Yes, steel is real but traveling with a bike on some airlines is too rich for my budget. Knowing it would cost me over $100 to fly back and forth from NYC with my Icarus, I emailed Jason from Affinity and asked if he had a loaner bike. He replied, saying I could ride a Affinity Kissena Velo Fund bike. As he handed it over, I realized I could come under fire for riding, wait for it… aluminum! Truth be told, I raced a Felt TK2 at Kissena and while I prefer steel frames, I’m not gonna pass up riding a mean racing machine like a Kissena as a loaner in NYC.

I won’t get into why I don’t like aluminum here because the purpose of this post is to thank Affinity for all the support over the years. The Kissena is a racing machine and it’s fun to ride on the street, especially with a spinny gear and wide risers. How many of you own these bikes? What do you think of them?

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