How to get the most bang for the buck

My new bike!

     I have taken my lessons to heart and started making efforts to improve myself, or at least my triathlon times.  So I bought a new road bike!  I have actually been looking for a bike, new or used, for several years.  I just never had the money and the motivation--until now.

     First, I set a budget for myself.  I looked online and I saw bikes in all price ranges.  I knew that I wanted a road bike, but probably not a tri-bike.  I read a lot of forums and the tri-bikes are not always welcome in the weekend warrior rides.  I guess they are so fast, that no one likes to ride with those people.  I wouldn't be fast no matter how expensive my bike is, I am such a lazy biker, but I hope that will change soon.

     Second, I started asking around.  I have a friend at work that has also completed the Encinitas triathlon.  She told me where she got her bike.  I'll give a shout out.  2 wheels one planet in Newport Beach.  She told me that she got a smoking deal and we get a work discount there.  She also mentioned that she saved almost more on her bike than my entire budget, but I checked out their website anyway and got some information from there.  Once I have decided to buy something that will last for a while, I do a ton of research.  I have had my current bike for 16 years and it is still in great condition. My old bike is now happily retired to  participate in activities related to mountain and beach town biking only from now on.  Actually, it will be the guest bike, since my riding around town bike only has two sprockets instead of 3, it could be dangerous to anyone that might be interested in shifting gears.

     Third, I started checking the websites of bike shops in town.  There are a lot of bike shops here.  Most of them are very high end.  I don't even recognize the brands, but the frames alone were generally more than I wanted to spend on the entire bike, pedals and shoe package.  I ended up at my old stand-by, REI.  If you don't know, REI is based out of Seattle, and I have been shopping there all of my adult life.  We are fortunate to have an REI store in Encinitas. It's great, not exactly the flagship store that Seattle has, but not the hole in the wall like in Hollywood, Maryland.  And I don't have to make a special day trip to get there like I did when I lived in Delaware and would drive all the way to Conshohocken, PA for my annual Christmas shopping trip to REI and the King of Prussia Mall.

     I went to REI on Saturday, a very nice sales associate helped me out.  I got sized first because I vaguely remember having an unusual bike size (for my body type) from when I got my last new bike.  I couldn't remember the size, or I would have bought a used bike from Craigslist and I could use the information to see if anything good showed up used that weekend, just in case.  REI had an excellent Memorial Day Sale, so there weren't many bikes left to choose from on Saturday.  They had 2 road bikes that I could have selected, I picked the second from the bottom, because it had better components, even though the less expensive bike was prettier.  It turned out that they had my size in stock.  They were super busy, so they said that they could have it all set up just for me for a test ride on Sunday.  I came home, checked the reviews, and craigslist, just in case.  The reviews were good and nothing decent showed up used online. :)

My new shoe

On Sunday afternoon, I went back the store and did my test ride around the parking lot.  I was happy.  Technology really changes a lot in 20 years.  I had no idea that the shifting could change so much.  I thought it was new and different when I bought my last bike in 1996.  What a change from the 10 speeds of the 70's and 80's!  I am really moving into the new millennium.  I got new clip on pedals and intended to buy these shoes, but they didn't have my size in stock.  I ordered them online and also got a sale price on those.  I was within $30 of my budget and I am excited for now.  I hope to be able to ride my new bike next weekend when my shoes get delivered.

An important thing to note is to get your bike size first.  The firefighter (6'1" guy) and I got measured to the same bike size, it was really funny until I realized that I must be the one with monkey arms or something since I am only 5' 3".

And for those of you mostly interested in the fate of the extremely furry dogs, here's a picture.  

Kobe and Loki

They got a brushed over the holiday weekend and are now beautiful.  Stuart is ok looking too, but he didn't feel up to posing again.