2006 Novara Divano Review

I bought a Novara Divano bike from REI the other day. It has about 170 miles on it so far so I feel like I can now take a second and give it a reasonably accurate review. (It’s actually in for the 100 mile warranty tune up right now, so I’m jonesing a bit. I’ve had to landroller ® instead.)

My perspective: I’m 37 and while I’ve cycled on and off since I was in high school, I haven’t had a road bike since I moved to Chicago in 1992. I’ve had a mountain bike, I’ve had a touring bike–just not a road bike. And I’m not that serious of a biker. I like to get out for a good ride a couple of times a week and I’m not willing to spend a lot to do it.

So REI has their 20% off sale in March right about the same time I get a dividend from my credit card. I go into the store and I tried the Randonee and the Divano. The Randonee was too heavy for me, but the Divano felt right from the first ride.

The good: It’s light, the Shimano kit on it — the Tiagra, I think — does everything I need and then some. The wheels are low spoke count, so I was worried that Chicago streets would tear them up. No such problem–they’ve been on some pretty crappy roads and have held up nicely. And it looks pretty expensive–always nice when you’re biking with the babes.

Slightly irritating: The bladed spokes didn’t let me use my existing sensor for the bike computer. Oh, and I had to pay extra for cleated pedals instead of toe clips / baskets. It was worth the $80.

I have a couple of posts with ride history here and here and here.