buying a bike

don't know how to pick a saddle tho, really

^ this. tried one of those specialized ultra-firm ultra-anatomical ones - all the weight on yr sitbones. horrid. currently have a charge spoon, s'ok, as ok as any other i've had.

I changed saddles out of necessity (broke my Specialized Toupe in a crash) and had to replace it within 24 hours and a bro let me have his Fizik Arione TT saddle (TT = more padding up on the nose of the saddle?) and let me tell you I was freaking sore. It was a huge difference esp in any ride over 60 mins. I was all kinds of sore up in the uh... contact points.

Now I'm used to it and will probably stick with it for the rest of the season (30 days?) but if anything happens to this one I'll def go back to the Toupe. Key takeaways: if you find a saddle that works, it's probably for a good reason and worth sticking with. Same with shoes/pedals and other contact points so long as you feel good.

I like the Toupe on my Focus. It's been okay for 100 mile rides - not that I'm comfy down there necessarily but nothing terrible's happened, chafing's been minimised etc. It's nice and flat, and has a good grip on lycra shorts. Not a comfort saddle for pootling about town, but a good perch if you're giving it some over distance.

I had an Arione rip-off (planet X own brand) on my fixed for a while but it was slippery, though comfortable enough (generously padded for a roadie saddle too).

Selle italia, anything gel flow seems to work for me, got to love that slot. the WTB on my sadly gone surly was fine up to the 2 hour point and then became numbing. Can't wait to bring back the really nicely worn in gel flow saddle from my merckx to put on the BMC.

As for replacing the surly. I'm going to strip the gruppo from the merckx when I get back to the UK and use it as he basis of my build. Downside, I get locked into campy which is annoying and expensive in the states, upside, I get a shopping trolley up and running sooner.

two words: prologo

one word!

anyone for a pompino at £399 down from £599
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOOPMPRS/on-one-pompino-road-sport

am doing a couple of accumulators today with the intent of getting one of those, great deal.

ok, if manure beat everton 2-0, sunderland beat wigan 2-1 and wolves draw 1-1with fulham, I am getting one. plus a rapha country jersey.

ha good luck

big money hu$tla$

Bollocks, knew I shouldn't bet on a match between those 2

anyone know anything about tommaso bikes? saw a super leggera titanium w/ultegra on craigslist

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/1973512103.html

Looks nice but I'm a teeny bit concerned about the fit of that FRAME+LONGER CRANKS + LONGER STEM I'd ask him to meet you at somewhere like Above Category and have them give their opinion of you + that bike. but 6700 Ultegra + Ti frame with boutique components for $1,300 = a solid deal.

i bought a bike! my first road bike. $400 more than i wanted to spend. it's at the same shop shasta bought his bike and since he was there w/me the guy threw in free pedals and shoes, free fitting, and no tax. kinda had to do it for such a great bike at such a great deal.

bianchi via nirone 7 w/all ultegra. mavic aksium race wheels w/michelin tires and syncros seatpost.

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/5664/photopii.jpg

such dope bike and jaxon got a kill deal. watch out for this guy!

i smoked everyone on paradise loop today w/my 400 lb bike w/3 gears. just u wait marin fatties w/expensive bikes!

o, and thanks again!

feelin that!

Woah nice ride! $400 well spent :)

i used to have a via nirone, good choice j

pretty close to pulling the trigger on a specialized roubaix with sram apex, $1800

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=52874&menuItemId=0

it's ain't cheap, or pretty. feels great though.

when i was test riding bikes recently, that (well a cheaper version) was my favorite ride, but it was a triple and i was talked out of it by everyone.

Looks good. I like that they don't put a sticky uppy 'comfort' stem as other manufacturers seem to do on their bottom end Carbon. SRAM Apex is nice too.

that's nice! a 190mm head tube does look better than an additional 30mm of spacers and a hi rise stem.

I just finished Pastoralia, which is my second Saunders book. I think "Sea Oak" is one of the best short stories I have ever read. I have been wanting to talk about it with somebody, but my wife, a Joycian who doesn't read anything written after 1945, refuses to read postmodern fiction of any kind, at least until she finishes her dissertation (which is fair). So happy to have this thread, then, and nabisco's great posts, which are some of my favorite posts I've read on ILX. It was great to read such an articulate analysis of Saunders' use of language, and why it's so effective:

there's a rich uncle who spouts optimistic banalities about hard work in such a way that you feel he believes it, you understand him -- and even better, when the aunt's grave is desecrated, Saunders pegs the entire role of the policeman simply by putting question marks at the end of his sentences. (I wish I had the book here to quote: I think he says "Typically we find it's teens?" and in that question mark you hear everything -- the desire to be helpful and reassuring, and the complete powerlessness to actually be helpful and reassuring.)

The FIRPO story really got to me, too. It was like a Carver story narrated by the doomed child instead of the unhappy parents of the doomed child. "Winky" and the one about the barber were just ok, but I really loved the rest.

Anyway, I've read CivilWarLand In Bad Decline (though it's been years and I think I want to read it again; someone gave it to me as a gift a long time ago in an attempt to get me to quit reading Sedaris), and now, Pastoralia. Which one next?

ah, crap. Wromng thread. I am looking to buy a bike, though. Lemme read through all these replies and if I still have something to post, I will. That'll teach me to keep multiple tabs open.

Emma wants a Dolce! Yes!

I think we're both getting crosschecks

new yorkers, where do i buy second hand bike without having to troll craigslist for hours each morning?

She might prefer the Trek Lexa. Except it's covered in fucking flowers at the model she wants, which she, rightly, finds sexist and offensive.

I'm pondering a Trek Madone 2.1, Cube Peleton Pro, and Specialized Allez Elite. Any thoughts?

canyon canyon canyon

Roadlite?

As I'll almost certainly be cyclescheming from the LBS if I get one, Canyon's out I think. Likewise Planet X, Ribble, etc.

Emma bought a Dolce. I might have bought a Cube.

Fuck me I love this bike.

fast?

Yeah, I've no idea how I was doing what I was doing on the Tricross.

congrats. i still don't get the "might have bought" though.

I think I was still in slight denial.

I really want an AWOL
http://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/bikes/road/awol

is it well specced? am I daft?

retails at £1000, comes with tubus front & rear racks, full guards, sora shifters, front triple, mountain bike gearing

looks like a cheaper take on the salsa fargo adventure/bikepacking rig

those tubus vega racks are £70+ each iirc

retails at £1000, comes with tubus front & rear racks, full guards, sora shifters, front triple, mountain bike gearing

looks like a cheaper take on the salsa fargo adventure/bikepacking rig

yeah they're aiming pretty squarely for the bike packing set

Cool bike.

OTOH this really high-specced surly LHT has just come up on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Surly-Long-Haul-Trucker-Custom-build-/200961199347?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2eca388cf3

would a 56cm be OK for someone 5'10"?

I think so?

Probably about right, close enough to put a longer stem on it if it really is a bit small.

I was thinking it may be too big, rather than too small

my winter road bike is a 54cm iirc

I'm 5'11" with a longer torso & shortish legs (31-2cm for trousers), 56cm cross-check fits me well - geometry's a bit different, but you could change the stem.