So far, it's been pretty good - apart from the riding. I was certainly spoiled for singletrack living in Edmonton. No urban area in the world has trails like Edmonton.
And there are trails out here in the South Okanagan for sure, but they're very different. There's just WAY more climbing than I'm used to. Plus we have these nasty like "puncture vines" down here. I got five flats on the first two rides I took.
Because of that, I've been on the road mostly.
These had a reputation for being noodle-y, even with the legendary Sean Kelly racing on one for years with no issues that I know of. I'm quite certain I outweigh Kelly by Nairo Quintana though, so it just wasn't a good idea.
I really did like the feel of that bike, possibly because it was flexing under my weight, or possibly because I liked that moustache bar. I've never been comfortable in the drop portion of a drop bar on a road bike, which defeats the purpose of it to some degree.
I still have that moustache bar, so I'm set to build another road bike. And i would also like to build a gravel bike.
I make fun of the gravel bike genre because I can't quite figure how it's not just a rigid 29er MTB with drop bars and skinnier tires. But, if that's the bike you want, then it's a lot easier to get that from the shop then convert your 29er MTB. There are lots of converted rail lines and gravel back roads to ride out here, so it's slowly starting to look like a good idea to me.
The question then, is what in my fleet could become a road bike, and what could become a gravel bike?
However... I could also put some tanwall gravel tires on it, and I'd have a modern style gravel bike that looks exactly like a 1997 mountain bike. I haven't seen anyone else do this, and I like this idea so much that I wish I hadn't said anything.
Or..... I could put the moustache bars on this bike, get some skinny 26" slicks, and make my own Bridgestone XO-1.
For Bridgestone's top of the line MB-Zip though, Peterson got parts from Mavic, Ritchey, Dia-Compe, and SunTour. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to coordinate this operation. He ended up with a bike almost as light as a Ritchey P-23, at a fraction of the cost though.
I don't know how Peterson was able to green-light the XO-1. It had MTB-style 26" wheels, but a road-like frame with center-pull brakes and slick tires. It had moustache bars, which are..... whatever they are. It was a kind of hybrid, but with way better parts than other hybrids.
It was a predecessor to the modern gravel bike.
Sort of.
The Rocky is really the best choice for a gravel bike, and the best choice for a road bike. The Breezer will be a bit of a compromise no matter what I do with it. But, I'm pretty sure that no matter what I do, I'll be the only kid on the block with both bikes, and that's what I like.