Lynskey Cooper First Ride

First, a little history. Whenever I went into a bike shop before, I always felt like I was at a disadvantage not knowing what the differences were between bikes, their components, and accessories sold to me.  I felt like either the employees could care less that I was in the shop or I was being sold something I didn't understand fully, just to get money flowing into the store. I was once even told I would be fine doing road rides on a tri-bike. That's not the case with Knobbies and Slicks. The first time I came to the shop, the owner Bud stopped working on a bike and walked me around the store, showed me titanium spokes (I was amazed), carbon cranksets, the cycling studio, and didn't mind spending an hour, just talking about what I could get out of riding my bike at the time (Redline Monocog Singlespeed mountain bike). He and Carl didn't know me from anyone. I hadn't promised to buy anything, but they both just wanted to share what cycling was about with me, a total stranger that didn't look like he had any money to spend at the shop. 

I ended up buying a frame from the shop on New Year's Eve 2010. I was so freaking excited about my glow in the dark frame, I couldn't believe it. My job has kept me out of town for the last several years for sometimes months at a time. I was able to build up my new frame in March, and I told them I'd like to learn more about their shop and help them out whenever I could. A few months later, with flooring finally completed at my house, Jamie gave me the ok to help out at the shop. I've been helping out at the shop since early summer 2011 every weekend except for a few here and there and have learned quite a bit, but understand that there's so much more that I don't know.

Onto the the ride. I took home a new Lynskey Cooper about 3 weeks ago. The weather here in North Texas hasn't been the greatest and I've been working like crazy lately both for real work and at the shop. Excuses, yes, but it was enough to keep me from riding since I actually have no cold weather gear right now... or so I thought. Using 2 short sleeve jerseys, a someone loose long sleeve under armor shirt, Mechanix gloves, and my new woolie boolie socks, I thought I'd give 50 degree weather a shot. It went pretty well, except for the fact that it didn't stay 50 degrees because I began riding around 5 pm 10 days before the shortest day of the year. I also wore my camelbak with just some tools and my phone in it to keep the somewhat loose shirt from blowing all over the place. It worked. All of it worked actually. My toes (just my toes) were chilled, but still fully functional and could have ridden another 30 minutes or so without issue. My upper body was perfect, if not a little warm. My ears were a bit chilly, but not too bad. Legs were no big deal, although knee warmers would probably be a really good idea for me. My Mechanix gloves from Lowes worked out great too. I just wish I would have washed them before I rode because  I ended up getting dust from the tile removal all over the black bar tape.

So what about the bike? I know, I know get on with it already. Well the bike is in a word spectacular to me. And I know it will only get better. My main problem with road cycling has been that I have never been very comfortable with the bike. It was either too large (Trek 1500 54 cm) or I felt like I bounced all over (Fuji ACR). Both previous road bikes were good bike, just not good for me. The Cooper fits me well AND it's smooth. I've ridden quite a few bikes up at the shop made from materials ranging from stainless steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber, but nothing has felt like this (titanium) before to me. Aluminum gets the job done, and is pretty darn stiff. Carbon is stiff and light and felt better to me than aluminum, mainly less harsh, and awfully quick to transfer power. I've ridden a Pegoretti inside the shop a bit too, but I didn't want to be constantly worried about scratching beautiful paint on a bike I couldn't replace. I'm not a flashy guy, so the satin Ti finish is awesome for me. It is more difficult to tell when it's dirty and there is no paint, so I am not too worried about scratching it ever. The frame is within reason for me if I ever have to fix it or replace it as well.

Specs The Cooper was a kit bike built from parts supplied from Lynskey. The parts aren't the greatest, but they do the job and allow mere mortals like myself the ability to afford (MSRP $3200) something quite remarkable. 

The Cooper is equipped for me as follows currently:

Medium Cooper Frame, satin finish

Easton EC70 fork

Fulcrum Racing 7 Wheelset

FSA Orbit Equipe 1-1/8" Headset

FSA Gossamer front and rear brakes

FSA Omega crankset

FSA Omega compact bars

FSA aluminum 20mm setback seatpost

Shimano 105 shifters and derailleurs

90 mm 3T stem

Cheap plastic bottle holder (aftermarket looks ugly, but I needed a bottle holder right away)

Shimano PD-R540 pedals

Selle Italia SL saddle

Bottom Line Impressions The bike was smooth and responsive for me. I was very comfortable in the drops (I never felt safe in them on previous bikes) and I think the compact design lends itself to comfort. The same can be said for the saddle. I never felt any discomfort on this saddle, which I usually feel very quickly on most saddles. There was nothing wrong with the bike at all, except for the bar position, which was my fault for not adjusting when I swapped out the stem for a shorter one a few weeks ago. 

I am going to say this again, this bike is comfortable. In my little 50 minute, 12.88 mile ride, I found myself going faster than I usually had in several sections on my Trek or Fuji. I rode on a bike path down a busy road along the Arlington, Fort Worth border and didn't feel the constant jarring between sections of concrete. I knew they were there, but they just weren't nearly as harsh as other times I've ridden those sections. I know this bike isn't designed for racing, but for long comfortable rides and I am completely fine with it. I hit up a few hills on the way back and killed my average speed and left me sucking air at the top of each hill, but the bike ran like a champ. I also got a chance to test the brakes when 2 cars in a row decided that they had the right of way making a right turn when I had the crossing sign for the bike lane. The brakes locked up and I skidded  about 2 feet along the paint on the crosswalk. Oh well. The bike shifted reliably every time and like any other bike, extreme cross chaining will yield some noise. I didn't notice a lot of flex in the bottom bracket area, but I was mostly concerned with how comfortable I was. I didn't feel like I put in any more power than normal, but I felt and at time saw on my Garmin that I was going faster.

I think the Cooper is going to be a great bike for me that will last for a very long time. I have enjoyed aspects of other road bikes, but none have made me want to keep riding like the Cooper does. It may not be the fastest bike around (yet), but it's certainly the most enjoyable bike to me. The build list isn't amazing, and there's certainly room to improve the components, but for now, I'm comfortable just getting in some miles on the bike and enjoying an experience I've only been able to hear from others.

Links

Lynksey Cooper

Knobbies and Slicks