Colnago Master Piu : Weekend Ride Impressions
Finally! the moment I waited for the whole week has come and passed.
On Sat, I took me Piu out for the first time. The first thing that struck me was how smooth the ride was. I had initial expectations that the straight fork will somehow be less comfortable compared to the curved fork design but I was proven wrong from the start of the ride. Going over speed humps which used to be an ok affair on the Saronni (and an absolute nightmare on the GT Alu) seems enjoyable now!
Acceleration wise, I would rate it similar to the Saronni but I believe this can be improved with fit tweaks. There's no reason why this can be worse off since the frame is lighter and stiffness/handling seems to be good. At Changi Coast Road, I managed to hit 35km/h against the wind with little effort, less than before. A testament to this is that normally under such condition, my heart rate would be close to 170-175bpm range on the Saronni but on this beauty, I hit somewhere around 160-165bpm. Now, thats a full 10bpm for the same speed achieved....wonderful! I swapped bike with Mr.Alu for the return leg and he commented on how effortless it is to keep at a fast cruising speed as well as the comfort provided by the construction. You just feel you can carry on riding the whole day!
On the usual 80km ride on Sunday.......Mr.Look joined us! So a group of 3....Mr.Alu, Mr.Look Carbon and Me (steel) set off into the sunrise at 5.30am from Marine Crescent. We did the entire shebang in about 3hrs 45mins with about 20mins of rest time in between. Average speed was about 27km/h. Mr.Look had not ridden his bike for a couple of weeks so I'd expect he had a tougher time that us during the ride.
Again, the Piu proves strong on long rides such as this. Although I did feel tired after the fact, the ride was very very comfortable, less fatigue due to the excellent road damping and the higher stem position. I still need to fiddle a little on the fore-aft position though....and I have still room to play for the stem height. At least for this frame size, I am able to still tweak here and there with some tolerances to spare. On the Saronni I was way back on my seat fore-aft and the stem was at the max limit! None of such problems here on the Piu.
This first weekend has already justified that the Piu is indeed money well spent! Some pics after the 80km ride....think my handlebar is tilted a little bit too high! Looks weird but feels comfy though....I will try with it pointing towards the rear brakes and raise the stem a little. Worst case: move the shifters up!
On Sat, I took me Piu out for the first time. The first thing that struck me was how smooth the ride was. I had initial expectations that the straight fork will somehow be less comfortable compared to the curved fork design but I was proven wrong from the start of the ride. Going over speed humps which used to be an ok affair on the Saronni (and an absolute nightmare on the GT Alu) seems enjoyable now!
Acceleration wise, I would rate it similar to the Saronni but I believe this can be improved with fit tweaks. There's no reason why this can be worse off since the frame is lighter and stiffness/handling seems to be good. At Changi Coast Road, I managed to hit 35km/h against the wind with little effort, less than before. A testament to this is that normally under such condition, my heart rate would be close to 170-175bpm range on the Saronni but on this beauty, I hit somewhere around 160-165bpm. Now, thats a full 10bpm for the same speed achieved....wonderful! I swapped bike with Mr.Alu for the return leg and he commented on how effortless it is to keep at a fast cruising speed as well as the comfort provided by the construction. You just feel you can carry on riding the whole day!
Below Alu's block.....
Here's a pic outside of Macs ECP, it rained quite heavily on the way here!
On the usual 80km ride on Sunday.......Mr.Look joined us! So a group of 3....Mr.Alu, Mr.Look Carbon and Me (steel) set off into the sunrise at 5.30am from Marine Crescent. We did the entire shebang in about 3hrs 45mins with about 20mins of rest time in between. Average speed was about 27km/h. Mr.Look had not ridden his bike for a couple of weeks so I'd expect he had a tougher time that us during the ride.
Again, the Piu proves strong on long rides such as this. Although I did feel tired after the fact, the ride was very very comfortable, less fatigue due to the excellent road damping and the higher stem position. I still need to fiddle a little on the fore-aft position though....and I have still room to play for the stem height. At least for this frame size, I am able to still tweak here and there with some tolerances to spare. On the Saronni I was way back on my seat fore-aft and the stem was at the max limit! None of such problems here on the Piu.
This first weekend has already justified that the Piu is indeed money well spent! Some pics after the 80km ride....think my handlebar is tilted a little bit too high! Looks weird but feels comfy though....I will try with it pointing towards the rear brakes and raise the stem a little. Worst case: move the shifters up!
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