Bike shopping
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tsilcyc posted 9 weeks ago.
Information overload. I glanced through it... sorry.
WSD good for women... horrible colors. '08 colors look better though.
'08 Shimano 105 might be better than '06 Ultegra. Neither are what I would consider disposable so I wouldn't upgrade the components on any of them.
I might push a little harder on the '06 price and get that. Put her on a steep hill and she might like that triple.
In the end, find out which bike she's most comfortable on and buy that one.
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kylie posted 9 weeks ago.
Have her also try small men's bikes if you can find them. The WSD is based on some faulty logic but does still work for some people, and shorter ones are often the ones that like it -- especially since it can be hard to find a bike small enough if you are under about 5'4".
I doubt what wheels it has will really make any difference at all to her.
The women's designed shifting/braking would probably be nice, as would women's specific bars. However, if a man's frame feels better to her except for reaching the shifters/brakes, you could probably get a bike shop to swap out the bars, and maybe the shifters.
Gotta ask... did she ride a specialized? I was bike shopping with a friend new to biking the other day and must say the entry level women's bikes that specialized makes are very nice.
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TryScott posted 9 weeks ago.
Whatever you get, consider yourself lucky that she's considering riding. I bought my bike a hybrid 2 years ago, and there's still less than 50 miles on it.
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big 3 posted 9 weeks ago.
tsilcyc wrote:
Information overload. I glanced through it... sorry.
Not a problem. Just trying to be thorough. Never know if there's a bike fit pro out there that can read something like that and just picture it.
I appreciate the feedback. Good point about the 06
kylie wrote:
Gotta ask... did she ride a specialized? I was bike shopping with a friend new to biking the other day and must say the entry level women's bikes that specialized makes are very nice.
Yes she did ride one Specialized. We will definitely be trying as many bikes as we can at each shop we go to. So tough to know what the feel is when it's your first time on a road bike.
I'll definitely make a point of her checking out the differences between the "men's" and the women's specific. Then workout deals with the shop if necessary.
TryScott wrote:
Whatever you get, consider yourself lucky that she's considering riding.
I have a feeling she's going to give me a challenge to stay in the lead. Only thing I have going for me at the moment is her fear of bombing downhills :-)
But I think she's hooked. I'll know for sure when she joins me for Masters Swimming!
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ChunkyB posted 9 weeks ago.
If you have any hills around at all, I would definitely get the triple. You don't have to use it if you don't need it, but there's nothing worse than needing it and not having it. I'm a pretty big dude, so I use mine a lot, but even if she's light and decent at climbing or whatever, I'd still consider the triple.
Honestly, when I was looking at used bikes, a triple was a must for me, and I'm so glad that it was.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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kylie posted 9 weeks ago.
Or a compact if not a triple. I LOVE my compacts... I doubt I'll ever go back.
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kakman posted 9 weeks ago.
kylie wrote:
Couldn't agree more.
Or a compact if not a triple. I LOVE my compacts... I doubt I'll ever go back.
It's reassuring to have the extra hill capacity and I'm yet to run out of 'top end'. And if I do, I can roll down hills, if I run out of gears uphill, I walk:(
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big 3 posted 9 weeks ago.
The 08 does have a double "compact" option 50/34
I just looked at the 3 of them again to see what their Double ring options are.
The 06 has 53/39 as a option, which is what I have on my bike.
The 07 has 50/39/30 as the only option.
I just found another option a 06 Pilot 2.1 WSD It's a 52/39/30. I personally think this would be the best of the bunch for her.
Of course as I'm doing this, I keep wandering to the tri bike listings for me :-). I don't see that purchase happening for another year tho'. Although I'd have a tough time passing it up if they offered me a really good deal.
It's only money right? And they say you can't put a price on health. :-)
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groovyjen posted 9 weeks ago.
I'm 5'2" and I just got the Specialized Dolce (my first road bike) and I love it. Was that the Specialized that she rode? That one is the 3rd from the bottom entry level bike.
I thought it was much nicer than the Giant bikes in the same price range / components.
Anyhow, bike total newbie here - but I'm really digging my Dolce.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
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big 3 posted 9 weeks ago.
She rode the Dolce and the Dolce comp. She certainly didn't hate either of them.
She's road newbie as well so it's tough for her to form a solid opinion about each of them.
This will be very much a "by feel" purchase. Just trying to give her enough time on each of them that maybe something will click.
We will be going to other shops next weekend. I'm always curious what size each store determines is correct and how they decide.
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big 3 posted 8 weeks ago.
Here is what she decided fit the best. So hard to know this without prior road bike experience. I was really leaning on the sales guy to make sure he agreed that it was the better fit over other bikes.
http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/2006/archive/2100
Trek '06 2100 50cm Triple. The specs on these links are never quite right. This bike has:
52/39/30 Crank
105 Flight Deck,
105 Front Derailleur, and
Ultegra rear Derailleur.
It's a 9 speed.
the carbon is OCLV which many prefer over the newer TCT.
Brakes are Cane Creek 3.
The "Damage" was just under $1000. How'd I do?
Looking for opinions:
My wife was trying out some bikes today. Finally going to get her onto a road bike!
They gave her a very quick sizing and then she rode a few of them around. Of course never being on a road bike before it was hard for her to have strong opinions about fit. But she liked the 2008 Trek Pilot 2.3 of the few she tried out today. Nothing specific other than it seemed to feel the best.
Here is the link to that bike
http://www.trekbikes.com/women/wsd_products/bikes/2008/road/23wsd/
Now I'm going out looking for a good deal.
There is a 06 2100 Triple
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2006/archive/2100
or
There's a 07 Pilot 2.1
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2007/archive/pilot21wsd
Each of these older bikes will cost me $500-600 less than the 08 2.3.
What's the difference in components?
08 has Bontrager Race Wheels,
06 and 07 have Bontrager Select.
There seems to be about a $300 difference right there. Although I'm having a hard time chasing down the exact specs on either of these wheels to really find out how big of a difference there is.
The 08 is full 105 components.
The 06 has is Ultegra front and rear Derailleurs, and
The 07 has an Ultegra rear Derailleur.
So the older bikes have a bit of a step up here. $20 more for the Rear. $15 for the front. Not a huge difference in price now but it would cost more to upgrade later.
Obviously she's going to ride each of these bikes to see if she gets the same feeling about the 08 2.3.
Anyone have strong opinions about the WSD design? She's 5'2" with 29" inseam. They measured her as a 49.5cm with the tool at the shop fitting inseam to bike size.
How about the women's fit shifting/braking?
Am I really being cheap?? Or am I making sense that these other bikes are a good deal?
As always thanks in advance for your opinions.