Bicycle, Bicycle
We had a fairly busy weekend.
This post is about the part of it that would appeal mainly to the bike nerds on my flist.
On friday, I decided that I had fiddled around with the idea enough, and finally pulled the trigger on buying a new bike. (I cracked the rear bearing on my almost ten year old Specialized Hard Rock Comp a few months ago, and have been jonesing to replace it ever since then).
After much agonizing, and looking around with the foolish budget of $600 (as most bikes are less, or a lot lot more), I finally spent a week or so going to different bike stores and test driving different models where I could actually find ones with "really large frames." I loved my last bike, but the frame was far too small for my build, and it was always a sore point about that bike (literally and figuratively). I got it way back when because I could get it for a steal at the time, and the geometry has always been a little bit off for what I really needed. That plus a decade's worth of technology advances haven't hurt either.
If you are in the market for a new "real" bike, now's a good time, as a lot of dealers at at "end of model year," and are offering great discounts on a lot of 2009 models. This doesn't mean as much in some bikes as it does in cars, and you you can get a bunch more bike for your money.
All that being said, I ended up buying a 2010, because I found what is hopefully the really right bike for me, and I got a decent deal on it.
After looking at a bunch of bikes that were all just out of my price range, I finally decided on a Cannondale F5. Which, in theory, should be way out of my price range (list around $850-900).
A good overview of the bike is here: http://www.greatlakescycling.com/2009/07/2010-cannondale-f5/ -- for whatever reason, the cannondale site still has info on the 2009's. This is a case where the new model year has actually lead to some pretty impressive changes, and the "jumbo" frame that they offer is almost 23 inches -- finally something big enough for me to ride on with out the seat several miles above the bike.
Other contenders were a Trek 6000 (discounted cuz it was a 2009) a Felt 620 and a Giant Yukon. I also had tried out a Cannondale F7 (lower end than the F5). My only regret is that I didn't get to try out a Specialized Rockhopper Disc (comparable model for them), but after finding the F5 that I did, I didn't think it was worth the extra trip.
The Felt that was being offered didn't have a super large frame, and after comparing several other bikes against it, was not worth the $$ (I think the shop in question may have had it mispriced, honestly -- they thought they were giving a bargain, but after looking it up online, they had it priced based on the next model up the line!). It felt good initially having been used to my bike for years, but after trying the larger frames at later shops, I wasn't as impressed anymore.
The Giant had a huge frame (they have a 22" and a 24"!!) but wasn't as light as the more expensive bikes, had less quality components, and no lockout on the fork (something I've been wanting ever since I got my last bike). The next model up was too pricey, and not immediately available in big sizes at the stores I went to.
The Trek was closest in terms of components, but only had a 21" frame. I finally picked the F5 for several reasons. Compared side by side with the F5, the Cannondale had frame size, the 2010 has a REALLY nice frame, a few better components, a nicer fork/shocks, and the massive head tube that Cannondale is making standard on their mountain bikes for about the same weight. The F5 ended up being about $50 more, but I was willing to pay that difference for all the benefits.
The larger frame size allows for a more "laid back" posture on my part, so I have less strain on my hands and wrists (which is starting to be a big deal as I get older). The front shock is niiiiice . . . you can preload more/less very easily, and you can dial resistance/rebound on the fly -- from none to full to somewhere in the middle, no tools required. You can even do it while riding if you have to. It's made by RST, which has a reputation as a sort of "cheap" shock manufacturer, but apparently this is something that they have developed specifically with Cannondale (again, annoyed that Cannondale doesn't have the full info about the 2010 line on their website). Comparing it to the Rock Shock 3's which were touted as the "best in class" for that price range on other bikes, it seems comparable (and what Cannondale replaced from the year before, so ostensibly they think it is better). The bike's frame and head tube seem to be really awesome, and were acknowledged as pretty dang amazing by people at more than one of the bike shops I went to. The tech who tuned up the bike after I bought it said that the upgrade to this year's model was probably one of the most impressive he'd seen by a manufacturer for that price range in a long time.
The bike shop switched out the stock composite pedals with alloy ones, which I'm still not sure if I'm all that jazzed about (concern due to my size/weight -- I broke the composite pedals on my last bike, and had alloy ones there, but not really a fan of them, and I refuse to use stirrups or clips). The gears seem to shift quite smoothly, though I'm still not used to the "dual-thumb" shifter that many manufacturers seem to be moving towards (you shift up and down with your thumb, not one with your thumb, other with your finger), and I need to break in the disc brakes before I figure out what I really think of them. The seat is stock, but still a zillion times better than what was on my old bike, or at least so it seems so far.
For the record, I shopped around at Proteus in College Park, Revolution and Bicycle Pro Shop (DC and VA for each of them).
Now, to get some real riding in, and see what I think from there . . .