I did 30 miles on the F5 yesterday afternoon, and another 30 miles this morning. The adjustments are getting closer. And now, more technical data than anyone probably wanted to know:

The bike truly is the nicest riding bike I’ve been on. If you’ve never been on a steel high racer with 700c wheels, you should try one sometime. I don’t think there will be much difference at all in overall speed between the F5 and the Corsa, but the F5 is definitely faster on rough stuff. My regular route features two miles each way of US 175 shoulder that is some of the roughest boulder seal I’ve seen. On the biggest downhill of this stretch, the fastest coast I’d ever experienced on the Corsa was 28 mph. I was coasting it at 31 mph this morning on the F5.

One thing I did different on the F5 was to raise the height of the handlebar 1 inch, relative to the main frame tube. It was 12 inches higher than the main tube on the Corsa. I cut the riser to make it 13 inches on the F5. I always liked the low handlebar on the Corsa, and the great view of the road that it gave me, but when pedaling on especially rough roads, I would hit the bar with my shins sometimes. With so much riding on rough roads since I moved here, it was happening much more often than I was willing to tolerate. I also thought that since the F5 is a size large, that the boom would be longer than the Corsa, putting me closer to the riser, so necessitating a higher bar. That turned out not to be the case. The boom on the F5 is actually over half an inch shorter than the Corsa. But, the seat seems to sit a little higher above the main tube than it did on the Corsa, so I figured I needed more clearance. I still have a great view of the road over the handlebar, and haven’t touched the bar with my shins yet (part of that is no doubt because of the better ride of the F5, but the extra clearance has to help). I think I’m leaving the riser at its current height.

So far, the toughest part of riding the F5 has been getting on it. With the Kinesis bag taking all the space between the front of the seat and the riser, I just have to step over the seat to get on it. It’s a tall step. I tried moving the Kinesis bag to in front of the boom, but didn’t like it there. Getting my feet down at stops on the F5 hasn’t been a problem at all. I normally just put my left foot down, and stay clipped in with my right foot, just like I always did on the Corsa.

Here are the comparison measurments of the Corsa and F5 seat and bottom bracket. It’s the same Euromesh seat; I moved it from the Corsa to the F5. Seat measurements were made with the seat pad removed.

Measurements:
bottom bracket – seat height, lowest point – seat height, back of the seat
Corsa ————– 32″ —————24″ ———————- 38″
F5 —————– 34″ —————26 1/4″ —————— 39 3/4″

Since the lowest point of the F5 seat is 2 1/4 inches taller than the Corsa and the back of the seat is just 1 3/4″ taller, I am slightly more reclined on the F5. That’s intentional. I figured I’d try it, since I’m up higher and less aerodynamic now. I like this position. I reclined the seat more after yesterday’s ride, so just tried this position for the first time on today’s ride. This height with the back of the seat was achieved using only the bottom half of the Corsa sprint braces (see photo below). There are no clamps, pins, or anything other than one solid sprint brace piece. I like that, simple, light, and solid. I don’t think I’ll cut the Corsa sprint braces or fabricate anything else to experiment with getting more reclined. I think this is it, at least as long as I’m running the Euromesh seat on the F5.