Skip to main content

No More Excuses!

I ordered my Bike on Friday Night!!!!




It is the Specialized Roubaix Elite... 

I was between 3 bikes: the Cannondale Synapse 105 disc, the Specialized Tarmac, and this beauty...

I was amazed at how different they all felt.  I have a bad left hip (I need to get it replaced eventually) and also a bad right shoulder (replacement needed there also).  

I was only looking at the Roubaix and the Cannondale, but when I walked into the store, the owner, who rides all the time, told me he had a 2016 Tarmac, in my size, that I could get a good deal on.  Those of you who know me appreciate the impact of hearing the words "good deal"...  I really wanted to like that bike...

Review of the Tarmac:  Really Fast!  It was very responsive, almost to the point of being skittish...I am a mountain biker by choice, so going from a fat boy to this lean, mean speed machine was an epic leap...I was stressed just trying to keep it on the road.  It was equipped with the Ultegra component set, which is one of the higher end equipment from Shimano.  It is a step above the 105 group that comes standard on the other two bikes...and I was going to be able to get this for the same price as the other bikes.  That being said, this bike was just not meant to be.  When I was riding this bike I felt the road vibration was transferring to my body.  I think on a 30-40 mile weekend ride, it would be a blast. However, over the course of a 540 mile trip, I think I would be shaken to death... I almost crapped my pants when I was testing this bike and I had to go over rough road...I'm used to fat tires and suspension on my bikes...this was a big departure.  Add to that the the bike was white and blue (still getting over the Buckeye loss to Penn State this year), and this great deal was going to be available to someone else.

The Roubaix was still responsive enough for me, but the little bits of road vibration were gone!  There is a bunch of technology involved with how that takes place, but the point is that it worked. It was stable at speed and was still responsive enough to climb hills well.  In a race, I am confident that the Tarmac would win, as long as it wasn't a race across America.  It has a slightly more upright riding position from the Tarmac, so I may pay for it a bit in the wind, but I will take my chances.  Not to mention that the Roubaix just looks cool...As much as I wish that didn't matter, it does.

The Cannondale, while really nice, was squarely in the middle between these two Specialized brand bikes.  It even had the same color scheme as the Roubaix.  I am paying a little more for the Roubaix, but I think it is just the better bike for me on this trip.

Speaking of trips, I leave for India tomorrow...I had a nice string of training days going (4 in a row of more than an hour of saddle time a day) and now I will likely not see a bike until I return.  I am planning on working on my strength training while I'm gone.  I may also hit the elliptical trainer in the hotel gym for cardio... I also need to start incorporating yoga back into my workouts....your hip flexors get amazingly tight after sitting on the bike and never fully straightening your leg...I have to make sure my muscles stay in balance so I don't let an avoidable injury delay my training.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Journey Begins!

The journey begins! 6:00 AM came earlier than normal today…maybe because of My birthday celebration going a little long, or maybe because I knew I was getting on a plane in a couple of hours…I'm typing this as I fly across the country to LA.  Have been spending my time between watching movies and reading a book that I received for my birthday…the book is called “Tomorrow We Ride” and it is a true story about two brothers who were also professional cyclists….I have two hours before I land, so I’ll continue the post later. Reunited (and it feels so good....) is it odd that I had some separation anxiety while I shipped it?   Met up with Paul Avery at the airport and we headed to the hotel.  I lost my tail light somehow, so we had to go get another one....we had the stellar idea to walk 5 miles in the 90 degree heat to the nearest bike shop...at least I got the blood flowing! We are planning on heading down to the beach for dinner...will try to take pics
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 2 recap

Hello! Sorry for no post or pics last night...I was too busy trying to keep focused on the task at hand.... We had a really rough start to the day.  We began with a 6 mile climb at a 7% grade.  It was the hardest climb I have ever done. The good news was, that was most of the climbing for the day; the bad news was that the wind started on the other side of the mountain.  Paul and I hung back with a bigger pack and tried to help pull them through the wind.  The group started to fall back, so the tour company put them in a van to catch them back up.  They gave Paul, me, and two others the option to try to catch up on our own... What came next was challenging and exillerating all at once.  We fell into a pace line where all of our wheels were inches from each other and maintained a 20mph pace into a still headwind for 13 miles.  We caught up on time, but we're really rushed at the rest stop. We would have never made it if Howard, a rider from Cr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting Closer

What a week since my last post!  I have literally been half way around the world since the last entry.  I spent last week in India, at the International Myeloma Workshop.  There was a lot of good data presented around new data for the treatment of Myeloma.  When I returned on Saturday morning (I landed at 4:00AM) I got in the car and drove to VT to ski for the weekend. While I was there, I ordered a "Smart Trainer" so I can begin to put some time in the saddle, even before the weather breaks....  Due to my schedule, I think I will need to train indoors during the week, and do my long outdoor rides on the weekend.  I ordered the TASCX Vortex Smart Trainer...I will write a review as soon as I have put some miles on it. My bike should have been delivered last week, so I am hoping to pick it up tonight. Not that I needed another reason to ride to raise money for Cancer, but we got some really bad news this Sunday.  My wife's dad let us know that he h...
Post a Comment
Read more