow. *YOU* are either fast or slow. Brakes, shifters, derailleurs & most components have improved over the years. IMO some of the greatest advances have come in tires. They're much more efficient & longer wearing than they used to be.
> 
> But I couldn't agree more that new bikes are a lot of fun, and there's nothing like that "new bike smell."


Never thought about the tires, will let you know when my stock tires give out and I get everyone on here arguing over gators. I think I may have started this discussion last year, will have to check my old threads.

New bikes are a lot of fun but right now that's all I'm using mine for, zero commuting for fear of robbery. As soon as I have the opportunity to commute, I'm buying another old beater (I figure if I have time to commute by bicycle one day, I either have time to wrench as well or I'm very fast).


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