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basso diamante - part two
though i have no particular truck with motor cars, it's hard to avoid the advertisements that proclaim their untold benefits to society, in both the weekend newspaper supplements and tv advertising. with reference to the latter, we will soon be in the throes of christmas advertising, when tv ads for perfumes are given free reign to be as bizarre as possible, a genre that several motor car adverts seem intent on emulating. however, leaving aside any perceived pretension on behalf of the marketeers, i have noted on occasion, that one or two encourage interested parties to 'book a 24 hour test-drive'.
i have every faith that there are several pages worth of terms and conditions surrounding what appears a more than generous offer. let's face it, which self-respecting manufacturer/car dealer is going to simply hand over the keys (assuming the vehicle in question still requires such an apparently archaic method of starting) with the cheery request to "just bring it back when you're finished"? there will more than likely be several required indemnities, possibly including holding your bank manager as hostage overnight.
a full-day's test drive sounds like the ideal means of assessing the car of your dreams before making the first down payment, but in truth, the reality is likely to be somewhat different. i would be mightily impressed if a participant in such a scheme actually drove the vehicle for the full twenty-four hours, and, under all the conditions you might reasonably expect to encounter, were the car to be permanently in your ownership. in the case of island residents, such as yours truly, would i be allowed to take it on the ferry to see if it fits comfortably on the mezzanine car deck of the mv finlaggan, before motoring around many of our singletrack roads? not that i plan to do so, but i seriously doubt it.
but cars must surely require a suitable period to impress their new owners; i have known several individuals who, having purchased a new vehicle, subsequently found it not to be to their taste, by which time, the value had doubtless dropped considerably. conceivably, the same can be said about bicycles. despite a far lower level of sophistication, bicycles cannot always be fully appraised after a quick pedal round the block, while the bike shop owner retains a vice-like grip on your credit card. to a certain extent, that's where reviews can prove helpful, for both cars and bicycles.
italy's basso cycles have been kind enough to supply a metallic blue diamante for review, replete with a super-record, eleven-speed groupset and a disc-equipped campagnolo bora one wheelset. equally as kindly, they have placed no specific restriction on the length of time over which the review might continue, a rare enough feature in the hustle and bustle of the contemporary cycle industry. therefore, i have had the luxury of riding this beautiful bicycle under pretty much every situation available to the intrepid hebridean, encountering twisty, unkempt singletrack roads, punctuated by more than the occasional cattle-grid and the odd, short, sharp, gravelly descent.
and carnduncan's 'egg hut'.
it's only just over a month since i posted my initial review of the diamante, during which, those early observations have become pretty much confirmed and underlined. however, if i might commence with the only bad thing i've discovered, though the paint work makes for a highly distinctive bicycle, it seems a tad fragile in the hustle and bustle of the bike rack. it would be a tad naive to expect a review model to remain in pristine condition, despite strenuous efforts to keep it that way, but a carelessly parked tourist's bicycle in the rack at debbie's managed to chip tiny slivers of paint from the front fork and the chainstay.
the sunday morning peloton are not renowned for their cossetting of velocipedinal machinery, but over the years, none of us seem to have suffered such slings, arrows and chipped paint of discontent. the caveat learned from this is 'be careful with your basso'.
everything else about the bike is, as bugs bunny once said, 'ginger peachy'. it is noticeably stiffer than several other bicycles i ride, as any thoroughbred race bike should be, yet manages not to pass much of that potential discomfort onto the rider. in fact, the italian-built frame seems to have been engineered as much for comfort as for straight-line speed. that inherent stiffness has provided moments of great joy when avoiding carelessly placed potholes and just as carelessly driven cars on the singletrack between foreland and kilchoman distillery. the ease with which it can be manouevred in pretty much any direction you like, slipping in and out of passing places to avoid substantially-sized wing mirrors, almost encouraged me to seek out cycle-oblivious whisky tourists.
i have come to terms with the brake cables being 'the wrong way round', and though the stopping power is sourced from basso's fellow italians in vicenza, the discs, calipers and forks all seem very well matched to the task of bringing everything to a halt in a timeous and well-modulated manner. and when the opposite becomes necessary, sprinting to reach the safety of the nearest passing place, there was never any doubt as to where my meagre power output was being channelled. and i still absolutely love the spring in the bottom bracket's step when attempting to achieve the latter. it is the bicycle's hidden joie de vivre.
sadly, i doubt there is any solution to the likelihood of bicycle companies offering their own '24 hour test ride', but if you're considering a new, italian made, carbon fibre road bike, i would heartily recommend that you seek out your nearest basso dealer, and base your judgment at least partially on the italian largesse that i have been graciously extended. i am more than happy to have suffered for your art.
i should point out that i am riding the 2019 model; the 2020 version has now been released, featuring a number of significant updates.
monday 16 september 2019
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