My New Training Bike.....

[mcelliott]

....that's probably a bit too good to be used as a training hack.

Well I picked her up a few days ago - this is my new PlanetX Pro Carbon Athena 11 speed. All I can say is Wow, what a bike! I've heard some really good reports about these and it was probably as toss up between this and a Boardman, but I'm glad I plumped for one of these. I haven't had a proper ride on it yet due to too many football matches and pesky turbo sessions, but what I have experienced - it is very sharp and responsive. If anything, I'm even more pleased with the choice of groupset than the frame. Just love the look of the campag finish and the gear change, whilst taking a little bit of getting used to (from the Dura Ace on my race bike) it really is rifle action changes. Very impressed. Not sure where the Athena groupset fits in with the other manufacturers - I'm guessing slightly below Ultegra, and a bit more below SRAM Red, but on look alone, I think I've made the right decision. The wheels are PlanetX's own brand and they are a very good quality piece of kit. Eventually I will probably replace these with something from the Campag range, you know, to keep the theme going! So all in all, this has far outweighed my expectation which leaves me with the same dilemma as I had before I got this bike - I need a winter training bike!

A few snaps...




Ticked the box stating carbon chainset - couldn't resist!

Love the finish

[okgo]

Nice, now flip the stem, and ditch those spacers

[mcelliott]

okgo said:

Nice, now flip the stem, and ditch those spacers

My back aches just looking at this picture!

[Raoul Duke]

Nice looking trainer - very shiny! What it needs is a decent layer of grime, post haste for it to have the true "patina" deserving of a winter hack!
Have to agree with reversing the stem as well, someone that does the sort of fast cycling that you do really ought to have a less upright position! But if it works for you then dont pay a moments notice of us keyboard warriors...
Although that Trek is a rather extreme example of slamming the stem - ouch.

[coupeboy]

Training bike! my training bike is a 3 year old alu frame with full lenght mud guards..... and a mud flap! Lovely looking bike by the way, enjoy!

[mcelliott]

Thanks for the comments everyone, first serious ride will probably result in a degree of tinkering - perhaps even removing the spacers, just I'm at the age now where I sacrifice speed for a bit of comfort!

[coupeboy]

mcelliott said:

Thanks for the comments everyone, first serious ride will probably result in a degree of tinkering - perhaps even removing the spacers, just I'm at the age now where I sacrifice speed for a bit of comfort!

You're better off starting with the bars a bit high and lowering them if needed, if you look closely at some of the pros bikes even some of them have spacers, comfort comes first.

[Mr Will]

Assuming you can cope with going a little lower; From a looks point of view, you'd be better off keeping the spacers and flipping the stem, rather than the reverse.