Gunnar hits the road

I took the Gunnar out for a leisurely shake-down cruise yesterday.  It did not disappoint!  These new steel alloys are literally decades ahead of the old '80's steel I grew up on.  Heh heh, get it?  I made a joke.  It was so smooth and quiet, I thought my tires were low on air.  But no, I had pumped them up to 120psi just before the ride, to accommodate the colder temperatures.  The 10 pounds of Framesaver I put in there probably helped damp vibrations as well.

Here it is hanging out by the shelter along the Monarch Levee Trail.  To make a better comparison to the Trek, I put a backup set of wheels on the Gunnar.  The Open Pro wheels it normally sports are pretty cushy in and of themselves, so today it was wearing CXP33 with some radial lacing.  Conti GP4000s tires, naturally.   I really should have put the Easton wheels from the Trek on it, but couldn't be bothered.

So, yes.  Smooth and quiet.  Just like the frames of yesteryear.  Not at all like the smooth but rattly and noisy Trek carbon fiber.  But, in a huge improvement over the frames of The Day, it doesn't waggle the back end under heavy pedal mashing.  Not that I was doing much of that; we'll have to see how it fares around the hills of Babler.

And in another first, I used the Droid to track the ride.  It had some issues.  Worked great, technically.  But, I stopped in at the LBS to show off the bike (thanks for the assembly help Jim!) and the Droid decided I was still moving at 1-2mph that whole time.  Kind of dragged down the average speed, haha.  The Cardiotrainer folks admit they have some work to do around the GPS tracking.  However, as a bike computer I wouldn't recommend the Droid.  You can't really use it while riding, so no real-time feedback.  And it's not meant to be out in the weather like that.

Also my first attempts at Droid "screenshots".  I apologize, they're not that good.  The Droid is so bright it washed out a bit.  But it's better than nothing, right?

This is the map screen, showing my path.

And this is the home screen.  I love the "Droid Eye", haha.  Is there a resemblance to any infamous computer of the past?  There are two other main screens you can get to by swiping side to side.  Plenty of screen real estate, but I like to keep the main screen clear so the Droid can keep an eye on things.  The four buttons along the bottom are actual (sort of) buttons.  "Actual" in that they are physically there.  "Sort of" because all you have to do is touch them, you don't press them; there's no mechanical action.  Back, menu, home, and search.  The Droid is awesome.

So there you go.  Everything I own rocks.  The Gunnar rocks, the Droid rocks.  The Trek may find itself relegated to rain duty, we'll see.  When you're as fat as I am, the extra couple pounds of the Gunnar don't really make a difference...and it sure is quiet.

Note:  If any of the mysterious viewers of my blog would like more Droid photos, let me know.  I'll try and optimize the picture settings.  If no one cares, I won't bother.

Second note:  Due to a now-infamous thread on StL Biking, I feel compelled to let everyone know how rich I am not.  The Gunnar frame was second-hand.  Kind of.  The Droid was new at $200, but with 2 years of indentured service to Verizon.  And if you read the fine print, early termination will cost you a kidney*.  I have never hit, nor been hit by, a cyclist.  And I drive a relatively cheap station wagon.  It is, make no mistake, the Super Wagon, but cost-wise it doesn't compare to say a Z06 Corvette.  Just off the top of my head.

* Even the FCC has questioned Verizon's exorbitant early-termination fee.  Verizon said, politely, "Eat it.  We'll do what we want."