Artoo: 60-Day Review

[ornoth_cycling]

Okay, I’ve put about 800 miles on the new bike, including two centuries and one epictacular 130-mile ride yesterday (more on that shortly); it’s time for the full-blown review.

When I set out on this (bike-buying) journey last fall, I knew it would be difficult to find a bike that would live up to my experience with my old steed, the Plastic Bullet. It served me very well, and I put 22,000 miles on it. So the bar was already set very high for the new bike.

For that reason, and because I wound up buying the exact same model, I won’t say that the R2 is a radical improvement. The geometry is almost identical, and even the curb weight is the nearly same as the old bike (the 2.5-ounce difference being about the weight of $3 in quarters).

That might sound underwhelming, but for me, finding a bike that can live up to the legacy of the Plastic Bullet (PB) is a really awesome thing. And I’m doubly appreciative of that, given the large spectrum of poorly-suited bikes that I test-rode! So despite it not being a quantum improvement, I’m absolutely and unreservedly delighted with the R2.

Although I make it sound like it’s just the same as my old bike, it’s really not. Aside from being sleek, shiny, and new, it’s no less than seven model years newer, with all the improvements and refinements that implies. I really think it rides noticeably better than the PB.

One change is that Specialized has tuned the bike a lot by altering the tube shapes. The beefier chain stays make the drive train stiffer, the thinner seat stays are more flexible to ease road feel, and the head tube (which is disproportionately large in my 61cm size) is less ugly/noticeable than before because the tubes arc and gracefully ease together where they join.

They also flattened the top tube like a squashed cylinder. That might not sound important, but it’s an unexpected convenience when stopped, when I (like many riders) will sit on the top tube. However, the lesser top tube height makes it a more difficult place to affix a name decal!

The handlebars are likewise flattened on top, providing a more ergonomic place for one’s hands. And of course the Roubaix’s classic polymer “Zertz” vibration-dampening inserts improved over the years, as well.

One of the more noticeable differences is that the R2 uses internal cable routing. That gives the bike a cleaner, refined look, but sometimes confuses me, because when I used to work on the PB on a repair stand, I’d stop a rotating rear wheel by reaching up to the top tube and yanking on the exposed brake cable that ran alongside it; no exposed cables on the R2!

A major difference that worried me initially was the move from a triple chainring to a compact double, and the consequent loss of top- and bottom-end gears. Of course, I never think about needing either an easier or harder gear during regular daily riding, but I have noticed it on hilly rides, where my old triple gave me both easier gears for steep climbs and higher top-end gears for faster descents. So far that hasn’t been a show-stopper for me, but we’ll just have to see how it goes. I expect mountainous rides will be more challenging than they used to be.

I was also concerned about the shifting reliability of the compact double (they tend to be balky because of the large difference in size between the large and small chainrings), but that has been admirably handled by the electronic brain drivetrain.

Which brings up the biggest, most obvious difference with the new bike: the Di2 electronic shifting, which I’ve pretty thoroughly described in a previous post. I can’t say it has been 100 percent flawless, but it’s definitely close (much closer than old-school mechanical shifters), and in the long run I’ll be very happy that I spent the extra money.

I recently toggled its software flag for multi-shift, which lets me swap two or three gears with one long button click. That makes it a lot easier to navigate urban streets, with all the stopping and starting you have to do in town, and has perfectly addressed the only complaint I had about my bike’s electronic brain. I’m only 60 days in, but Di2 has been a daily delight.

And there’s always the cool factor of the sound of electric servo motors moving the derailleurs into a new position. During my first group ride on the new bike, after one front chainring shift my buddy Joe called up to me from behind, “Dude… Are you a robot???”

Damned right! I’m a macheen!

So while you might not have noticed much enthusiasm in my comments to date, I’m absolutely delighted with the new bike. I went into the process with extremely high requirements, and R2-Di2 has surpassed even those expectations. I was looking for the best bike on the planet, and I’m very happy to say that I think I found it.

Ride on! Right, R2?

(Photo essay still forthcoming…)