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@launchpadboi
been able to ride it for a while now and squeeze in a century too. time for a first impressions report.
the 853 tubing it's definitely a good balance between responsiveness and comfort. it tracks precisely without feeling too harsh on uneven surfaces. the bb drop is now where it should, which inspires confidence in high-speed leans, whatever these are with my upright disabled™ position. another improvement from the panasonic is obviously the fit due to long enough top and head tubes. i had barely any numbness anywhere after the century even though the cockpit can still be improved.
the paul duplex commanded brakes work surprisingly well. it's nice to have some extra stopping power especially with loads. as anticipated they seem to need a bit more adjustment though.
i'd probably need a tad longer stem for the current simworks bars to work perfectly. as they're going to another bike soon anyway, i'm looking to put a pair of salsa bends or similar on this to achieve the additional reach. my ability to stretch further forward seems to have increased with more regular riding.
the wheels have been upgraded into ck r45/mavic open pro ust with gp 5k. the rims are black, which matches with the scheme, and 50g lighter lol. not sure if it's this or going to gp5k from the gk slicks what makes it faster. fast & happy days anyway. most importantly, the lower profile on the mavics looks more 'light touring' than the aero kinlins.
there's still the tubus tara i'd need to install to see if the commuting characteristics would improve. just struggling to find light enough second hand front panniers. but that's somewhere in the future as the gravel/bikepacking season unfolds. i realize i'm mostly writing this to 'get mentally over' the project for now to be able to address the next one.