The Vaya Gets Ridden

It was too nice out not to ride...

I know I may have been pushing things a bit, but I was feeling much better yesterday afternoon than I had in many a day. Dare I say "normal"? Well, close enough at times, at any rate.

So I get off work a bit early, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and the wind is down. The streets are fairly clear of ice and snow, but there is run-off from the remaining piles of frozen crap alongside the roadways. Big deal! I was going to finally get that Vaya out and ride it.

Now- it was really going to be a shake down ride only- mind you. Not a full on gravel assault, or a ride of any duration. That was fine, since I probably shouldn't be out flogging myself so soon after getting this sick anyway. Still, it needed to be done, and I was feeling like I just needed to pedal for a while. It's been a long time off the bike, (for my standards), and I was beyond ready to go for a ride of any length. I felt risking a short ride was okay, especially when it was so pleasant for Mid-February.

It was my first ride on Vee Rubber tires X-C-X model too. So there was a lot of things I wasn't very sure about anyway. I pumped up the rear to 40psi and the front slightly less than that. Seemed to be a reasonable starting point. Then I was off. There were more questions about the drive train, shifting, and as always, whether everything was tight and going to work right. As far as the latter, I can report that there were no failures. As for the former things, read on.....

• The BioPace ring worked fine. I was expecting something bad to happen, but it didn't. You might think similarly since the BioPace ring is from the seven speed days and I was running a 10 speed Shimano chain over it! That said, the ovality was noticeable at first as an easier down stroke, and then a sensation that maybe I might be able to suffer a bigger gear climbing than typical. We'll see about this later...
• The Winwood fork is solid. Hardly any backward leg movement at all under hard braking. However; it still felt smooth enough. More after I've been on some gravel with this thing.....
• Shifting: A big question mark going out, since I had a 9spd SRAM rear derailleur shifting over a 10speed cassette with a 10 speed SRAM TT shifter. After a not so good result after tuning in the stand, I found it was okay with a cable tension tweak out on my ride. I think it will be fine. Front shifting worked amazingly well, given the weird ring and all.
• Carbon: Yes- carbon wheels make a difference in feel, which I think is more pronounced on smoother surfaces and hidden off road. Smoothness, and "quietness" in terms of a lack of vibrations. I'm sure the tires had a part to play as well. The carbon seat post is an awesome feeling one.
• I felt too upright. Maybe a tad. A bit too short in the cockpit, perhaps. Well, there will be some tweaking until I find a good position. It isn't bad now. It just needs refining. 

Overall the Vaya feels smooth, quiet, capable, stable, (I had a bit of a run in with ice and snow which culled this out), and should be at least worth tweaking on for a better set up. I need to get it on some actual gravel and come to several conclusions before I can say anything with finality, but I like what I see for possibilities here. Obviously- I'm not the first one!

More soon......