Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum (and generally new to CC+). I'm a die hard roadie in Toronto. (well, i 'died hard' of burn out at the end of last season and decided (for other reasons than burn out mainly) to retire from a 5 year race career.)

Following Platypius' lead, my bikes are as follows - and I'm pleased to find someone in platypius who has way more bikes than me!!!

1. Pinarello Prince (my 'engagement ring' - I got a 9-tooth cog in a box at the restaurant and 'nello was waiting for me at home!)

2. Cervelo P3 time trial (see pic)

3. Thin Blue Line (my first road bike that I now use for winter training)

4. Kona Kilaeua mountain bike

5. Thin Blue Line mtb now converted for commuting

6. Old ten-speed painted white EVERYWHERE with silver sparkles - was a decoration at my wedding where it featured a just married sign and tin cans attached by string at the back.

I have also had the pleasure of racing the 2006 season on a Cervelo Carbon Soloist, and, at Provincial Champs last summer, I raced my little teammates carbon Aquila because my chain broke 5 minutes before the start!!!

Fun!!!

Original Post by hkd_bear:

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum (and generally new to CC+). I'm a die hard roadie in Toronto. (well, i 'died hard' of burn out at the end of last season and decided (for other reasons than burn out mainly) to retire from a 5 year race career.)

Following Platypius' lead, my bikes are as follows - and I'm pleased to find someone in platypius who has way more bikes than me!!!

1. Pinarello Prince (my 'engagement ring' - I got a 9-tooth cog in a box at the restaurant and 'nello was waiting for me at home!)

2. Cervelo P3 time trial (see pic)

3. Thin Blue Line (my first road bike that I now use for winter training)

4. Kona Kilaeua mountain bike

5. Thin Blue Line mtb now converted for commuting

6. Old ten-speed painted white EVERYWHERE with silver sparkles - was a decoration at my wedding where it featured a just married sign and tin cans attached by string at the back.

I have also had the pleasure of racing the 2006 season on a Cervelo Carbon Soloist, and, at Provincial Champs last summer, I raced my little teammates carbon Aquila because my chain broke 5 minutes before the start!!!

Fun!!!

 I lust after a Cervelo P3.  Even working at a bike shop (and Cervelo dealer) with Employee Purchase, I STILL can't afford one.  lol.  From the "test rides" I've had though, I absolutely love the bike.

As for my new one... Almost all of the stuff I've listed on eBay (with the exception of my Bianchi BOSS and a few bits and pieces) has sold; so I have enough to buy the Masi I've been drooling over for 2 months.  It's only an Alare, but I doubt that it'll be long before I've upgraded it to DuraAce, Record, or SRAM Red.  I was going to buy the Masi Speciale Commuter, but I'd have a ton of money into making it something other than a single speed.  I only wanted the frame, really.  Plus, we already have the Alare in my size in stock.  So....I'm going to the shop tomorrow with lust in my eyes and money in my pocket.

hmmm.. lusting after bikes is fun.

My P3 is older (2004), and only aluminum, but it's still sweet. I got it as a factory 'scratch and dent' (when they used to sell them off) and it has a pretty significant scratch on the downtube, but with full dura-ace I paid only $1200!!! (pays to have connections at the assembly location which is just down the road from where I work). The following year I was sponsored by Cervelo, thus the Soloist. Had I stayed with that team the next year, I would have gotten a P3 carbon too - sweet! But giving them back is HARD.

In case you are in Toronto, my hubbie is selling his P3 - 2006 black matte aluminum with DuraAce and FSA cranks - very few miles on it. I'm not sure of the size, but he is 6'2". message me if you are interested... :o)

Well, good and bad news.

 I went to the shop and bought my bike today.  That's good.  As soon as I got home, my boss called and told me he had just sold the bike shop.  So, now I don't know if I will have a job or not.  Even worse, though, I haven't paid retail for bikes or parts for 7 years...I don't think I can now, since I know what cost is.  lol

You can see my new baby here:

http://www.hoosiercycling.com/images/masi.jpg

platypius, congrats on the nice new bike and good luck with the bike shop transition.

so, I test-rode bikes today and need to make a decision.  I tried aluminum and carbon in Specialized and Trek, and liked the carbon better. The two models were Specialized Ruby and Trek Madone 4.5.   Neither model was configured quite right.  The Specialized sold its Ruby model to the woman who was shopping ahead of me, so I tried the men's Rubaix with a fit that wasn't quite right.  The Trek handlebars weren't quite right, I think I'd want to swap them.

any advice, beyond platypius' general recommendation of specialized over trek? 

Original Post by alevin:

platypius, congrats on the nice new bike and good luck with the bike shop transition.

so, I test-rode bikes today and need to make a decision. I tried aluminum and carbon in Specialized and Trek, and liked the carbon better. The two models were Specialized Ruby and Trek Madone 4.5. Neither model was configured quite right. The Specialized sold its Ruby model to the woman who was shopping ahead of me, so I tried the men's Rubaix with a fit that wasn't quite right. The Trek handlebars weren't quite right, I think I'd want to swap them.

any advice, beyond platypius' general recommendation of specialized over trek?

 

 Any good bike shop should be willing to change out any part (within reason) to make the bike how you want it. If that means changing the handlebar on the Trek, they should do so. If they won't, go to another store. We never let a customer leave the store with a new road bike unless we had measured them for the correct width bar, and had given them a basic fit as far as saddle height and stem length & height. If we had to swap out handlebar and stem, we did so. An uncomfortable customer is an unhappy customer.  Talk to them about it.

Original Post by alevin:

Of course! Both shops will tweak the bikes. The trek shop would get different handlebars and the specialized shop would order the ruby for me. they are both really good, nice locally owned businesses with helpful staff, one with 2 shops, the other with 1. But I don't want to ask them to do more stuff til I decide what I want.

 True....

It makes it hard to decide, doesn't it?  They are both very good bikes.  I think it is going to have to come down to which one excites you more.  Ignore the minor fit issues for the moment, and think about which one *really* calls to you.  Which one did you spend the most time with?  Which one can you picture yourself on more easily?  After you've decided that, then you'll have your answer.  It's a tough call between those two, really - for me, at least.  I think they are both really good bikes.  I know I said "Specialized over Trek" before, but when it's between these two.....I think I'd go with the Trek.

Why would you recommend the Madone over the Ruby?

The minor fit issues make it hard to really compare apples to apples.  The Specialized Dolce, the women's frame aluminum bike which I also tried, felt a little small, but maybe that would have been fixed by raising the handlebars and the seat a bit.  The trek felt nice and fast, but the handlebars felt too wide and awkward. Maybe the trek felt faster because I rode the Treks in the morning after breakfast, and the Specialized in the afternoon without a proper lunch. 

The specialized shop is the place in my neighborhood that fixes my bikes, and I'd like to give them money, all things being equal. If I buy the trek I'll go to the other shop  for the computer and accessories.

Both bikes are going to be a vast improvement over the 199x Diamondback.

Original Post by alevin:

Why would you recommend the Madone over the Ruby?

The minor fit issues make it hard to really compare apples to apples. The Specialized Dolce, the women's frame aluminum bike which I also tried, felt a little small, but maybe that would have been fixed by raising the handlebars and the seat a bit. The trek felt nice and fast, but the handlebars felt too wide and awkward. Maybe the trek felt faster because I rode the Treks in the morning after breakfast, and the Specialized in the afternoon without a proper lunch.

The specialized shop is the place in my neighborhood that fixes my bikes, and I'd like to give them money, all things being equal. If I buy the trek I'll go to the other shop for the computer and accessories.

Both bikes are going to be a vast improvement over the 199x Diamondback.

 Honestly?  The Specialized Ruby just doesn't do it for me.  Of course, I'm not female, so it doesn't have to.  I just like the frame and looks of the Madone better.  It has a really good parts pick, too - the house Bontrager stuff is really good.

Hello,

I am new to CC as well as this forum.  I consider myself a novice cyclist but I do Love to ride.  My bike is a Marin San Rafael (hybrid).  I bought this bike at the end of 2006 and only put a few hundred miles on it then but last year I put over 1000 miles on it, so maybe I could be considered a slightly more than a novice.  I prefer to ride the local rails to trails crushed limestone trail (Wabash Trace), but weather sometimes forces me to the paved bike paths.  I live in Iowa home of RAGBRAI and unfortunately have never ridden the week long bike ride across Iowa.  My husband is riding this year and I will be his support person.  My goal is to ride it next year so I am going to be trying to ride as much as possible this year and be ready next year.

Jo

Original Post by jospe:

Hello,

I am new to CC as well as this forum. I consider myself a novice cyclist but I do Love to ride. My bike is a Marin San Rafael (hybrid). I bought this bike at the end of 2006 and only put a few hundred miles on it then but last year I put over 1000 miles on it, so maybe I could be considered a slightly more than a novice. I prefer to ride the local rails to trails crushed limestone trail (Wabash Trace), but weather sometimes forces me to the paved bike paths. I live in Iowa home of RAGBRAI and unfortunately have never ridden the week long bike ride across Iowa. My husband is riding this year and I will be his support person. My goal is to ride it next year so I am going to be trying to ride as much as possible this year and be ready next year.

Jo

 I'll be riding RAGBRAI this year, so I'll be sure to say "Howdy!"  lol

platypuis

I think I saw one of your posts on the RAGBRAI forums about helmets.  I remember it because funadmentally I agree with it, I just have a hard enough time staying upright on my own 2 feet on a level surface I have finally just started wearing mine....especially for the Taco Ride.

so, I got the bike.  Trek Madone 4.5 (ulp!)  I really liked the feel of the carbon better than the aluminum, and the Trek frame felt like a better fit than the specialized.  Not cheap. But the bike was a big reward for a few achievements this year.  And counts as vacation budget. It would be a fabulous vacation to travel to the bay area and bike around here. Except I live here and don't need to travel :-)

By the time the bike was all configured and I got home, there wasn't that much daylight left, so I went out for a quick 15 mile spin with some mild hills.  I don't have the computer yet, and didn't time so precisely, so I don't know exactly how fast it was. But it was somewhere in the 13.x to 14.x mph range.  Yikes, like a slow normal cyclist, instead of like a 2-wheeled snail!  I had been doing 10s on the 27-lb diamondback.

Even without more training, I can probably do mid-level club rides at that speed.  I'm travelling next weekend, will try a Wheelers ride some time in the nondistant future and report back.

Mmmmm... sounds so nice alevin. (the carbon and your first ride!)

I haven't been on my bike outside in nearly 4 months!!!!!! I can't believe it - talk about quitting cold turkey. I got over the burnout around mid-December, but it's barely been above freezing here in Toronto since then, and I'm no fan of the sub-freezing ride, nor the slippery snow and ice.

I'm SOOOO ready to ride outside again... come on weather - COME ON!!! 

So, to start, tell us, what you ride, where you ride and what type of riding you enjoy. 
  Well I have my pride and joy my CFR3 by Giant Its gee...getting to be ten years old but I love that bike and I also have a winter bike a Schwinn Mtb nothing special just something not to expensive to beat around in the snow I dont even take out my road bike in the rain so I really baby it maby that is why it is lasting so long

Here in wisconsin there are lots of great trails and the traffic when not on trails is not bad  I am comutting to my new job (its only two miles from home) I only dont bike in the rain or single digit temps I do like to bike in the snow and love the looks on the faces of the folks at work when I come in on my bike and they tell me they had a hard time just driveing in!I love the ride to and from work it is great but I cant wait to get back on the road bike this summer

I got the bike computer yesterday, and now have a question about cadence and gears.

I did a bit of googling and came up with recommendations to keep cadence between 88 and 93, so that's what I focused on in yesterday's ride.

But I don't have enough strength or gears to keep cadence that high on the hills. Does this mean that I need to get more gears? Or just practice til I can get cadence up?

I got a specialized, because that's what the shop sold. The cadence meter was working, but the spedometer wasn't, so I need to take it back to the shop for some more adjustment.