eBay UK Bid History for
FONDRIEST MEGALU NEW HT ROAD BIKE 54CM (Item # 3663373808)
Bidding History (Highest bids first)

Unfortunately, still being technically winter I couldn't take the bike out as the roads were wet and it's essentially a summer bike. However, after arriving back at 2000h from a 20 mile ride on my hybrid I saw that it was "asking" to be taken out and ridden. The roads were dryish now, so I fitted some lights and decided to take it around the block - four left turns and back home.

First impressions were not good. It seemed terribly unsafe, probably due to the sight of the narrow tyres and small frame and I feared I would come off very soon. Turning left up a slight hill changed my mind, the thing sprinted up and it wasn't necessary to change down in gear. Next left turn was up a slightly steeper hill and it was the same - a hell of a lot easier on a 22lb bike than the 42 lb hybrid I'd just been on.

The dodgy handling suddenly vanished and I wanted to go around again. One concern I had was the aluminium frame; having ridden chro-moly steel which is quite flexible, I was prepared to be shaken to bits by the stiffer material's harsh ride reputation. I don't know whether it was the damping effect of the carbon fork, but it seemed very smooth indeed; not at all harsh, although I would have to wait until I do a 100 mile ride to see whether the effect accumulates over long distances. 

The tuck position seemed very cramped and you couldn't really have much of a beer belly to keep tucked into this fetal position for long, but after a while that feeling too disappeared and it seemed natural. I felt somehow connected to the road and the bike became a sort of "climbing frame" that you could move around on. It was very "chuckable".

After another three goes around the block I had been convinced that there was a lot of fun to  be had on this bike when the warmer weather arrives and the first goal will be to to ride the hilly Hull-Pickering-Hull route to the North Yorkshire Moors that I last rode in 1974 at age 15, 30 years ago.   

Getting used to the handling.
 

First commute was attempted on a few sunny mornings in April. At first I was worried about using it to ride to work as it at appeared not to be as robust as my 42 lb hybrid, pictured here>. Indeed as I set off, I was convinced that I would surely get a puncture at the end of the street and I would fall off or be shaken to bits. 

After 5 miles of gingerly riding along the city streets looking out for glass, I realised that it was designed to travel many dozens of miles along roads like the ones I was on, so my initial concerns were obviously unfounded and I started to relax. 

One disadvantage was that I had to stick to main roads with 20% HGVs as the normal off-road routes I usually ride on are too rough and have too much debris for a road bike to cope with. I felt more vulnerable with the heavy traffic, but one plus point was that I knocked 20 minutes off my commuting time over the 12 miles, due to the more direct route, higher cruising speed and less give way points. 

Having no mudguards meant that the weather forecast has to be carefully studied to avoid days when heavy rain is predicted. Other than that, it is perfectly at home as a commuter, although you have to wear full cycling gear and not try and ride in jeans or a suit or you will look very odd indeed! 

One disadvantage of buying in an auction is that the bike will not have been set up properly and my bike was no exception. This was especially true with the wheels. Firstly, a spoke nipple bizarrely unscrewed itself and fell into the hollow interior of the front wheel and had to be teased out and then more seriously, the rear wheel developed a large amount of play on the bearings. 

The rear wheel being Campagnolo based and not Shimano, is at a  huge disadvantage as most bike shops will not have the expertise (or even tools) to service the hub and it took me five attempts to find a bike shop that could sort out the play. After two weeks, I got the wheel back as good as new and 200 miles later have had no further problems...

...that is until after 400 miles and the rear wheel bearings were completely shot, so I decided to get rid of them altogether and get a set of Campagnolo Scirocco wheels at �200 the pair. Even worse, the left hand crank developed a large crack shown here and so the bike was off the road yet again for repairs in JUN 04.

After a week it was released from the bike shop with its new wheels and crank.

First century ride.