I wrote this review about a week after I replaced my bike in Kansas. I'm working on a post about the last few days of my trip. Here's a brief update. After arriving in Yorktown, Tom came to pick me up (after driving 1100 miles) and we drove to New York, where we spent the night at the Mistry house. We had a good time catching up with everyone. I didn't realize how much I missed everyone until I got there and saw them. It was wonderful to be able to spend even a little time at the Mistry house. After another two days of driving, we got back to Iowa City yesterday afternoon. It's good to be home.
Back in St Paul, I had a gigantic Schwinn world sport frame lying around. I resolved to build it up with some parts that I had, including a double FSA gossamer crankset and an eight speed rear setup from my first road bike. This bike played host to a number of firsts for me. Friction shifters was one, and gobs of tire clearance was the other. I think I could jam a 35c tire in there. For the first time in my biking life, I could go off pavement. No single track (as there is little single track in the vicinity of a kid without a car) but definitely off road. Some unpaved bike trails, some dirt by the river. I got muddy for the first time. I broke a wheel for the first time. It was awesome. The bike wasn't ideal though. I knocked my nuts on that top tube so many times that I wondered if I'd ever be able to reproduce. I could never get the fit right because of the size of the frame. Also, it was heavy as hell, and the gearing was less than ideal. But it made me lust for getting dirty.
When I was planning my bike trip across America, I wanted a bike that I would be able to tour with, but also something that I would be able to take off road. After some research I decided that the haanjo comp was going to be my beast. I rode the shit out of the bike in new York. I rode gravel, a little single track, and a lot of roads. It was my adventure bike. If I saw a road or trail that looked interesting, I pointed the bike and went. I didn't worry about breaking things or not having enough traction-- the 42c stock tires tore it up. If I ever needed more grip, I just took a little air out of the tires, and I gripped. This bike wrecked gravel trails. It was light enough to fly up descents, and stout enough to handle the beating that dirt trails can dish out. I could ride with roadies and do okay-- occasionally I'd fall behind, but only with crazy fit people. I remember one ride I took with a woman and her friend where we averaged something like 22 mph for a few hours. The diamondback haanjo comp is a do everything pretty well type of bike. Not a mountain bike, and not a true road bike, but some sweet sweet spot right in between.
I do have a few niggles with the bike. Diamondback never explicitly states that the bike is not designed for racks, so they felt they weren't responsible when the braze-ons ripped off the bike. This is not a touring bike, but I thought I could get away with touring on it. It held up for 1800 miles. It performed well for 1800 miles, in fact, after I changed the gearing. Two other things irk me about the bike. The shift cable routing is under the down tube. What the shit. This is a bike designed to get super dirty, and mud ends up right where those cables get routed. This means that shifting inevitably sucks after about 100 miles off road. The front derailleur is a clamp on type, which by itself is not an issue. However, the position of the second bottle cage mounts are such that the front derailleur cannot be put low enough to accommodate the 46 tooth chainring in the front. This means front shifting is always a bit lackluster.
In general, this bike was awesome for me. I've ever had as much fun on a bike as with the diamondback haanjo comp. It's a bike where you point and go, and you get there fast, and comfortably. What more could you want?
Back in St Paul, I had a gigantic Schwinn world sport frame lying around. I resolved to build it up with some parts that I had, including a double FSA gossamer crankset and an eight speed rear setup from my first road bike. This bike played host to a number of firsts for me. Friction shifters was one, and gobs of tire clearance was the other. I think I could jam a 35c tire in there. For the first time in my biking life, I could go off pavement. No single track (as there is little single track in the vicinity of a kid without a car) but definitely off road. Some unpaved bike trails, some dirt by the river. I got muddy for the first time. I broke a wheel for the first time. It was awesome. The bike wasn't ideal though. I knocked my nuts on that top tube so many times that I wondered if I'd ever be able to reproduce. I could never get the fit right because of the size of the frame. Also, it was heavy as hell, and the gearing was less than ideal. But it made me lust for getting dirty.
When I was planning my bike trip across America, I wanted a bike that I would be able to tour with, but also something that I would be able to take off road. After some research I decided that the haanjo comp was going to be my beast. I rode the shit out of the bike in new York. I rode gravel, a little single track, and a lot of roads. It was my adventure bike. If I saw a road or trail that looked interesting, I pointed the bike and went. I didn't worry about breaking things or not having enough traction-- the 42c stock tires tore it up. If I ever needed more grip, I just took a little air out of the tires, and I gripped. This bike wrecked gravel trails. It was light enough to fly up descents, and stout enough to handle the beating that dirt trails can dish out. I could ride with roadies and do okay-- occasionally I'd fall behind, but only with crazy fit people. I remember one ride I took with a woman and her friend where we averaged something like 22 mph for a few hours. The diamondback haanjo comp is a do everything pretty well type of bike. Not a mountain bike, and not a true road bike, but some sweet sweet spot right in between.
I do have a few niggles with the bike. Diamondback never explicitly states that the bike is not designed for racks, so they felt they weren't responsible when the braze-ons ripped off the bike. This is not a touring bike, but I thought I could get away with touring on it. It held up for 1800 miles. It performed well for 1800 miles, in fact, after I changed the gearing. Two other things irk me about the bike. The shift cable routing is under the down tube. What the shit. This is a bike designed to get super dirty, and mud ends up right where those cables get routed. This means that shifting inevitably sucks after about 100 miles off road. The front derailleur is a clamp on type, which by itself is not an issue. However, the position of the second bottle cage mounts are such that the front derailleur cannot be put low enough to accommodate the 46 tooth chainring in the front. This means front shifting is always a bit lackluster.
In general, this bike was awesome for me. I've ever had as much fun on a bike as with the diamondback haanjo comp. It's a bike where you point and go, and you get there fast, and comfortably. What more could you want?
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