Before I get all crazy with the details, let me just say that Randi Rea of Katy, Texas is a tri angel for allowing me to borrow her Scott road bike over the last 6 months. As previously noted, I completed my first tri on a $40 mountain bike I snagged on craigslist. Her name was Sally and boy did we Ride. Ha. Get it? After completing my first tri, Randi graciously offered to loan me her bike until I decided what I wanted to do. Bikes are expensive. Tris are expensive. Good friends are good to have. Any-ol'-who. Larry and I spent many miles together. Larry is the name I gave the Scott - he was my "great, white hope." You know - Larry Bird. We rode several hundred miles together. I knew I was in love with triathlon, but Larry was just too big. Randi is two inches taller than I am and Larry just had me all kinds of over-extended.
My birthday rolled around and I scored some serious birthday cash. I asked Doug for "leeway" for my birthday so that I could get a bike that loved me as much as I loved it. We agreed on a general ballpark figure and off I went. Meet the contenders.
Behind door #1, we have the Giant.
The Giant Trinity 2, ladies model, was conservatively priced at $1499. This is the first bike I rode. I felt that the Giant was a little flimsy, but overall, a good fit. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get into aero position on this bike. Larry and I struggled with aero. He was too big, the bars were too far out in front of me, and I was scared to death. It took miles - m i l e s - for me to talk myself into aero. Every time, I felt like I was going to die. I dropped down in the parking lot with this little lady. The Giant was at Bicycle World in Houston, which offers financing, but is an hour or more from home.
Contestant #2 is the Felt.
The Felt B16 was the second bike I rode. It had SRAM shifters (which I wasn't a fan of). They were sticky and fought back. And loud. Very, very loud. POP POP POP. Not my idea of fun. Rinny and Daniella had just taken 1st and 2nd at Kona on Felts and I was confident in their ability to build an outstanding bike. When I first starting paying attention to bikes, I really fell in love with the look of the Felt. I really wanted to love the Felt. I rode around the neighborhood, played around in aero, and was chased by a dog. Fun. Felt is an American company. Bonus points from the state of sunny California. The Felt was priced at $1799 at Webster Bicycle in my backyard, which offers layaway, but no financing.
Our final contestant is the Fuji.
On a whim after a long ride, I dropped into Sun and Ski Sports. My friend Melissa works there. She and I have known each other since the 90s. Whoa. We're old. She's an Ironman, a mama, and a good person. I wanted to see what she had to say, so I popped in. The Fuji was priced at $1899, which was starting to eke out of my price range (regularly $2899). I took this bike for a spin in the parking lot and was instantly enamored. The bike fit well, but it was a little out of my league. Sun and Ski offers several payment options and is also in my backyard. Fuji, surprisingly, is also an American company and hails from PA.
Doug and I kicked around these bikes. I tortured myself over $100. We went in to Sun and Ski together, and I had basically made up my mind that we were going to finance for a year and buck up and buy the Fuji. Doug wasn't sold. Yet. When we started talking real details with Melissa, we looked at what $1899 would get us at another store. It was NOT this bike. $1899 at another store would have given me a lesser bike with lesser components. Even the Felt at $1799 was well below the quality of the Fuji. After we talked through all of the details of the bike and what the shop had to offer in the way of payment plans and maintenance packages, we were ready to talk numbers. For anyone who's wondering what it was about the packages that sold me - Sun and Ski offers free fits for life, free minor adjustments for life, and they also offer a 4-month layaway plan where you get to take your bike home and leave them 3 post-dated checks. Pretty compelling compared to free fits for 90 days or 6 months, which was what Webster and Bicycle World were offering.
Because the bike was a 2012 and had been on the floor awhile (and demo'd a few times), they were willing to negotiate. When the night was over, I walked out with a brand new bike, a 3-year maintenance plan, and a new hydration system for under $2000. As an added bonus, Melissa put her old SPD pedals on the bike and loaned me her Sidi shoes until the time is right for Looks and fancier shoes.
So without further ado, I give you Bruce the Bike. He and I will do great things together. We ride at dawn. I'll let you know how it goes.
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