The Liv Avail and I are lost. We’re not “bad lost,” and nowhere near “dangerously lost,” but we’re lost enough for me to pause on the edge of a cornfield and fumble my gloved fingers around a mapping app in search of familiar names. It’s easy to get turned around on the twisty, rural roads of Bicycling’s Pennsylvania headquarters, where hundreds of interconnected route options are like a Choose Your Own Adventure book (which, at least, almost always ends with “You had an enjoyable bike ride” rather than something dire from the book series like, “You just got eaten by a shark”).
Now we’re back on the road and heading in the opposite direction, reversing the slow, steady climbing work I just completed. The fact that I’m not crushed about our grueling five-mile detour makes me realize how much fun I’m having on this lightweight, carbon-framed women’s endurance bike. Women’s geometry always treats me right (I have a shorter torso), but something about the Avail’s fit formula is coming together particularly well for me, putting me in a position that feels fast and low but not stretched out. And despite its unforgiving appearance, the bike’s Contact Forward women’s saddle is the most welcoming bike seat I’ve sat on, even after 30 miles of riding mixed terrain—somehow approximating the comfort level of falling back into a Papasan chair at the end of a long day.
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The bike takes the descent fast, and now we’re cranking back up a steep hill we bombed down not long ago. Honestly, I would take another gear if I could—but with the 50/34 crankset and 11-32 cassette combination on its mixed Shimano Ultegra/105 drivetrain, the Avail has lower options than most (and I pretty much always want another gear). Eventually I find my way back to my route in time to learn the Shimano RS505 hydraulic disc brakes will stop on impulse if you see a sign by the side of the road that says “Free Kittens.” Time for another detour. It’s that kind of day.
Responsive and comfortable, the Avail is the kind of bike you want with you on a long ride, a short ride, or a short ride that turns into a long ride after three missed turns. Which is good, because it’s a bike that also makes it way too easy to drift off mentally and forget the name of next turn you’re supposed to take. That might make it your pick for a gran fondo or one of those other big events where all the turns are marked. Or just enjoy the fact that you’re on a bike that feels like you could ride it forever in any direction.
