First Ride with a Checkpoint (ALR3)
Finally picked up a Checkpoint and took it on my first ride this morning. Ended up going with the ALR3 as the Dark Carmine was the only color I liked of the ALR's. My only hesitation was the mechanical disc brakes, but more on that later.. What a phenomenal bike. There are numerous long loop gravel access roads and nature paths in my area (SW Florida). I ride road and mountain bikes, but always enjoyed getting out on these trails on my FX Hybrid, but being used to the drops on my road bike I've always wanted to pick up a gravel bike. I'm also planning on a couple longer rides once things cool down, mixed paved/gravel loop around lake Okeechobee (~110 miles) and the FL Coast to Coast trail (250+ miles, would be a 2/3 day trip) which has some gravel on the southern route and a lot of transition. I want drops for that. Coming from a Domane, the checkpoint was an easy transition and is extremely comfortable.
Only upgrade I've made was fit some Girona RSL's (same 42mm as stock) I had laying around. Everything else is stock and I'll upgrade as time goes if I feel I need to.
That brings me to the brakes. Of all my bikes, I was least concerned about the checkpoint's braking as it'll be used almost exclusively for low/no traffic flat hard pack gravel rides or bike packing. That said, I didn't expect much based on others' comments online about the tektro mechanical discs, and figured after upgrading to hydraulic if needed I'd be out the same or less than jumping right to the ALR4 but settling for a color I didn't like.
I have the 105 groupset on my domane with Continental GP tires, as well as 4 piston SLX's on my mountain bike, so I have a frame of reference for what good braking feels like. Before bedding them in, they were laughably bad. Basically non-existent. Even new hydraulic brakes have SOME stopping power lol. That said, now that I have some miles on them (including a 10 mile loop around my neighborhood frequently stopping to get them bedded), they truly feel great. Even with only 50 miles on the bike (most of which was straight riding with no brakes) and can already get the front tire to lock out depending on my speed and the surface. Are they as touch-sensitive as hydraulics, no, but for my uses they don't need to be. They just need to stop the bike periodically haha.
Plus, considering this bike will be in more remote locations than my others, I actually really like the idea of being able to make any/all necessary adjustments with a multi-tool. The simplicity really gives me peace of mind.
So if you're looking into picking up a checkpoint, don't turn your nose up at the mechanical brakes. At this point, I doubt I'll ever upgrade to hydraulic on this bike.
Glad I'm finally on a checkpoint, these are great bikes!!
PS.. I guess that last 0.01 miles was just too much lol