I bought my new bike

So I told Chris I would keep him posted so here's the summary...

I bought a new bike. 2011 Blue AC1. I know you would think it is too much to spend on a bike (I got 20% off because it is last year's model closeout and I also get the bike pre-fit fee that I paid credited toward the bike price.

I originally started off thinking I was going to buy used. Especially my husband has a co-worker who is an ace with bikes and buys used ones, reconditions and resells them. Thought I would most likely go that way.

But in December my local tri club held a demo ride event at an Orbea dealer and I went and test rode an Orbea tri bike. And liked it a lot. Then I heard about a promotion Cervelo was doing... you and a friend each buy a bike and get $1K off each. For a $3800 bike (I wanted the S5) that sounded like an awfully good deal. Well, it turned out to be difficult to get the S5 in my size. I couldn't even test ride it. Deal was only good during January. So I started shopping around and trying other bikes, most notably as a result of going for a pre-fit and the shop that did the pre-fit suggested I try a number of their bikes.

In the end I test road several bikes.
Orbea Ordu SLT
Orbea Orca SLT
Giant TCR w/Ultegra Di2
Giant TCR w/Ultegra (in my correct size...one above was a size too big)
Scott Foil 20
BMC Road Racer
2011 Blue AC1
2007 Specialized Ruby Pro
Cervelo S5 Rival Groupo

(all 2012 unless otherwise stated)

These are all nice bikes. I liked the Cervelo S5 a lot (finally got to test ride it today). After that I probably liked the Orbeas next best.

Anyhow, I am going to have them put a cassette with a larger number of teeth on. I've ordered the bike and put down 50% and it should come some time next week. I'm really happy with my purchase. I feel better about it than trying to navigate the whole "used bike" thing on my own and I didn't especially care for the way my husband's co-worker handled the whole thing (that's where I tried the 2007 Specialized Ruby). For someone who isn't really knowledgeable about bikes and bike parts and sizing, etc... it's in some ways comforting to work with the local bike shop. Mind you, I've learned a LOT during these last few weeks about components and gearing and whatnot. Quite an education.

Things change with age, Sheila. My 34 year old road bike still operates just as well as ever, it's the cyclist that is not in such good shape to the extent that the top tube needs a dip in it to accumulate the extra 8 inches that I've increased round the middle since I stopped racing in the 90s! Congratulations and I hope you get many satisifed miles on your new purchase

OK, so I picked up my bike last Friday. So I thought I'd post a picture. I haven't really been able to ride it because I had a crash last Wed and so my left knee is not doing so well, but is recovering and I'm hoping this week Wednesday to actually be able to ride it for real (so far I've done a couple of extremely short test rides... 1.5 miles and 3.2 miles respectively...but my knee complained...and those were flat rides too without hills).

My new bike - 2011 Blue AC1 by mathmom_calif, on Flickr

Looks like a beautiful bike with aerodynamic rims. Hope you will enjoy the (many) rides on it!!

I didn't keep the other cassette. That's OK. If at some point I get to where I want a different one, I'll just buy it then. I am going to have someone show me how to change the cassettes. The one I have on the bike now is an 11-28 with a compact 50/34 ring set (bike came with 53/39 but I had them swap that out too). So yes, you definitely helped. I learned a lot about bikes and components, etc. through this whole process. This bike is really sweet. Wheels spin so easily. So much better than the wheels on my other bike. And this bike is nearly 7 lbs lighter than my old bike. So I am either going faster or at least at the same speed expending considerably less effort. Really looking forward to seeing how my race season goes.