First Rides Review: SwixHR ASX-1 and ASX-2 Gravel Bikes

Doing something a little different on this one, mainly because I haven't been so excited about a piece of equipment that I've been on to write a review about it.

Yesterday was a little weird for northern New England. Instead of our usual February temps of mid-20's and an ever-present chance of snow, we were greeted today with temperatures nearing 70 degrees and blue skies. With this short turn of nice weather, my teammate and Tyrol Sports Group co-owner Bruce Diehl invited me out on a ride to test out Swix's new ASX line of gravel bikes in their first rides on US soil.

For a little refresher, and for those of you who know Swix mostly/only for their skiing goods, the Norwegian ski company bought the Norwegian bicycle manufacturer Hard Rocx in late 2015, and in late 2016 came out with the Swix Fatbike in an effort to (re)establish their image as a year-round active brand, rather than just winter sports.

Enter the SwixHR ASX-1 and ASX-2 gravel bikes.

Bruce sported the carbon fiber ASX-2

My steed, Swix's aluminum ASX-1

Jumping on the ever-growing gravel/all-road/adventure trend, Swix's latest venture into the drop-bar market feels strong. The ASX-1 sports a 6061 Aluminum frame with a sporty geometry and is spec'd out quite nicely, featuring an FSA headset and BB as well as a Shimano 105 5800 compact groupset with flat-mount hydraulic brakes (160mm rotors front and rear), and with a chainring and tire change would make a pretty decent cross bike.

The compact 50/34 crankset paired with an 11-32 cassette made light work of the rolling hills on our ride.

For my first ride on Shimano Hydraulic levers, I felt the reservoir integration was well done and made for a comfortable ride.

The roads were what most New England cyclists expect for early spring riding, wet; and full of grit, salt, and frost heaves; all of which the 40mm Schwalbe G-One AllRound tires handled with ease. Driving these roads every day on my commute and feeling like my car was going to break in half was not a feeling that was repeated on this ride.

Even with the less-than-perfect road conditions, the bike responded well to dirty cornering at speed, wasn't terribly harsh over the winter speed bumps, and hardly flexed climbing out of the saddle.

While I rode the ASX-1, Bruce was on its carbon cousin, the ASX-2. With a slightly more relaxed geometry than the ASX-1, this bike would make a decent carbon touring bike; and is full of bosses for whatever you may choose to mount. Equally spec'd with Shimano 105 5800, Bruce had already upgraded his wheelset to Mavic's new Allroad Pro UST wheelset with matching Yksion Allroad UST tires.

Between the two of us, a majority of our two-hour ride/conversation was spent exclaiming how much we loved the bikes we were on (with a brief break for a photo-shoot), and the only gripes we had were about adjustment issues we had brought upon ourselves.

I absolutely loved the bike, although as a SRAM guy, my main modification would be to drop the front mech and toss on a clutch rear derailleur for a bomber 1x setup (fight me, Bruce).

I really hope to be able to ride this bike again (it's currently our display piece in the shop I work at) the next time the weather calls for it so I can put it through its paces. All in all, I think Swix has done a great job with their entries into the market, and I look forward to hopefully seeing them hitting shop floors in the near future.

Getting back to business

It hasn't really been the kind of season I was hoping for so far this year. Going into a senior season, one hopes they won't be sidelined by injuries for the first month, only getting back to their freshman form with three races left.

I've been battling some Illiotibial Band (IT Band) issues since the beginning of the season, keeping me from participating in many team practices, and limiting my running to only a couple of days per week. As any athlete can tell you, being apart from your team can really get to you, missing out on big events because you physically can't do them. Luckily, I've been able to keep active through cycling, but it's still taken its toll.

Dinner.

Another thing an athlete can tell you is that when you pull them out of athletics, it will affect them in their daily life. For a student, this can mean classes, personal commitments, or just daily function. Trying to pull yourself out of a funk when you just aren't there is one of the biggest struggles you can have, and sometimes you just need to take a break.

This weekend, we hosted the VT Intercollegiate Cross Country championships, where after four weeks of disappointing races, I was able to finally break the elusive 28:30 mark again, having cracked it first at this race in 2013.

Now that I feel that I'm going somewhere with my training, it's time to figure out everything else.

One last shot - Senior Seasons Ahead

Well, here it is. Three years after I first moved into my double in Ryan Hall, I am slowly settling into the townhouse life on the other end of campus. It's been an interesting three years, ever learning how to be both a student and an athlete at the same time, and a large part of that learning happens when there is no school.

Summer break is the time when many students go off and work so that they can afford to come back to school, others do summer research, while some try to think nothing of the coming school year until it's time to start. As an athlete, I was thrown into all three camps: working at a camp to make enough money to get by for a few months of unemployment while I train and compete this fall and winter, research myself to find out how to not overwork myself both mentally and physically, all while trying to not think about the fact that these will be my last seasons as a college athlete.

A large portion of my time this year has been spent sitting on a bike. There's just something about it that makes me feel more free than my ski or running training. From central NH, it's hard to run or ski somewhere that leaves you with both a great workout and a feeling of having taken an adventure. On the bike, I have been able to test my limits and see how fast, far, and how long I can go for, taking me on some pretty cool adventures.

It is on these where I am able to really absorb what is going on in life. Decisions that need some time, I have found, are best made on the bike. Thinking about what is going to happen this year was a big one, like determining what my senior project is going to look like, how to best avoid my injuries (didn't work, already injured), and how to try and lead both the Men's Cross Country and Nordic teams this year. 

Whatever the case, the work has been put in, most of the decisions have been made, and all I can do is keep up and hope for the best over the next few months.