The initial review of the Azor Secret Service, my new daily commuter and car replacement, is here.
My Azor Secret Service takes a break in the shade of trees at Garrison Park in South Austin
It’s been a bit over two weeks since I started riding my Azor Secret Service dutch bicycle, and I wanted to just provide a quick update on how things have been, the good and the bad.
Overall, things have been going great. The only problems I have had are with seat position and angle, for the most part. All of the mechanical parts on the bike have been just fine, thus far.
Seat position, height and angle: honestly, this has been hard to figure out. I think I have adjusted the seat angle almost every other day so far, because none of them have felt quite right. It would be great if there were some diagrams or instruction pages online for this. The correct seat posture is really unlike any other bike I have ever been on. I’ve also been wondering exactly how long the break-in process for a Brooks B67 is…wow! Months? Years?
The Azor has had to share space with my wife's Trek in our garage
Other than the seat issue, the Azor Secret Service has been remarkably comfortable for my commutes to work, and for errands after work and on weekends.
Let’s get one thing straight, though – this IS a bicycle for people who aren’t necessarily interested in going too fast, especially uphill. The heaviest thing on the bike is ME, of course, but still, anytime I’m going uphill, it’s a huge momentum killer. Now, if I lose 40 pounds, this could change!
Kickstand: Man, that double kickstand is heavy duty. It’s actually so sturdy that so far the best way to get it to go back up is to lift the bike for a moment, and push it with your leg. A few times I have rolled the bike forward to get the kickstand started, but I’m afraid of doing this too often because it may cause the rubber ends of the kickstand to wear too fast.
Shimano Dynamo Front Hub
The front headlight could be brighter. For winter, I am definitely going to be adding a front flasher or secondary light. Either that, or consider replacing the front light with an LED light instead of a halogen. My rear lights are fine, I think, now that I have the DToplight in place of the rear reflector.
That’s it for now, more in a few weeks as things progress!
No related posts.
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
My B17 took about 200 miles or so to get broken in. The first 100 miles were pretty brutal. At about 150 things started to settle in and when it hit around 200 it became pretty comfortable.
Heat seems to be your friend (thankfully we have plenty of this in Austin.) When I would start out on a ride it would hurt but after about 5 miles or so it would start to warm up and settle in…now it holds it’s shape and is comfy from mile 1!
How do you like the roller brakes?
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
The roller brakes are actually a lot stronger than I imagined they would be – you just have to press the handles hard. I love the fact that they are silent, as squeaking rim brakes drive me nuts!
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I think the break in period is more about your butt than the saddle. I just switched to a B17 about a month ago, (I’m getting around to a review soon!) and change from my other saddle was barely noticeable. Now, I like a firm saddle, but I think the fact that I ride at least 100 miles/week helps too.
Regarding, changing the setup all the time, keep experimenting until it feels right. The great Eddy Merckx used to carry a hex wrench in races so he could stop on the fly and make tiny adjustments. That guy had way more saddle time than you!
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I second what Elliott said. I’ve owned 3x B17s and the first one definitely took the longest to break in, at about 400 miles/2 weeks. The second took me about a week, and the third was comfortable after a weekend.
How long is your commute?
on Sep 12th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
My commute is 10 miles a day, plus I usually put in at least 2-3 miles of errands and other small riding during each weekday, and 10-30 miles each weekend, so from 60-80 miles each week, I would guess.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 2:21 am
You might be interested to know that I visited the Azor factory a few months back and made a short video of the visit:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=IHmgHu_eRxg
I was favourably impressed. In particular, I liked the steamy brine bath that components and paint samples are left in for a few months at a time to see if they’ll survive on the street.
As you say, it’s not designed for speed. However, it is designed for reliability.
on Sep 14th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
I have to smile to myself a little bit as I observe the current revival of interest in brooks leather saddles. There is no doubt about it, Brooks makes the best ones, but seriously, the modern plastic with padding and leather covering saddles are superior. For commuting, however, the distances are not critical, so enjoy the Brooks. They are very pretty! I rode a brooks team pro saddle for many years. The brooks pro is about 5x stouter than a b-17, with a correspondingly longer breakin time. We used to use the lexol leather conditioner on them to help break them in. A friend of mine even had a recipe that involved lexol and *baking* them for a short period – and it worked too.
Headlight wise, I am currently salivating over a Busch&Müller Lumotec IQ Fly, which you can get with a standlight and auto on/off switch. Its an LED based light, and will stay on when you are stopped for several minutes. $$$ though. Peter White Cycles imports them.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 10:19 am
dlewis,
I’m not sure I’d say leather on plastic is superior to Brooks, just different characteristics. Modern saddles are cheaper to make, lighter weight, and can be fine saddles. They do require you to find just the right saddle though since there is much less give to them. This can mean swapping out saddles until you find just the right one. They certainly will not last as long as a Brooks.
I’d say Brooks is more of an investment. They are more expensive and take a little while to break in (though I’ve not really noticed much of a break-in period on my B17), but they will conform to the rider and if properly cared for last a life time. I disagree that a properly broken in saddle would be any less comfortable on long rides.
The other thing which has nothing to do with function is that they just plain look good.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I’m going to have to go with Elliott on the Brooks. I have 3 b17s and a brooks pro on my go fast road ride, and I love them all. Every expensive plastic padded pos I’ve ever tried has become a burning pain in the ass. I put the proofide on and ride, no special anything. They may be firm in the beginning, but after you put in a little quality time with them, they’re awesome. The only downfall to these saddles is that you need to keep them dry. I’ve been caught and soaked my professional. It didn’t ruin it, I just hear that it’s not something you want to make a habit of with a brooks.
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
First off, I agree, they just look great!
2nd, saddles are an intensely personal choice, so if it works for you, let none tell you otherwise!
But – modern saddles are not necessarily cheaper, nor must they have less give than leather. You probably will have to swap out saddles to find the one that works for you.
Another issue is riding position. Sitting straight up like on a english policeman’s bike or the typical dutch heavy city bike is way different than a more aggressive position leaning forward when it comes to the saddle. If you lean forward, sitting comes down to supporting your weight on the “sit bones” and even more importantly, not much else. Having pressure on the perineum is bad, and can lead to numbness & nerve damage.
This is where I feel the leather saddle is at a disadvantage. First, it is a pretty rare leather saddle built with a hole in the middle to relieve pressure, and 2nd, the spots where your bones push on the leather can “sag” leaving the surrounding regions to put pressure where they shouldn’t.
Finally, I suppose I could say, and in fact, anybody can say, that if my leather saddle was uncomfy, then perhaps it was not properly broken in? That’s a bit of a catch-22 though.
Finally, (didn’t I just say that?) my current saddle is not the most comfortable shape for me. But, when I re-orient my definition of comfortable to prioritize not going numb, my current saddle is the most comfortable.
on Sep 25th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Well, it is designed for the Netherlands, a country notorious for being as flat as a pancake.
Could you substitute a Rolhoff or NuVinci hub for the one provided, or put a Schlumph on the crank?
on Sep 26th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I thought the Shimano hub had a pretty good range, and I didn’t have any problems climbing with it on Austin hills. Granted, I’m a strong climber on the bike, but I didn’t sense an urgent need to upgrade the hub. This is in contrast to the Sturmy Archer 3 speed hub on Marcus’ old Union Dutch bike. The range of that hub was awful and no suited for and vertical inclines.
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
[...] Quick Update [...]
on Apr 14th, 2009 at 12:26 am
marcus,
nice report.
what if you put your foot in front of the stand, in order to push the bike forward off it?
i am shure this will save you the rubbers and can help avoid lifting the bike (rather pushing it, one hand on the saddle, the other on the bar)
how is the brooks doing meanwhile?