I have now finished my third ride (185 miles) on my new Alta. This bike is truly a joy to ride beyond my expectations. I had this bike built to do a couple of important things. First it needed to be comfortable for doing double centuries. Second it needed to be a climbing machine during the double centuries. I really wanted the bike to ride just like my Serotta Ottrott ST. The Alta was set up using Campy 10 record components,13/29 cassette, FSA pro compact cranks (50/34), cat usa titanium brakes, Topolino wheels and easton carbon seat posts and handlebars. The bike weighed 14lb 15oz with pedals. The frame was painted in a liquid copper to match my FX45.
Ride quality is so smooth its scary. On steep grades (8-10%) there has been no BB flex, yet its vertical compliance is perfect. It may be not as smooth over really rough roads as the Ottrott, but I think that may be do to the compact frame(10% slope TT compared to 6% on the Ottrott)and full titanium compared to the Ottrott carbon/titanium. The bike climbs so easy it almost felt effortless. As mentioned, there was no feeling of flex in the BB. It felt as if it was pushing me up the hill. The compact cranks may also have helped as they make you spin more which takes some force off the BB.
Overall this bike gets an A plus and is real keeper. These two bikes will be my double century rides but the hard part will be in choosing which one to ride.
Jack
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