Yesterday I had to drop the The Car That I Own off with the mechanic, so I brought a bike with me and took the scenic way home:I would describe the Roadini as my own personal dreamboat, and this is how I feel pretty much every time I ride it:I even wave to other cyclists, which I rarely used to do, which means it has made me a nicer person, wich is disgusting.And yes, technically that was the captain of a love boat (actually the Love Boat) and not a dreamboat, but if you want accurate nautical metaphors I suggest you log off and go read Moby Dick.As Ive mentioned, the Roadini was to be my Ideal Middle Aged Guy Road Bike, and I daresay I succeeded in that regard. In fact, there are only a few very small changes Id still consider making to this bike, which I will share here on the off-chance someone reading this is considering this same bicycle and finds the information useful. In no particular order, those changes are:GearingI started out with a triple, which certainly gave me all the gears I needed and then some, but I wanted to nudge the bikes weight, appearance and shift pattern just a little bit more towards the sporty end of the spectrum, so I changed that for a compact double. That means at the moment my low gear is a 3432, which is low enough for anything around here, but when I go away for summer vacation where there are a few of those I-actually-think-I-might-fall-over climbs I could stand to go lower. Fortunately the Silver derailleur will handle up to a 36:[Photo: Rivendell]So a simple cassette change would give me a gear low enough for anything Im likely to encounteror I could just put the triple on there again. Then again I spend 50 weeks of the year here and maybe two upstate so I could also just suck it up and grind it out in the 3432, which is my subtle way of reminding you yet again that I rode through the Swiss Alps with a 4221:Climbing that pass in that gear and then descending that pass with those brakes is more impressive than anything than that SAFA Brian guy has ever done, sorry.Oh great, heres were I start missing that crazy bike again:I dont know why I liked it so much, but I really did.Brake LeversThese are the brake levers I am using:[Photo: Rivendell]Some people find these small and not that comfortable, though I like the feel of them, they have a pleasingly traditional look, and theyre a good value because they even come with the cable and housing. However, if I were starting from scratch, I might try these instead:[Photo: Ansel Adams. No, wait, its Rivendell.]They probably feel a little more luxurious than the Shimano levers, but thats not the main reason. No, the main reason is they have that Campy-style brake release built into them. I have 38mm Shikoro tires on the bike, which not only suit the bike perfectly as Im using it (I tried like four sets of tires before settling on them), but also just clear the pads when I open the quick release brake lever in order to remove the wheels. However, if you want to go Full Gravel with something like the Garvel King pictured below, the wheel wont quite drop out unless you deflate the tire a bit first, but I suspect that with both a brake quick release and a lever release it would:This is not nearly enough of an issue for me to switch the brake levers since theres no issue with the tires Im using, but in that same low-gearing scenario mentioned above I could also see wanting to use a knobby tire, and a little more pad clearance for quicker wheel changes would come in handy. Then again for the one (1) time a year Im liable to change the tires its a total non-issue since I have to deflate the tires in order to do that anyway, duh.This is where you tell me to just get a bike with dick breaks, and where I respond by rolling my eyes. Either that or you say the Roadini should have come with canti studs, but its a Road-ini. ROAD. EENIE. Sidepulls work with all the various road levers out there, from your old-timey non-aero levers to your modern integrated contraptions, and are also simpler to work with than cantilevers. Plus, even if you are using a tire that doesnt clear the pads when the brake is opened, youd have to be removing the wheels quite often for it to be a real issue.So thats a lot of words to describe two small potential changes I cant even be bothered to make, but this is the kind of crap you have to read now that we live in the digital age, paper is but a memory, and there are no longer any material constraints on bloviation.Anyway, my profound satisfaction with the Roadini is why I felt comfortable passing along the PRJCT GRVL bikeand why I have no interest whatsoever in the new generation of aero gravel bikes:Okay, look at the bike. Now look at the guy riding and tell me what the hell were even doing here:And please, dont get me wrong. Im not making fun of his physical attributes, not at all. Rather, Im pointing this out because I might as well be looking into a mirror. And as one distinguished middle-aged bearded guy with a paunchy midriff to another I ask again: what the hell are we doing here? Come on, aero gravel, really?!? Your gray hairs could not have come without at least a little bit of wisdom, and your paunch testifies to your appreciation of the good life. The kinds of people who want or need an aero gravel bike have neither. They are young, and they are willing to starve themselves in pursuit of meaningless performance gains, and so they can afford to pay for bikes that promise said gains. But how does one still take such a bike seriously at this stage in life? Once you reach a certain age bikes like this belong in the Stuff Im really glad I dont have to deal with anymore column, like homework and dating.I mean doesnt it feel kind of like being the old guy at the frat party?Maybe not. We all do silly things to feel young. Some people ride aero gravel bikes, I ride 30 year-old bikes with too-skinny tires. Still, I say embrace the paunch. Free your waistband and your mind will follow.