I had recently discussed getting a Windsor Toruist bike on this newsgroup a
while back.
here are some photos that I took of the one that I got.
http://earlwbollinger.buzznet.com/user/?id=866856
The bike actually turned out pretty good. I am sure I could probably get a
$2,000 bike that is a lot better, but in January your choices are incredibly
limited.
When I went around to the local LBS's there just weren't any touring bikes
available, although one shop had some 20-30 year old touring bikes that
looked really nice still. One store had a Trek 520 in a window sporting
goods display, but it was the wrong size.
One problem is that if you are mechanically challenged, you will have
trouble, as there are no instructions on how to assemble and adjust the
bike. You really need some real bike tools to put it together with, you
cannot use a crescent wrench and a pair of pliers, plus you need a cable
cutter tool as well. it uses metric screws with allen hex sockets for
everything. Now you can go to several websites for generic information on
assembly, and so on. At our local Half Price Bookstore they had several bike
books on repair and maintenance as well, but these were older bike books
though. Buying a more modern book through Amazon.com is probably a good
idea. Basically, some of the local LBS's may not want to work on the bike at
all, so you may have problems there. Some LBS's will work on it, but on a
low priority basis.Their own customers come first. In any case you would
have to pay house rates for working on it.
The stock seat actually was surprisingly comfortable, but I changed it out
for my Brooks Seat, as it fits me even more.
The stock Zoom headstem was very nice but was still too short for me, so I
put in a Zoom adjustable headstem instead. I rode the bike for five miles
with the stock headstem and decided it was just too short for me. I guess
that comes with being an old guy nowadays.
I also added some cool carbon fibre look fenders and a kickstand. Putting on
lights and a bike computer is typical too.
The stock tires worked amazingly well, they are a more univeral tread, but
when I rode the bike today, it had just finished raining and was still
having a bit of a drizzle and the roads and bike trails were all wet and
puddles were evewrywhere. Somedays I really I love fenders. Like normal I am
the only one that seems to be out riding again. I did see a couple of
joggers though.
The bike uses Shimano Deore deraileurs and they worked very nicely, but they
don't shift quite as good as the ones on my Raleigh bike. But that maybe
because I am not used to the Shimano STI style brake/shifters yet. The bike
has Shimano Tiagra Flight Deck brake shifters which look like the Shimano
STI models. You can get the rear gear shifter to actually shift or jump two
gears, but it does this so smoothly, that I don't know if this is by design
or not. the Shimano instructions talk like it is normal, just don't move the
shifting arm so much etc.
The crankset is a TruVativ brand, and it has bolt on chainrings, so I expect
it should be fairly easy to get new chainrings later.
Currently the bike has 52/42/30 chainrings which are what you would normally
see on a road bike, but for loaded touring or commuting, putting on MTB
chainrings would be better.
The wheels are the typical low cost ones but they are pretty nice still. But
you may want to true them up more as they are off slightly in my case. This
isn't a big deal, but it does take some patience and time to do it up
proper. I had looked at some $1200 to $1600 road bikes earlier and their
wheels weren't trued up any better either.
The luggage rack that came with the bike was pretty good, it was no problem
installing. With the fenders and all I did need to go to my local hardware
store and get some more stainless steel 5mm allen cap and socket head screws
and as I was short. The fenders did not come with any screws
I must say that you need to double check the rear quick release skewer as on
my bike it was just snugged down some, it needed to be tightened up more.
Plus double check all the other screws and bolts as well.
I did notice that the distance between the two pedals is more narrow than on
my Raliegh bike which has a wider pedal stance.
The stock pedals are typical cage pedals with straps, you may want to change
them out for your favorite type. The stock pedals were tight at first but
after twenty miles or so they loosened up nicely and work OK now.
Oh yeah, the little sticker on the head of the frame says it is "Made in
Taiwan", but with all the internationalization nowadays, who knows where all
the parts really come from.
Anyway the parts are look pretty good, so one could buy the bike just to get
all th parts to use on some other more fancy carbon fibre or aluminum frame.
I guess all I can say is that it works, what more could one want.