2 weeks just a bought my first bike after 15 plus years away from biking. I ended up buying a hybrid (Scott Metrix), because I'll be hauling my 3 year old in a trailer and I didn't know wheather or not I would like the road bike riding position. I've been riding about 10 miles, 2 to 3 times a week. I'm enjoying biking and look forward to getting more and longer rides in.
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Got in my first ride of the year on Saturday. It was wet, but good to be out on 2 wheels. In addition to being my first ride of the year, it was the wifey's first ride on her brand new Fuji Roubaix 2.0. :-) She went out again on Sunday on it. Needless to say, she's hooked. She's also signed up for 2 sprint tris this year. I've got a sprint and a half iron on the schedule so far. Will likely add 2 more races.

...and...when we went to go get her bike, she pulled a fast one on me...got there before me, and was picking out her bike (had a fitting scheduled for her, so she'd get the right ride), she decided to puch me to looking for a tri bike and got me a gift card for the shop. They have 2 rides there that I will try out and get fitted for: a 2010 Fuji D6 and a 2010 Kestrel Talon. The Fuji is SEXY!!! Damn that woman!
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KINDA sorta looking for an entry level road bike now. Trek 1.2 is calling my name.
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Love mine. Advice I have to go where they have a good fitter, and will look at you on the bike, not just take measurements and get the frame size, and that's about it. That was how the place we went to for my wife's bike on Wed was. Set the bike up on a trainer and made all the adjustments, so that she was comfortable on it even before we left the store. I'm thinking I want to bring my Trek in there and have them help adjust it for me.
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When in doubt, move down a frame size, not go up. Most novice riders buy a frame too big. Many bike shops try to push a larger frame for some reason. Also consider how flexible & core strength you have. You don't want to be too stretched out on the frame. You'll have back issues and never feel comfortable.
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Wow I completely forgot about this thread.... well since my last post here I crashed my ridley and trashed the frame along with myself (2 broken fingers, brain hemorrhage, fun stuff) in a race down in CT. Built up a Cannondale System Six with the old components. Gone through wheels like its my job (Ksyrium SL's, beafy powertap wheelset, Easton EC90 Aero Tubulars, random mismatched training wheelsets), went from Ultegra SL to the new Sram Red last week (and some DB already caused me to crash on it). Yea.. that sucked.

Oh now that we're talking about fitting.. either go to a shop that does a full fit for free w/ the purchase of a bike (like the one I work at) or pay for a full fit to make sure you're getting the right size. There should really be no guessing on your part at what bike should fit. Go to a reputable shop, preferably one that already does Retul or Specialized BG fit, get the fit done and walk out with your new shiny steed :-)
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oh and PS... a road fit should not take a few minutes... it should take a good amount of time especially if you have to change the stem, handlebars, saddle, or whatever it may me. On average expect an hour+ for a good fit
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Going smaller is hard to recommend mainly because the dimensions of the frame could change to the point where its impossible to get to the proper position. Going too big, or going too small, you can be screwed either way
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BINGO!!!! This is what they did for my wife!. I got her the gift cert for the cost of a fitting alone (which they said would be applied towards the price of a new bike), and she got something she already LOVES to ride. She was giddy and anxious to take it out as we loaded it into the van. Wish this is how the shop I got my bike from did it. At least I'm still happy with my ride 3 years after I got it. :-)
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Ade, Good on you!

Wanger, You have a winner in that wife of yours....

Steve, OUCH on the wreck....what happened? What do you think about the switch(Shimano to SRAM)?


Time & if needed, money, well spent.....
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Though not even close to a wreck, cut off this morning by some lady that could have used some time in the saddle. I could hear the engine rev and caught her in my peripheral, the pass and then the break lights....I knew what was coming and reacted appropriately. Unfortunately, it is not all that uncommon.

Why did she cut me off, she was in a rush to get into the McDonalds to get breakfast.... No kidding.... Her destination, turn, whatever....was McDonalds..... Take out the biker so you can stuff your face with that Egg McMuffin....:-)
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Good to hear! Fit is #1. By far the single most important thing when it comes to a road bike because position is extremely important to be comfortable being the position is extreme compared to any other type of bike. Being in the right position will not only make you comfortable but it will also allow you to get the most amount of speed out of your bike.
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A dumba$$ decided not to keep his line or accelerate coming out of a corner (it was a crit) and washed out my front wheel. After that I really don't remember what happened except for what people told me. I blacked out (probably from the amount of pain) and all I can remember is getting put in the ambulance, explaining to them that they didn't need to cut my team jersey (because it was full zip) and then being brought into the ER at Yale-New Haven.

As for the switch from Shimano to Sram... Love it so far. I have about 100 miles on it since last week and I notice significantly less drivetrain drag and noise. The new Yaw front derailleur works just like its suppose to (I think as well as my old ultegra SL) but it was a b*tch to setup (first one in the shop and no one knew the tricks yet) and it still needs a bit of adjustment to get it 100%. I still dont have the new crank (probably buying the new sram red quarq in a few months)or the new cassette (probably getting it at the same time as the quarq) so I won't be able to report on the full setup for awhile. The only downside so far is the shifters are insanely loud and would be a dead giveaway in a race if you were trying to stealthy.
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I'm sure if I have a fitting to fine tune things, I can get more speed out of it. Did the Half iron distance last year at 18.8mph (I'm a Clydesdale) on it, so it's not too bad to start.
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If you want to ride, get a fit! As it turns out after 31 years of riding, I don't have much cartlidge in my one knee and the other is a bit better off. I did a 3D fit up at Boulder Sports Medicine with Andy Pruitt's crew (he did some other work on my knee for me too) and I can ride pain free. My problem right now is I need to have some work done (the back isn't shifting at all) but I'm scared to take my bike in because the tech might move something after a medicaly needed (and approved) bike fit.

I was fit on another bike and it stabilized the descents too.
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Tell them not to adjust anything involving the fit at all. I can't imagine why they would need to adjust anything anyway...
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You'd think that it would be that easy. I took my TT bike in because I couldn't get the rear deraileaur working 100% so I took it to one of the bigger LBS's and the guy took it behind the shop and the first thing he did was pop the seat post up higher to fit in his clamp. My jaw dropped, I had about 90 minutes till I had a start time and he did this?

After my warm up on my road bike on site, I rode to the bathroom on the TT bike and noticed the seat slipping down (after having to adjust it and guessing). I tightened it up but in the adrenalin laden process (15 minutes to start) the seat clamp broke! I had to get my backup off the trainer, swap wheels, etc. and make it to the start.

That's why I'm nervous. :-)
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You did not have any score marks where your seat post normally is?
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Question for some of you more advanced/serious riders...What are your opinions on Kestrel vs. Fuji? With the gift card the wifey gave me, I'm going to be looking at both of them when I finally go in to look for a tri bike (the ones I mentioned above, 2010 Talon or 2010 D6).

Thanks!
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I can say in terms of road bikes they offer similar quality at all price points.
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