Like many road racers I found that having just one road bike, while adequate, does have its drawbacks. Most notably the fact that the position I like to race in is not exactly comfortable for long rides. Super skinny 700×23 tires are not the smoothest over rough pavement either so last year I decided to build up a Cannondale Synapse carbon to be a training bike. Taller bar position and a smoother riding frame did make for a nice change from the supper aggressive ride and position of my Caad9 but it was still a little too much of a road bike.

After spending a week in Acadia National Park in Maine this summer I came back with a new idea. We knew that much of our riding was going to be on hard packed gravel and cinder dirt roads so bringing plain old road bikes was not the best idea. We opted for our cyclocross bikes that were indeed quite proficient at dealing with the conditions when we were off the pavement. Unfortunately any time we were on the pavement for extended periods of time the bikes fell a bit short. Gearing on a cross bike is bit limiting both climbing and descending hills and the somewhat weak brakes that are used on cross bikes were not exactly fun to deal with on twisting down hill sections.

But this is only part of the story. I also came back from Maine reminded how much I loved to camp when I was younger. My family used to go camping all the time and when I finally moved out I just stopped for some reason. Sarah and I both want to camp more and not only plan on making an annual trip back to Acadia but to add as many short camping trips as we can to our lives. So what better thing to do than combine camping with bike riding. Certainly not a novel idea. Back when I worked at Roweltts my friend Mark rode his bike across the country and camped most nights. While I don’t have the time or ambition to do take on this kind of challenge (yet) I have already started planning our first short bike camping trip.

Aside from needing a lightweight tent and some other updated camping gear I need something to haul it all in. Mark used a BOB Trailer for his trip and it seems like the way to go. I also want the ability to bring my jack russell terrier Buster with us. He’s the kindof dog who can’t spend enough time outside and has an unquenchable thirst for adventure. The trailer can be modified a bit to bring him along so that solves that problem.

Last is a bike. With these new needs thrown into my previous quest for a comfortable off season road bike I was faced with a new challenge in finding the perfect bicycle.

Things I need:

Comfortable, sturdy, yet not overbuilt steel frame
More upright position than my road bike
Strong brakes for riding fast in the mountains
Clearance for bigger tires
Frame mounts for fenders

This pretty much sounds like every touring bike out there but I just can’t bring myself to go with a heavy duty touring machine. Pulling a trailer rather than using side bags on the frame of the bike allows for a much less overbuilt frame and I just can’t bring myself to go with a bike I know will handle like a dump-truck. I still want a somewhat fast bike that I can train on in the winter time. While we sell lots of touring bikes like the Surly Long Haul Trucker I knew this was not the right bike for me.

So along comes the bike that checks off every box on the list and then some. Enter the Civia Bryant.

Once I procured the frame it was time to build it up. I took the Sram Force parts off my Cannondale and added a compact crank for lower gears in the mountains. The Bryant frame has provisions for either rim brakes or disc so I went with the latter.

For wheels I opted to hand build up some nice sealed bearing mountain bike hubs I already had to some NoTubes Crest rims. This is a tubeless ready rim so when wider tubeless road tires finally come out (and I know they will sooner or later) I will already have a good wheelset for the job. On top of the future versatility these rims are quite a bit lighter than the standard for road bike rims, the Mavic Open Pro (135 grams lighter for the pair) but thanks to their design should prove much stronger as well.

These wheel and 700×28 Continental Gatorskin tires help give this bike the super quick road bike like ride I was looking for.

So it all looks good on paper… but how does it ride?

One word: perfectly.

I took it out on it’s maiden voyage with my buds Chris and Jim. We did a brisk 40 mile ride and it was fast and comfortable. It smoothed out even the railroad crossings but still climbed well. Is it as fast a bike as my racing bike? Of course not. But I don’t think it’s any slower than the carbon fiber bike I had before.

On top of all that it’s going to make a great commuter bike.

My list of needs was pretty specific but the way this bike is set up it is the perfect bike for just about anyone who wants to have just one bike that they can do group rides, commuting, exploring, light off road riding, and just cruising around having fun on.

I’m too much of a bike nerd to seriously entertain the idea of only owning one bike but if I had to give up all but one this would be the one to keep.