Well, look what I just did. 🚴♀️
It's not like I said I would NEVER use a multi-speed bike... I was just very committed to staying on that single speed train to the point of being obstinate. I still adore the State 4130 bike (and the hundreds... if not thousands... of dollars in upgrades / changes), but I need a bike that can help me tackle a significant amount of miles while also not breaking my body into useless goo.
I promised myself that I would make minimal changes to this bike - which was a big reason why I purchased this particular brand and model. I looked at less expensive multi-speeds; but many reviewers of those bikes noted the quality issues with the gearing, seat, and other parts.
The Fuji Sportif line has received several good reviews - although the 2.1 model hasn't received a lot of reviews that I could find online... and I looked and looked and looked. I found several "reviews" of the bike by online stores / dealers... but not many true, independent product reviewers.
Nonetheless, I looked up the major parts individually and noted that most pieces were either made by Fuji directly or via one of their holdings - such as Oval. The crank mechanism was made by FSA (Full Speed Ahead) and the gear shifting system is an R9 made by microSHIFT (with cabling made by Jagwire). The bike came with Vittoria Zaffrio 700 x 30 tyres (with Chaoyang tubes) and a tried-and-true KMC X9 chain.
The rear cassette is a microSHIFT 9 speed and has the following gears: 34, 28, 24, 21, 19, 17, 15, 13, 11. The front crankset is an FSA 50/34 set. Another note: The fork is C5 carbon while the bike frame is A2 butted aluminum.
So all-in-all, a very good set-up right out of the box. MY only issue with the set up are the pedals. They are non-branded pedal with footstraps on one side - which I didn't like. I'm not a fan of clip / strap pedals as I like a big, wide platform pedal. My State bike has a set of Chromag Scarabs, but I have been wanting to try out something different. After a bit of reading / research, I decided on a set of Deity Deftraps. They are plastic - so they are light - but also strong and less expensive than metal pedals.
I also decided on changing out the tyres for a set of Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TRs - mainly because I had read review after review about how amazing these tyres are for road biking. So, what the heck, why not try them?! I had a spare set of Continental tubes that I was planning on using with the State bike, but never did since the tyres on it are still good -- although will probably need to get replaced very soon.
TLDR: As of this post, I have completed 150 miles on the bike and my impressions are that this is a GREAT bike for me. It's light (21 pounds), has a robust gearing system, very quiet on the pavement, and is a lot of fun! It doesn't have the distinctive colour scheme as my State bike, but I'm very much into the feel of how this bike handles.
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