159 days to go and still no bike

But the Big Purchase might be next Sat.

So my quest for a road bike is (hopefully) coming to an end soon. I took two bikes for test drives this weekend, a Trek 2.1 and a Felt F85 and they are both great bikes. I like the braking power of the Felt a little more, but besides that they were both leaps and bounds better than the classic loaner I'm riding right now. Before I make my purchase however, I've got to check out my younger brother's bike shop up in Boston. Supposedly they have good bikes and great deals so next Saturday I'm going to check it out. I've talked to the owner and he has a GT road bike for me to check out and also a Jamis, so we'll see. Very exciting.

I'm thinking that with only 159 days until race day, it's probably pretty important to buy a bike sooner, rather than later. The test drives this weekend really wet my appetite. I was amazed at how well these new bikes perform compared to the old Lotus. I mean I knew that it would be a significant improvement but it was literally like driving a Ferrari vs. a Kia. I can't wait to get on a real steed and step up the training. Last night, over cigars and bourbon (like I said, I'm not in training mode quite yet), my friend Todd and I were planning a 60 mile training ride from our houses to the shore to be completed this summer, should be fun, I'll keep you posted.

Also, a big shout out to Fatty at Fat Cylist. He is one of the reasons that I'm doing this undertaking and today is the day he finds out if he won a Bloggie Award for his website. Keep your fingers crossed and check out his site. The latest I heard is that Team Fatty has raised over $140,000 and still going strong...simply impressive. Also, our Fatty team in Philly was the first of the four Fatty teams to hit our goal of 125 team members, so way to go, fellow Fatty Philly fanatics. It's for a great cause that affects us all so donate if you can, it's much appreciated. I received my shipment of LiveSTRONG bracelets today, so anyone who donates gets a bracelet. Once you have confirmation of your donation, just shoot me an email and I'll get a bracelet out to you ASAP.

Still Shopping

The agony of bike shopping.

Bike shopping sucks. There are countless options, not to mention everything costs a fortune. There's the dilemma of whether or not to buy online and save money, or support the local shop and spend more. Also, being so new to this sport obviously doesn't help either. I'm starting to understand why things cost what they do, and already I can see how cyclists justify their much loved purchases. I'm starting to realize that no matter how good of a bike I get, it won't be good enough. If you buy the $1000 bike, you'll soon crave the $2000 bike, just like if you buy the $500 bike (if such a thing existed) you'll very quickly wish you were sporting the $1000 ride. There are countless brands and countless pros and cons. Doing all of my research has turned into a full time job. Luckily I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm narrowing my search.

At this point, I'm debating between an online steal, and a local bike shop entry level bike. If you follow the links you'll see my dilemma. The online bike is more of an off brand frame but with a higher level of name brand Shimano components, while the bike shop bike is a Felt, (quality name brand) frame with a lower level of name brand Shimano components. The online bike is $130 cheaper plus no sales tax and that includes shipping, but it comes in a box and needs some final assembly done. The shop bike is more expensive and has a lesser component group but comes from a local shop fully assembled and tuned and I'm sure they'll stand behind it with great service if necessary. Like I said, agony. If you care to weigh in let me know, otherwise hopefully I can make a decision on my own and pull the trigger on this deal soon. It's supposed to be near sixty degrees this weekend so the new snow won't last long and I need to be out on the road.