Biking...
I've ridden mtb trails on and off for a number of years. Last year I put road slicks on my mtb and tried the road out and really enjoyed it. This week I started shopping for a road bike. I'm hoping to lose weight, get in shape and have a great time biking.
Knowing my tendency to be an impulse buyer I purposefully did all my bike-shopping this weekend without any money or credit-cards. All was left at home so I was forced to leave with an "I'll have to think about it and come back". It was a very wise move.
Yesterday...
Shop #1 - Test rode some Treks. Found a nice 2003 left over Trek 2000 which was a good fit and was fairly comfortable. It had a great component group and was a really good price. But it didn't feel like something I would be happy riding for a couple years. Didn't feel "right". I also rode some Trek WSDs at this shop. They were OK. Not overly impressed.
Shop #2 - Test rode Cannondales and looked at Raleighs. (This shop was one a friend of mine used to work at and he sent me there.) My first visit there I test rode a Cannondale Sport Road bike (SR800) which was a very nice ride. He only had a flat handle bar in stock (Road Warrior) so I didn't get to get a feel of the dropped bars. The mechanic who was helping me actually rides this this same bike so said he would bring his in for me to try today so I could ride with the correct handlebars.
Today...
Back to shop #2. - Rode the mechanic's bike (Cannondale SR800) and still liked the feel of the bike. The dropped handlebars felt good. The bike was a little big but it gave me an idea. While there I asked to ride one of Cannondale's road bikes to compare the feel to the Sport Road. I rode the Cannondale R700. And it felt really good right away. I was impressed. It was a very light bike, handled well and I liked the ride position. (Would only need a little tweaking). So I left there with an "I'll think about it".
Shop #3 - Looked at/test rode Giants and Specialized. I was very disappointed when I was going to test ride the Specialized Dolce WSD. One of the bikes I had high hopes for. The thing was almost as heavy as my mtb!
I was really surprised. The rear end of it was really heavy. Too heavy for me to even want to ride. I want a nice lightweight bike for the road. Not one as heavy as my mtb. I could just put slicks back on my mtb if I wanted that. I did ride the Giant OCR1 through OCR3 in a variety of sizes. The OCR1 in an XS felt pretty good. Unfortunately this bike shop doesn't have a good riding area near it. All I could do was circle the parking lot which I didn't feel was a good enough ride to tell if I really liked the bikes. When I asked where people test rode their bikes he said "right out back". I didn't ask if I could take the bike to a local trail... don't know how that would have been received.
Soooooo.... the bottom line of the whole story.... After three LBS, many bikes test-ridden, re-ridden and re-re-ridden I've made up my mind. And the winner is........
THE 2005 CANNONDALE R700
HERE is a link to the specs if anyone wants to take a look at them. I like the orange color but am not crazy about the two-tone so I'm going with the gray.
I have to say I was treated really well in all three LBS I went to. And everyone I dealt with was very nice and helpful. That was encouraging. I wasn't treated like some out of shape fat chick who didn't know anything about bikes. It helped that I had done a ton of research and was able to walk in with an idea of what I was looking for and able to "talk bike" to a certain degree and actually know what I was talking about. (Or at least sound like it
) At the first shop I was actually helped by 3 different people. As my questions became more detailed I was directed to someone else. LOL! I guess they have stages of knowledge.
The first two shops were much better for test rides. The first shop is on a farm road so I was able to go straight out and ride some back country roads. Including some rolling hills. Great for test riding. (Other than the manure smell hanging in the air. LOL!) The second shop is on a busy road but has a fairly quiet neighborhood behind it that has enough roads to get a decent ride in and also has one small hill to try a little tiny climb. (A really small hill) The third shop is in a very busy area with really no place to ride any distance. There is a paved path not far from there but I didn't ask if I could throw the bikes on my truck and leave with them. The guy seemed pretty happy with test rides in the parking lot so I guess that's how it's done there. And I'm not exactly sure where the paved path is anyway. Which is fine but I didn't feel real confident dropping a good deal of money based on a couple circles aorund the parking lot.
So that's the bike saga. I'm going to wait a couple days... make sure I still think this is a good choice. (And I'm out of town Monday) So I'll probably be buying on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm going to ride one size smaller to compare to the one I rode before deciding. Some things I also will consider are a women's saddle (probably a definite) and maybe changing the stem to either one a bit longer or one with a shorter forward extension until I get used to the road riding position. It is a lot different from what I'm used to. It will take a little tweaking but I am pretty confident that this will be a good purchase. And now I'm excited!!!
I wish I lived in a place that had better biking!
Gypsy
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