I went for a short ‘tweaking’ ride on the Condor on Sunday before Mal and I ventured to Tower Bridge for fasteddy’s xmas lunch (2am home, for LUNCH?! :)).

Today was its proper debut as my new commuter. The bike really is nice! It’s larger than the WAC Langster I was using so it fits me better and it’s reasonably light for a steel frame (none of this 531 guff, it’s some reasonably stiff SAT14 bollocks – now I’d love to try their EOM version). So, it handles really well, it’s very comfortable (tyre pressure was on the low side before you aluminium haters jump up). The 47×17 (74″) gearing is higher than I was previously using 48×19 (68″) and with clear roads it’s great. In heavier traffic (London peak) the stop start might start to wear me down. I had planned to run 47×19 but I might leave 47×17 on for a while. I’m yet to fit the Planet-X rear track wheel so it’s still using my old Open Pro. The half-link chain sounds great when you ‘go gumby’ slowing down as it vibrates through the tubing but I think I should swap it out for a smoother running chain given its roadie-esque design spec. The drops are much better than the silly track drops I had on the Langster although the brakes are shite – probably due to the cheap brake pads. Had to adjust the slipping post this morning (torque wrenches on xmas list). I wouldn’t mind swapping the caliper out for something a bit nicer and running replaceable-pad holders. All in all I’m pretty happy with it!

Cheers Hammo (frameset), BMMF (cog), Bobob (bars), BDW (post), craignasty (wheelset), dodanto37 (chainring), RPM (stem), polybikeuser (buying WAC), ebay (saddle):)