A Tourist is Born

Take a look at my 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite page for more pics and build info.

I had a great weekend riding and building my new bike. First the ride. It is amazing how much different a steel frame rides. First thing is first, a steel touring bike weighs a lot more than an aluminium/carbon fiber road bike. My days of averaging 16-17mph on a training ride are not realistic on this bike. Saturday's 44 mile ride averaged just under 14mph with a headwind the whole ride. My legs were hurting when I got done. I'll have to acclimate my legs to addtional weight of the bike and the lack aerodynamics. The nice thing is I'll get into better shape riding this heavier bike. With that said the combination of weight and flex of the steel gives it a ride like no other bike I've ever ridden. The bike just felt solid on the road. It kind of reminded me of a motorcycle. Just a solid ride, no feeling of insecurity.

The extra weight was nice on the downhills and it climbed very well also. The wind was my worst enemy, but the ride was nice. I felt fresh up until the end of the ride. My body didn't hurt as bad as normal. I could definitely tell that this bike was made for long haul touring. The only problem I had was with my hands. I'm used to riding with aero bars on my road bike. Getting down on my forearms would allow me to rest my hands. I'm also used to having a beefier handlebar wrap on my bars.

I still have some tweaking to do on the fit of the bike, but it was pretty close to perfect right out of the store. The new handlebar wrap will help my hands, and moving the seat around will dial in the fit.

Now the build. Most of this is detailed on my Jamis Aurora Elite page so I'll just highlight a few things. First, disc brakes on a touring bike is not a new thing, but it's not mainstream. Racks and fenders are not made to compensate for a brake caliper being in the way. I have a Tubus Logo rack that I can not put on mmy bike because the caliper is in the way. Tubus does make a conversion kit for disc brakes, but I'm not sold yet that it will work on my bike. So for now I'm keeping the stock Jamis rack. The front Surly Nice Rack is compatable with my front fork/disc caliper. Well almost, I had to mess with it for a few hours trying to get it just right. I did have to deviate from their instructions though. I may end up making my own custom bracket to get around the caliper. I generally won't have a lot of weight on the front rack anyway, so no worries. My Planet Bike fenders were a little easier, although again not made for disc brakes. Everything else went on pretty easy. It's starting to look like a touring machine.