As the primary ordering person for the shop, I ordered a Crosstrail Disc for display, thinking that if nothing else it would end up as my icy-roads bike. I really wanted to look the bike over closely, as there were some details I could not ascertain by looking at it online, and I didn't really know what questions to ask the tech folks at Specialized. I do like the Crosstrail--it's a versatile bike, a bit more street-friendly than the closely-related Hardrock 29 Disc with which it shares the component group and price point. However, as I examined it in person, I found little details that made it a bit more challenging to outfit as my icy-roads bike. To wit: the suspension fork on the lower-price model lacks a lockout function, AND lacks fender eyelets. The chainstay has a brake cable routed along its length, complicating (although not preventing) connection of one of my trailers (and the disc brake prevents using the other trailer--more on that in a moment).
An email from a potential customer got me looking at the Globe line (sort of like Saturn's line from GM--Globe is part of Specialized) in a bit more detail. I had already found a 2010 Globe Live 3 Mixte bike as a potential bike to resolve some of Jenn's questions, as noted recently. I looked a bit further down the page, and noticed that the Vienna from 2010 was still in stock in several variants, including (dant dant dah!) the Vienna 3 Disc!
We had gotten a Vienna in our initial order of bikes from Specialized in October of 2009. It finally sold a couple months ago. I liked the bike in several ways--the rigid fork made it lighter than its Carmel stablemates, for one thing, but the color on the one we had in the store just wasn't right for me. I was disappointed that it didn't sell well for us. I hadn't realized until today (or had forgotten) that there was a disc-brake model (even though I had noted disc brake tabs on the frame of the one we had at the store... DUH!). In short, this bike "fixes" the things that kept me from being sold on getting that Crosstrail--it has a rigid fork (I don't really feel a need for a "boingy" front end on a bike) that has fender tabs at the ends (no fabricating fender stays to meet the oddly-placed threaded holes two inches above the axle on the suspension fork on the Crosstrail), and it's a tiny bit cheaper to buy, due to its being a 2010 bike instead of a 2011. It even has slightly nicer drivetrain components, AND better brake calipers (Avid BB5!).
The color is not a reason for excitement--it's a sort of brown/gray that approximates oily mud--but that's okay. This is not going to be a show bike. It's going to get dirty in its use patterns. However, it will accept fenders, racks (both rear AND front, should I decide to install a front rack on it), any of three types of kickstand (center mount, center-mount double (Esge), or rear-mount proprietary from Specialized), and all manner of lights, bells and whistles to make it comparable to my Raleigh in night-time utility. The one slight downside is that trailer hitch thing I mentioned earlier. The cable for the rear brake is routed in a way that I have to be careful how I attach the Safety 1st trailer. The Burley trailer won't connect to the bike as it is configured (I may be able to find a work-around on this, but it's hard to say), due to the Burley hitch that connects to the chain stay AND the seat stay near the frame dropout and the placement of the disc brake caliper trying to occupy the same location. Once upon a time, BikeE offered a hitch conversion that allowed one to use a Burley trailer with the BikeE frames, and there was once an example of this little kit in a bike shop in town, but I haven't been in that shop in a couple years and don't know if it's still there. I may have to go look some time soon, and if it's not to be had, I'll have another reason to keep the Raleigh around.
Oh, and I can have this new bike in time to say an early, "Happy Birthday to me!"
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