[879] Bike Goals

I've been having very good discussions about bikes with a friend of mine. He does a better job of researching about lots of bike things and is a bit more experienced with newer tech bikes. Let's just say, as an example, that all I know about bikes is frame size and cassettes and chainrings. Meanwhile he already knows about head angles, crank length, and other more important technical things.

My near daily conversations with him has made me realize that while yes, I still want a gravel bike, I need to be a bit more specific about things I want to have on my bike. And what my priorities are before I even start buying, and possibly building, my own bike. So in this blog post I'll try to write down my priorities when I build a bike.

1. Comfort for posture. I'm definitely aiming to get a frame that is the right size for my height. Then find a seat height, handlebar height, and stem length that will be more on the comfort side than the aero/aggressive side of gravel bikes. Another reason for this is I'll be another year older in a few weeks, so I'm not as flexible as I used to.
2. Comfort while pedaling. I'm not building my bike for speed. More than likely I'll be looking for an 11-speed cassette with 11T-38T cogs, with a 38T chainring up front. I won't be going as fast but at least I also won't be exerting as much effort pedaling. I just want to be able to cruise with my bike.
3. Safety. This means I'll need reliable wheels and brakes. I'm looking to use mechanical disk brakes, and this will, I think, be the first time I will be using disk brakes on a bike. For tires I'd think the minimum width I should have is maybe 38mm. It's not like I actually have grave trails nearby. I'll also be adding rear lights and front lights, even if have no plan of riding during the evening. Plus I also plan on buying reflective tape to add to the bike in key locations.
4. Weight. Frames are expensive. Even the chromoly steel frames here are priced at an amount that makes my eyebrow go up. Or maybe I'm just a solid cheapskate. Still, I have no plans to go racing on this bike, my biggest dream is to do long distance biking. I have no idea how much of a factor weight will be. Also the bike I'm using now is probably way heavier than modern bikes so I'm not really sure how big a factor weight is.

And there you have it. I guess I'll be going over this list again as I approach the day I decide to buy a bike, or bike parts. I still have a lot of things to learn about bikes before I decide to pull the trigger, but I'm slowly getting there.

Meanwhile I'll keep riding my old bike and gaining strength, stamina, and confidence.

Out.