Giant Seek 1 (2009) - first impressions

I finally made the leap in my commuting and bought a commuter specific bike.


Giant Seek 1 (2009)

I'd been riding a variety of rigs up until now - cyclocross racer, Kona Ute and most often the BUSS (blue urban single speed) fixie with a front disk brake.

For lots of justifiable reasons, I wanted a dedicated commuter. I hate carrying a backpack so strapping a rack onto the 'cross bike was becoming a pain - not to mention switching out road wheels. The Ute is a nice kid/grocery hauler, but a little unwieldy for the internal bike parking afforded me at my workplace. The fixed gear is so en-vogue, but now that we've moved the 12mi commute each direction it was pushing the limit - especially with winter headwinds coming on.

As a year-round commuter I wanted two specific things: disk brakes and an internally geared rear hub (IGH). Low maintenance for both and stopping power in whatever Cleveland's winter can throw at me.

Search and search. Test ride after test ride. Nothing seemed to fit the bill. I was almost ready to start building a Soma DoubleCross DC then realized I was going to be $1400+ into it when the bike was complete.

Then I saw 'white light.' Actually, I saw the Giant Seek 1 (2009). Aluminum frame, rigid front fork, lots of wheel clearance, Alfine 8 drivetrain, Shimano hydraulic brakes... Good friend Dave Bole at the Bicycle Chain in St. Paul was kind enough to order me one with some goodies.

Dave shipped it direct and bike setup was pretty easy. Attach handlebars, seat/seatpost, front tire, adjust disk brakes for center, tweak gearshift.

I made a few mods - lights, full-wrap SKS P45 silver fenders, a seatpost mounted rack, Ergon grips and saddle from the fixie, and Time ATAC clipless pedals.

The fenders took a little finagling - not too bad though. I had to bend the left front stay around the disk brake. Nothing mechanical is in the way, just the bottom of the mount. The rear required a spacer and the mounting tab on the disk brake side - nothing on the drive side.

The Seek has threaded mounts at the bottom bracket and seat stay where the standard mounting bolts from the fender kit fit in perfectly. The fenders are tight!

This is my first IGH drivetrain so I wasn't sure what to expect for maintenance. Good news - the Alfine is a cinch to adjust. I got it dialed in on the stand, but when I hit the street it seemed a little off. A few twists of the adjusting knob on the trigger-shifter and all was good.

So today was the first commute. Impressions?

Solid - square chainstays welded to a mongo BB with a fairly compact rear triangle means there isn't going to be much flex. Not overly twitchy, but rigid and responsive.

A little heavy - I'm used to racing a 16.5lb road bike and a 19lb cyclocross bike. At nearly 26lbs with my additions, the bike is comparatively a tank. But for its purposes, a nice durable ride.

Finish - not sure yet. The rubberized white is supposed to be super reflective. That's a good thing. Grease smudges should wipe off easily.

Fit - I ordered a small (17"). I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam and wanted decent bailout clearance. That's good. The bad is that the top-tube feels a bit short and I have the saddle pushed all the way back on the seatpost. Still tweaking, but I'll need to get a 120mm stem (90mm is stock). I'll probably also trim 2" off each end of the handlebar to make a tighter cockpit.

Tires - not a big fan of the stock tire. Seems a little "dead" - maybe heavy and too grippey. I'll ride the Maxxis Columbieres through the winter and then switch to a set of 28mm Panaracer Pasela Tourgaurds in the spring.

Overall ride is quick though - the bike just goes where you want it to go. I'll get over it being relatively heavy and use that as an asset on the pitted, slush covered streets of Cleveland this winter.

OK - only 12mi on the bike so far so these are REALLY first impresions. I'll report back once I have the fit dialed in a bit more and have a few hundred miles on it. Oh yeah, glad I mounted the fenders right away. A dry ride in has given way to a rainy afternoon ride home...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Cleveland Bike Week and a downtown bike station!

I was excited to read on the Cleveland Bicycle Week site that the city of Cleveland is developing a downtown Bike Station!

I've been in Cleveland for about nine months now and have ridden to work from a west-side suburb every day except about 10 - that includes through the entire winter.

This is REALLY great news. It puts Cleveland's commitment to comprehensive transportation options up there with some of the more progressive bike commuting cities in the nation like Portland and Minneapolis.

I'm really looking forward to having a place to shower (so are my co-workers) and do light repairs. Best of all, the proposed site is just a block from the UCC offices!

Drew Carey was right: Cleveland rocks!

Remember - May 15 is Bike to Work Day!

Commuting Calculators

Just wanted to share a few car commuting "cost computers."

This one lets you plug in information to compare to bicycle commuting - which I do most days, except today, when I hauled a 30" TV into the office... Calories burned by riding and all car costs (except parking for some reason - easily enough added) are included:

http://www.ativsolutions.com/calculator/

The real overall costs associated with driving your car to work are more than gas+parking. Both of these calculators help you see depreciation and other costs.

This one shows the difference of using public transit - which here in Cleveland is $4 per round trip:

http://www.commuterpage.com/Userweb/CostCommuting/CostCommuting.htm

Vote for Change - promote bicycle transportation!

Please take a moment to click the widget below and let the incoming Obama administration know that promotion of bicycle transportation is one way we can reduce our dependency on oil, improve the environment and begin to increase the health of Americans!

Condo Ridin'

I picked up my new (2008) Kona Ute today. Wouldn't you know that it was the first heavy snow we had on the west side of Cleveland? The Ute rode like a dream through about 2" of snow.

My son, Gus, and I like to ride our bikes around the duplex. He has a Specialized Hot Walk and mine is the B.U.S.S. (Big Urban Single Speed). I wasn't sure how the Ute's extra-long wheelbase would go in our tight space, but it really was quite agile. Don't try this with a kid trailer...

Four Sin Friday

lust, avarice, gluttony, envy = sweet bikes

Giant TCR ADVANCED SL TEAM (ISP)

Not to be outdone by the bike of two weeks ago (Specialized SL2) - Giant's top-of-the-line TCR ADVANCED SL TEAM is every bit the high end competitor.

Again, ultra-light carbon fiber frame, Dura-Ace 7900 and Shimano handlebar system, excellent use of aerodynamics and specific weight-saving parts, one of the finest wheelsets available, and so it goes.

The Giant is $500 cheaper (at $8000) than the Specialized - plenty of wiggle room for pedals and a computer. Enjoy:

Four Sin Friday

lust, avarice, gluttony, envy = sweet bikes

SPECIALIZED S-WORKS TARMAC SL2

This sweet baby is crazy light and loaded for bear. Zipp 404 wheels; über carbon frame, crank, handlebar, stem and seatpost; and the remaining components are 2009 Dura-Ace 7900! This configuration makes the SL2 about the most amazing stock bike available.

The LBS scale barely tipped 15lb for the standard build. I can't think of any improvements - for $8500 you ought not have to think very hard about improvements. Feast on the beauty and "hors pro" racing utility.

Oh, BTW, if you have a spare eight-large, I can come up with the five-small...