I picked up the Ute today. I had to drive it home since I had the truck. That bike is loooong. It barely fit but fit it did.
I parked it in the garage and kept begging my wife to go check it out. I couldn't stop saying how different and useful this bike could be. After about a half hour, she finally went and looked. Her first glance was, "yeah, that's a cool looking bike". Then she went into how weird and different it looked. It does. In a good way of course.
I was finally able to take it for a spin at around 8pm. I tooled around the neighborhood cruising up on the sidewalks, riding on the street and up and down hills. It peddles surprisingly easy. It rolls really nice thanks to the continental city slick tires sizing in at 700c. It rode real smooth and had a very comfortable, upright position.
The hardest part for me to get to was the fact that this is not a racer. I'm used to pretty aggressive bikes. My mountain bikes have more aggressive positioning and I used to have an entry level road bike that was pretty quick. If I decide to keep the ute, it will be an adjustment. I'm sure I won't be getting to work in any record time. That's not what this bike is for.
Some of the components felt a little cheap. Mainly the peddles and the cranks. I could tell they weren't of the highest quality but with a $900 price tag and the amount of bike you get, I can't complain. I didn't have a chance to run to the store or haul anything yet but I'm sure that will come.
My main concern is if I will decide to use this bike to it's fullest potential. Would I be happier with more of a touring bike where I can go on long rides and camping trips? I've heard of this other fellow in Sioux Falls who does bike camping trips on his Big Dummy. The Ute will work the same and I'm sure I can do some pretty serious rolling on the Ute. It's a hard decision.
I have some time before I have to decide. It needs a few more miles before I can make an informed decision. So far, I'll give the ute one thumb up. I'll post more as it gets some more miles.
2 comments:
Bike camping!!!
Enjoy the non aggressive, slower rides. Look around, wave to the neighbors. Sure, riding fast is fun, but going slow is too but in a much different way.
I'm just so used to riding to get somewhere. It'll be good to have a bike where I can enjoy the ride instead of always making work out of it.
I also already started to plan my packing for bike camping. Lots will fit on those things.
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