The Vaya Gets Ridden: Update

As ridden...

Vaya Update: 

As posted earlier in the week, I had a nice 40 miler on the Vaya and here is an updated list from the last time I detailed out my thoughts on this bike. 

• BioPace Ring: Didn't even notice it. The gear is good. I don't see changing this out unless at the time I swap to a new chain it does not mesh with it well. Does it help? Hmmm........the jury is still out on that one.
• Winwood Fork: I think it is pretty smooth. Is it better than the steel fork? I do not know since I have never ridden the original fork. I will do that at some point. I will say that the X-C-X tires at 1.75 fill almost all available space there!
• Shifting: Last update I stated that I thought the 10 speed shifter,cassette and 9 speed SRAM X-9 rear derailleur were going to be good. I was wrong. That was a pretty marginal set up that I knew would drive me nuts if I didn't have spot on shifting. I switched the rear derailleur to a SRAM X-9 10 speed version. Shifting is perfect now. The lesson here is that the 10 speed stuff can not be matched perfectly with 9 speed parts. 
• Carbon: I will concur with my earlier assessment that the seat post is awesome. That said, I have found out about something that sounds even better. Titanium, but not from who you think. Stay tuned....
• Positioning: This is pretty close. I mentioned that I felt too upright in my last post. I still have that feeling a bit, but let's let it ride for now. I want to have more long rides in before I tweak on this. I'm really close I think

Other: Besides the seat post upgrade planned, I may do a saddle as well. I may not. That Velo cheapo saddle is pretty comfy. The tires are pretty good, and I figure these are max size for the bike. In drier weather, Summertime, and Fall, I will run something less big, unless I do Kansas type gravel.

I'll end up putting the new Panaracer Paselas on there for awhile. Those are listed as 37mm tires. Great size for the drier weather we should have coming and big enough to deal with chunky gravel that surely will be showing up soon around these parts. I will likely be running the Paselas at the Renegade Gents Race, so I will have a good handle on how those work after that event. In the meantime, the X-C-X tires are going on the Gryphon tubeless. That should be pretty good.

There will be new rotors coming for the Vaya which should be lighter. I have Velocity Bottle Traps on this bike, but they do not seem to "fit" in my mind. I need to get some good stainless steel or get some King Cages. In the drive train department, there will be a move to a lighter weight two piece crank set. Down the road, I foresee a new head set and bottom bracket from Chris King. But maybe not........

Maybe I'll get a Vaya Travel instead!