Price Paid:
$2700.00
at Bikes Direct Favorite Ride:
Goliad Missions Tour Bike Setup:
SRAM Red shifters, front and rear derailleurs, brakes and crankset (53/39), SRAM GXP Ceramic BB
Shipped with SRAM OG1070 11-23 cassette
Ritchey Pro bar
FSA Carbon headset
Kestrel matched carbon fork w/ aluminum steerer
Kestrel RT series aero seat post
Selle Italia Flite gel saddle Summary:
Purchased online from BD. Had almost 20Kmiles on my Trek 5000, so wanted a ride with a more power transfer to the rear wheel, a little stiffer ride and a higher end component group. I saw the BD web offer of the RT800 with complete SRAM Red, and really good price,so I took a chance and purchased.
The bike arrived in the original Kestrel carton, well packaged. The crank, derailleurs, shifters and rear brakes and headset were already assembled on the frame. The derailleur cables were routed through the frame. I had to mount the front caliper, and install fork, handlebar and seat/seatpost. The complete set of SRAM documents were in the package, as well as frame specific Kestrel instruction set with torque specs for the seat clamp/post, brake and derailleur cable routing instructions and tips, and even two bottles of touch up paint for the frame finish (red and white)!There was an adapter to allow use of a standard 27.2 mm seatpost should you not wish to use the aero post. Assembly was easy, but I have a good selection of bicycle tooling, and a proper toque wrench is a must! Don't attempt this at home without proper tools.
I set everything up with the measurements from my Trek, as the seat and head tube angles weren't much different, and the results were close enough to start. No issues with derailleur setup: the SRAM group dialed right in. I did change the supplied OG1070 11-23 cassette (actually from the Force group, I think) with the PG1070 12-27 cassette I purchased separately.
First ride, I had problems with the aero seat post slipping. I didn't use any carbon grip compound. I torqued the clamp to the max recommended 45 in lbs, but still had problems. I called Kestrel, and their tech support said they had shipped some posts that did not meet their size specs, and that they had shipped Bikes Direct replaceement properly built posts and that I should contact them for a replacement. I emailed BD on a Friday, and had a response the following Monday... anew post was on the way. I got it a few days later, installed it, and absolutely no problems since! Good customer service!
I rode the bike in the Corpus Christi Conquer the Coast ride, and signed up for the 18 mile TT...wow, what a ride! Could not believe the difference from my Trek 5K... Power transfer to the rear wheel was just awesome. It felt like the effort needed to complete the TT at 25mph was half what it had felt like riding the Trek in training.
I thought it might have been just because it was a new bike, but when I rode the Goliad Missions Tour last weekend, I had similar results. Just seemed to fly! Great ride, the frame seemed to soak up the roughness of the chip seal on the farm roads, and even the ever-present head wind didn't seem to hold us back. And the hills...wow, I like hills anyway, but the 800 just eats them up. The SRAM shifting in or out of the saddle while climbing was flawless.
It probably shows...I really like the 800. And I was pleasnatly surprised that BD had such good support...some of the online reviews were less than complimentary. I guess it is what you make of it. If you have the tools and skills, or a goog LBS to set up the bike, the BD deal on the 800 is a good one. Strengths:
Cool frame looks, great component group, Stiff frame and BB gets the power to the wheel. Shifts like a dream.Great price Weaknesses:
Aksium wheel set is a heavy (I see new wheels in my future!), The Ritchey Pro bar is also a bit heavy.Can't have it all, I guess! Similar Products Used:
Trek 5000
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