Head over Heels over Litespeed Tuscany

I went to the bike store on Saturday and went head over heels over a Litespeed Tuscany, literally. I took the bike for a test ride and tried to stop going down a steep hill with an intersection and cross-traffic at the bottom. I was riding plain platform pedals for the test ride. A good firm squeeze of the brakes and I was up and off the pedals and flying. The bike however was firmly planted on the ground. It was a brief flight. I did a full somersault, landing on my head and then smacking my back on the pavement. I was bruised but still able to ride. The bike sustained a scratch on the brake lever and torn handlebar tape. I felt terrible about scratching the bike. The store owner would not have held me responsible but I decided to buy the bike anyway. I would have test ridden other bikes before deciding to buy anything but this bike had a lot going for it. It was the right size, it was 20% off since it was a 2005 model, the store was willing to swap the derailleurs for a triple for $30, and had the parts available on another bike in store, and the Tuscany was one of the bikes I really craved. So I washed the blood off and got out the checkbook. Suggestions by some BT’ers that I did the aerobatics just to get this bike are completely false.

I took some pictures of the new bike in the living room (also known as the museum) to get what I thought would be a different and interesting background. The picture looks like it was taken on Christmas morning or something. I can't get a good blank wall for a backdrop inside the house without moving furniture. Not going to do that tonight

The new bike handles a lot like my old steel Raleigh in the turns which is the way I think a bike should feel. I am never intentionally daring on cornering and was especially cautious tonight, so I didn't really explore the limits of handling. I thought the ride might be harsh and twitchy based on the racing geometry but it seemed pretty conventional. The steel Raleigh is similarly stiff but the Litespeed is both light and stiff which is what the extra dollars buy you. On my scales, the Raleigh weighs 28 lbs and the Litespeed 18.

The lowest gear (30x25) on the Litespeed does not feel like a stump puller. I got down into the lowest gear on a modest hill on the neighborhood loop which is no where near as steep as the hill on the lake loop that I bought the triple for. I still need to work on the legs and lungs.

I bought Look pedals and Sidi bike shoes for the new bike. This is a first for me since I had toe clips on the old bike. I am not very coordinated but bike shoes are not as difficult to use as I thought they might be. On a test ride tonight, I clipped in and out successfully a number of times although never under any duress. I did not notice the big difference in pedaling efficiency.

This bike will be a lot of fun. I am still pretty sore from the crash, so my ride tonight was brief.

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