New Bike Day.

There is something about getting a new bike, whether it be assembled at a bike shop, or delivered in a box. But I have to say, unboxing is a little special.

Now I've always preferred the LBS, Local.Bike Store. But over the past years I have had reason to turn away from them in my town. I have, luckily found one that I may frequent.

Being told that your Cube is pretty much a shit bike that I'll have trouble with, and another that charges well above prices...well. By the way, I have not had one once of trouble with the Cube Atyention SL in the three years I've owned it.

Anyway digressing...yes opening up the box, lifting it out and starting to separate the pieces of the beautiful puzzle was, well, exciting.

I purchase the new bike online as you've probably guessed. The bike is a Marin Nicasio gravel bike, as I've been looking for this style bike for  while.

I've looked and pondered some over the past twelve months or so, and on my list was the Bombtrak and Kona. But prices intontje high 3k made me hum and ah.

Price was a big factor of the Nicasio. It came in at $897.00 AUD on an End Of Finacial Year Sale. Normal retail is around $1099-$1299 AUD.  It is a budget friendly bike but it had characteristics that caught my eye.

It is has a Chromoly frame and forks with plenty of rack, guard and cage mount options. It has the Shimano Claris 2 x 8 drive chain with .... mechanical disc brakes. STI shifters are Claris as well.

It comes standard with Marin double walled aluminium 32H rims that sport 30 mm .... tyres and 6 bolt 160 mm rotors. The rear wheel is fitted with a Sunrace 11-34 cassette, which in my opinion only just fits. It seems a little snug changing into the granny gear.

The saddle is a Marin and is mounted using a 27.2 mm seat post. This saddle is quite surprising. The Kona Sutra is the only bike I've owned that I didn't change to saddle on straight away. The Cube, and even my munched loved Trek Domane 5.2. The Bontager Paradigms were far from a comfort endurance saddle. But the Marin saddle is extremely comfortable, it's an astonishing keeper.

Cranks are FSA with a tapered seald BB. They measure on my size, a 58, 175 mm and length, and run a compact chainring set, 50/34.

The bike rides very well for a starting point bike. The last bike I had with Claris 2 x 8 was my Trek Alpha 1.1, a base road model. Shimano has vastly the Claris shifters and derailleurs. They are much smoother than they used to be.

The bike is smooth and feels light for an all steel bike. It has agile and responsive handling, and gives you plenty of road feel whilst suppressing the bumps.

The standard 30 mm tyres are more of a road tyre  but do handle gravel OK. But they're not something I would like to ride the BVRT with. They do, however, grip well even in the wet.

If you're after a budget bike, it would be one well worth considering. Purchasing the bike through Bicycles Online was easy, and delivery time swift. It only took three days from Sydney to Bundaberg. The bike was exceptionally well packed with Velcro straps and compressed neoprene as the packing.

Assembly was easy. Simply fit handlebars and seat post/seat, front wheel and pedals. I did find some adjustments needed to be done, brake cable tension, and pad adjustment, along with some indexing and cable tension adjustment on the gears. Even if you're a newby to riding and have little mechanical skill set it isn't hard, a quick search on YouTube will have your bike up and running in no time. Oh, and the bike comes with a multi tool and a pedal spanner. Yes the bike comes with pedals...they are just basic plastic flat pedals. But they do have a good sizable platform.

To be honest, out of the box this bike is a good bike. Basic components make for simple maintenance. It's ride quality and agility make it a great bike. It would make a great commuter bike as is, but to say it is a gravel bike is a push. It handles gravel well, don't get me wrong, but tyres are the thing that would let it down here. It has room for 700x40c or you can swap to 650bx47c. They do state that it takes up to a 700x35c tyre, but later in their description they state 30-40 mm tyres.

All in all I'm very happy with the purchase, even as is. But me being me, it won't stop there. I have also been busy purchasing upgraded components to make a great little bike even better...but we'll leave that side of it for another time