Nueva bici

Thursday: 14m commute/Sogn

Not too much content here on ye ol' blogosphere. The latest 'X=n?' discussions have been entertaining, given that I am enjoying seeing my stable slowly-but-surely shrink. That said I recently upset that apple cart with the item below, a Rawland Sogn. I sold the Bleriot bones after deciding that it was too small; I kept some bits to do a new build, hopefully of the low-trail variety as a means of exploring that facet of the bike world. After some searching I happened upon an offer from an established national shop that has a used "rSogn" ready to roll for a reasonable price. Now I have extra bits to ponder.

I opened the box expecting the light blue of the low-trail rSogn and instead found the bright red of an early iteration (example write-up here). I was originally disappointed b/c there was a communication breakdown and righting the "wrong" was too complicated. So, I kept it and have spent a few weeks trying it out. So far, with a somewhat limited sample, I quite pleased. I immediately racked it up as my commuter and it has shown nicely in that usage: secure, solid, predictable, comfy. It seems a much more satisfactory loader than the NoodleTroll. This Sunday we should be hitting some gravel where I'll take take in its mixed-terrain capabilities; hopefully it passes muster. I think it will.

Today I had the shop check the headset to make sure I didn't eff it up at assembly. Derek added a thin ring and tightened things down, so it handles a little more stiffly, but also tracks straighter (not that it tracks poorly before). In a week or so we may also be pulling a S15O where the Sogn will get loaded duties. It should be an interesting comparison test from the Troll back in the summer.

More pics to come, I hope, perhaps with a more thorough write-up after testing its qualities. Two things: Dyno lights, in this case a Shimano/IQ CYO are amazing things for commuting. This came with it and I have no clue why all "real" bikes don't come pre-dyno'd. The second is that 650b ride feels much more like what I imagined 650b to be. Plush. Sogn>Bleriot at the moment.




Comments

Pondero said…
I'm still quite surprised by your account of the "noodle" Troll. I keep wondering if there is some kind of defect somewhere. But I'm pleased to hear the Rawland is "so far, so good". Looking forward to further reports of your testing and evaluation. Enjoy the experimentation!
Kokorozashi said…
Thus far, the Sogn sounds like it's really hitting the spot. Looking forward to seeing it tomorrow (yessss?).

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