First Ride

To be truthful, it is difficult for an amateur to distinguish between the ride quality of bikes with certainty. Statements like stiffer ride, faster bike etc. etc. seem far too difficult to distinguish without access to objective data.

I have been riding a Scott Addict 10 until recently. It was an excellent bike and I thoroughly enjoyed it for about two years. After the build, when the time came for the first ride of the Festka, I had doubts about my ability to distinguish between the two. What if I can't make out the difference between a very reasonably priced Scott Addict and an expensive, custom Festka?

My concerns were thankfully unfounded. As I pedaled through my block street, the first thing that struck me almost immediately was the complete weightlessness of the Festka, in comparison with the Scott. This is despite the fact that the Scott was no heavy weight either, with a manufacturer advertised weight of 7.7kg without pedals. The all in weight of the Scott was about 8.3kg, while that of the Festka Scalatore, a mere 5.98kg. The difference was not only discernable, it was also a welcome change.

As I got onto to the main road outside the apartment complex, shifted into the right gear and started climbing the first flyover, it was time to get introduced to the ability of the bike to move upslope, prior to the body getting warmed up. This is no climb, as climbs are usually characterised. Yet, the difference was apparent. It seemed easier to lug up the feather weight Festka when compared to my Scott.

I was riding with my son, who is a strong rider. It is the toughest to keep up with him when the road takes an upward trajectory. The difference in power figures becomes most apparent there. And despite my obvious disadvantage, this is where the Festka comes into its own. It not only accelerates fast on flats, the bike's ability to use every limited watt that I generate is most apparent on slopes. 

As the ride continued, I could see the reason for some of these enhancements in efficiency. It was primarily because there was no apparent flex in the frame of the Festka. While riding the Scott, I could sense some flex in the area of the bottom bracket and even the fork. It is completely absent in the Scalatore.

Let me come to the wheels. The Schmolke TLO 45s are as light as they come. Built with Extralite ceramic hubs, the wheels are very quiet. Why is this the first thing I noticed? Quite frankly, it is so because that is the first thing that comes up in comparison with most carbon wheels, which tend to make their presence felt on the basis of the sound the hubs create.

It was tougher to discern differences with my existing wheels. What I did notice was the reduced impact of turbulence caused by cross winds and big vehicles zipping past me. This was quite apparent. Was it because of the 5mm difference in depth? I am not sure.

The other thing was the improved braking bite. It is appreciably better than the Profile Design wheels. However, for the first few rides, I did experience some squealing of pads on the wheels. I could not make out the reason. A clean up of the wheel surface and more importantly a slight toe in of the pads completely removed the irritable sound. I don't know which of the two is a bigger factor. But the fact is that it works great now.

I was trying out a SRAM groupset for the first time. Being a mechanical 11 speed Red, I had big expectations when compared with my Ultegra mechanical 11 speed. On the contrary, I noticed a lag in the gear shift to some of the bigger rings on the sprocket. It seemed rather disheartening. A visit to the workshop and after a retune, I was able to get rid of the issue. Yet, does it make a marked difference with my previous set? I doubt it. Though there are inherent variations between the approach followed by the two companies.

For anyone coming to SRAM from Shimano, the change is apparent for more reasons than one. Not only does the shift take place from a single lever in SRAM, compared to the shift/brake lever option in Shimano. In addition, the shifts are more subtle and softer in Shimano. With SRAM, there is a very perceptible mechanical click. Some may find this odd after using Shimano. However, for me, the change is welcome. The clicks with the shift ensure a very perceptible change. This makes false shifts and double shifts or miss-shifts that much less likely. Though, to be fair, it is only with time that the efficiency and ease of use of this groupset will become apparent.

I think the saddle is one of the most important aspects of a build. It ensures comfort, especially over longer rides. While I am yet to go for a really long ride, the initial impressions suggest that the Berk Lupina is one very comfortable saddle. It is a slightly longer nosed variety compared with the trend these days. However, irrespective of its length, there is little doubt about the comfort it ensures.

My choice of saddle is the padded variety, unlike the really light ones, which come with a bare carbon surface. Ultimately, it is a question of striking the right balance between weight and comfort.

The only other component that deserves some space are the Cane Creek ee brake calipers. My impression suggests that these are at least as good as my Ultegra calipers on the previous bike. The new calipers are obviously lighter by a substantial margin, even when compared with SRAM Red. This makes their comparable performance especially noteworthy.

While the setup may be slightly more tedious for a layman, however, once the calipers are setup, making minor adjustments to the brakes, is in fact more efficient. While these are obviously expensive, however, they seem to be strong enough to last the life of the bike, unlike some of the Chinese light weight ones that are questionable in their build quality and reliability.

Are there any lessons that can be learnt from the build and ride. I would think yes. While I have been lucky with the sizing, I still feel that getting a pre-build bike fit is worth the time and money spent. It helps creates a bike that is at least theoretically made to order. As bespoke as it gets. This also reinforces the importance of going to builders who offer this service. While the human body does tend to adapt over time, however, as age advances, the possibility of an injury because of a poor fitting bike cannot be ruled out.