Well I have put about 600 miles on the 481 in the last two weeks. I have tried to shake it out as good as possible. Here is what I think. Regular training rides are from 35~45 miles. The course it mostly rolling with five different climbs ranging from 1/2 mile to 1.2 miles. The bike is comfortable on this ride, but doesn't really stand out that much from the kestrel except for out of the saddle ventures. The integrated headset and fork make for a great front end that is rock solid. The BB is stiff as a board for the 1/2 mile uphill sprints too.

I did one metrice double century unsupported that was rolling the whole way. The bike really shined here. The laid back geometry and lugged carbon frame really made for extended ride comfort. Very impressed.

Last sunday I did the I-40 to Sandia Peak ride which is uphill for 20 miles and 5500 feet of elevation gain. Once again the bike really outpaced the old kestrel here. It is meant to be pointed uphill for sure. The decent I took sort of easy for the first seven miles or so, then realized she was going to behave nicely on the decent, so I let her rip and did some serious shredding on the curvy decent. Very nice.

Overall I would give th bike a 9 out of 10 so far. The appearance is perfect. The climbing is spectacular. It decends like it is on rails. The only weakness is really superficial, the seatpost binder bolt. I had to basically trash the USE carbon post to get it to not slip. It left a huge dent in it, and it should be OK, but we will see.

Sounds like a great all rounder. What size did you end up purchasing? If you went with the 53, did you find the overall reach being smaller than the Kestrel since more TT is behind the BB? Are you using the same size stem and is your set back set up similar? I ask because your about the same size as me and was tossed between the 53 and 54. Also, did you have to do anything special to get your stem height to were you needed? Thanks

I went with the 53 as it had the same TT lenght as the Kestrel. I added another 5mm of spacers to the headtube, and the seatpost is a little higher than on the Kestrel due to the shorter seat tube, but other than that the fit was just about the same. I am farther behind the BB, but I actually like it more now. I was able to keep the same stem/handlebar combo as the Kestrel too. I just wasn't willing to go another 1cm longer on TT just to have 1cm less of exposed seatpost. I am still 4cm from the max extension line on the seatpost, so it isn't crazy high. You can see how high it is in the gallery.