New Toys and some Equipment Reviews

After riding the new Masi for the second couple months of this 'season' and I use the term season lightly considering a lot of use start the new cycling season January 1 not in April. I will start with the Masi touring bike. I built it myself to what I think I need for components and personal preference (free of Shimano parts) This is the first bike I've had with a hub dynamo so that has been a new experience but a good one. The SON hub and Busch & Muller light combo work very well just as bright as some of the 5oo dollar led systems out there, also cost over 5oo dollars not having to charge them is all worth it. The next part I had a little experience with is bags. It is very different riding with large bags it almost triples your wind resistance and the bike feels very different, makes it hard to jump the front end at all. Being able to carry a ton of stuff is very nice and going back to a bike that you have to strap everything to your back you miss the bags. Also new tires Marathon Extreme were worth the money and work so much better than cheap cross tires on gravel and pavement. My 36-11 top gear is a little low from time to time but worth the trade off for 24-28 in the mud. I definitely like gravel and off road better than road riding another one to the dirt-side.