A Giant improvement

[sawyl]

Finally my months of mooning and sighing and boring all my friends rigid about bikes are over: I'm now the proud owner of a Giant SCR C4. It's sitting in the corner of my living room right now, propped up against the bookshelves. Since I don't have a camera, here's a stock shot (you'll have to imagine my shelves, books and the little posable Spider Jerusalem stood in one corner):

Although I haven't been out for a serious ride yet — the humidity is still horrible — I really enjoyed my meandering ride back from the bike shop, especially after all the Brompton rides I've done recently.

Don't get me wrong, the Brompton's a great little bike and I like it a lot. It's good for commuting and, surprisingly, with it's little wheels and funny gears, it's actually been a excellent little trainer. But it just doesn't come close to touching a decent road bike. Unlike the Brompton, the Giant accelerates like a dream, floats up hills and corners like it's on rails (the folder's small wheels and short trail, give the steering a slightly edgy feel). But then, you couldn't fold up the Giant and take on the train with you, even if it is lighter than the Brompton.

I'm hopeful that, if the weather looks better first thing tomorrow, I might be able to go for a couple of preliminary spins to start bedding things in and to get more used to the bike. I'm particularly keen to get some experience with clipless pedals — I suspect that they're probably easier to use than toe clips, because you no longer have to bend down and tighen and loosen the straps — but I'm still a little bit apprehensive about being more directly attached to the pedals. Although, given the large number of stupid and dangerous things I've clipped myself on to — does anybody else remember the monoski from it's brief period of popularity back in the 80s? — I don't know what I've got to be nervous about...